Jamie Ee Wen Wei, Straits Times 24 Jan 10;
It's not every day that a government minister gets playful and sprays water on schoolchildren.
But this happened yesterday when Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was at an event honouring the efforts of Corporation Walk residents who created a pocket of greenery in their estate in Taman Jurong.
Mr Tharman, who is also an MP for Jurong GRC, was watering a bonsai that he had planted in the garden when he gave a wet surprise to some pupils from Lakeside Primary School.
They squealed in delight.
Mr Tharman also took a walk around the 10-year-old estate, which now comes with a lush garden, thanks to the efforts of nine residents.
They took two months to transform a vacant plot into a miniature Chinese and Japanese garden, complete with a waterfall.
Two of the residents even flew to Guangzhou in China and spent four days sourcing for figurines of pagodas and monks to decorate the garden.
The residents have also built a barbecue pit in the garden. So far, they have organised four barbecue sessions, with about 40 people attending each time.
Businessman Tony Yau, 56, who engineered the project, said the residents spent $7,000 to build the garden.
'Every evening, we would come to the chit-chat corner and have tea or snacks. We are getting to know more neighbours and we are like one big family here.'
The group, which has registered itself with the People's Association as a gardening club, has also gone from house to house to offer help.
So far, they have worked with 30 households.
Manager Syed Ismail, 52, who received help in turning the area outside his house into a herb garden, said: 'I've been living here for 11 years but I've had only a 'hi-bye' relationship with my neighbours. After they came to help me with my garden, we got to know one another better and even went to the nursery together.'
