Previously, the furthest I had gone into Macritchie reservoir was the door, literally. It was a brief visit with my family and the most memorable part of the dusty compound was a bare grey structure of a cafe that sold expensive, average tasting drinks. That was certainly enough to stamp a big red "commercial place" in my childhood list and effectively strike it off the list of potential trekking sites. And as most stories go, there was certainly definitely so much more to it than the entrance. Moral of the story, don't judge a book by a cover, likewise don't judge a place by its appearance but its true worth.
In fact, one can enter from all points imaginable, not just the official upgraded entrance. Our small crew consisting of all things green, fingers and horns, enthusiasts and guides, began our journey at Sime Road somewhere opposite Island Country Club. Mirroring the color scheme, our conversation buzzed with life about life itself.
Indeed the wildlife in the Central Catchment is admirable, not only is it the last primary forest left in Singapore, the thick undergrowth is one of the rare pieces of land that weren't razed down by the gambier farmers when they arrived before Raffles. This was all thanks to that strip of bank, a piece of knowledge kindly imparted by one of our nature sages/guides.
From leaf birds to sea apple tree relatives, the morning was milked for its worth as we rediscovered Singapore and appreciating nature not in textbooks or negative production externalities but by experience. For the matter, no words or numbers can quantify the experience of being in nature and the wonders a foliage can bring. There is this sense of reclaiming the enthusiasm of what once was lost as if the passage of time has been reversed and one is a child again like spotting squirrels and bird watching.
Some might ask, why bother when it is going to be gone eventually? What the future generation doesn't know won't harm them.
Exactly. Rediscovering a place beyond the shopping districts and omnipresent street lighting. Appreciating the lone piece of foliage swamped in a deluge of construction sites and towers. People might say that the quest is a cause that will ultimately fade off and die. One thing I would like you to remember is that our house is not just a home to us alone. The relationship is symbiotic, meaning that we're all dependent on one another and coexist harmoniously. Yet all this will change slightly with the construction of the MRT line through a part of the forest.
Imagine this. One day, a big shoe lands in your backyard and only grows bigger every second. The shoe starts to negotiate with you at first but eventually takes it as its right to step anywhere it wants. After all, you can't argue against a shoe.
The moral of the story is, we should take what we need and return what we don't. The walk opened up our eyes to a whole complex world of relationships between flora and fauna that can be a big problem if altered. This reminds me of documentary I watched in Year 1 called Darwin's Nightmare whereby a man's simple act of dropping a bucket of fish into a river ruined an entire ecosystem. Inevitably, we will affect nature, as told by the guides, whenever we enter it. For example, one road eroded over a long period of time after being trod repeatedly due to the nature walks conducted. That's why we need to conserve certain areas, especially the primary forest which holds a trove of bustling biodiversity. To name a few, we saw a rare lizard just along the edge of the Central Catchment Forest so just imagine how many other species there are in there!
Is the risk necessary? The crux of the issue is that we have no idea what the building of an MRT would do to a tropical primary forest as no one has actually built an MRT line, much less a train station, through a reservoir. and negative ramifications of loud noises, interruption to water supply, destruction of trees are impending, since if one wants the animals and plants to adapt to the noise, they can't do so overnight. When lives are involved, the risk is too high to take
Perhaps the biggest issue comes back to the whole notion of price, pricey drinks are just the least of the problems. What price do we pay in the long term or short term? Nature is something that once lost , becomes harder to replace. No matter how desperate you are, a tree doesn't age a century until a century happens.
My challenge to whoever that reads this is to ask yourself "what can I do to change this?" and not believe that cutting through our primary forest is an inevitable fact. We can still change it if we try (http://lovemacritchie.wordpress.com).
At the end of the day, I've learnt that there is no point if everything solely functions on a theoretical basis and justification. What's important is that you loosen up a bit and go out to experience what you want to save before saving it. The last step is to act on the impulse and do something. So lastly, do something for the environment today not just because other plants and animals depend it but also because we depend on it too.
Mentioned article
Darwin's Nightmare :
Do watch the documentary as it is quite interesting and informative
Qing,
The Green Beans
