Tag Archives: Rosalind Tan

Madame Butterfly on TV!

Posted on December 31, 2008 | Leave a comment

 Thanks to Richmond, my fellow moderator from the Green Culture Singapore discussion forum, for reminding me to turn on and watch what was on the television last night. At 11.30 pm, the Mandarin info-educational series entitled “City Footprints” or “城市.生命线” was being aired every Tuesday night. Each episode features a story of an individual or community in our city that mirrors and reflects how each responds and reacts to the paradigm shifts that occur as a result of rapid social urbanisation.

 A segment showing Rosalind working in the garden.

The episode that was aired on 29 Dec 08 focussed its attention on Mrs Rosalind Tan, who is now famously known as “Madame Butterfly” of Alexandra Hospital. She is the person behind the great healing gardens of the hospital which earned it a title called “a hospital in a garden.” As her title suggests, she is best known for her work on setting up the first butterfly garden in a hospital in Singapore with the help from local nature groups. The butterfly garden in Alexandra Hospital is now home to more than a hundred species of butterflies.

She runs a butterfly nursery at home. Rosalind collects the caterpillars she saw at the hospital grounds and brings them home where she rears them until they attain maturity. She then brings the butterflies back to the hospital’s gardens to be released. By doing this, she is able to control the feeding patterns of her caterpillars. If left unchecked in the hospital gardens, caterpillars can defoliate entire populations of plants! Hence it is a daunting task as Rosalind has to painstakingly grow certain butterfly food plants and to ensure there is sufficient supply at all times for her caterpillars.

Rosalind at a gathering of the Singapore Gardening Society. 

An avid gardener she is, Rosalind is an active member of the Singapore Gardening Society and in one particular segment of the show featured her with senior members of the society at a gathering held at the hospital. Rosalind explained the ability of the gardening hobby being able to attract people from all walks of life to come together to discuss and share their gardening experiences and plants. As a result of such sharing, each one of us become better gardeners. Rosalind is also ardent supporter of the National Parks Board’s Community in Bloom initiative which promotes community gardening.

Rosalind and Wee Lee both busy with selecting plants for a garden project.

As the old Chinese saying goes, “Behind every successful man, there is a woman.” But in Rosalind’s case, it is the opposite. Mr Tan Wee Lee, who is Rosalind’s lifelong partner and a retired architect has been her pillar of support of sorts. With his professionally trained eyes, he helps Rosalind with her garden landscape design work, photography and choice of plants for her garden projects that she does for both Alexandra Hospital as well as other communities that needed her assistance. Mr Tan also gives the much needed emotional support to Rosalind and understands the heavy commitment she has in her ‘second’ job which she took up after retiring from her earlier, full-time job as a physiotherapist at Alexandra Hospital. What a loving couple!

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Alexandra Hospital’s Garden Party

Posted on November 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

I was invited by Rosalind Tan who is now better known as “Madame Butterfly” of Singapore to a garden party at the Alexandra Hospital yesterday evening . The garden party was an event that was organised to commemorate the month-long Clean and Green Singapore that is held in November annually.

The electronic invitation card that I received from Alexandra Hospital. This is an environmentally-friendly way of sending invitation cards as it avoids the use of excessive paper.

Fortunately, the weather was fair last evening. The garden party was held around the famous water lily pond and thematic gardens located in the grounds of Alexandra Hospital. The event that gathered the friends of the hospital who have put their hands together and squeezed their brain juices that helped to make gardens of Alexandra Hospital what they are today.

The beautiful waterlily pond that is located in the middle of the gardens of Alexandra Hospital.

To date, Alexandra Hospital is the only hospital to my knowledge that believes in the value of greenery. As stated on their corporate website, “It’s true – just by looking at trees and plants, you can reduce stress level, ease muscle tension and lower blood pressure. Hence, staff has put in time and effort to ensure that patients have a therapeutic garden to relax in.

Over the years, the garden has grown to include a butterfly trail with more than 100 species spotted, an ecological garden, a fragrant garden and a medicinal garden with “100 plants that Heal, Thrill and Kill”, a book of the same title by Professor Wee Yeow Chin. As of March 2008, it now hosts over 500 plant, 100 butterfly and 60 bird species.”


Alexandra Hospital’s President’s Award for the Environment Trophy.

The hospital also took the opportunity to share their joy with her guests who attended the garden party of her recent win of the President’s Award for the Environment which is the highest accolade in Singapore’s Environment and Water Resources field. It recognizes and honours individuals, organizations and companies which have contributed monumentally to Singapore’s efforts in achieving environmental sustainability.

CEO Alexandra Hospital, Mr Liak Teng Lit, addressing the crowd who also later gave out certificates of appreciation to those who have contributed to the hospital.

