As I got ready to leave the Botanic Gardens for Downtown, I realised what a wealth the Singaporeans have here, and how wonderfully it has been preserved over the years. It is appreciable how the Singaporeans have resisted the temptation to create a concrete jungle in 74 acres of a virtual Eden...
In fact, during the World War II, even the Japanese invaders also recognised the wealth here. Prior to the Japanese invasion, most of the senior staff had been assigned to other government duties.
The website of the Botanic Gardens recognises the role of the Japanese and says that:
"Within a few days of the Japanese occupation, Professor Hidezo Tanakadate of Tohoku University assumed control of the Gardens and Museums, and asked some of the senior staff, such as Holttum and Corner, to resume their work in the Gardens. Other staff members were not as fortunate, and were sent to work on the Siam-Burma Railway, where many lost their lives. After nearly a month’s reparation work on house and grounds during the Japanese Occupation, the Gardens managed to collect itself and regain its calm centre of research activity. This was made possible because the Gardens and Japanese staff shared a common goal and belief in preserving the cultural and scientific heritage of Singapore.Kwan Koriba, Botany Professor from the Imperial University of Kyoto, took over Holttum’s duties as Director in December 1942. With a background in the relations between plant behaviour and climate, Koriba immersed himself in research on the growth habits of selected Malayan trees using both the Garden’s Rain Forest and the Nature Reserves and produced a scientific paper entitled “Periodicity of Tree-growth in the Tropics”. Holttum and Corner, relieved of their administrative functions, also devoted their attention entirely to further research.It was the Gardens’ staff and their captors’ combined efforts during the turbulent years of the Japanese Occupation that have allowed for the preservation of the Gardens and its invaluable research properties despite the difficulties of war. During the war, a set of brick steps down to the Plant House were built using bricks made and installed by allied prisoners of war (PoWs), which can still be seen today. In August 1995, upon the 50th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities, a group of veteran PoWs from Australia came to the Gardens to examine the steps they had built with bricks marked with arrows."
I wish we in Mumbai are able to develop some area, probably a part the Aarey Milk Colony as a botanical garden, that showcases the biodiversity of India and particularly, the Western Ghats, which is an ecological hotspot....
As I headed towards the MRT station, I passed by a few sculptures, some of which were quite interesting.
Passing by the Symphony lake, I wished I had the time to sit here and relax a bit, to soak in the charms of Nature....
I passed by the Heliconia Walk again....
A statue of the Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin....
Tembusu, a heritage tree native to Singapore....
I entered the zone of the palms... Indeed the tropics aren't quite the tropics without the palms...
I was wet, from the rain, and a bit tired so I tried grabbing a cup of tea to rejuvenate myself, at the Halia, within the Gardens.... "Sorry we only have coffee la..."
At the MRT, I dried myself up. The loos were incredibly clean and spotless.
And then I took the metro to Downtown Singapore....
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