SINGAPORE, July 17 (Bernama) -- What do investment and tree planting have in common? Both are about doing today what may grow to bring a return in the future, but don't just take that from this reporter.
Listen to Warren Buffet, the American capitalist dubbed the world's most successful investor, who said in one of his famous quotes that "someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago".
He was, of course, not merely talking about gardening but, rather, about investing -- an activity that has amassed him extreme wealth solely through investment in stocks.
Buffet has nothing to do with Singapore, of course -- except that a Singaporean businessman had paid US$250,000 (RM950,000) to have lunch with him last year -- for charity. But if one were to look for quotable quotes that could aptly describe the success of Singapore as a garden city, Buffet's would not come very far down the list.
The truth is, Singapore has invested in both: in creating a First World metropolis and in greening the city, not necessarily in that order.
In Singapore to date, there will be a lot of people enjoying the shades under the trees because a someone who is none other than modern Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew had planted or, rather, rounded up Singaporeans to embark on greening the island state a long time ago.
Now 82, Lee had seen it early, way back in the 60s, that greening and gardening are as much about having a surrounding that could gladden the heart as it is about enhancing the island's competitive edge. "To achieve First World standards in a Third World region, we set out to transform Singapore into a tropical garden city," said Lee in his memoirs "From Third World To First: The Singapore Story 1965-2000".
Lee recounted his travel to countries around the world and recalled how he formed the impression of a country just by looking at the standard of maintenance that country had.
"I knew when a country and its administrators were demoralised from the way the buildings had been neglected -- washbasins cracked, taps leaking, water-closets not functioning properly, a general dilapidation and, inevitably, unkempt gardens," he wrote.
In 1976, Singapore formed the Parks and Recreation Department -- now known as the National Parks Board or NParks -- to take on the task of greening Singapore and that was when the agenda to green Singapore took off on a fast-track basis.
The sense of urgency resulted in the transplanting of "instant trees", NParks said in its website. To see results in a short period, NParks selected fast-growing indigenous trees such as the angsana as the main species for the tree-planting programme.
The angsana was chosen, said NParks, because they are "shady, fast-growing, easily available and easy to maintain". Paved areas such as car parks were also required to be planted with trees "to attenuate the heat of the extensive asphalt surfaces" while concrete structures such as flyovers, overhead bridges and retaining walls were covered with creeper and climber plants.
Today, Singapore is a jungle of both kinds -- of concrete and of trees. And shrubs and palms and still, despite having covered the island with millions of planted trees over the decades, there is no stopping Singapore's greening agenda with NParks playing the leading role in its maintenance.
According to the board, it is now managing 1,763 hectares of parks, connectors and open spaces, including some 300 parks and playgrounds, 3,326ha of nature reserves, plus 4,278ha of roadside greenery and vacant stateland.
It is no exaggeration to say that almost all of the trees in Singapore are there for a reason: they were purposely cultivated and maintained over the years.
Singapore is now reaping the fruit from the decades of greening but things are not about to come to a standstill. NParks chief executive officer Dr Leong Chee Chiew said much more needed to be done.
"It is time, however, for us to enjoy our garden city, not just by admiring it visually but to also give everyone who is interested the opportunity to garden as a hobby. If we can grow this hobby to all communities island-wide, and sprinkle communal gardens all over our island, it will truly make Singapore our home within a garden," he said.
In short, Singapore's greening programme had been a well calculated investment.
-- BERNAMA
By Jackson Sawatan
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