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To be (kempt) or not to be

A few days ago, Singapore came out of the circuit breaker after being in lockdown for about 8 weeks. On the first day, a friend of mine went out for lunch to Tanjong Pagar, an area that is popular for global restaurants and a vibrant nightlife. There he saw a few people gathered around photographing a hen and her chicks walking around the usually traffic ridden roads. On another occasion, photographs and videos of a family of otters lounging around in front of the (otherwise) ever-busy Mustafa Centre made the rounds on social media. For a city that's boasts of a huge amount of biodiversity, displays of farm birds wandering around or wildlife loitering around are rare in the urban settings. Even the wildlife in Singapore's nature reserves know well not to tarnish the carefully manicured image of the urban cityscape.



Talking about manicured, the lawns, gardens and parks around Singapore also started to show their natural state in the last couple of months. While I never actually realised how well-groomed the grass always was, I immediately noticed it when it wasn't.

Just outside the building we live in, there is a park through which I walk to work. After having been home for the last three months, I stepped out last week for a walk and I was struck by the overgrown patches of grass and the unmanicured lawns. What was surprising to me was not the fact that the park looked more natural to me now, but rather how I never realised how unnatural it was before. I was so accustomed to the neatly mown lawn that it never occurred to me that it didn't happen naturally.

A children's play area

 The manicured parks in Singapore

Pictures from my latest walk:




I must say that I have been unaware of the efforts that go into maintaining the city's spaces. Also, at the same time, huge amount of respect for nature that takes every opportunity to remind us that we shouldn't take it for granted. 

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