Professor Leo Tan, Chairman NParks
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning to you.

It is always a pleasure to be here at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. I can’t think of a better way to start off a work day.

2 Throughout its long and illustrious history, the Botanic Gardens has been an integral part of Singapore’s cultural heritage and economic development. The Gardens has played a pivotal role in laying the foundation of the rubber industry, and pioneering orchid hybridization, and cultivation in the region. It has contributed significantly to Singapore’s transformation into a Garden City through its work in plant introduction. On a personal level, the Gardens holds many fond memories of our childhood years and now those of our children.

The Botanic Gardens – A Green Space for Singaporeans

3 Today, the Gardens is one of our key green spaces, offering residents and visitors a sanctuary for peace and quiet, leisure and recreation amidst the stress of city dwelling. It receives some 3 million visits annually. This is a 45% increase in visitorship over the last decade. While this is a welcome development, it has placed a strain on the Gardens’ existing amenities. That is why NParks continues to upgrade the basic amenities within the Gardens. The Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage is currently being upgraded and will be completed by April this year. When completed, the new stage will cater to a wider variety of performances in the Gardens. Visitors without cars can also look forward to greater accessibility to the Gardens with the opening of the Botanic Gardens MRT station at Bukit Timah Core in 2010. This will help to preserve the lush greenery of the Gardens by relieving pressure to provide additional car parking. To keep the footprint of the development to the minimum, the station will be located underground.

4 However, the Gardens is more than just a green space for recreation and leisure. Like other botanical gardens, its central mission is botanical research and the education of the public on the importance of plants to humanity. In this respect, the Gardens has attained international renown as a leading tropical botanic institution in its 146 year history. Recognizing this, new attractions and facilities have been progressively added to strengthen the Gardens’ position as a key botanical institution for research and education. Let me highlight some of these developments.

Tanglin Core - A Centre for Research

5 Redevelopment works are currently well underway at the Tanglin Core of the Gardens at a cost of $35 mil. To be completed by March next year, a new complex will be built to house the herbarium, library, public reference centre and laboratories. This will cater to botanists, who come from all parts of the world to study the tropical flora and the vast repository of plant specimens in our herbarium. It will also provide the public access to reference materials pertaining to botany and horticulture. Classrooms for outreach programmes have also been incorporated.

Enhancing the Educational Role of the Gardens

6 Several redevelopment programmes have been put in place over the last few years to enhance the educational role of the Gardens. The list currently includes the National Orchid Garden Cool House, Visitor Centre, Economic Garden, Ginger Garden and Heliconia Walk. Each feature has been carefully planned and integrated into the overall living fabric of the Gardens.

The Evolution Garden

7 Joining the list of horticultural attractions today is the Evolution Garden. Developed at a cost of $3 mil, this 1.5 ha Garden takes us on a journey through the evolution of plants, constantly reminding us of the fragility of our environment. The lack of lush greenery at the beginning of the journey in the Garden is a deliberate attempt to depict the uninhabitable Earth some 4,000 mil years ago. It is designed to be an outdoor classroom for our young, encouraging an interest in the life sciences. So far, response to the Evolution Garden has been good. Teachers have indicated that the Garden’s educational programmes are relevant and they would use the Evolution Garden as an outdoor classroom.

The Children’s Garden

8 In the coming years, the focus will also be on the Bukit Timah Core with the development of the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden. The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is a specialized facility dedicated to the education of our children. It will be the first garden of its kind in Asia and is designed to provide a unique discovery and learning experience in a garden setting. The garden will feature plant displays and interactive exhibits. Guided learning will also be provided to complement formal learning in school.

Second Singapore Botanic Gardens

9 All these new developments will reinforce the current Botanic Gardens, hence strengthening our position as a leading Garden City. However, we cannot stop here. We can and will do more to advance our standing and develop Singapore into a premier Garden City.

10 To do so, we aim to develop Singapore into a centre of tropical horticultural excellence. We would also like to inculcate in our people a greater appreciation for greenery and a gardening culture. Underpinning these strategies are our plans to develop the Second Botanic Gardens in the New Downtown in Marina Bay.

11 The Second Botanic Gardens will be positioned as a Garden of horticultural excellence, showcasing the best of tropical horticulture and floral displays. It will also have a Cooled Conservatory, the first in the tropics, to showcase unusual and flowering plants from Mediterranean and Montane climates; a concert bowl for the staging of major concerts and live performances; and a flower fairground, which will be home to an international tropical garden show.

12 The new Gardens will be located in Marina South, where it is envisaged as the “Central Park” of the New Downtown. It will be a national park for the enjoyment of residents and visitors alike. It will complement nicely the existing Botanic Gardens.

Conclusion

13 In conclusion, the redevelopment of the current Botanic Gardens will enhance its position as a leading tropical botanical institution for recreation, research and education. However, this is by no means the end. The Gardens is a living entity and will continue to evolve in the years to come. It is a legacy to future generations who will have charge of this crown jewel. Together with the second Botanic Gardens, it will contribute towards a better appreciation of greenery, interest in gardening and enhance our standing as a leading Garden City.

It is now my pleasure to declare the Evolution Garden open.

>>back to top