Why Singapore's Sand Addiction is Problematic

Singapore is very small, very powerful, and its past and future are being defined by one asset that it is now running out... sand.
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Faultline is produced by:
Executive Producer/Story Editor/Host: Andy Burgess
Story/Research: Jamie Elms
Editor: Andy Burgess
Motion Graphics: Andy Burgess
Assistant Producer/Editor: Ivan Veselov
Artwork: Tim Burgess of Wild Tales Illustration
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - 00:36 - Singapore's Greatest Asset
00:36 - 01:10 - Land Reclamation
01:10 - 02:09 - Urbanisation of Singapore
02:09 - 03:01 - The Aftermath of Independence
03:01 - 03:51 - Singapore’s Wealth
03:51 - 05:36 - Expansion of Singapore
05:36 - 07:02 - Land Reclamation Methods
07:02 - 08:42 - Singapore’s Sand Imports
08:42 - 10:17 - Marina Bay Sands
10:17 - 12:23 - Conclusion
#singapore #landreclamation #geography
Sources 🔗
Singapore separates from Malaysia and becomes independent - HistorySG - bit.ly/3CBV8ev
Built on Sand: Singapore and the New State of Risk - Harvard Design Magazine
- bit.ly/3PY01kX
Explore Singapore’s islands - Visiting Singapore - bit.ly/2Q8TvwW
Roy Chan | Land reclamation Singapore - bit.ly/3Ds639v
Mount Imbiah Trail and Nature Walk, Sentosa: Dragon Waterfall & WW2 Ruins - Little Day Out - bit.ly/3R3qGhF
Rapid urbanisation in Singapore causes a shift from local provisioning and regulating to cultural ecosystem services use - ScienceDirect - bit.ly/3e2SSma
Singapore Department of Statistics - bit.ly/2R3QviQ
Singapore firms as leading city for Asian HQs - Financial Review - bit.ly/3Tng12U
1,500 Years Of Singapore's Ancient History Before Raffles Came Along - The Concise Version - bit.ly/3wCmWM6
Lee Kuan Yew | Biography, Education, Achievements, & Facts - Britannica - bit.ly/3pQoAFN
Explainer: Why one party dominates Singapore politics - Reuters - reut.rs/3TjKOOh
Singapore: Freedom in the World 2020 Country Report - Freedom House - bit.ly/3Tp5nsl
Keith Loutit | Lion City Rising - bit.ly/3DvvjvA
Remembering Lee Kuan Yew: Our chief diplomat to the world - The Straits Times - bit.ly/3qb9Stv
Poverty In Singapore - The Borgen Project - bit.ly/3pXl78o
Understanding Singapore's Healthcare System and Funding - International Insurance - bit.ly/3wySHoX
Singapore: population living in public housing 2020 - Statista - bit.ly/3Rjmudg
Jurong New Town and Jurong Industrial Estate - Roots - bit.ly/3CEJ7ot
History of Singapore - Nations Online Project - bit.ly/3QWmfFb
Raffles Place - Infopedia - bit.ly/3Reb4br
Singapore has a $100 billion plan to survive in a far hotter world than experts predicted - The Japan Times - bit.ly/3R0bYYJ
Singapore to adopt Dutch polder concept as new land reclamation method at Pulau Tekong - Deltares - bit.ly/3R0hhaL
Malaysia has stopped selling sand to Singapore - Quartz - bit.ly/3e01JFg
Why the world is running out of sand - BBC Future - bbc.in/3Tr1x1W
New York City (US) vs Singapore size comparison - MapFight - bit.ly/3TngmCI
The Marina Bay Story - Urban redevelopment Authority - bit.ly/33VlOTu
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[@georgeho8997]

Singapore is not Singapore if we have abundant of anything. Scarcity, adversity and hostility follow us since day one and created us.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

because the Malays are constantly fighting the British. The British migrated from China to India to oust the local population. the Malay nation known as a nation of traders turned into people who lived in western plantations. and China and India took the Straits of Malacca and Malay merchants job

[@bimasetyaputra8381]

​@@carkawalakhatulistiwaplease fix your english, i thought malays has far better fluency in english than us

[@edib3lastname882]

This is fascinating. Thank you for such a quality production. Also, you might already know this, but Singapore's current reclamation project is the Tuas Mega Port, with "soil improvement works" being done on about 414 ha worth of land. The previous large scale reclamation project (that I am aware of) is the Changi East project. It is going to be the site of Singapore Changi Airport's Terminal 5.

