The Green Little Red Dot

Singapore, a country with land area of 718.3 km², total population of more than 5 million and Gross Domestic Product of S$390.1 billion (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2015), is where I call home. The little island is located in the Southeast Asia, just south of West Malaysia and east of Sumatra, Indonesia. This region of Asia is also the place where the tropical rainforests and the homes of many wildlife species are found.

Given its small size and situated near the equator, Singapore does not have 4 seasons and the temperature of this tiny piece of land ranges from 25.3°C to 31.6°C (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2015). It is hot throughout the year [when compared to countries with winter and spring] and I believe this can be a reason why we are “red” [associating red with infrared and heat].

Hundreds of years ago, this tiny piece of land was covered with rainforest, but today, it is a bustling city packed with high-rise buildings for commercial and residential purposes. Singapore did not forget about the importance of having a “green” environment and spaces were set aside for nature reserves and the building of parks. These green spaces are situated all over the island and the total size assigned is equivalent to 0.8ha of parks per 1,000 residents (Ministry of National Development, 2013). Therefore, Singapore is known world-wide as a Garden City. 

Image of Kallang River @ Bishan–Ang Mo Kio Park (Public Utilities Board, 2014)

According to National Parks Board (2015), Singapore has 4 nature reserve and more than 300 parks located island-wide under their care. The 4 nature reserves are Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Labrador Nature Reserve and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

This is how I came about with the name of this blog, Green Little Red Dot.

I strongly believe that urbanisation requires the inclusion of green areas to make it livelier. Imagine living in a place without greeneries and that nothing around you is lively and all you see is just concretes. I don’t think I would be happy living in that kind of environment. Cause it will also be very HOT!!!

What do you think?

References

Ministry of National Development (2013). More Parks and Park Connectors | A City in a Garden | MND Land Use Plan. [Online] Available at: http://www.mnd.gov.sg/landuseplan/city_in_a_garden.htm. [Accessed 25 August 2015].

National Parks Board (2015). Parks & Nature Reserves - Gardens, Parks & Nature - National Parks Board. [Online] Available at: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves. [Accessed 25 August 2015].

Public Utilities Board (2014). A Fine Balance, PUB Annual Report 2013/14. [Online Image] Available at: http://www.pub.gov.sg/annualreport2014/in-focus_s5_where-nature-meets-the-city.html. [Accessed 25 August 2015].

Singapore Department of Statistics (2015). Singapore in Figures 2015. [Online] Available at: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/publications/publications_and_papers/reference/sif2015.pdf. [Accessed 25 August 2015].