ON THE SPOT (RTS TV MAGAZINE)

Feb 1976

MOUNT FABER

By LORETTA TO

  RTS (Radio Television Singapore) is producing a new programme called "ON THE SPOT".  This programme is produced in colour .  It is wide in scope, taking in a range of well-known personalities.  The programme to be shot on location in various parts of picturesque Singapore promises to be informative as well as entertaining.

   Nothing has been spared to make this an excellent locally produced programme.  Careful consideration  has been given to all the various aspects of the production.  In selecting Mr Chandran Nair  as the script writer, RTS could not have made a better choice.

    The art of script writing is both exacting and delicate.  Mr Nair is one of the few persons  who can be said to have mastered this exacting  art both in theory and in practice.  Though a part-time script  writer, since taking on his responsibility of scripting "On the Spot", Mr Nair has not spared himself but has doggedly pursued his task with a dedication of a true professional.

   Mr Nair approaches his task methodically.  First he personally investigates the location which he considers worthwhile for the particular programme.  He checks  through every angle with a camera to bring out the potentials of each natural scenery.  Secondly, he does a careful research into the historical background and the development.  Thirdly he mulls over and over the ideas, modifying, embellishing them to capture the theme and the special style of the programme.

   Mr Nair first came to RTS as a journalist.  He has since acquired considerable experience and insight into the media.  He is  now the manager of Eastern Universities Press SDN BHD and also the Hon Secretary of the Singapore Book Publishers Association.  He is by qualification, experience and  interest well qualified to undertake the onerous task of writing a good, wholesome, entertaining and educational programme.  In his own words he has said, "It requires a careful approach, total discipline and commitment.  We have got a natural history and cultures of considerable proportion and putting the facts and  commentaries together in an interesting and entertaining manner for RTS to use is indeed a great challenge."

   He is optimistic that the programme will be an excellent one.  He conceives of his job modestly and insists that it is the combined effort of the whole team of RTS that will make the programme worthy of the sophisticated tastes of Singapore RTS audiences.  

 From Mr Nair's Script:

   The perfect place to watch the sun go down and the lights go up.

   So says a travel brochure about Mount Faber.  To get to the top, one travels along a narrow winding road but even the walk is worth it.  There are many other spots in Singapore where one can watch the sun go down.  But to watch the lights come on in the city, as far as the eye can see, Mount Faber is one of the most sensible places to go to.

   At the top, out to sea, there is a myriad of lights--ships in Keppel Harbour, the inner and outer roads rise and fall in a twinkling of soft lights;

   There is at the top of this hill such perfect peace that it is no suprise that those who wish to spend an hour or two in the company of someone special, haunt this 108 meter hill.

    It is not only at night that Mount Faber draws visitors.  In bright daylight there is another magnificent view.  Below the steep green slopes are the city, the symmetrical housing estates, our own southern islands, some of which are to be developed as holiday resorts.  On other islands are oil refineries whose output makes Singapore one of the largest oil-refining centres in the world. 

   There is yet another reason why visitors come to Mount Faber.  The cable car service begins here.  Inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Dr Goh Keng Swee on feb 15th 1974 the 13 million dollar project has now become a part of the life of Singapore.  The 43 cable cars can carry 720 passengers per hour in either direction.  Perched at a height of 200 ft above sea level the passenger travels 1.7 kilometers before alighting  at Carlton Hill on Sentosa, the other terminal.

   And who was Faber?  Captain Charles Edward Faber of the Madras Artillery arrived in Singapore in 1844.  He was the island's surperintending engineer.  This meant that he was responsible for all public buildings in Singapore.  In this capacity, he designed  quite a few buildings, but except for the Ourtram Gaol,  his structures were not successful.  His previous undertakings--a bridge, a landing place and a market (the Ellenbourough Market) all 'more or less disintegrating of their own accord soon after being built' according to one observer.

   Whatever Charles Edward Faber may have done to deserve it, it is little doubt that Mount Faber today is a popular place.  But this was not always so.  Not so long ago Mount Faber was a quiet hill on which grew fruit trees, including wild cashew nuts.  The present development of Mount Faber into what it is today was part of the overall plan to make Singapore a green garden city.  For the visitor there are brilliant colours,-- a quiet chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.  Up at the top of Mount Faber, the air seems fresher and probably is.