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How has the forestry in Singapore developed beyond its colonial period?

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How has the forestry in Singapore developed beyond its colonial period?

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With a focus on the Tree Planting Campaign that was launched in 1963 and the time period during the 1960s.

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Context: Vegetation Cover in Singapore over the years

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Context: Vegetation Cover in Singapore over the years

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The image shows the changes in vegetation cover over a period of 100 years in Singapore. Increasing we can see that the forestry in Singapore is decreasing as time goes by (Fong, Leng & Taylor, 2019).

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Background: [1960s] The industrial development and the emergence of Housing Development Board

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Background: [1960s] The industrial development and the emergence of Housing Development Board

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In accordance with the industrial development, the amount of
industrial institutions almost rose twice between 1960 and 1965 to 1,000. It continued to double in 1973 and it rose to 3,617 in 1985 (Chia & Chionh, 1987).

In additional, the agency of Housing and Development Board (HDB) which is Singapore's government organisation for housing has been contributing to the enactment of houses affecting the natural landscape in Singapore from the early 1960s (Kong & Yeoh, 1996).

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[1963] Launch of Tree Planting Campaign 

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[1963] Launch of Tree Planting Campaign 

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In order to deal with deforestation, the government decided to launch the Tree Planting Campaign in 1963 with the purpose of ensuring that Singapore is a green city. For the campaign, at least 10,000 saplings would be planted and it would be held annually (Thulaja, n.d.).

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Singapore was considered a part of Malaysia on 16 September in 1963 ("HAIL MALAYSIA!", The Straits Times, 16 September 1963, Page 1).

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Primary Source: [1964] Text of speech by the Minister for Social Affairs, Inche Othman Wok, when he led the Tree Planting campaign at Alexandra Road on sunday, Feb.2, 1964

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Primary Source: [1964] Text of speech by the Minister for Social Affairs, Inche Othman Wok, when he led the Tree Planting campaign at Alexandra Road on sunday, Feb.2, 1964

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Who: Inche Othman Wok, Singapore's first Minister of Social Affairs from 1963 to 1977. He was the only Malay cabinet at that time (Omar, n.d.).

Context:
The Tree Planting Campaign was launched in 1963 and the government saw the importance of building a green city to improve Singapore's image as a city (Thulaja, n.d.).

Summary:
The increase in economic activity has lead to the destruction of trees. He explains the importance of trees and requests for the crowd to join in the tree planting campaign. It is a continuation from last year’s inauguration. In order for the campaign to be successful, the full corporation of the public is needed.

Purpose:

Promoting the Tree Planting Campaign

Let the public know about the importance of having trees in Singapore and encourage them to join the campaign

Raising the awareness of needing trees in Singapore and raising awareness of the campaign

His speech was a way he could communicate directly with the public and engage with them to plant the trees together. The campaign would only be successful if there is an effort on both the government and the public. He also persuades the public and asks them to join in the campaign as well by helping to plant a tree.

With the decrease in vegetation and forestry in Singapore during the 1960s due to the development of houses and other industrial buildings, Singapore has decided to launch the Tree Planting Campaign in order to improve the situation and mitigate the effects of deforestation. In his speech he mentioned the reasons for why we need to plant trees and it is to deal with issues such as the lack of flora and fauna and due to the water shortage.

However despite the initiative, it was not receptive by the public, as many were unempathetic for the trees and there was a lack of expertise in that area (Thulaja, n.d.).

The speech seems to be bias towards the campaign itself and the government would naturally want the campaign to succeed. It also has an agenda to encourage the public to think more about the environment and the trees.

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Vanishing parkland at Alkaff 'Gardens' The Straits Times, 23 May 1964, Page 17

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Vanishing parkland at Alkaff 'Gardens' The Straits Times, 23 May 1964, Page 17

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The author mentioned that even though the government encouraged the growth of more trees, it also felled the previous existing Alkaff Gardens to make way for economic developments such as a school ("Vanishing parkland at Alkaff 'Gardens'",
The Straits Times, 23 May 1964, Page 17)

The previous speech by the Minister for Social Affairs talked about how there is a need for trees to be planted in order to replace the ones that were cut down, however, this article talks about how contradictory it is to cut down even more trees.

