Jungle bungle: People do get lost in Singapore forests

Park authorities get 18 calls for help a year; most lost for 3-4 hours
April Chong, Straits Times 30 Jun 08;

WHEN Dr Brian Takei, a 48-year-old Japanese working for the Royal Bank of Scotland, decided to jog at the MacRitchie Reservoir last Saturday, he ended up being lost for 18 hours.

Although many may scoff at the minuscule size of Singapore's jungles, the National Parks Board (NParks) gets about 18 calls for help every year from people who are not able to find their way out.

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve - where MacRitchie is - have the highest number of victims.

The lost folk come from all age groups, locals and foreigners alike. Some are children who run ahead of their parents, or students who stray from their friends or even bikers trying out new routes, said assistant director of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve Sharon Chan.

Most find their way out after about three to four hours, said Ms Chan, 50, who has participated in a dozen such searches herself.

Dr Takei, with his 18-hour ordeal, had set an unenviable record.

He had walked onto an isolated path that he thought would lead him to the reservoir. On encountering fallen trees along the way, he made detours instead of turning back.

Realising he was lost at 3.20pm, he called the police and was instructed to make his way to the reservoir so it would be easier to spot him.

By nightfall, he was forced to stop moving as he could 'barely see' the ground and his cellphone battery was flat after making over 60 minutes of calls to the police.

After many hours of combing by the police, Gurkha trekkers, NParks rangers and Public Utilities Board boatmen, he was found the next morning.

With hindsight, said Dr Takei, he should not have panicked and made so many calls, exhausting his cellphone battery. He also felt that he should not have tried walking his way out.

When he was found the next day, he was 1.5km away from the track.

Head of Nature Trekkers Singapore, Mr Ben Lee, 46, told The Straits Times that although people do get lost while trekking in the forests here, most are able to find their own way out after a short while.

The biggest mistake one can make is to panic and start trying to find one's way out blindly and ending up even deeper in the jungle, said Mr Lee.