[@Faultlinevideos]

Hello Edib. Thanks for the information, we'll look into it and of course thank you for the support!

[@wannaberedneckprepper7030]

But Sg also facing inflation of material costs and also countries that is refusing to sell us their precious materials like Malaysia on sand. Research about that too. How u gonna build if you can’t produce that building material you need???

[@wannaberedneckprepper7030]

SG = small pot = needs repotting of new soil to be sustainable. Cannot import the much needed soil, we SOL.

[@lzh4950]

I remembered ard 15 yrs ago when concrete & thus construction suffered from inflation because Indonesia banned sand exports then, so some public housing were built mainly out of steel instead, like ultra-tall skyscrapers in other countries

[@lzh4950]

I remembered some of my countrymen got pretty defensive over an al-Jazeera documentary about how Singapore buying sand from Cambodia previously led to more river dredging there, reducing its water quality & their fishermen's catch. My countrymen said something like "Cambodia's gov't agreed to sell the sand, full stop" & accused al-Jazeera of defaming us (while others said we'd already stopped buying). A similar defensiveness could happen again too as we now buy hydropower from Laos, since there's been concern over the deforestation & loss in water quality due to hydropower dams. & when some people questioned if we should import less water from neighbouring Malaysia back when it faced a drought in late 2015, some people said "But our water contract with Malaysia entitles us to this amount of water, & a contract is a contract" Personally I feel that even so, its still better when we can be more environmentally conscious, so its heartening when I hear that we're now using soil dug out from our railway tunnelling projects to reclaim land

[@skylineXpert]

desert sand feels like sugar and singaporean sand feels like flour. Just came back from Singapore saturday morning and I must say I am impressed. Especially Singapore Airlines

[@leewn2319]

From day 1 of independence it was declared “Singapore will survive!”. We had survived so far and will continue to survive.

[@timothywalsh866]

Just to nit pick a bit, the PAP was already dominant in Singapore before expulsion from Malaya. Also it might be worth spending a sentence or two on that expulsion, rather than just saying "after independence" twice. It gives some extra context to why Singapore is like it is

[@hubbadubba6063]

Great content, mate. Production looks like a much bigger channel. I can see this channel growing quite quickly.

[@Faultlinevideos]

Much appreciated!

[@apocrophon2199]

Absolutely fascinating. Earned a subscription!

[@robertnmatthews]

Great content and production values. I'm lovin' this channel. Andy is great to look at also :)

[@somersetdc]

A very informative and well done presentation. I'm now a subscriber.

[@StuffWePlay]

I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating - and it gets everywhere.

[@luciajones7678]

Hi Jamie!

[@Cloud7050]

You used better stock footage / B roll than other videos I've seen talking about public housing. They just show the glass buildings in the city. Offices, that sort of thing. Instead of the typical (and also the less glamorous) HDBs.

[@tkyap2524]

This country paid for the sand. It comes from countries that can spare it.

[@singaporenoodles7189]

New subscriber can't wait for other videos

[@Faultlinevideos]

Thanks for subbing!

[@jameslim3850]

Actually it is NOT 95% of Singapore is urbanized . there are 50% forested area as there are nature reserve or not suitable for development.

[@pqrstsma2011]

11:15 the diagram makes it appear to me that once the water is pumped out of the _Polder,_ it will sit well below the water level on the other side of the dike. so people living in houses on the new _polder_ will have to live in constant fear of the dike developing a hole or crack leading to floods? i remember in my school days we had a story of a Dutch boy putting his finger into a hole in a dike to protect his town from the water

[@HorrorTownFilms]

Amazing content!

[@Faultlinevideos]

Glad you think so!

