MacRitchie Reservoir
Comprises only 4% of the original forest area in Singapore
On a hot sunny day in 1810, one tiger was preying on a barking deer for its lunch. As the tiger crawled cautiously toward the unsuspecting deer, the tiger accidentally steps on a brunch of a tree making a sound... The deer noticed it and immediately run for its live.
This you might say is an abstract from a documentary on Discovery Channel. But do Singaporeans know that in Singapore, tigers, leopard, clouded leopard, sambar and barking deer once thrive on this tiny island but are now extinct? This is the result caused by the establishment of Singapore as a colonial trading post in 1819 to present days of modern Singapore. And within a little over seven decades we have wiped out more than half the native freshwater fish, one-third of our birds and a quarter of the seed plants and mammals. They are all extinct now and will never come back. There are various activities that contribute to such devastation such as excessive land reclamation, leveling of lands for housing development, clearing the forest for industrialization etc. Once a sleepy island and now an Asian tiger, Singapore being a economic power house has its price to pay. Less than 5% of the original mangroves is left and mostly in the north of Singapore in a much degraded state.
Although there are parts of Singapore where the government has set it to be a Nature Reserves, our complex ecosystem that was once our rainforest is coming apart at the seams, slowly and steadily. This is because many Singaporeans are unaware of such situations (even the government). Some might even question if such utopia of nature even existed. Most Singaporeans have the idea that Singapore is a small concrete jungle island and the term “Garden City” is merely man-made and that such natural beauties does not exist in Singapore.
(My Blog buddy was Jen)
This you might say is an abstract from a documentary on Discovery Channel. But do Singaporeans know that in Singapore, tigers, leopard, clouded leopard, sambar and barking deer once thrive on this tiny island but are now extinct? This is the result caused by the establishment of Singapore as a colonial trading post in 1819 to present days of modern Singapore. And within a little over seven decades we have wiped out more than half the native freshwater fish, one-third of our birds and a quarter of the seed plants and mammals. They are all extinct now and will never come back. There are various activities that contribute to such devastation such as excessive land reclamation, leveling of lands for housing development, clearing the forest for industrialization etc. Once a sleepy island and now an Asian tiger, Singapore being a economic power house has its price to pay. Less than 5% of the original mangroves is left and mostly in the north of Singapore in a much degraded state.Although there are parts of Singapore where the government has set it to be a Nature Reserves, our complex ecosystem that was once our rainforest is coming apart at the seams, slowly and steadily. This is because many Singaporeans are unaware of such situations (even the government). Some might even question if such utopia of nature even existed. Most Singaporeans have the idea that Singapore is a small concrete jungle island and the term “Garden City” is merely man-made and that such natural beauties does not exist in Singapore.
(My Blog buddy was Jen)
Senoko—Paradise Lost Once a beautiful wetlands areathat was home to over 200 birdspecies, this mega-biodiversitysite was levelled in 1995 to makeway for housing development
7 comments:
Actually, can't blame on the government of Singapore at all.The government has no choice too since sacrificing natural beauties is the only way to ensure the country keep developing.
Thanks, Ken, for this detailed discussion. Very interersting content! I also enjoy the way you open the discussion!
For language use, how about this. You write....
Although there are parts of Singapore where the government has set it to be a Nature Reserves, our complex ecosystem that was once our rainforest is coming apart at the seams, slowly and steadily.
Why not use do as follows?
...there are parts of Singapore which the government has set aside as nature reserves....
Do you see why and how I have done this?
nice opening.
The Singapore government is trying so hard to protect the environment.This should be practised by other countries too like Indonesia and China to make sure the stable of the ecosystem.
Yes, another hard decision over development and environment conservation.
Yeah I believe that the government is out of choice to do so. However I feel that Singapore is doing her best for the sake for environment.
Sometimes it is hard for government to make a choice. I think they have done their best. But they have to focus on economics growth first. That's the fact.
It is a pleasure reading your blog as it is informative and interesting. I like the pictures posted as well. =)
Post a Comment