Featured on 21st July 2024 on The Straits Times.
The Japanese Garden will feature a gorge-like landscape called the Sunken Garden, where walled paths lead park-goers to a centrepiece (pictured) that takes inspiration from a collapsed limestone cave formation. ST PHOTO: WONG PEI TING
SINGAPORE — The Japanese and Chinese gardens, which have been closed for redevelopment since May 2019, will reopen in September as part of Jurong Lake Gardens’ next phase of opening.
Visitors can expect to be greeted with expanses of water dotted with shades of yellow, blue, white, pink and purple – part of what will be Singapore’s largest water lily collection – when they cross the Japanese Garden Bridge, a 15-minute walk from Jurong East MRT station.
The aquatic garden will feature more than 150 day- and night-blooming water lily varieties sourced from the United States, Britain, France and Thailand, said the National Parks Board (NParks) on July 21.
Those who venture farther will come across a gorge-like landscape called the Sunken Garden, where walled paths lined up to 3.5m high on both sides with more than 200 types of epiphytes – plants that grow on other plants or structures – attempt to create a microclimate of high humidity and low temperatures.
Its centrepiece takes inspiration from a cenote – a deep natural well or sinkhole formed by the collapse of surface limestone that exposes groundwater underneath – featuring an air well that allows natural light into the otherwise shaded garden, and a still pool to harvest and recycle rainwater.
Parkgoers will be greeted with an aquatic garden with water lilies after crossing the Japanese Garden Bridge, which is within walking distance from Jurong East MRT station. ST PHOTO: WONG PEI TING
Visitors emerging from the Sunken Garden will enter the Floral Garden, which was partly designed and conceptualised by students and other members of the community.
Giving a preview of these features at the 13ha Japanese Garden on July 21, NParks said the design concept was built on more than 14,000 suggestions gathered through roving exhibitions, townhall sessions and online surveys held between November 2016 and April 2017.
The feedback showed people liked “water-sensitive” designs, which integrate water cycle management in their approach, and garden features related to water – both of which are being realised in the Water Lily Garden and Sunken Garden, NParks said.
Meanwhile, the Floral Garden serves as a showcase for community stewardship of Singapore’s green spaces, a key thrust of the country’s “City in Nature” vision, it pointed out.
Volunteers at the Floral Garden in the Japanese Garden section of Jurong Lake Gardens on July 21. ST PHOTO: WONG PEI TING
National Development Minister Desmond Lee, who spoke on the sidelines of a tree-planting event held alongside the preview, noted that the new features are an extension of the idea of Jurong Lake Gardens as a “people’s garden”.
It is the first of Singapore’s three national gardens to be situated in the heartland. The other two national gardens are the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay.
This was why MPs from Jurong GRC, West Coast GRC and the single seat ward of Yuhua were present at the planting event, which drew about 150 participants, including volunteers, residents and students, Mr Lee told the media.
“Being the very first (gardens) in the heartland, we made significant effort to reach out to local communities, roping in our grassroots advisers to help raise awareness, drum up interest, and help marshal communities together to give their views and feedback,” said Mr Lee, who is an MP for West Coast GRC.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee (in centre, grey shirt) and other MPs at the tree-planting event on July 21. ST PHOTO: WONG PEI TING
Also at the event were West Coast GRC MPs Foo Mee Har, Ang Wei Neng and Rachel Ong; Jurong GRC MPs Shawn Huang and Rahayu Mahzam; and Yuhua MP Grace Fu. Ms Fu is Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Ms Rahayu is Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and Health, while Mr Huang is Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Finance.
Dr Hamid Razak, a surgeon who has been active in Jurong GRC and is tipped to run as a People’s Action Party candidate there in the next general election, was also present.
Dr Hamid Razak (second from right), who has been active in the Jurong Spring area, seen at the tree-planting event. ST PHOTO: WONG PEI TING
While it has been a decade since the authorities started reimagining the possibility of Jurong Lake Gardens becoming Singapore’s third national garden, Mr Lee said plenty of opportunities remain for the community to volunteer and pass on feedback.
“The park is a living space. Even as the plants continue to grow and evolve, we want to continue to get residents’ feedback on how they find the park, and the kind of issues they encounter when it comes to the park,” he said.
It is not just “big-level ideas” that are being sought, but issues on the ground too, he added.
This is so that feedback can be used to keep improving the spaces, such as allowing the use of some communal spaces for community events, Mr Lee said.
NParks’ Friends of Jurong Lake Gardens, which gathers people who care about the gardens and long to use them for a variety of activities, is one channel where people can get engaged and contribute, he noted.
NParks said the design concept was built on more than 14,000 suggestions gathered through roving exhibitions, town hall sessions and online surveys. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Therapeutic horticulturist Fion Tham, 50, who volunteers with this group, said her participation has prompted her to think harder about how she can apply her knowledge to improve seniors’ enjoyment of the gardens.
One of her suggestions being incorporated is the planting of the musical note plant at the Floral Garden’s Invigoration Garden, one of five community plots there, she noted. She hopes the plant’s unusually shaped flowers will attract parkgoers.
The tree-planting event was supported by a $21,000 donation from Mr Han Jok Kwang, 70, a business development adviser at Schneider Electric, under the Garden City Fund, NParks’ registered charity.
Under the fund, with every $300 donation, organisations and individuals can plant a tree in one of the NParks-managed green spaces. Mr Han is a member of the fund’s management committee.
The reopening is part of Jurong Lake Gardens’ third phase of opening. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Given that the gardens will be set against the backdrop of the future Jurong Lake District, which is planned as Singapore’s second Central Business District, Mr Han believes the collective effort will go towards making the area a more attractive place to live, work and invest in.
Micron Technology also donated $1 million to the Garden City Fund to support a smart water management system that helps clean and restore water at the Water Lily Garden.
Of the over 150 water lily varieties to be showcased at the garden, more than 100 will be new to Singapore, NParks said.
These include both the largest member of the water lily family – the Giant Water Lily, which produces leaves that can grow up to 3m in diameter – and its smallest member, the Nymphaea thermarum, with leaf pads that measure only 1cm across.