The President’s Award for the Environment Trophy that Alexandra Hospital won was displayed in the garden during the party. The trophy is very unique and was specially designed and produced by Singapore’s contemporary ceramic artist and Cultural Medallion winner, Mr Iskandar Jalil.  As stated on the website of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, the trophy is shaped like a watering can to acknowledge the winners’ contributions in nurturing Singapore’s environment and also symbolizes the importance of water as a precious resource that should be treasured by every Singaporeans. The spectrum of earthy, blue and green hues on the trophies mirrors the resplendence of Singapore’s natural environment.

A photograph of me and Lily (left) that was taken by the one of the photographers at the Garden Party. The picture was developed on the spot and given to us a few minutes later. 

For me, it was an occasion to meet up with friends of the gardening fraternity. I got to meet up with Mr John Tan, President of the Singapore Gardening Society, as well as, the Patron of the society, Professor Wee Yeow Chin. I also saw Mr Gan Cheong Weei who is a member of the Butterfly Interest Group and an active and very supportive member of my Green Culture Singapore discussion forum. It makes me very happy to be able to meet up with likeminded friends who share the same passion.

Another picture I took of the two new members of the Community in Bloom team, Matthew Tan (Ieft) and Lily Chen.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself this evening. The hospitality shown by the hospital staff was splendid. I lovethe tasty spread of food which was prepared using some of the materials that were harvested from the plants grown in the garden. I am touched by this simple but sincere gesture.

Particularly, I recalled how much I like the refreshing drink that was made by boiling the leaves of the oyster plant (Tradescantia spathacea) in water and the pandan chicken which was flavoured using the leaves from the pandan plants (Pandanus amaryllifolius) that were planted in the hospital’s garden.

The camerman filming some scenes featuring Rosalind Tan during the Garden Party. She was talking to Mr Ng Cheow Kheng from the Community in Bloom. 

Last but not least, I was surprised to see a production crew from 360 Productions at work. They were there to do an interview and film Rosalind Tan in action for a show that will be aired on Channel U later on. The show will depict how Rosalind started a gardening culture in the hospital that was non-existent years ago and how she magically transformed the landscape of Alexandra Hospital into a beautiful and therapeutic garden.

Alexandra Hospital is now indeed a “Hospital in a Garden.”

Thank you Rosalind for the invitation.

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Madame Butterfly’s Broad-leaved Fig Tree

Posted on June 1, 2008 | 7 Comments

Madame Butterfly’s broadleaved-fig tree is probably as famous as her. This decades-old tree has made it to the papers before. Mr Andrew Tan wrote an article on the tree that was published on Straits Times Life! some time ago.

I have always wanted to visit Rosalind’s garden to take a look at the tree after I reading Andrew’s article as well as heard from members from the local gardening fraternity of how majestic it is. My wish was finally granted yesterday when I was invited to Rosalind’s house after the gardening talk at the library.

I was impressed when I saw the tree. Rosalind’s broad-leaved fig tree (Ficus auriculata) is the main focal point of her garden. It is about as tall as her two-storied property and its dome-shaped canopy provided much welcomed shade over the koi pond below as well as for the front porch. It can potentially grow much larger, from what I have read.

I was told by Rosalind that the tree has helped to shield away much of the glaring sun and she can now sit at the garden table situated at the porch at any time of the day to watch the lively kois swimming in the pond and to enjoy the peaceful greenery of her garden.

Unlike the dense canopies of some large-growing fruit trees, the canopy of this species of fig allows some sunlight to stream through and that enables plants to be grown on ground below the tree. This will therefore give room for ideas to create a beautiful shade garden below the tree rather than having to put up with the sight of a bare patch of soil. In Rosalind’s case, she grows a variety of shade-loving plants which include various ferns and a perfect carpet of flame violets, Episcia.

The common name of this fig arises from its very large ovate leaves that can grow up to 30 cm in length. Its large slightly glossy leaves are of a beautiful jade green colour and are rather rough to touch. The new young leaves of the tree are red to start with and they turn green when they are mature. Do you know that the leaves of this fig tree are dried and infused in hot water to make a medicinal tea?

This tree I saw at Rosalind’s garden has a thick trunk with several branches that extend elegantly upwards. It looked as if the trunk and branches have been deliberately fashioned to look this way; something that could only be seen in bonsai specimens. The branches also hosted a myriad of epiphytes such as a staghorn fern and several hoyas.

The broad-leaved fig produces flowers that appear on spurs that extend from the main trunk and primary branches — a trait known as cauliflory that is characteristic of figs. The figs this tree produces are edible and they are pear-shaped, reaching a size of about 5 cm when ready to be picked and consumed. They are brownish-green when young and take on a red colour when ripe. These can be made into a jam or dried.

