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Reader Response Draft #3



In the article “Hotel New World Collapse”, Lim (2009) discussed the events leading up to the collapse of Hotel New World, which was caused by a series of engineering faults and poor building management.

Hotel New World was a multi-story building that was constructed by Lian Yak Realty in 1971 and was located at Owen Road. According to Lim, the collapse of Hotel New World in 1986 was so devastating that it did not leave any walls and columns standing. After the collapse, rescue teams consisting of both local and foreign specialists were dispatched. Lim stated that former president Wee Kim Wee arranged “a commission of inquiry” to inspect the source of the collapse on 22 March 1986. Lim stated that according to the investigation report, the primary reason for the collapse “was due to inadequate structural design of the building”. The additional installation on the roof also contributed and accelerated the collapse. The investigation report also mentioned that visible “cracks in the column, wall, and floor” were observed before the collapse. Further investigation showed that the team behind the construction consisted of unqualified personnel. The absence of proper supervision of structural designs and maintenance management led to the Hotel New World tragedy.


First cause of the tragedy of Hotel New World was the insufficient supervision by qualified personnel such as professional engineer on structural designs. Proper supervision was needed to ensure that the structures were designed by qualified person to comply with the construction regulations. According to Thean, Vijiaratnam, Lee, and Broms (1986), the building structure design plans of Hotel New World was done by an unqualified person without supervision of a professional engineer. It was also mentioned that the changes made to the building structural plans were not consulted with the professional engineer (Thean, Vijiaratnam, Lee and Broms 1986). This lack of supervision of the professional engineer and the communication between the unqualified person and the professional engineer led to poor structural design of the building which did not comply with the construction regulations.

Second cause was the lack of supervision by the government authorities when the building structural plans were submitted for approval. The government authorities were responsible to ensure that the construction of the building was carried out under the supervision of a qualified personnel. In the article “Findings likely to affect industry professionals”,(1986) it was mentioned that the Development and Building Control Division, which was responsible for the “processing and approving development project”, approved the construction of Hotel New World after examining that the structural designs were endorsed by the “registered professional”. The article also mention that the Development and Building Control Division found out about the unqualified person after the collapse of Hotel New World. This mean that if Hotel New World did not collapse, the government authorities would not have known about the unqualified person till this day. This showed that the government authorities were not competent as they failed to identify the building structure design plans, they had validated were prepared by an uncertified person. If there had been competent supervision done by the government authorities Hotel New World would not have faced the tragedy.

Absence of proper and regular maintenance of Hotel New World was the final cause of the tragedy. The maintenance management of the Hotel New World was done by the owners of the building (Thean, Vijiaratnam, Lee and Broms 1986). It was also mentioned that despite numerous attempts made by the renovation contractor to inform the building owner about the deteriorations of the building the owner did not make any amendments. The article “Untrained man drew the plan”, also mentioned that there was further installation of a water tank on the roof endorsed by the building manager even though the building was only designed to carry one water tank “in the building’s motor room”. This showed that the management of the building was poor and lack the knowledge of the consequences that could cause by neglecting to make the amendments and the additional installation. The maintenance management could have prevented the Hotel New World tragedy with regular inspection done on the building structures by professional engineers. According to Thean, Vijiaratnam, lee, and Broms (1986), the maintenance management of the building “did not care about structural maintenance”.

The tragedy of Hotel New World was inevitable given all the causes. The supervision on structural designs by a qualified person, followed by the government to ensure the construction guidelines have been complied and the role of the owner in maintenance management of the building were critical factors to prevent tragedy such as the collapse of Hotel New World.    




References:
Lim, T.S. (2011). Hotel New World Collapse. Retrieved February 10,2020, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_783__2009-01-02.html


Untrained man drew the plans. (1986, September 18). Straits Times, pp. 1. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19860918-1.2.2


Findings likely to affect industry professionals. (1986, October 6). Straits Times, pp. 10. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19861006-1.2.22.12?ST=1&AT=search&k=How to avoid another Hotel New World disaster&QT=how,to,avoid,another,hotel,new,world,disaster&oref=article-related


Thean, L.P., Vijiaratnam, A., Lee, S.L., & Broms, Bengt B. (1987). Report of Inquiry on the collapse of Hotel New World, pp. 14, 28. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/data2/BookSG/publish/2/2b6b1c5c-8918-433a-a41e-8d2be8451577/web/html5/index.html?opf=tablet/BOOKSG.xml&launchlogo=tablet/BOOKSG_BrandingLogo_.png&pn=1




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