benefits – Plantiful Bounty

Wild City Singapore – Hidden Wild in the Concrete Jungle

Posted on October 9, 2016

Hey there!

I am sure many of you guys are familiar with famous the Bishan 10 otters. Together with the fame of these otters also came along the interest towards the biodiversity in Singapore.

People actually wanted to know about the ‘wild’ side of Singapore.

Last week, I came across a documentary featuring the biodiversity of Singapore. It caught my attention as it is rare to see a natural history programme in a Singapore setting. Bearing in mind the name of the programme, ‘城市野生乐园’ (Yes, it was in mandarin), I googled and found out that it was actually a documentary called ‘Wild City Singapore’ created in conjunction with the 50th year of Singapore’s independence in 2015 (CNA, 2015).

Photo courtesy of CNA

Narrated by none other than Sir David Attenborough, a familiar voice in natural history television programmes, the documentary features much of the unknown biodiversity in our ‘concrete jungle’. Despite having just three episodes in the whole series, I could tell that a lot of effort has been placed in creating this documentary. The series which has a total length of not more than 109 minutes actually took more than a year to film (CNA, 2015). The documentary consists of two sections: Urban Wild and Hidden Wild. Urban Wild showcases the wildlife that has successfully integrated into our urban environment while hidden wild showcases the wildlife in less noticeable locations away from the hustle and bustle of the city (CNA, 2015).

Crocodiles, civet cats, pangolins. These are just some of the wildlife featured in the documentary. I have watched all the episodes and enjoyed them thoroughly. I really love how they narrate the daily lives of the various species and even personalise them by giving them names. Of course, there are also really cute and humorous moments such as this:

Gif courtesy of Mothership.SG

It is interesting to note that the documentary tries to promote conservation efforts in a positive manner. Instead of showing the destruction aspects which may have an opposite effect if overemphasized, the documentary allows us to relate to these species just by showing their normal lives. By relating to these species, a sense of attachment could be felt towards them, making it easier to promote action to protect the habitats of these species. I am not sure if this is the case for you guys but at least it did for me.

I was extremely impressed by the excellent cinematography and could tell that every scene was painstakingly filmed with each angle well-considered. Other than providing invaluable insights regarding the biodiversity of Singapore, the documentary would be a great way to get the public to learn more about Singapore’s biodiversity, regardless of whether they are ‘tree-huggers’ or not. The documentary even attracted my family members who are not really nature-enthusiasts.

I recommend you guys to watch it. The documentary can be found on Toggle:

http://tv.toggle.sg/en/channelnewsasia/shows/wild-city-hd/episodes

To end off, here is a trailer about the documentary. 🙂

Video courtesy of Beach House Pictures and CNA

Cheers!
♠ Johanah

References:
CNA. (2015, March 3). Getting wild in the city. Retrieved October 8, 2016, from Channel News Asia, http://m.todayonline.com/entertainment/television/getting-wild-city

Lay, B. (2015, May 7). Watch wildlife documentary on S’pore narrated by sir David Attenborough for free online. Retrieved October 8, 2016, from Mothership.SG, http://mothership.sg/2015/05/watch-wildlife-documentary-on-spore-narrated-by-sir-david-attenborough-for-free-online/

IMDA Singapore (2014, November 25). Wild city – produced by beach house pictures Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swPjXpxwQzM

Garden Blooms in our Little ‘Green’ Dot

Posted on October 2, 2016

Hello guys!

Let’s talk about Community Gardens.

Do you know many community gardens are there in Singapore?

I couldn’t believe it when I first saw the value. Singapore has about 1000 community gardens (“community gardens”, 2016). This actually indicates that there is a high likelihood of having one or more community gardens near where you live.

Can you spot a community garden in your area?

