Singapore Formula One: It’s Just Business
The big news last weekend in Singapore was the announcement by S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry that the F1 carnival is finally coming to our shores.
F1 is the most un-green sport today. Today’s Straits Times newspaper carried an article with some fascinating nuggets of information to show just how polluting it is:
- Each F1 car burns up to a litre of fuel and releases 1,500g of carbon dioxide per km, which contributes to an estimated 10 tonnes of CO2 per race weekend.
- The mooted night race format requires an estimated 500 energy-sapping high-intensity light poles.
- F1 car engines are loud enough to be heard literally half way across Singapore, or shatter glass windows of nearby buildings.
Coincidentally, S Iswaran was also the Guest-of-Honour at the prize-awarding ceremony for the Eco Products International Fair (EPIF) 2006 where Star Bamboo won the Silver Medal for our bamboo flooring:
The EPIF and F1 are at opposite ends of the eco-friendliness scale, but there is one common link.
From the outset, the Singapore government has cited commercial reasons for courting F1: tourism receipts, branding of Singapore as a cosmopolitan and glamourous city to 500 million television viewers, and jobs creation.
That is why the Singapore government has committed itself to spending up to S$90m per year for the F1 race. If green businesses were ever to enjoy this level of support, we would have to demonstrate the same kind of ROI.
After all, it’s just business.
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blueheeler said,
May 21, 2007 at 12:56 pm
excellent observation!
it's all about the timing « BothSidesOfTheJohorStraits said,
May 21, 2007 at 12:58 pm
[…] it’s all about the timing Filed under: Uncategorized — blueheeler @ 4:56 am This is an excellent blog on the some of the ironies that maketh Singapore (see http://starbamboo.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/singapore-formula-one-its-just-business/). […]
Hun Boon said,
May 21, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Hi blueheeler, thanks for the link.
You’re right to point out that the F1 announcement came in the midst of the local media’s campaign on environmentalism.
Unfortunately, as ST’s Chris Tan pointed out, the green lobby’s response was muted. Perhaps green organisations in Singapore should voice their concerns more strongly?
rodsjournal said,
May 25, 2007 at 10:59 pm
I haven’t read the S[traitsJacket]T article, but it seems to me that there aren’t any significant ‘green’ organisations in S’pore to begin with that could voice concerns.
Certainly not the Nature Society (Singapore), much less govt. body the National Environment Agency! (that would be a laugh)
Hun Boon said,
May 25, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Hi Rod, I suppose the closest we’ve got to a green organisation would be the Singapore Environment Council (http://www.sec.org.sg/).
It’s always difficult for these groups to play a lobbying role because they usually start off as a government(-linked) body. Meanwhile, let’s do what we can as concerned individuals. Get involved, talk to people, raise awareness.
James said,
June 19, 2007 at 11:29 am
to me it seems that you are picking splinters out of an axe wound. the money generated by the F1 race alone makes it commonsense for the race. Plus as it is being run on the road Singapore wont be building a race track on virgin land.
As cars wont be driving the circuit during the 2 hour race probably makes the race CO2 neutral.
It rather annoys me that we spend our time debating these issues when larger and more important issues need tackling i.e. forest fires in Borneo or illegal logging in almost all of Singapore’s bneighbours, or what about the loss of all of our offshore reefs.
Hun Boon said,
June 19, 2007 at 11:49 am
Hi James,
I don’t agree with you that the race will somehow become carbon-neutral just because passenger cars won’t be driving on that particular stretch of road. It’s obvious that the traffic levels for the race weekend will shoot up all around the country.
It might be a street circuit, but extensive re-paving works have to be done to meet F1 standards, all for just a weekend of racing. How about all the temporary power-sapping lights that have to be set up for a night race? From an ecological point of view, these are extremely wasteful practices.
You justify the race by the revenue it generates. That’s the justification by the Singapore government too. It’s valid of course, but in my view, not a strong enough reason.
The other topics you raised are important as well. 2 of them involve other countries, which make it politically touchy. So let’s concentrate on the topic of offshore reefs, which is within Singapore territory.
Some years back, I was involved in the salvaging of the coral reefs at Pulau Ayer Chawan, which was reclaimed to create Jurong Island. As far as I know, the vast majority of the moved corals died in their new home. Our offshore reefs have been demolished in the name of economic progress and revenue.
My big question is: If you could accept that reason for holding the F1 race, why not accept it for all these other problems you raised as well?
James said,
June 19, 2007 at 6:26 pm
the difference is that F1 wont demolish anything by hosting the race on the roads of singapore
rodsjournal said,
July 9, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I’m not against the F1 per se. But like Hun Boon, I do want to point out and raise awareness of the environmental/ecological consequences, like the extensive re-paving and power-sapping lights.
Just be aware, that’s all. And do what we can for the environment, at a personal level.
rod