This might even contribute to why the initiative was not very successful as the government was unconvincing in trying to improve the forestry situation in Singapore.

The minister gives a speech about how we should be preserving the trees and there is a need for Singapore to have trees, however their actions are those that are not helping with the conservation of the trees.

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When trees must make way for new schools The Straits Times, 6 June 1964, Page 15

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When trees must make way for new schools The Straits Times, 6 June 1964, Page 15

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In response to the previous article, the author points out that the reason for the Tree Planting Campaign was due to the development of Singapore and the need to make way for such schools. The author justifies and understands the government's decision to do so in order for the progress of the country. It was a necessary means in this case.  ("When trees must make way for new schools",
The Straits Times, 6 June 1964, Page 15).

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In July and September in 1964, there were two series of racial riots that occured which disrupted Singapore (Han, n.d.)

A possible reason for why the forestry issue was not a prominent issue for people at that time was that there were other issues that were more important during that period, such as the problems of racial riots in this case.

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In 1965, Singapore gained its independence.

The government took into account the overall aesthetic of Singapore and believed the importance of nature and the natural environment. In 1965, a Garden City Action Committee was created to enact the Garden City Concept (Kong & Yeoh, 1996).

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[1967] The creation of the "Garden City" programme

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[1967] The creation of the "Garden City" programme

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In 1967, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew introduced the idea of the "Garden City" to turn Singapore into a place where people would be comfortable living in with the abundance of greenery. In the first stages of the "Garden City" vision, it was known that Lee had implemented and created a Parks and Trees Division to form a tree-lined boulevard that he had seen during his trip overseas ("S'pore to become beautiful, clean city within three years",
The Straits Times, 12 May 1967, Page 4).

It can be seen that after the initial failure of the Tree Planting Campaign, more effort and resources have been put into transforming Singapore into a "Garden City" and improving its image. Also, after Singapore's independence from Malaysia, it strives to bring the country to greater heights and allow it to prosper, allowing Singapore to have more time to focus on building its forestry.

In its post-colonial period, Singapore places more emphasis on its forestry and implements policies in order to create a better environment and to improve the greenery in Singapore. This is especially important when Singapore gains its independence from Malaysia and it seeks to stand out from the crowd, then Prime Minster Lee Kuan Yew also saw the relevance of transforming Singapore into a "Garden City" and till today it is still very prominent as it is still our current goal.

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Chia, L.S. & Chionh, Y.H. 1987. Singapore. In: Chia, L.S. (ed.)Environmental Management in Southeast Asia, pp. 109–168. Faculty of Science, Nat. University of Singapore, Singapore.

Fong, L., Leng, M., & Taylor, D. (2019). A century of anthropogenic environmental change in tropical Asia: Multi-proxy palaeolimnological evidence from Singapore’s Central Catchment. Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/figure/100-years-of-land-cover-change-in-Singapore-The-maps-were-created-based-on-four_fig1_335905786/download

HAIL MALAYSIA!. (1963). Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19630916.2.2

Kong, L., & Yeoh, B. (1996). Social Constructions of Nature in Urban Singapore. Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3058&context=soss_research

Omar, M. Othman Wok | Infopedia. Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_995_2009-07-01.html

S'pore to become beautiful, clean city within three years. (1967). Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19670512-1.2.20?oref=article-citation

Text of speech by the Minister for Social Affairs, Inche Othman Wok, when he led the Tree Planting campaign at Alexandra Road on sunday, Feb.2, 1964. (1964). Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/PressR19640202a.pdf

Thulaja, N. Tree Planting Campaign | Infopedia. Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_135_2005-02-02.html

Vanishing parkland at Alkaff 'Gardens'. (1964). Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19640523-1.2.101.5?ST=1&AT=advanced&K=nature's lover&KA=nature's lover&DF=23/05/1964&DT=24/05/1964&Display=0&NPT=&L=&CTA=&QT=nature,lover&oref=article

When trees must make way for new schools. (1964). Retrieved 11 March 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19640606-1.2.67.42.1?oref=article-citation