_Orchard Road 4 Million dollar makeover!

After the numerous traffic jams and the unbearable noise of the Orchard Road makeover, Orchard Road is finally complete! However, the recent changes to the world famous shopping icon of Singapore, does not match up to the expectations of the locals, especially with that 40 million dollar pricetag. I think that the 40 million dollar makeover to Orchard Road was not worth it.

Firstly, I think that the results of the makeover does not match up to the hefty 40 million pricetag. The changes are extremely subtle, and few notice it. Mr Nicholas Poh said "For $40 million, they should have built a bridge across the road." Haryannie Hasshim also reiterates the point, saying that the changes look like they are worth about $1 million only, a huge contrast to the money spent. The money was, in my opinion also spent on unecessary and unessential items, like flower totem poles in the middle of the road, and the glass panels that depict nature. The flower totem poles block the road, especially because Orchard Road is extremely crowded. The glass panels also pose a problem and a potential threat to the passers by, as it could break easily, and could be broken by drunk people. This supports my stand in saying that the makeover of orchard road was not worth it, because the changes were unnecessary, and in some cases and impetus to convenience.

However, the $40 million dollars spent on the makeover was not only spent on superficial things. The Singapore Tourism Board's Andrew Phua explained that the 40 million dollars spent on the makeover included the state of the art lighting, power upgrading, landscaping, repaving works and consultants' fees , etc. This could probably used to save energy and make the energy usage of Orchard Road more efficient, enabling the government to save money, and maybe even breakeven. This does not support my stand in saying that the makeover of Orchard Road was not worth it, because the changes could help save money, and in turn make the spending of the hefty amount worthwhile. However, I think that it is highly unlikely that they will save enough money to make the spending worthwhile anytime in the near future, and that the bulk of the spending was on useless items like the flower totems in the middle of the road, and thus I still think that the massive spending of the money to revamp Orchard Road was not worth it.

Lastly, the 40 million dollars spent on the revamping of Orchard Road was spent on the wrong things, like the giant glass panel and the useless flower totems. Locals also express their concern about the cleanliness of orchard road, and think that the money would be more well spent on other aspects they think are more important, especially during this financial crisis. Rosy Ong, said,"You spend so much money and look, all the dead leaves on the floor." Housewife Jenifer Symons-Leith said, "They should spend more money on cleaning up and maintaining the place instead. I was just walking down here and I was thinkin to myself 'Clean up, guys'. The pavement looks so dirty, I thought it was flooring from three decades ago". Therefore this last point also supports my point in saying that the spending on the makeover of Orchard Road was not worth it.

In conclusion, I think that the hefty 40million pricetag on the Orchard Road was not worth it because the money was not wisely spent and was spent on useless things, and the general public did not feel that the makeover was worth 40 million dollars.

xP.