For a month from May to June this year, shoppers along Orchard Road not only feasted their eyes on the wide array of clothes and bags on display, but also had a chance to discover the rich variety of animals and plants found in this Garden City.
‘BiodiverCity’, co-organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS), featured a collection of 55 print photos and a slide show of another 100 photographs. Covering over 360 square metres in area, it is one of the largest nature photo exhibitions set up in downtown Orchard Road. The photographs were selected from over 2,200 entries from students and members of the public, who submitted them for a competition organised by the two agencies in January 2010.
Speaking at the official launch of ‘BiodiverCity’ on 22 May 2010, a date chosen to coincide with the International Day for Biological Diversity, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan was generous with praises for the participants of the photo competition.
“The high quality of the entries testifies to the perseverance of these photographers, and their passion for nature and the biodiversity in Singapore,” said Minister Mah, also an avid photographer himself.
True enough, Mr Steven Tor, who won the top prize in the ‘Open Category’ with his shot of a jumping otter reaching out to catch a crab at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, had spent almost every weekend at the nature reserves taking photographs.
Meanwhile, Mr Pan Ken Nie from LaSalle College of the Arts, the winner of the Student category, was equally enthusiastic. For his winning entry, he kept watch on the Long-tailed Shrike for about a month before he was able to take a photograph of it feasting on a lizard.
Minister Mah said, “Such photographs are also a testimony to our rich biodiversity. Flora and fauna have been able to flourish in Singapore as a result of our careful planning and painstaking efforts to balance biodiversity protection with economic development."
Located outside Mandarin Gallery, the exhibition was on display daily from 22 May 2010 to 20 June 2010. Subsequently, it roved to the World Cities Summit at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, which was held from 28 June to 1 July, and will then move on to public parks across Singapore.