This fig species is definitely one to consider to grow in the garden if one desires to grow a tree that is not just only ornamental but produces edible fruits too. It is a tree to grow for those of us who want to be different. It is a tree for those who do not want to fall into the same category of people who grows the usual fruit trees such as mango, rambutan and guava – there are just to many people who has a mango tree grown right in front of their houses. What’s more, this fig tree is relatively pest- and disease-free.

Above is another excellent view of the fig tree in Rosalind’s garden. I was told that Andrew Tan also stood at the same spot to snap a picture of this famous broad-leaved fig tree. The orange glow from the setting sun completed this perfect shot as it lit up the fig tree’s trunk.

Many thanks to Rosalind and Wee Lee for the opportunity to visit them and Cheow Kheng for arranging the trip and making it possible.

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I was “gardening” all day long.

Posted on May 31, 2008 | 1 Comment

Today was an exhausting day for me but one that was very fulfilling. I was “gardening” all day long or more exactly, involved in various gardening-related activities which started at about 10 am in the morning which lasted only in the evening.

The first event was community planting at HortPark which commenced at about 10 am. I was so tired out by work in the past week that I overslept quite a bit and had to take a cab to rush down to Hyderabad Road. The skies were overcast and that meant quite a comfortable day ahead without the glaring sun that was well-suited for outdoor gardening.

My friends, namely, Albert, Chong Ren, Eng Ong, Phillipe and Xuan Hong, were also there to support the community planting event organised by the Community in Bloom (CIB) at their display plot at HortPark. Shirley from CIB invited us from Green Culture Singapore to introduce us to gardening enthusiasts from the various community gardening groups. It was nice to be able to meet up and interact with fellow community gardeners!

Take a look at the pictures below that are saturated with lots of smiling faces that I took during the community planting event:

It is a good initiative by the CIB to organise community planting sessions at the CIB plot at HortPark. In my opinion, this serves as a good opportunity for community gardeners from various groups to come together to know each other. After the casual planting activity was over, we were treated to some refreshments and I felt quite pampered as the CIB has ordered some Delifrance coffee and tea as well as some pastries. How nice right?

We then adjourned to the Fruit Room located below the Visitor Center at HortPark for a talk by Dr Varughese Phillip from the Agri-Veterinary Authority (AVA) on the fertilisation of plants. He covered some basic knowledge on plant nutrients, the types of organic and inorganic fertilisers that can be used to feed our plants and ways to spot nutrient deficiencies in our plants. These are something that would be useful for beginners. I was happy to meet up a friend, Ms Rosalind Tan, our famous Madame Butterfly from Alexandra Hospital, whom I have known from doing gardening, at the talk.

The activities at HortPark ended roughly at about 1 pm and I was back in my lab in NUS to do some labwork. I guess I was a little slow with the work on hand but I knew I cannot rush through the cell culture work that I have planned to do. I had to be meticulous and focussed with what I was doing and that took me a full two hours. It was around 3 pm when I was done and I had take another trip via a taxi to fly me down to Bishan Community Library to attend a talk that was organised by GCS, CIB and the National Library Board (NLB) at 3.30 pm.

The speaker of the talk was Mr Gan Cheong Weei, a fellow member from the GCS discussion forum. As mentioned before, he is a butterfly enthusiast as well as a avid Nature photographer and in this talk, Mr Gan shared with members of the public on how to use the popular “point and shoot” digital cameras to take good plant pictures. It was very well-received, I must say as the room was filled. The talk was concise and definitely not too technical. The tips given throughout his talk were very useful as well.

It was about past 4 pm when the talk ended. I was then pleasantly surprised by an invitation to visit Madame Butterfly’s home. It was a long-awaited visit that I had been eagerly looking forward to go on. The notion of the visit erased the fatigue and pain from a throbbing headache that were probably a result of a rather hectic day.

Rosalind’s house was easy to spot from a distance because when we were near it in the car, I could see her signature broad-leaved fig tree (Ficus auriculata) that fronted her porch. Her broad-leaved fig tree, now several decades old, was a sight to behold where it majestically stands as the main focal point of her garden.

Rosalind also brought me on a tour of her garden where I expectedly saw many butterfly plants that were grown to serve as a source of food for her caterpillars. I also got to see her caterpillar nursery where she nurtures caterpillars until they pupae. These were then brought back to Alexandra Hospital’s grounds to be released into the butterfly garden there.

What our Madame Butterfly has done – bringing her work back home – is evidence of how serious and passionate she is in her work at Alexandra Hospital. Most people leave their work at the office after work. She doesn’t. She is indeed a gem of Alexandra Hospital, our local natural heritage and Singapore.

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Posted in Events, Flowering plants, Gardening People in Singapore, My Thoughts..., Tropical ornamentals

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Madame Butterfly’s feature on the Business Times

Posted on April 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

I am not a Business Times subscriber. But I was lucky enough to be able to get hold of an earlier interview of my friend, Rosalind Tan, who is now famous and probably better known with her new title “Madame Butterfly”.

