The month of March was a fun-filled time, with many events and activities for the community to embrace flora, get closer to nature and contribute to Singapore’s living heritage.
Discovering floral art
On 10 March, the premier international garden and flower show Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) was launched. The star attraction at the launch was definitely the world’s largest flower basket! More than 150 community gardeners, volunteers, and students, facilitated by National Parks Board (NParks) staff, gathered to make this Guinness World Record-setting display over 12 days. Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development Mr Desmond Lee put the final touches for the display, which was showcased at Takashimaya Square (Basement 2) until 11 March.
The festival will be held from 21 July to 3 August 2018! Get your tickets at www.singaporegardenfestival.com, or the SGF roadshows to be held at HDB Hub at Toa Payoh (30 June to 1 July), Orchard Road pedestrian mall (25 May to 29 July) and Northpoint City (1 to 10 June).
Loving our trees
In conjunction with the International Day of Forests on 21 March, NParks launched several new initiatives and activities on 17 March to celebrate Singapore’s forests with the community. A key initiative is trees.sg, a website dedicated to trees in Singapore. People can access information on over 500,000 trees on the site, the most extensive urban tree map in Asia!
Another initiative is the new community group, Friends of TreesSg, which aims to bring together all who wish to care for and raise awareness of Singapore’s trees. Led by Dr Easaw Thomas, the group is part of the NParks’ Friends of the Parks initiative, and comprises members from diverse backgrounds. Anyone who is interested can sign up at www.nparks.gov.sg/contribute/volunteer/volunteer-signup.
Also launched that day was the new Chinatown Heritage Tree Trail that introduces Heritage Trees and other interesting flora found in Chinatown, one of the oldest historic districts in Singapore. This trail is one of NParks’ many free guided walks, to encourage people to explore Singapore’s urban forests and living heritage.
Growing together as a community
On 24 March, some 50 trees were planted during a community tree planting event at Jurong Lake Gardens (JLG) West. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, and Advisor to Jurong GRC, and Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, and Chairman of the Jurong Lake District Steering Committee, joined about 180 residents from nine constituencies at the event. It was a great way for the community to contribute towards the development of JLG – envisioned as a people’s garden for families and the community.
