Artist Statement
Singapore Surfacing
Imagine the Singapore Merlion partially submerged by sea water. The average sea level around Singapore is projected to rise by up to 1.15m by 2100, exceeding previous estimates.
Singapore Surfacing interrogates the narratives and relationships of man and the Singapore coast — both on the main island as well as the offshore islands — in light of global rising sea levels.
In 2019, former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it would take S$100 billion or more, spread over 100 years, to tackle rising sea levels.
Assuming 1.5C of warming, prime real estate in the city worth S$70 billion ($50 billion) faces a high risk of flooding, according to Bloomberg estimates using data from a real estate company.
According to Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore Benjamin Horton, a third of Singapore’s land area is only one meter above the highest tides.
The government’s approach to rising sea levels is clear. “We are not planning to lose any inch of land permanently,” PUB deputy director Ho Chai Teck said in a news report.
