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Malaysia Economic News
April 5, 2006 Wednesday
GENTING'S "S.E.E.D." TO BE SITE FOR 10,000 YEAR CLOCK
DATELINE: SINGAPORE April 5
Malaysia's Genting International and Star Cruises, which has submitted a bid for Singapore's first Integrated Resort (IR) at Marina Bay, announced today its collaboration with the Long Now Foundation of the U.S to build the world's most extraordinary clock -- an all mechanical solar-adjusted clock designed to last 10,000 years.
The clock will be sited at the Singapore Entertainment & Events Destination (S.E.E.D.), the proposed IR development which Genting plans to invest over S$5 billion (S$1=RM2.30).
Genting International and Star Cruises chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said that a project as big and as important as the Marina Bay IR must have a centrepiece.
"The Mona Lisa is the centre of the Louvre (museum in Paris). The Hope diamond is the must-see of the Smithsonian (museum in Washington). The Apollo 11 Capsule is the central attraction at the Air & Space Museum. We asked ourselves, what will be the heartbeat of S.E.E.D.?"
"We searched the world for just the right idea... it had to capture the imagination, something worth seeking out, worth visiting," he told reporters here.
The siting of the clock, dubbed "The Great Singapore Clock", at the proposed IR development was made possible following the collaboration with The Long Now Foundation, whose co-chairman and scientist Danny Hillis designed the first prototype of the 10,000 Year Clock.
American entrepreneur and inventor, Jay Walker, who was approached by Lim to think of an icon that would become the "crown jewel" of SEED, told a media briefing today that The Long Now Foundation was planning to build two such
clocks.
"One will be inside a granite mountain in a remote part of eastern Nevada. The other will be located at S.E.E.D.," he said, adding that the mechanical elements of the clock was ready, only the exterior design of the clock would be determined later through a competition.
But Singapore can have the clock if Genting wins the Marina Bay IR bid.
"The Long Now Foundation is committed to build the clocks and only one would be in the city -- at Marina IR," said Walker, the man hailed by Forbes magazine as the "New Age Edison" and ranked by Time magazine among the top 25 most influential business leaders in the digital age, along the likes of Bill Gates.
Genting International and Star Cruises partnership is planning over S$5 billion investment for S.E.E.D. Others bidders are Harrah's Entertainment and Keppel Land; Las Vegas Sands Corp; and MGM Mirage and CapitaLand.
The government is expected to announce the winner in June.
