In pictures_ Nature is thriving in locked-down Singapore—is it time to rethink the city in a garden_ _ News _ Eco-Business _ Asia Pacific

owers growing on the lawn outside the National Museum of Singapore, which is currently closed to the public amid the 

Wild 

coronavirus pandemic. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

ongoing 

Robin Hicks 

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20, 2020 

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23/06/2020 In pictures: Nature is thriving in locked-down Singapore—is it time to rethink the city in a garden? | News | Eco-Business | Asia Pacific 

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pictures: Nature is thriving in locked-down Singapore—is it 

In 

to rethink the city in a garden? 

time 

Wild ora and fauna that many Singapore residents have never seen before are popping up all over 

the neatly manicured city-state during Covid-19 lockdown. Should wilder green spaces become a 

permanent feature of the 'city in a garden'? 

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The coronavirus has given Singapore’s usually meticulously maintained grass patches, play 

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areas and roadside verges the chance to live a little, and prompted a public discussion about 

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the coronavirus 

How 

is changing 

pandemic 


whether the neat, image-conscious city-state should make wilder green spaces a permanent 

feature after the lockdown is lifted. 

The sight of rarely seen wild owers and the noticeable increase in butter ies, dragon ies, 

grasshoppers and bees has delighted some residents, particularly children, in a city not known 

for its tolerance of nature, leading to calls for less severe management of grassy areas that 

allows biodiversity to thrive even in the busier parts of the city. 

Singapore’s small but vocal community of nature lovers has 

taken to social media to propose a reduction in grass-cutting 

to help wildlife proliferate, and reduce labour costs. Local 

natural areas have come to feel like new destinations and, for 

some, the wilder green spaces around the city bring back 

memories of a bygone era. 

and our planet 

people 

 

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Gary Lim, a supporter of Nature Society Singapore, a nature 

conservation group, commented on Facebook: “In the 60s and 

70s, whenever you stepped into an open eld, grasshoppers 

would y in every direction. We would net grasshoppers to 

use as bird feed. Nowadays the elds are empty. Little wonder 

that our birds dine at hawker centres.” 

CARBON & CLIMATE 

Cuifen Pui, who focuses on community building of a sustainability network, Foodscape 

Collective, said that as a child she remembers seeing large elds of lalang, long grass native to 

tropical Asia. Such elds are mostly “interim” spaces planted with imported cow grass that will 

eventually be built on, she said. 

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a grass native to tropical Asia, growing near an underpass in Tiong Bahru, Central Singapore, during the coronavirus 

Lalang, 

period. This was previously a patch of short grass. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

lockdown 


Dr Shawn Lum, president of the Nature Society Singapore, told Eco-Business that the “circruit 

breaker” lockdown period has been a good time to re ect on how green areas could be 

managed di erently in Singapore. 

Singapore is famous for being one of the world’s lushest cities because of greening e orts that 

began more than 30 years ago, and has branded itself a “city in a garden”. But much of the ora 

that adorns its roadsides and verges are imported, ornamental species that do not host much, 

if any, wildlife. The rest is grass cut short. 

“Rather than uniformly manicured parks and walkways, we could try natural grassy patches at 

di erent stages of growth. This would give us a range of landscapes that support greater 

biodiversity,” said Lum. 


 

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daisies growing in a green space at Outram Park, central Singapore. The space will eventually be developed into a 

Wild 

complex. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

condominium 


But could neat, orderly Singapore wear the “scru y” natural look? This is a city where a 

complaint from a resident about unevenly cut grass in public areas made national 

headlines. Lum said that aesthetic tastes change, as they have done in the United States and 

United Kingdom, where wild owers have replaced manicured gardens in horticultural design. 

“If people come to accept a more natural look and see the value in beautiful insect life, it could 

become the new normal.” Alternated plots of longer grass that provide refuge for insects when 

the grass is cut would be a good starting point, he said. 


