7/06/2015

Singapore Botanic Gardens – A UNESCO World Heritage

Singaporeans must be very happy that they had achieved another great title for working so hard to make the Botanic Garden a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Everyone is now so proud of this Garden. But when credit is due it must be acknowledged and rightly go to the people that worked so hard to make this happened. What is the name of the founder of the Gardens? According to Wikipedia, ‘The first "Botanical and Experimental Garden" in Singapore was established in 1822 on Government Hill at Fort Canning by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore and a keen naturalist…and Lawrence Niven was the first Superintendent and landscape designer….Henry Ridley became the first director in 1888….Professor Eric Holtum pioneered orchid hybridisation and became the director from 1925 to 1949.…. from 1942 to 1945, Hidezo Tanakadate (田中館秀三), a professor of geology from Tohoku Imperial University, took over control of the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the Raffles Museum.’

The present Director is Nigel Taylor. In between then and now there is a long list of British Directors overseeing the growth and development of the Gardens like the British have never left Singapore. In this garden they are still in charge. And thanks to their contributions, the Garden is now a World Heritage Site. And the British would likely be here for a very long time as there is unlikely to be a local that will have the talent and skills set to run the Gardens for another century, unless Tharman thinks it is time to train a local to take over in 10 years time. We really cannot do without foreign talents running the show.

I have another reason to feel happy and relief that the Gardens have acquired this status and also for the presence of the British in managing the Gardens. Without the British, the 74 hectares of Gardens could be history. How could such a valuable piece of landed property be left to waste in the hard of the city, the choicest real estate in the island? Imagine how much it would fetch, how many good class bungalows could be built on it, or how many thousands of 50 storey condos could be built on it?

Let me do some mental calculations, 1 sq ft is $3,000. Multiply this by 50 times for a 50 storey condo, it would mean 1 sq ft of land could fetch $150,000. A unit of 1,000 sq ft would be $3m and a condo of 50 units would be $150m. You can keep on multiplying and the numbers would drive one to nuts.

It is simply crazy to leave this piece of real estate as a garden. How can we afford to do such a thing? We need space and good land for 6.9m or 10m people! As a developer, this is really too good to be missed, and a lot of revenue for the govt too.

Thank God, this piece of real estate is now safe and sound. No one can touch it with its UNESCO status now. But don’t be too sure if a rogue govt is in place in the future, or a dictator takes over the island. For now it is very safe. Thanks to the foreign talents and the British Empire for this World Heritage Site. May they rule the Gardens forever. They have worked so hard for the Gardens over two centuries.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its good to hear that we have a World Heritage site to call our own. Forget about anything else, I just want the people involved to clean up the pond. Very disgusting to see the dirty water and worse still, very stagnant.

Anonymous said...

Celebrating the World Heritage Site is more important than the life and well being of a young boy held in remand in IMH. Now he is in the hospital's emergency ward after 3 fasts of hunger strike.

What is important to Singaporeans these days?

Anonymous said...


Congratulations! Congratulations! SG50!

Now that we had attained the UNESCO World Heritage status,
the SBG will soon be flooded with visitors and tourists.

Is SBG allowed to collect a token entrance fee?

Say $8.00 per entry for adults, children $2.00 and senior
visitors $2.00.

For regulars and joggers may purchase monthly pass at say
$88.00.

Not bad IF allowed to collect entrance fee.

Another money money money making idea!

Cheers.

Chua Chin Leng蔡镇龍 aka redbean said...

Haha, just paste a medal on it and the visitors will come. No tag, no brand, no one bothers to visit the garden. Now there is an air of something important.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

When I am in The Hotel, I can be found almost daily in the mornings in the wonderful and seriously "upgraded" Botanic Gardens.

A significant amount of export income/ profits of Malaya was due to these gardens. If you go to the Botanic Gardens MRT entrance, you will find a panel describing the development of rubber plants and cultivation methods by Director Ridley, and how this eventually led to Malaya becoming the world's #1 rubber producer.

Don't fuck around. These gardens are rich with history. They are of importance, but people rarely talk about it.

I don't agree with allow the meddling asshole of the United Nations in though. Fuck the United Nations. We don't need their "protection" lah. Fuck off. If Singaporeans think that the Botanic Gardens are worth preserving, then so be it. If then want to put up condos and shopping malls, so be it lah.

Self determination is not allowing entities like the UN to interfere with the citizens. We didn't VOTE for the UN as an "authority", therefore they do not have ANY RIGHT to dictate edicts and terms to us.

On Sept 11 2001, the terrorists crashed the planes into the wrong buildings. They should have aimed straight for the UN Headquarters :-)))

Anonymous said...

The air is smelling better in the garden. The trees somehow look so nice and interesting. And a long queue is forming at the gate. Too many people in the garden will kill the grass. Time to put up ERP signs at the gates.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ 1118:

>> Time to put up ERP signs at the gates. <<

Not such a bad idea. I will support some kind of "entry fee" if the need arose, and I'd be happy to pay it provided they have a "season pass", since I am a frequent visitor.

Anonymous said...

Great writing from redbean, I can sense the provocation embedded in the satire clearly and the ironical conclusions, sadly it isn't seen by many people ready your works in this occasion, and many more.

Anonymous said...

Any further news of the other 'Harry-tage' site around Orchard Road? They may have bestowed the title on the wrong site.

Anonymous said...

Whats so great and all the fuss when we lost our soul.

agongkia said...

I have never been to this garden before since birth.
Got privacy boh?
To me only garden that has pavillion ,chair and tables in secluded spots and can hug mei meis anytime without being spotted,fear of being rob are considered garden.

Difficult to find a real garden nowadays .Parthor oso no privacy.Good if can built some small huts for hourly rental for couples to produce babies.

Anonymous said...

Got real garden and false garden meh? Oh, right, we have a garden at Marina Bay which I cannot say is real or false one. You decide.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ 1048, agongkia:

Aiyah, privacy can find one lah. you have to applying some effort, that's all.

Another fantastic garden is where Alkaff Mansion is situated. I have got blowjobs in those gardens---plenty of places there to "take cover". I've also banged chicks (standing up doggy style) at Botanic Gardens lah.

Although it is against the law, Singapore is a great place for outdoors fucking. Singapore's National Parks Authority is one stat board I hold in high esteem---they do a wonderful job to make the parks romantic and conducive to outdoors fucking.

I've boned chicks at: Fort Canning, all the reservoirs except Bedok, East Coast Parkway, Mt Faber, Sentosa, St John's Island and Sister Islands... and yet there are still so many parks I haven't "tried" yet.

Who ever says Singapore is mundane and unexciting is walking around blind and has no imagination!

So many parks, so little time....