Family's kayaking dreams drifting in red tape

Straits Times Forum 17 Dec 09;

ARMED with a newly bought inflatable kayak and life vests, I mobilised my wife and two children and took them to one of our lovely reservoirs, MacRitchie, early one Saturday morning, on Dec 5. The idea was to get the kids to enjoy the outdoors and appreciate nature while getting some exercise by teaching them to kayak.

We spent about 15 minutes inflating the kayak and just as we placed it on the placid water at the pontoon, we heard an authoritative voice boom out: 'Do you have a permit?' On my knees, I turned my head up to see an angry woman glaring down at us as though we had been caught committing a grave offence.

Meekly, I asked: 'Do we need one, ma'am?' She replied: 'Of course! You cannot just bring your own kayak and start kayaking here you know? You need a permit. Give me your particulars.'

So even before our kayak could get wet, it was deflated together with our enthusiasm. So much for a nice morning of exercise and fun at the reservoir.

Undeterred even after getting 'booked', I promised my kids I would get a permit even if it killed me. So I started exploring the PUB website for kayaking and called the PUB hotline to ask about Bedok reservoir. The officer told me I needed to contact the People's Association (PA). I told her it did not make sense to me but I would try anyway. She said: 'Well, call us back if they refer you back to us.' So I did and sure enough, the PA told me it was under PUB.

Further exploration of the PUB website led me to a 'Use non-motorised vessel permit form'. However, there was no further information on where I had to submit the form, whether a fee was payable and so on. So I e-mailed the officer whose contact number was given on the website.

She answered two days later and referred me to the website and the form I had already found.

I e-mailed her further queries one week ago and since then there has been no answer. I tried calling the helpline. No answer.

Our dream of drifting leisurely on the peaceful waters of our very own reservoir has turned into a nightmare of trying to secure a permit to get our kayak wet.

Jason Toh