Golden jubilee countdown: 7 days to National Day

#myspotinthedot: Marina Bay is tops

It heads list of favourite locations in contest which drew over 1,000 entries from readers

Marina Bay, home to the nation's most iconic landmarks and architectural marvels, has emerged as the winning spot among Singaporeans.

Places such as the Esplanade, Marina Barrage and Marina Bay Sands topped the list of favourite locations among The Straits Times readers who sent in entries for the #myspotinthedot contest in the last month.

The newspaper started the National Day contest on June 22, inviting the public to post pictures of their favourite spot in Singapore on photo-sharing app Instagram.

More than 1,000 entries have since been submitted.

According to boundaries drawn by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the central region covers the Central Business District as well as places such as Kallang, Geylang and Marine Parade.

  • WINNERS

  • Over the past month, The Straits Times #myspotinthedot National Day contest received more than 1,000 entries. Thank you for taking part.

    Congratulations to the following contestants who have each won a pair of tickets to the National Day Parade at the Padang this weekend. We will be in touch with details on how to collect your tickets.

    • alyssagautama @ Punggol Waterway Park

    • zhenlingg @ Lower Peirce Reservoir

    • deequack @ Upper Peirce Reservoir

    • hedonaystic @ Changi Airport

    • bebizhou @ Changi Village

    • timmytay @ Pasir Ris

    • jamesleowtzening @ Block 33 Marine Crescent

    • eve_teo @ Pulau Ubin

    • prisgooner @ East Coast Park hawker centre

    • beefoo29 @ Changi Beach

    • thecrazyidiot @ PPL Shipyard

    • privateryan39 @ Dairy Farm Nature Park

    • chrisclme @ Toh Guan Road

    • vincentchew4059 @ Toast Box at Jem

    • gurjeevaan @ MacRitchie Reservoir

    • pippymidd @ Rochor Centre

    • popzblue @ Bishan Park

    • wyn_photos@ Block 12 Dakota Crescent

    • weitaminc @ MacRitchie Reservoir

    • ronntwz @ Bay East Garden

    • pmkong88 @ Kallang Community Club

    • eileenlau @ Chinatown

    • janicely26 @ Gardens by the Bay

    • sonofsingapore @ Kampong Buangkok

    • delilin @ Yishun Dam

It also includes estates such as Bishan, Toa Payoh, Bukit Timah, Queenstown and Bukit Merah, and stretches to the Southern Islands.

Close to 80 readers chose Marina Bay and its modern skyline.

The Float @ Marina Bay has been at the heart of National Day festivities since 2007 and, this year, people will be able to catch the live parade broadcast at sites around the bay.

At least 15 people picked the 35ha Sports Hub in Kallang, which has hosted sporting events, including this year's SEA Games and the Barclays Asia Trophy last month.

Pockets of green spaces in the concrete city jungle were also popular, with many readers submitting entries featuring MacRitchie Reservoir, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, the Southern Ridges and Gardens by the Bay.

The newly crowned Singapore Botanic Gardens, with its Unesco World Heritage status, was also a hot pick.

Mrs Teh Tsui Tsui, 43, visits the Botanic Gardens once a week during the school holidays with her three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son.

The 156-year-old gardens is just a four-minute drive from her condominium in Stevens Road.

"My kids like the big open space, and there are so many different parts to explore, from the Orchid Garden to the lake and the eateries," said the housewife.

Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is Mr Lim Poh Seng's favourite haunt.

The semi-retired polytechnic lecturer lives in a terraced house in Bishan and takes a stroll in the park every morning.

"I enjoy the scenery and get to see different kinds of birds and flowers. I even saw the otter family growing from one to five this year," said the 64-year-old.

"A few days ago, I saw a baby hawk," said Mr Lim.

He also visits MacRitchie Reservoir on Saturdays.

"You find a lot of people doing taiji and qigong there in the mornings," he added.

Mr Terence Teng, who is in his 60s, cycles around different parts of Singapore with friends every week and said the city skyline reminds him of Singapore's modernisation.

"We start when it's still dark at 6.30am and it's nice to see the sun rise," said the financial services manager.

"Four decades ago, all these buildings were not here and Clifford Pier used to be at the edge of the sea. Now most of Marina is sitting on reclaimed land."

But as Singapore develops into a sparkling modern metropolis, there are some who cling to its oldest estates, such as Dakota and Tiong Bahru, built by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor of the Housing Board.

Residents of Dakota have till the end of next year to move out, after redevelopment plans were unveiled last year.

The quaint low-rise estate was built in 1958.

Mr Eric Ang, who has lived in Dakota all 46 years of his life, said in Mandarin: "There's a sense of attachment to this place because I've grown up here."

Mr Ang, who is not working and lives with his mother and older brother, added: "It's quite sad to see my neighbours moving out but there's no choice because the Government needs the place."

They will move out in September next year.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 03, 2015, with the headline #myspotinthedot: Marina Bay is tops. Subscribe