Mrs Rosalind Tan wants to create another butterfly garden.
Straits Times 20 Apr 08;
Called Madame Butterfly by colleagues at Alexandra Hospital (AH), where she has created such a garden, she hopes to repeat the feat at the hospital's new site in Yishun in 2010.
The senior operations executive started a butterfly garden in AH's current location in Alexandra Road in 2002, and it now draws 101 species.
It is a commendable achievement given that only about 282 species have been spotted in Singapore.
Mrs Tan, 67, had been an occupational therapist in various hospitals for 12 years before she joined AH in 1982.
Drawing from her experience as an occupational therapist, she knew that a project like a butterfly garden could help in a patient's recovery.
'Butterflies have so many colours and patterns. Seeing them gives patients optimism and distracts them from their illnesses,' she said.
Her husband, Mr Tan Wee Lee, 74, a retired senior principal architect, helped with the landscaping of the 12ha garden.
Set up from scratch, it has trails for people to walk along.
'We wanted to have a healing environment for patients. We wow them, destress them and distract them from their illnesses by using butterflies.
'There has been positive feedback from patients, so we know we are on the right track,' she said.
She had scant knowledge of botany before she embarked on the project. One of the challenges was to identify the different types of plants that would attract butterflies.
Reading up on the subject and getting in touch with butterfly enthusiasts helped, said the mother of two.
Patients are encouraged by the hospital to explore the garden.
The hospital staff also take wheelchair-bound patients there.