[@maomao8739]

Great channel 😎

[@AJGress]

Hey man, loved the video. Been following you since Andy Burgess. Quick correction though, in the context of the sentence of the title, "its" should be written without apostrophe.

[@Faultlinevideos]

Hey AJ thanks for the continued support and thanks for pointing this out, we've now fixed it 😁

[@johnnybravo6630]

Fantastic content! Seriously top tier production!

[@Faultlinevideos]

Glad you enjoyed it Thank you!

[@elgaatooo]

Would be interesting to see the long term effects of sea level rise on a small country like Singapore and how much the sea takes back from singapore, what they have taken from the sea all these years.

[@jianxiongRaven]

Hi from Singapore

[@arcticlover]

Another great piece of work Andy, kudos to you and the team. Can we test out this Taco Bell analogy? 🌯

[@Faultlinevideos]

haha absolutely!

[@benjespina]

Excellent content.subbed Maybe the bg music is a tad too loud (or maybe that's just me).

[@lpericteo]

A drop of sand is never extra to us Singapore 🇸🇬. 😂😅😊 At least we paid high price for every drop of sand unlike certain powerful countries who invaded and robbed oil from others.

[@MatthewVandeputte]

Another great video Andy 👌🏻

[@starsoffyre]

I'm from Singapore. Can confirm that we snort sand daily

[@meowtherainbowx4163]

Great video. I just have a small criticism of the editing style. I think you flash between a little too much stock footage a little too quickly. It makes sense when it’s clearly relevant, and I suppose you guys need to put something there, but if you use to many sweeping drone shots, it keeps the more important footage from standing out. Don’t be afraid to show more of the host or let shots linger a bit longer. Everything looks professional, though. Much bigger channels make the same mistake.

[@Melange2]

Can't they use desert sand for land reclamation? The sand is basically there to fill the space up instead of the sea water, so why would they need the more expensive, rare and grainy and usually used for construction?

[@hamidahahmad574]

Sand Thieves ! Hello ! 😮Singapore purchased these sands ! What theives ?

[@PhiromWalker]

I am traveling your video and thanks for your share i big like 🎉🎉💚💚 greating from PhiromWalker!! ❤️❤️👍👍👍!

[@Faultlinevideos]

Thanks for watching!

[@gracejm717]

Wow you learn something new everyday! Didn't know Singapore was a sparsely inhabited jungle with CANNIBALS!!!🤣🤣🤣

[@jameslim3850]

How can the public housing be subsidized housing when it now cost 1 million dollars for a leasehold pigeon hole flat in SG

[@AllocatorsAsia]

Duuuuuude this is some quality content. Stunned you only have 700 subs currently. Bet that doesn't last long!

[@Faultlinevideos]

Hope so! Thank you for the support!

[@fillettru]

Strait Malacca is named after a state in malaysia called MALACCA.

[@mycodenameisejatt]

Actually it is named from the Malacca Sultanate and many old maps until the 20th century named the whole peninsular as Malacca peninsular not malay peninsular

[@lzh4950]

Malacca is also spelt as _Melaka_ I think

[@HafiZzZzZz]

What's the difference between the sand in the desert and the sand Singapore needs ?

[@hereunto]

desert sand grains are round and smooth and can't be used in concrete while beach sand is irregularly shaped and coarse and is used in all concrete

[@fillettru]

What resources they have besides human ? Lmao.

[@SuperValue350]

@@fillettru Malaysia with its resources is still poor with a weaker currency while obsessed with race and religion. That's the real joke.

[@0megalul309]

@@SuperValue350 muslim issues

[@tokitoyotokitoyo]

​​@@SuperValue350 thats why they can chill. As a non singaporean nor malaysian,I can say Malaysia leads a happier life while Singapore suicide rate is high with low fertility. And we all know Singapore only import Malaysian Chinese and PRC to stay afloat so that the chinese mafia PAP can stay in power. If the Johore Sultan didnt opened up a trading post in Singapore, you and your grandfather might still be in China. A far worse shithole. Ask anyone from every corner of the world what they think of China.

