Mak Kum Weng Today Online 17 Jun 13;
I remember an extremely hot day after work when I walked past the patch of greenery behind Ngee Ann City and was greeted by wafts of fresh cool air.
Natural areas and secondary forests, in particular, are extremely useful for removing pollutants in the air and reducing surrounding temperatures.
Studies have also shown that natural forestry contains much more biodiversity than man-made parks.
As Singapore leaps into its next phase of development amid the backdrop of global warming, sustainability is a big issue.
There are splashy campaigns on the green movement but I do not feel that the ordinary man has gone the extra mile.
Plastic bags and refuse are still being generated at an alarming rate. How many people will bear the slight inconvenience of bringing their own shopping bags to the supermarket? I want to recycle my used batteries, but it was not easy finding out where to do so.
Our urban redevelopment plans have swathes of green on the map. What we do not see is the detriment to biodiversity from land reclamation, noise pollution, increasing carbon emissions, and so on.
As Singapore starts to consider quality of life over gross domestic product, can the ordinary man enjoy a cooler, lusher environment, with birds chirping and wafts of cool, renewed oxygen, that is available to those privileged enough to live near patches of forest? Or will the simple bliss that nature brings become another issue that divides the classes?
For all you know, the cure for cancer and dengue fever might be found in one of our secondary forests or marine environments.