Photo courtesy of Nparks – Spread of community gardens in Singapore

Due to their abundance and close proximity, the community gardens are very accessible to most, if not, all of us. I really appreciate how these tiny green spaces within our compacted living environment can become areas of interaction for residents. Although many knew about the existence of community gardens, not a lot of people actually knew how easily they can be found. In where I live, there are quite a few community gardens and here is one of them:

community-garden-2 Yes, I understand that gardening is not for everyone. Worms, hard labour, sweat, hot sun. These are what some would picture whenever the word ‘gardening’ is mentioned. Yet the fruits of labour are what make gardening so enjoyable. Here is my view about the benefits of a community garden:

community-garden-3 — Photo courtesy of Ravrangifts

1) Revive the kampong spirit
Living behind metal gates and doors, there is significantly lesser opportunities for neighbours to interact amongst one another. Despite living literally just a few steps away, the relationship between neighbours could even be comparable to strangers. Community gardens can provide opportunities to bring residents with similar interests together so that bonds can be forged. This promotes social cohesion and thus revive the kampong spirit.

community-garden-4 — Photo Courtesy of Housing & Development Board

2) Bring people of various ages together
It is really interesting how gardening can evoke interests of people from various age groups. I believe that community gardens have the potential to bridge the gaps of people from different generations and allow them to spend good quality time together.

3) Low commitment due to collective effort
Gardening requires a long-term and consistent commitment. However, we don’t have to find time everyday to take care of plants in a community garden unlike a home garden. This is because the whole community is looking after the garden. Hence, the responsibility of watering and fertilizing the plants can be shared which can allow people who are busy (like many of us!) to participate in gardening as well.

With benefits, there will also be problems. When there are more people involved, there is a greater likelihood of disputes occurring due to different ideas. Since the garden belongs to the whole community, this also means that we cannot design our garden to our liking. Nonetheless, this issue goes back to consideration and the willingness accept different ideas, both being important attributes in our daily living.

If you are interested in gardening, why not help out in these gardens? Otherwise, you can just make a visit and watch how the hard work of these residents translates into rewards. 🙂

Cheers!
♣ Johanah

References:
Community gardens. (2016, June 13). Retrieved October 1, 2016, from National Parks Board, https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardening/community-gardens

Visit a community garden. (2016, January 15). Retrieved October 1, 2016, from National Parks Board, https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardening/community-gardens/visit-a-community-garden

Wonderful heritage estates garden homes – community garden. (2016, June 27). Retrieved October 1, 2016, from Ravrangifts, http://www.ravrangifts.com/heritage-estates-garden-homes/wonderful-heritage-estates-garden-homes-community-garden/

Community in-bloom. Retrieved October 1, 2016, from Housing & Development Board, http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/community/practise-eco-living/community-in-bloom

Sembawang Sports Hub: Building into the Green Memories

Posted on August 27, 2016

Hey there!

Today I wanted to highlight the newly planned Sembawang Sports Hub which caught my attention when I saw it on the news recently. You guys may ask: It’s just a Sports Hub, what is it that is so special? Well, this is because the greenery and heritage of the area will be retained and incorporated into the hub.

Here is the video on the development plans of the sports hub:

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Video Courtesy of Channel News Asia

As shown in the video, the facilities of the sports hub include forest trails, an eco-friendly hawker centre and even a swimming pool surrounded by nature (Siong, 2016). It is really interesting because according to our Acting Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, it is intended that the facilities of the sports hub would be built into the forested area instead of planting trees around the facilities (Ong, 2016), striking a fine balance between development and conservation.

It is comforting to know that the residents of Sembawang wish that the greenery would be retained as much as possible, as shown in the video, reflecting that people do care and treasure the greenery around them. From the video, it can be inferred one of the reasons they wish to preserve the greenery could be that they associate the greenery with their joyful memories they had and they feel that retaining the greenery would also retain the essence of their living environment, since Sembawang used to be a kampong with plantations and fruit trees (Nparks, 2016). I tend to ponder if evoking nostalgia among the public can be an effective way to let them appreciate the greenery around them. While educating on the benefits of greenery can be a good idea to allow the general public to appreciate the greenery, perhaps, it could also be helpful to appeal to the emotions of the public by letting them reminisce the cheerful memories brought by greenery and the sentimental value of the greenery in their lives.

“There are now 761 trees in the area and while 200 trees will be cleared to make way for the project, another 1,000 trees will be replanted.”