This article precedes the earlier message that I posted on this blog a few days ago (click this link to view that post). It talks about the butterfly garden in detail, focussing on its construction, maintanence as well as the species of butterflies one is likely to see on a good sunny day at Alexandra’s Hospital’s gardens.

Alexandra Hospital’s winged beauties

Matthew Phan, Business Times ( 8 Apr 08 )

IT’S a magical place where photographers gather at weekends to snap some of Singapore’s rarest and most beautiful creatures.

The butterfly trail at Alexandra Hospital is Singapore’s biggest open-concept butterfly garden, with more than 100 different species sighted. They include the Common Birdwing, a bright yellow and black butterfly with a wingspan of over 15 cm, which the hospital has contributed to the Istana and the Botanic Gardens.

Unlike at Sentosa there are no nets at Alexandra Hospital to keep the butterflies in – they are free to come and go as they wish.

The trick to keeping them around, says caretaker Rosalind Tan, who was chief occupational therapist at the hospital before she retired two years ago, is to grow the right plants.

The Common Birdwing, for example, may have arrived from Malaysia, flitting from green space to green space until it found the gardens from their scent, she says.

Alexandra Hospital’s gardens, which collectively stretch over the size of two football fields, have at least 500 species of trees and shrubs, including some 200 butterfly shrubs. The latter are fruit trees or flowering plants that mature butterflies obtain nectar from and hosts where they lay eggs.

Each species of butterfly may feed from several plants, but its caterpillar will eat only one particular host plant, says Ms Tan. Many of these are common fruit trees such as mango, guava or banana, but there are also several weeds, such as the common snakeweed, tyler flora and stinking passion flower.

‘You couldn’t buy them from a nursery if you wanted to,’ says Ms Tan, who obtained plant samples from the forest or from friends and cultivated them in her own garden before transplanting them in the hospital grounds.

Other plants are brought by birds, such as the mistletoe, which grows on trees but not on the ground. It hosts the Painted Jezebel, a pretty white-yellow-and-red winged butterfly that ‘just appeared’, she says.

Alexandra Hospital started the garden in 2002 when it decided to plant shrubs along a big drain at the edge of the hospital grounds, a ‘no man’s land’ at the time.

Today, caterpillar host plants are grown near the drain so patients do not see them, while the flowering plants are kept nearer the hospital so butterflies flit to the peopled areas.

Ms Tan is also working with conservation biologist Ho Hua Chew to design wetlands and grasslands at the back of the hospital, to attract birds. Some 60-plus bird species have already been sighted and she is aiming for more than 100.

But her consultants on the butterfly garden were simply amateur enthusiasts, such as the Butterfly Circle, and books, she says.

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Rosalind appears on the papers!

Posted on April 20, 2008 | 1 Comment

Some time back, I made a blog post on Alexandra Hospital and its famed butterfly garden. Today, on the Sunday Times, Mrs Rosalind Tan, the person behind the garden, was featured. The papers gave her the name “Madame Butterfly” which I found very appropriate.

I am proud to have a friend like her who has contributed massively to the conservation of nature and wildlife in highly urbanised Singapore. She has retired from her full-time job and many people who have chosen to rest and home and play golf or become couch potato. Rosalind did otherwise. Her current work needs a lot of dedication and commitment and many people have benefited from it.

Madame Butterfly of Alexandra Hospital
The Sunday Times ( 20 Apr 08 )

Mrs Rosalind Tan wants to create another butterfly garden.

Called Madame Butterfly by colleagues at Alexandra Hospital (AH), where she has created such a garden, she hopes to repeat the feat at the hospital’s new site in Yishun in 2010.

The senior operations executive started a butterfly garden in AH’s current location in Alexandra Road in 2002, and it now draws 101 species.

It is a commendable achievement given that only about 282 species have been spotted in Singapore.

Mrs Tan, 67, had been an occupational therapist in various hospitals for 12 years before she joined AH in 1982.

Drawing from her experience as an occupational therapist, she knew that a project like a butterfly garden could help in a patient’s recovery.

‘Butterflies have so many colours and patterns. Seeing them gives patients optimism and distracts them from their illnesses,’ she said.

Her husband, Mr Tan Wee Lee, 74, a retired senior principal architect, helped with the landscaping of the 12ha garden.

Set up from scratch, it has trails for people to walk along.

‘We wanted to have a healing environment for patients. We wow them, destress them and distract them from their illnesses by using butterflies.

‘There has been positive feedback from patients, so we know we are on the right track,’ she said.

She had scant knowledge of botany before she embarked on the project. One of the challenges was to identify the different types of plants that would attract butterflies.

Reading up on the subject and getting in touch with butterfly enthusiasts helped, said the mother of two.

Patients are encouraged by the hospital to explore the garden.

The hospital staff also take wheelchair-bound patients there.

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