PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Official Opening of the Singapore Botanic Gardens Heritage Museum

50 Years of Greening, 150 Years of the Botanic Gardens,  A Lifetime of Nature

Mr Khaw Boon Wan
Minister for National Development

Mrs Christina Ong
Chairman of NParks

Mr Poon Hong Yuen
CEO of NParks

Friends, ladies and gentlemen,

Very happy to join you this morning for 50 Years of Greening, 150 Years of the Botanic Gardens, and A Lifetime of Nature.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Good to see so many Singaporeans, so many families enjoying the Botanic Gardens. This is one of our favourite places and mine too - so many happy memories over a lifetime. As a child, my parents would bring me here for outings, later when I was a young man, courting; I will bring my wife-to-be here for walks and talks. When we had kids, our whole family would come and enjoy ourselves here – jogging in the evening, carrying lanterns during Lantern Festival round the lake at night, or playing with the Swiss Ball Fountain.

Children have now grown up, but my wife and I still come for walks here regularly for the greenery and for the waters. I know that many Singaporeans have similarly happy memories of this place. This garden has a long and rich history, as colourful as the plants which thrive here. 150 years ago, this place was set up by the Agri-Horticultural Society. It was a public park and a research institution. The first Director, Henry Ridley developed innovative ways to tap rubber and contributed significantly to the rubber industry in the region. Of course this is where the smuggled rubber seeds came, got planted, tested out, and that is why there is any rubber industry in the region at all. And later, we did orchids too and successfully bred orchid hybrids which spurred the growth of our flower industry.

During the Japanese Occupation, the Botanic Gardens continued as a scientific institution. After the war, it resumed and after we became independent, we progressively expanded the Gardens to become part of our “Greening Singapore” campaign.

Today, the Gardens are a beautiful flower in our midst, for Singaporeans and visitors to enjoy. So I think it is right that we make a special effort to preserve this as part of our heritage. So we built this Botanic Gardens Heritage Museum in Holttum Hall, which is, I think the building behind us – where the former Director Eric Holttum used to work. It captures the Gardens’ long and wonderful journey and I am very happy that we will be opening the Museum today.

We are also nominating the Gardens to get inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a big effort; the public consultations are now underway. We hope Singaporeans participate fully in order to support this national effort and get us onto the list.

The Gardens are a living, breathing ecosystem which has been lovingly tended to. Every time I come, there is something different to see – a plant in bloom, newly laid orchid beds, new corners and features to appeal to different interests and groups. I think the NParks staff who are looking after the Gardens treat this responsibility as a labour of love, and it shows. So we have a little beautiful jewel in the middle of our city, for us to enjoy and treasure, develop and improve. So we have to continue to expand and nurture the Botanic Gardens, to make sure it remains a beautiful landmark for our children and grandchildren. There are several things which we are going to do specifically.

First of all, I think we can make it a little bigger. We have a piece of land – we meaning the state, has a piece of land, 10 hectares on the other side of Tyersall Road - west of the Botanic Gardens, just adjacent to it, near where the Swan Lake it. We will merge this plot of land with the Botanic Gardens. We will take the road, pick it up and put it on the other side. So it is joined up, it is one big environment surrounding the Swan Lake - the catchment; it flows in, the natural vegetation. We will enhance the natural vegetation, plant tall tropical trees, create Wetlands with diverse plants and wildlife, and connect all these pieces up with walkways. It should be done by 2016 – three years from now. We will call this the Tyersall Learning Forest – so that is one big piece and it will expand the size of the garden by one sixth.

Secondly, we will expand the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden which has been very popular with toddlers and young kids, and we will double its size to 4 hectares. We will improve the attractions and facilities there, and we will also build new ones for older kids - nine to fourteen year olds. I think this will be very welcomed by many parents and family.

Finally, we will plant an Ethnobotany Garden. That means a place where we can showcase the plants which used to be used in the past- pepper, gambier, spices, plants which used to be part of the economy of Singapore. And we will rejuvenate the National Orchid Garden. These are all plans we have to keep on making the Botanic Gardens greener and better. 

50 Years of Greening

The Botanic Gardens is a beautiful oasis, but we have many other beautiful parks in Singapore. We started building them when Mr Lee Kuan Yew did the first Tree-Planting Ceremony back in 1963 – 50 years ago on Farrer Circus.

Over the past 50 years, we have integrated parks and green spaces into our housing estates. We have cleaned up the Singapore River and extended the ABC Waters programme nationwide. We have developed a Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, together with businesses and also with inputs from the public.

Our next phase is to develop this into a “City in a Garden”. If you look at our plans for the next few years, we will be adding altogether another 900 hectares of park land – equal to two Toa Payoh towns. We will be connecting our communities and places where we live through parks, gardens, streetscapes and skyrise greenery – so green streets, green lungs, and green buildings.

We are developing our parks not just as passive green areas, but as focal points for the community, with cultural performances, nature tours and also fun-filled activities for all. So we will be a “City in a Garden”, but the “Garden” is not just about plants and greenery, but also a living environment for all kinds of nature – migratory birds, marine life, butterflies and so on. That is why last week when a barn owl flew into the Istana, I was very happy. I am very happy that a lot of Singaporeans enjoyed the barn owl too. Because although the Istana is an office building, but the grounds are a living green sanctuary for trees and shrubs, hornbills, swans, water fowl, and also a few owls.

We may not be able to have such large parks like the Istana all over Singapore and also we cannot afford to preserve every single green patch on this little island. But we are determined that we will leave green lungs and natural spaces all over the city, as we build our city. We can do that and we will do that. So that our people can be in touch with nature, never far from green spaces and blue waters

The Park Connector network is one popular and practical way to make Singapore greener. We have an extensive network already, we are going to make it go all over the island and the next piece will be to launch the Tengah Nature Way which will connect up the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserves with the SAFTI Live-Firing Area. So that the animals can go across and the people can walk along the route too. We will choose the plants specially to complement the natural forest on both sides, and we will make a special effort to attract birds, butterflies and other animals, so that we can all enjoy nature at our doorsteps.

A Vibrant Community Spirit

The Government, we are doing our part. NParks, you are at the front line but ultimately everyone must want to preserve and protect the environment too. I am happy that the spirit of volunteerism is strong and thriving. We have more than 1,000 active volunteers with NParks, and over the last year, this number has already grown by a quarter. We are very grateful to the volunteers who have given all your time and effort to NParks and Singapore, and I look forward to meeting you later on.

I am also happy that many companies are supporting the environment as part of your corporate social responsibility, like CDL Green Gallery – a commitment to eco-friendly development and practices. I hope you enjoy the ‘Living in a Garden’ exhibition, and feel inspired to do your part to keep Singapore a green oasis for many generations to come. And I look forward to seeing the exhibition later, and to seeing Leng Joo’s photographs which, if they are anything to go by from the previous pictures I have seen, they will be quite something.

Today, we live in a city, we live in a high-quality, very pleasant living environment. It is something which our forefathers have prepared and planted in the past and we must nurture their gift to us, to leave behind a more beautiful Singapore for future generations. This is exactly what the Chinese phrase “前人种树，后人乘凉”- our ancestors planted the trees and we are enjoying the shade.

So I look forward to you working with us to keep Singapore beautiful, clean and environmentally-friendly for another 50 years and more. Thank you very much!

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