SINGAPORE – With climate change expected to cause more erratic rainfall patterns, Singapore’s approach to dealing with flash floods has been expanded, said national water agency PUB chief executive Ong Tze-Ch’in.
The Government will continue to invest in drainage infrastructure, but on top of that, PUB recognises the need to build up societal resilience against flash flooding, he added.
“We have come to the realisation that we cannot possibly prevent every flooding event,” said Mr Ong, 50, in an interview with The Straits Times on Nov 28, as the country enters the rainy north-east monsoon season – the wettest period of the year.
According to Singapore’s third national climate change study, the growing amount of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere is expected to bring heavier, more intense and frequent storms.
In January, monsoon surges – weather events that happen during the wet phase of the north-east monsoon – dumped large amounts of rain over the country in a short period of time.
The first surge episode in early January led to a nearly three-hour flood in Jalan Seaview in Mountbatten, caused by the confluence of high tides and prolonged rain. Most flash floods here do not last for more than an hour.
“I think there is still a sense maybe that flash floods should not even happen in Singapore. But with climate change, from time to time, we can expect flash floods to happen,” he said, in his first media interview since he took over the reins of the agency in late 2023.
“We want to get to the stage where (a flash flood) is not such a shock as and when it happens,” he added. But a lot more work is needed to build the resilience of the populace, and the first thing is to adjust the public’s mindsets about flash floods here, Mr Ong noted.
Mr Ong was formerly the deputy secretary of resilience at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, overseeing water and food policies between 2021 and 2023. In that role, he also covered communications, partnerships and engagement at the ministry.
PUB recognises the need to build up residents’ resilience against flash flooding.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO READER
That experience, he said, taught him that climate action requires inputs from all of society.
Mr Ong noted that investment in improving Singapore’s drainage system remains a key pillar of flood prevention. It was announced in February that
$150 million will be spent on drainage upgrading works
in the 2025 financial year.
But with land constraints, there is a limit to how much more drainage can be built or expanded here, he added.
PUB has also undertaken the construction of more specialised flood-proofing infrastructure, Mr Ong said, citing the
recently completed Syed Alwi Pumping Station,
which features an underground tank in the low-lying Jalan Besar area.
It diverts storm water from Rochor Canal into an underground tank to prevent the area’s drains and canals from overflowing during a deluge.
Upgrading works on a 900m stretch of the Bukit Timah Canal, between Rifle Range Road and Jalan Kampong Chantek, are scheduled to be completed in 2026.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Still, despite governmental efforts, residents, businesses and commuters in flood-prone areas also increasingly have to keep an eye on weather forecasts and flood alerts, and take steps to be out of the water’s reach, Mr Ong said.
