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The Garden City

"'Singapore ahoy!' exclaimed the man at the mast head as the white houses and shipping rose above the horizon while we were abreast of the large red cliffs.... Hundreds of Chinese junks, and Malay prows, lay further in shore. Behind these stretched a sandy beach, glistening in the sun, and overhung by the graceful palm trees, the glory of Singapore planters. In the centre of the landscape was Government Hill, with its verdant lawns and snug bungalow; and at its base were the warehouses and mansions of the merchant princes. Behind these was to be seen the comely undulating background, alternately covered with the mighty forest trees and gambier and pepper gardens."

Such were the views that greeted John Turnbull Thomson, a young Englishman who came to Singapore in 1838, just two decades after the settlement was founded. Today the relatively rare visitor who arrives by sea encounters an almost solid facade of skyscrapers along the shore, many of them built on land reclaimed from the very waters where Thomson sailed. A few palms might still be glimpsed here and there among the buildings, perhaps even the top of Government Hill (now known as Fort Canning), but the mass of wild jungle and cultivated plantations that once covered all but small portions of the island appears to be gone as thoroughly as the rest of that early 19th-century world.

Yet such an impression would be misleading. A resoundingly modern city Singapore certainly is, one of the great success stories of contemporary Asia; but it can also lay claim to another kind of triumph just as significant to its residents. Scattered among those gleaming downtown towers, more impressively on display elsewhere, are the results of a deliberate campaign to transform Singapore into a literal "Garden City", one unequalled by any other great Asian city and by few in the Western world.

The Swiss Club, one of Singapore's many private clubs. Extensive lawns, a selection of palms including Cocos nucifera, Livistona chinensis by the porte-cochere, and Ravenala madagascarensis, grace the grounds.

Singapore in colonial times liked to think of itself primarily in terms of material achievements, but it was always a tropical city close to the equator, a place where things grew with startling speed and luxuriance; and aside from the original jungle there were, increasingly, man-made arrangements of nature. In the beginning, these were largely devoted to commercial crops - plantations of rare spices like nutmeg, clove and pepper as well as such useful plants as gutta percha (Palaquium spp, particularly P. gutta) which yielded a rubberlike latex. None proved very successful for the growers in the end, but the idea of using Singapore as a kind of huge botanical resource was never wholly abandoned. Most famously, it found expression at the Botanic Gardens from which the Brazilian para rubber tree was first introduced to Malayan plantations. But gradually, as Singapore assumed its role as a great entrepot of international trade, gardening became more of a personal pursuit, principally for pleasure.

The ruling British for the most part lived out of the Civic District in large bungalows, with spacious verandahs and surrounding gardens. Given the heat and regular, year-round rains the gardens were always vividly green - keeping them halfway tamed was a major job - but seldom displayed much originality of design. A few more serious gardeners did emerge, however, prompted by new ornamental plants being introduced through the Botanic Gardens and possibly by a growing sense of confidence. Hoo Ah Kay, an immensely rich Chinese businessman better known by his trade name of "Whampoa", (see pages 25-26) who had owned part of the land on which the Botanic Gardens were established in 1859, was noted as a gardener himself. A foreign visitor invited to see his creation in 1869 describes its "straight paths, winding walks, and labyrinths, a wonderful variety of tropical vegetation... a place where the florist or botanist might find...pleasure."

Under the leadership of RE Holttum, director of the Botanic Gardens, the Singapore Gardening Society was formed in 1936 by a group of local enthusiasts. The Society's main concern in its early years was the organization of annual plant shows, the first of which was held at the Victoria Memorial Hall in 1938. Such events came to an abrupt end during the Japanese occupation - when, according to one past president of the Society, gardens were "put to food-productive use wherever possible" - but were revived with the coming of peace. The Gardening Society continues today publishing a regular newsletter and holding monthly meetings.

Often photographed in Singapore, even though it is native to Madagascar, the Traveller's Palm (Ravenala madagascarensis) is (and was in early times) a popular ornamental tree. It is seen here flanking a replica of a statue of Stamford Raffles situated at his supposed landing site. The original statue is in front of the Victoria Concert Hall. Below is a view of a residence in Tanglin, complete with palms, and at bottom is the graveyard of the Armenian Church of St Gregory the Illuminator. The Armenians were a small, but influential community whose members included Agnes Joaquim, the discoverer of Singapore's national flower (see frontispiece and page 81). She is buried in the graveyard here. Middle photo courtesy of Antiques of the Orient.

The British also established a few public parks, set aside forest reserves, and initiated the planting of trees, especially fast-growing varieties like Angsanas and Rain trees, along city streets. An 1873 visitor described Orchard Road, then residential, as "very pretty, being lined by tall bamboo hedges and trees which, uniting above, form a complete shade". But it was only after independence, at the very beginning of Singapore's spectactular rise as a city state, that "greening" became a matter of public policy. Concerned about the dehumanizing influence of a concrete jungle, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew presciently launched the Garden City concept in 1967, followed by an annual Tree Planting Day in 1971. The concept required vision, determination, education, hard work and money.

But it was done, and is being accomplished still by dedicated city planners, botanists, landscapers, and private residents. Old parks have been restored and new ones planted. The great Botanic Gardens was expanded and took on the task of introducing and testing plants from abroad that would add variety and interest to public landscapes. New attractions like the Zoological Gardens, the Jurong Bird Park, and Sentosa Island incorporated stunning garden plantings as well as their primary exhibits. Most of all, perhaps, non-official Singaporeans have responded to the effort, sometimes creating imaginative gardens of their own in whatever spaces are available to them and also making use of the parks, large and small, that are rarely far from where they live. The results can been seen on the following pages, a tribute to all those who have indeed made Singapore a unique City of Gardens.

Raffles Place, formerly known as Commercial Square, was built on some of the city's first reclaimed land and was given its name in 1858. Today, as before, it is surrounded by the city's financial institutions and banks. Modern sculptures are by Ng EngTeng.

Nassim Road, one of Singapore's downtown avenues, is lined with venerable Broad-Leaved Mahogany trees (Swietenia macrophylla). A native of Honduras, it was introduced into Singapore around 1876 and is a popular shade tree.

Five of the early crops that were tried out in 19th-century Singapore. Clockwise from top left: cloves, pineapples, pepper, coffee and gambier. The cultivation of pineapples endured the longest. Gambier, native to Singaproe, was the earliest agricultural enterprise.