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Great Country, Great Architecture

You would think that this is a highly developed country, with everything so modern and advanced; then its building must have very well planned structures abode by the most basic health and safety regulations. Yeah right.

I just had a big slip last night, on the top of the really steep driveway right outside my apartment, thanks to the slippery road – as it has been raining cats and dogs in Singapore for the last couple of days. But rain isn’t at all the main culprit.

And that was not the first time I’ve slipped! The first time brought me a bleeding knee, this time a sprained lower back.

You see; this apartment block has a weird landscape structure that is not exactly ergonomic. The driveway is way too steep to walk down safely, never mind, as it wasn’t built for pedestrians anyway. But the steps and stairway leading down to the entrance of my apartments are too steep too. Take a look at the photographs below: instead of making the platform at a 180-degree horizontal level (see the red line), they made it slants down at a significant angle (see the red arrow). See how big that gradient is? Can you possibly walk down that slope on those slippery tiles, safely? Please note that there is also no railing or handle, whatsoever for you to hold on to.

Steep driveway

With these scary staircases, I’ve got no choice but to walk on the driveway.

How can they have overlooked that flaw? I thought this is Singapore, so everything should be very efficiently done! To be honest, I just think that they have done it that way to save cost. Imagine levelling the middle platform at completely 180 degree, how many more steps do they have to install? That’s going to require more cement, more tiles, more time to finish up, more pay for the builders, and obviously leading to less profit! How clever!

So that’s human for you. Trading safety for profit. I’ve gotta get outta there. Quick.

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