[@Cloud7050]

I find the background music a bit too loud relative to the voiceover.

[@LeahandLevi]

Dang that’s a lot of burritos. 🌯😬

[@Faultlinevideos]

Indeed

[@Amentiople]

10:46 hey makassar losari beach :D

[@wannaberedneckprepper7030]

Someone else said this so I will pass it on… You trying to plant food… in a small pot, again & again, year after year… you know you have to keep on either repotting the soil or just throw that whole pot out as it is useless because soil just crap out since it’s not sustainable?? SG = that small pot. What goes up, must come down to face reality my fellow SGreans.

[@kevin22214]

This video: Jul 7, 2022 Versed: How Singapore Conquers Land That Doesn't Exist Aug 2, 2022 Asianometry: Singapore’s Sand Problem Aug 19, 2022

[@Faultlinevideos]

Interesting 🤔

[@--julian_]

there's probably an easy answer I don't know, but why can't they use desert sand?

[@RK-cj4oc]

Desert sand has been made smooth and smaller by the wind. It does not bind as well as rougher sand. That is why. Its possible, however it would fall apart much faster.

[@Nicolas-uu3jr]

they drained the swamp 😝🍊

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

Singapura bank to Malay territory

[@therevivalawaken.]

Singapore gained independence from Malaysia They gainer self governmence in 1954

[@jaydengaming7263]

me thinking about marina bay sands be like:🤣🤣🤣

[@nat3816]

Now we can still buy sand from countries like Myanmar and Philippines.

[@rm_alfaro]

Environmental laws in the Philippines are quite stricter compared to our SEA neighbors, so I don't think the Philippine government and those environmentalists will allow that to happen. That's why up until now, Singapore has not been able to import sand from the Philippines, lol!

[@nat3816]

@@rm_alfaro what are you talking about? Singapore already imported $2m worth of sand from Philippines bro! 🤭

[@rm_alfaro]

@@nat3816 The sands exported by the Philippines to Singapore were actually volcanic sand/ash coming from Mount Pinatubo in Zambales and not sands from Philippine beaches and coastal areas. That's why the sand exportation was allowed because it was not harmful to the environment and didn't really have any negative impact to the ecology of the surrounding area. The dredging of the silty Bucao River to get the volcanic sand actually offered solution to the flooding in the area so the sand exports to Singapore were rather beneficial and also a great source of added revenue for the Philippines.

[@Sky-8646]

Sand thief? Get your facts right!

[@wannaberedneckprepper7030]

I don’t like the word #powerful to describe SG. Because ego is not a good thing if a nation really wants to keep striving for the best! And reality, say one day, SG gets erased from the world map… world will still be unaffected and will move on. We are but just a small red dot. Having big face will kill us all. I like LKY for not wanting SG to be that first world country so we can enjoy that ever growing status. Even Sg pride of crazy rich Asian is very unhealthy for SG. Crazy rich Asians can leave Sg when that small country big status expire to other greener pastures. It’s the ordinary SGreans that will be left out to stay and suffer should that happen. Even the new migrants or even Sg domestic workers can leave SG…. But SGreans their home is SG should it become too #expensive for the own SGreans. Another SGrean said that we we discussed new migration (Rich fleeing to SG from China 🇨🇳) and I have to agree.

[@mysteriousDSF]

Bro don't use the word literally like that, I feel like I was hanging out with annoying London teens

[@Mrjoboo1]

I don’t like that background music in this video

[@azhariarif]

It's a matter of perspective, some might say living in Singapore is leagues better than Malaysia, but Malaysians might disagree. The currency is stronger in Singapore, but there is more freedom and personal liberty in Malaysia. You live in Singapore, you wake up in your government leased home that is borrowed to you, you squeeze in your mrt on your way to work with the rest of the sweaty schmucks like sardines, only to work in a corporate hell with your soulless colleagues rat-race in search of personal satisfaction that is never there in Singapore anyways. Most Singaporeans wants to make enough money to get out of Singapore and live in Western countries where they have better system, a more humane one. Singapore is like Canada, and Malaysia is like America.

