Durian warning and happy pickings at park

Straits Times 2 May 09;

ALLOW me to offer an anecdote from Choa Chu Kang with reference to the report, 'Mango season hits the streets' (April 19).

The signs installed by the National Parks Board (NParks) at the public park in Choa Chu Kang opposite my flat warn visitors to beware of falling durians.

The durians on the trees in the park ripen twice a year. In the more than 10 years that I have lived there, I cannot recall any park visitor being struck by falling durians or being seriously hurt as a consequence.

Was it because of the warning signs? I doubt so.

The signs may have paradoxically created a buzz by revealing the existence of durians in the park rather than convey the honest-to-goodness intention of NParks to warn visitors about the fruit for safety reasons. The signs may well have attracted more people to the trees - durians being irresistible to the average Singaporean's palate.

So, what occurs each durian season at my neighbourhood park is a ritual involving packs of durian hunters from all walks of life, who land there for a free harvest of the king of fruits.

Some even take the trouble to camp overnight as they wait for the durians to fall.

It's durian season again at Choa Chu Kang Park. Bunches of durians have been spotted hanging from the branches of the trees in recent weeks. There has been much excitement as regular park users speculate when the fruit will ripen and drop.

Which brings me to NParks' warning to the public in the article not to harvest ripening mangoes from roadside trees for various reasons. I would like to know, for instance, how picking a fallen durian is harmful to the tree? Will the board now install signs warning durian hunters to stay away on pain of a $200 fine?

I hope not. I would hope that NParks keeps to its current policy of hiring a contractor to clear the durians for public safety - never mind the fact that the ritual involving durian hunters from all walks of life takes care of the job just as well.

Tan Peck Cheong