The book has arrived and I am glad. I placed an order for it from Amazon.com UK about two weeks back. Eager as I have been, I wanted to know what Monty wrote about his visit to Singapore, and especially, how he felt when he visited my community garden.
I was quite surprised to find out in the first three pages in the chapter written about Singapore that Monty was somewhat disappointed about his trip here. He felt that the public parks and gardens which he visited lacked soul, character and that personal human touch. He also mentioned that practicality was placed before aesthetics. I guess these are some points that we should all consider as we embark on the journey to make Singapore a true “City in a Garden”.
I believe I have mentioned before and it was not just once but numerous times that its citizens should have the chance one day to be able to take part to create the streetscape around them. We all know that the streetscape in Singapore is entirely funded, created and maintained by the National Parks Board. They have come a long way and must be lauded for their efforts.
The initiative that made community gardens possible is, in my opinion, the first step that citizens can take part in shaping the landscape around their homes. The land area of a typical community garden is small but one that is usually manageable by a small group of ardent residents. When they feel competent and committed enough, I felt these individuals should be given a chance where they then play a bigger role, such as to, create and maintain a landscape, say, in their neighbourhood park or simply the area surrounding their community garden. They will eventually have something that is totally unique to their living area.
After I flipped the first three pages that make up the Singapore chapter, I was pleased to see the words “Wilson Wong’s Garden” on the fourth and fifth page. The following page was no longer on Singapore. In effect, my community garden represented Singapore!
In contrast to the public parks and gardens, my community garden gave Monty a good and memorable impression. He described my garden as one that is “a beacon of individuality, courage and bloody-mindedness.” He added towards the end of the last page, “Wilson Wong’s community garden was undoubtly the best thing I saw in Singapore, even though in itself it is wholly unremarkable. It was filled with the passion and enthusiasm of one individual bucking the corporate blandness that engulfs the rest of the city.”
I cannot agree more and to those who know me, they know that I have fought very hard to keep the individuality of the community garden that was set up in Serangoon North Ave 2 two years ago. My aim is to set it apart from the rest of the hundreds of community gardens in Singapore and make it one that is “remarkable” to all the visitors who visited it.
Congratulations Wilson! It is often hard to adhere to what we believe in but things like the acknowledgement in that book somehow give us the boost we need to stay true to our beliefs. I love your idea of residents earning some control over the open spaces near them, such as around the community garden.
Fantastic! It’s a great example and we should have more community gardens in Singapore!
I love the bluntness of Monty’s comments. Let us all spice up our own community gardens with our own individuality and personality. By the way, any way of telling people outside Singapore that not all community gardens look like yours? Mine is definitely fenced as I am not as brave as you.
Hi Kate, Teresa and Lynnette,
Community gardens in Singapore are certainly welcomed because they really give a chance to those of us who live in highrise apartments to their hands to grow a little bit of greens. We are acutely aware that the light conditions at home are not conducive for growing many plants. Space is another issue.
But there lies a big issue of how to sustain a community garden. It is expensive to set-up and maintain and requires earnest and enthusiastic members to keep it going. Alot of people back out after a while because they find it difficult especially they are growing vegetables (‘planting rice is never fun’ mentality). But one can opt to grow ornamentals which are comparatively easier.
As for how to showcase your community gardens to the world, I can only say just blog it! People will be able to find it. For wordpress, remember to use the right words for your tags.
Wilson