[@kwpf]

What sand thieves? What a lousy clickbait! The sand is purchased. Willing buyer, willing seller.

[@danielc2701]

It's an old Indonesian jingoistic argument that they used to use to distract their population. Haven't heard it in a long while, surprised it's still going on. And you know the Indonesian government, first they sell the sand and collect the money, then they turn around and say the sand was stolen. Guess they don't need to declare the money as income tax if the sand was stolen do they? lol.

[@SivalinPuthery]

Exactly but you know Westerners .... they like to claim reality on a subject where there isn't one. So typical

[@fillettru]

Rich country yet poor at certain part. What a sad.

[@astrayproductions]

@@fillettru clown 🤡

[@LinksRoyal]

@@fillettru better than people who keep getting corrupt politicians and racist represent them.

[@ushio1228]

maybe you kinda overhighlighted malaysia

[@IkeReviews]

Singapore will have no beaches

[@giancarlopaolini7529]

No problem ...plenty of them in Malaysia and Indonesia ....just like Golf courts for the rich Japanese, Singapurian etc., .

[@raymondloke]

Pathetic accusation...how about Malaysia's Forest City built out of reclaimed land that has been a dismal failure ?

[@JayAnuar]

Too soon to clarify it as a failure. I go there daily since the past 3 years, from the dark days of covid till now, it slowly gaining momentum. No need to divert your issues toward us. We're clearly not addicted to sands unlike yours. 😅. You might as well reclaimed the land all the way to the Indon's island and merge with them.

[@raymondloke]

@@JayAnuar Malaysia's fate is dependent on which PM is at the helm and which one is in jail

[@JayAnuar]

@@raymondloke no need to divert it even more. Do you lack focus? The video itself is about ur addcition of sand. No need to divert your problem by mentioning us. Have fun merging your land with Indonesia.

[@raymondloke]

@@JayAnuar oh, the truth hurts too much ?

[@JayAnuar]

@@raymondloke what truth? About your addiction to reclaiming land? judging by your initial comment. yeah, i guess you must be hurt by the truth so muchh.....🤣.

[@SuperValue350]

What an incredibly biased video tbh. Looking at the other videos on this channel, can't say I'm surprised.

[@MrBoliao98]

Sand thief bullshit, most of the reclamation were poor quality fill that was locally sourced. High quality sand were purchased and use for construction, not reclamation.

[@qwertypoet2386]

Pasir itu dibeli dengan harga yang mahal bukan mencuri. Bukannya guna duit kau pun. Senang-senang saja menuduh mencuri. Hati busuk punya orang!

[@caver38]

Singapore has created problems for many countries in the region by excessive use of sand . This is due to the excessive population and building , and the knocking down and rebuilding of many recent buildings , the country is currently unsustainable and needs to change its ideas

[@lpericteo]

Nonsense ! We are just a tiny red dot, how much sand can we use ?

[@jackielee4599]

Half truth is the worst.

[@daboundy]

you mean 829 thousand million ... a billion is a 'million million' .. or at least in English speaking countries unlike the USA (who haven't spoken English in a very long time.)

[@pauleff3312]

Can't they get this from Africa's Sahara? There is a really big beach there!

[@aaron4680]

Why didn't you touch on the environmental impacts of this kind of reclamation? You even meantioned Dubai the most famous to disregard the environment for vanity

[@ukrytykrytyk8477]

Another video and yet another massive flop, one that only British person could make! Did singapore really gain independence from Malaysia?? Or rather form the British Empire???

[@tokitoyotokitoyo]

Malaya gain independance from British which consist of Singapore. But later on Singapore left. So which means Singapore gain independance from Malaysia, and Malaysia have got every right to take it back. Thats why Malaysia trying to claim it back afew times but there is no answer from the Singapore side. Because they knew Singapore belongs to Malaysia. Or should i say more like belong to the sultan of johore

[@JayAnuar]

@@tokitoyotokitoyo Nah, as a Malaysian we're way past that, at least on us, the citizen level. political wise, no comment. Just let Singapore be themselves, and let us be us. It have worked for 60 years now.