Dr
Jose C. E. Mendoza on
underground living, the environment and outer space (?)
What is your opinion on living underground?
You know, I’m a biologist, so I
love the outdoors, I love to be in open spaces. Or else I would feel quite
claustrophobic. That being said, if it is a necessity, I don’t mind using the
underground for things like storage, but not as living space. I have faith in
the ingenuity of people, they can make conditions underground as close to the
surface as possible.
What kind of structures do you think should be placed underground?
[He chose everything except
residence of course!] Offices, schools, retail, sports facilities, research
labs (definitely!), and transport (We’re already doing that right?). But I
think what’s most important is that we make good use of the space and do not
affect the aesthetics of the land. Actually, I would prefer to live under
water, I mean we can get a sense of space there. Or maybe even outer space! We
always have those fantasies to colonize the moon. Underground living is
something really new to me.
Given that Singapore is facing land constraints and a likely increase
in population, how do you think we should plan our land use? (E.g. building
upwards, building downwards, reclaim land, clear land)
I think that going upwards or
downwards doesn’t make any difference, because when you are building upwards
you are also preparing for building downwards. We should exhaust all possible
lands first. You see, Singapore is both a city and a state. I would say
Singapore is more of a city than a state.
So you’re definitely against the clearing of land?
We should intensify the use of
land that are already quite built up rather than use those small patches of
forests. Keep these patches, increase the connectivity between Bukit Timah
Reserve and the Central Catchment. And if we want to build underground we have
to do site explorations to see if Singapore is suitable for underground
constructions. It must also be cost-effective.
Do you think that underground buildings are better or worse for the
environment?
I’m just thinking what do we do
with the rocks that are being excavated?
We can use the excavated rocks for reclaiming land.
Aha! So that is the problem.
[Gives a wide grin]
Oh, so you think land reclamation is not good?
Yea, reclaiming land is not good.
Because where are we going to reclaim our land from? Most likely mangroves at
the coastline. It’s going to affect mangrove areas which have a lot of
biodiversity. In Singapore, there is concern to preserve biodiversity. We still
don’t know what biodiversity we have in the coastal areas. You don’t know until
you do a proper study… This is a very boring response hor? [Not at all, Dr
Mendoza :D] When you build something underground you will disturb what is on
the surface. Just like the plan to build the CIL [Cross Island Line] under the
CRR [Central Catchment Reserve], when you drill underground, it could lead to a
crack in the rocks, and then what? [Prompts me for the answer. Err…animals in
the reserve would be affected?]
Actually, we can use the excavated rocks for paving roads too.
Paving roads ah… Do we need so
many roads?
What we should be thinking is
what exactly is fuelling this demand for space? A lot has got to do with economic
growth. We can just live with less, lower our ecological footprint, then we
don’t need all that space. We cannot always create solutions to our problems,
we have to change our mindsets. If there is an option to live with less, I’d go
for that option.
What would you like to know about underground structures?
Erm, how they’re built, what are
the applications in Singapore, what are the impacts on the environment, and
what kind of psychological problems would it bring. [I guess that’s more work
for me!]
Quote of the day from Dr Mendoza:
“Do we need all that space?”
P.S. I would like to thank Dr Mendoza for
his patience in sharing his thoughts with me, even though I just sprung out
of nowhere without giving him time to prepare.
[Date interviewed: 13 October 2014]
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