Acting Education Minister and a Member of Parliament (MP) for Sembawang GRC Ong Ye Kung

Considering that the greenery in Sembawang is well-known (Au-yong, 2015), it may seem a little regretful that some greenery have to be cleared to make way for the sports hub. At times, I wonder if the sports hub is necessary in exchange of the greenery which has a great sentimental value for many living in Sembawang. However, I do appreciate the efforts taken by the developers and government to preserve as much greenery as possible and to use greenery as the main feature of the hub.

Regardless, looking at the artist impression of these facilities made me believe that there is potential for the sports hub to be popular in the future and to promote the greenery of the area. For now, we shall be patient as we wait for the hub to become a reality. 🙂

Cheers!
♣ Johanah

References:

Siong, O (2016 July 3) Greenery and Heritage to be retained at New Sembawang Integrated Hub, Retrieved on 22 August 2016 from: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/greenery-and-heritage-to/2926332.html

Nparks (2016 August 16) Pasir Panjang Nursery, Retrieved on 23 August 2016 from:
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/news/2016/8/pasir-panjang-nursery

Au-Yong, R (2015 August 15) Sembawang to get Hawker Centre Swimming Complex, Retrieved on 25 August 2016 from:
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sembawang-to-get-hawker-centre-swimming-complex

Making Way(s) for Nature

Posted on August 20, 2016

Hey there!

A few months ago, I came across certain routes in Singapore called Nature Ways. No, it is not a brand of a health supplement I am refering to. Nature Ways are routes or pathways where greenery are planted in a way that replicates the natural forest structure so that animals can move between two green spaces (Nparks, 2015).

My first impression is that it is a simple idea but a clever solution to connect two green spaces fragmented from urbanisation. Yet there are many people who do not know about this. To be frank, I have actually cycled through the Punggol Nature Way a few times without knowing that it was actually a nature way meant for animals to commute.

Scenic View at Punggol Nature Way (Photo taken by Johanah Seow) — Scenic View at Punggol Nature Way

The rationale behind nature ways is simple but it requires careful planning as to which kind of plants should be used to successfully attract animals to use them. Regardless, I agree that this is an effective way to enhance biodiversity of Singapore as with increased accessibility between the various green spaces, the habitats of wildlife can be expanded to include more green areas. Moreover, nature ways bring nature closer to communities and provides opportunities for them to contribute in preserving the natural heritage. For instance, bird surveys are carried out and communities are engaged to use Nature Society Singapore (NSS) Bird Guide app to record sightings of birds in Kheam Hock nature way (Khoo & Chia, 2013).

Nature ways 2 — Photo courtesy of Nparks

Of course, nature ways are far from replacing the original natural forest that was lost during the process of urbanisation. However, it is still commendable that effort is being done to recreate the natural landscape and minimise the inevitable damage caused by development. I do wonder if nature ways can be expanded to include other species of animals as these routes are currently focused on attracting birds and butterflies. In addition, I wonder if the very idea of nature ways can also be applied to our normal streetscape such that the greenery of our streets can also be based on the structure of a forest. Am I getting a little too far-fetched? After all, it is not easy as the active and bustling nature of these streets may not provide a suitable environment of some of these animals (compared to the location of the current nature ways which are quieter). Well, I guess it is still worth a thought!

Streetscape in Hougang: Seems like the greenery has a stucture isn't it? — Streetscape in Hougang: Seems like the greenery has a stucture isn’t it? It actually prompted me to think whether the structure of a forest can be applied to a normal street like this.

Nature ways re-emphasize the potential of greenery as important linkages between urban and nature. Currently, there are 7 nature ways and there will definitely be more to come in the future. Think about this: Singapore has an interconnected network of roads but wouldn’t it be cool if Singapore likewise has a wide network of nature ways? 🙂

Cheers!
♣ Johanah

References:

Nparks, (2015 January 5) Nature Ways, Retrieved on 16 August 2016, from: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/nature-ways
Khoo, k & Chia, C (2013) People & Places: Creating Ways for nature to travel, Retrieved on 18 August 2016, from: https://mygreenspace.nparks.gov.sg/creating-ways-for-nature-to-travel/