 

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Wild grass grows through a tomb site in Chinatown during lockdown. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

The bene ts of more natural surroundings are well known, Lum said, noting that lockdown has 

forced people to slow down and appreciate their surroundings more. People are less likely to 

su er from stress and fall ill. They are more productive at work and perform better at school 

when given access to green areas. 

A study of inner cities in the United States found that elderly people surrounded by greenery 

are more likely to be sociable, and have a stronger sense of community than seniors living in 

greyer areas. Greener areas can even re-connect communities and rekindle a sense of 

neighbourliness, a trait that is often said to be missing in modern Singapore. 


 

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site of what was once the Pearls Centre, a Chinatown shopping mall, is now a patch of “interim space” that will later be built on. 

The 

long grasses are growing during the circuit breaker period. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

Now, 


With many green spaces closed due to social distancing measures, accessible grassy verges 

become an even more important feature of city life during the stressful shutdown period. Pui 

noted that wild greenery evokes a sense of freedom and creativity that managed plants don’t. 

Wilder areas are also better suited for a more sustainable way of living, and are more resilient 

to weather changes than managed planted areas, which require more care, Pui said. Recalling a 


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construction site for the proposed Thomson-East Coast Line subway is surrounded by wild greenery. Work on the line has 

A 

during the coronavirus outbreak. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Busines 

stopped 


major drought in 2014, she said that while the planted grass had turned yellow, natural areas 

were una ected. 

“I was reminded then how forests and other natural spaces don’t need watering or active 

management by people. They are well-adapted to the conditions, and are more resilient in 

extreme changes in weather,” she said. 

The same thing happened during another dry spell last September. Patches of managed grass 

turned yellow, and native species started to grow naturally in their place, Pui recalled. 

“The wild owering plants made the street verges and road junctions come alive. Visually, 

these were more interesting to me than similar areas with di erent plants planted together. 

The wild owers were attracting tiny butter ies and other insect creatures,” she said. 


 

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Mimosa pudica owers (pink) grow on a roadside in Singapore. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

The case for a grassier Singapore is made stronger considering a future that is expected to be 

much hotter. Green areas abate the urban heat island e ect, which—in combination with 

climate change—has meant that the temperature in Singapore is rising at twice the global rate. 

Plants also provide natural pollution control, absorbing pollutants from the air. The taller or 

bushier the foliage, the more e ective it is as a barrier to pollution, which in Singapore is on 

average almost twice over the limit considered healthy to breathe by the World Health 

Organisation. 


 

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Wild mushrooms grow in a fenced o play eld by Alexandra Canal, Singapore. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

Less busy city streets has meant more freedom for Singapore’s fauna, as it has for animals in 

other locked down cites around the world. “More specialised animals like pangolins have 

tended to stay in the forest. But more adaptable animals have ventured into the built 

environment,” said Lum. 

The most visible examples of this have been smooth-coated otters, which have ventured into 

what are usually the busiest areas of the city, including Little India, Newton and a hospital, as 

they explore new territory. 


 

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Otters cruise down a canal in Singapore during Covid-19 lo… 

“The Circuit Breaker period has meant less crowds and tra c which animals would avoid. 

There is more space for otters in areas adjacent to the waterways,” said N Sivasothi, a senior 

lecturer with the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore, 

and part of local otter conservation group Otterwatch. 

But the increase in animal activity has tested Singapore’s ambition to become what the 

country’s National Parks Board calls a “city in nature”. Last week, a local celebrity complained 

that her expensive ornamental sh were eaten by otters, prompting a public discussion over 

whether the mammals should be culled to control their numbers. 

Sivasothi went on a local radio show to explain that while Singapore’s otter population has 

increased since the 1990s, it has now stablised and reached what appears to be a threshold. 

Culling would be a “primitive” reaction, he said. 


 

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A jungle rooster strolls through a taped o exercise area in Pearl’s Hill City Park, Chinatown. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business 

The debate has raised the question of how far a highly urbanised city will go to embrace its 

natural surroundings. “We need to think of ways to share the urban space with wildlife,” said 

Lum. “Pandemics are bad things. But out of an unfortunate situation we have the chance to reevaluate 

our relationship with nature.” 

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