Speech by Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure Khaw Boon Wan at the Opening of Coney Island Park
Oct 10, 2015
I am no longer in MND. NParks asked me to participate and I said yes, for two reasons. First, I promised Kenneth months ago that I would do this event. Then, we had no inkling when the elections would be or that there will be a Cabinet reshuffle that affected me. A promise is a promise, so I said yes, I will come here. Secondly, it’s for personal reasons. I have been working flat out since PM wanted me to take on the transport portfolio – working long hours, talking to experts, reading technical reports, visiting our colleagues who work in the trenches, taking trains and all that – so I am happy for these two hours of reprieve. So in fact, I thank you for inviting me, to give me this opportunity. Of course, there is a third reason - we are very proud of this Coney Island Park.
Coney Island, as you know, is an island where people used to come here to picnic. A few years ago, MND, URA and NParks decided to do something about it. Coney Island is a land bank, for future generations of Singaporeans. The island is not very big, but by Singapore standards, it is an important land bank. Future generation of Singaporeans, for whatever reason, may require more land for expansion. We decided that half of the island will be turned into a park, which is what we are going to open today. In so doing, we will keep the island rustic and in its natural state as much as possible. More importantly, we wanted it to be a symbol of environmental sustainability.
First, we will need some building materials and we will try to recycle whatever we can find on this island. For example, instead of sending the fallen Casuarina trees to the incinerator, we reused and recycled the timber.
Second, we will need energy and resources, electricity and water. Again, we go for renewable sources – solar panels and collected rainwater, for the toilets and for washing hands.
More importantly, we wanted to keep the nature state, so that Singaporeans, especially young Singaporeans, can get to enjoy and get close to nature. Here, there are two broad schools of thought – there are people who believe very strongly that the best way to keep nature is to do nothing. In other words, if human beings do nothing, nature will heal; nature will respond by itself.
A few years back, I read an article in New York Times about a very big park near Amsterdam in Holland. As you know, the land in Holland is below sea level. Many years ago, they reclaimed a piece of land, thinking that they would need more industrial space like JTC and that they would be able to attract factories and create jobs. But, as it turned out, there was a turn in economic fortune. A group of naturalists who came in and asked, why don’t we just leave that piece of land alone? After several years of observation, several interesting insights emerged. When I read that article, I made a mental note to make a trip there if I ever visit Amsterdam. I did, a few years back, and it is exciting. The place was left as it is, gated up, and had park rangers. They also introduced some endangered species of cattle and let them run about, breed and so on. More importantly, they also wanted people to experience nature as it is i.e. life and death. They did not introduce predators or wolves there, but they let animal and plant species live as life is. So, when you walk around, you will see trees dying after being hit by thunder, animals dying of sickness or old age. It was controversial because people asked, how could these be exposed to people? Many people, including myself, think that there is meaning in there. Life is as such – there is life and death, ups and downs.
So, we can do Coney Island up this way. I think Singapore is not ready. We are by nature, very
kiasi. Even when a tree branch falls and hits a windscreen, NParks will be asked what needs to be done to stop it from falling, and why it did not look after the trees properly. So, imagine if Coney Island is that way! This will be not quite like that school of thought of leaving nature as it is. It is a little bit protected so that it is safe. Safety has the benefit in that it allows us to bring young kids to see nature as it is. Along the way, we can educate and inspire them to think about nature, environment and the relationship with us, and that we are part and parcel of this system. Therefore, if we keep our environment clean, well and sustainable, we benefit along with the planet.
NParks has, in recent years, especially under the leadership of Kenneth, been actively reforesting. This is a programme which I strongly supported. He has been researching on the trees which existed on this island many, many years ago but are now less commonly found. For example, this morning, we will be planting more than 100 trees and many of them are not commonly found now. I will be planting a Lantern Tree, a fruit tree where the fruits look like lanterns. It is not so common now, but we managed to find the seedling and get it nurtured. Singtel volunteers will also be planting many others such less commonly found trees. We thank Singtel for your support because we cannot do this on our own. Top-down is the easy part – throw some money, put in political will and you can achieve somewhat – but nothing like a ground-up effort where employers, schools and youths come together by themselves. We hope that it would not just be on Coney Island, but also elsewhere in Singapore. This reforestation, and therefore the message of telling young Singaporeans the importance of recovering some of these old tree species, will happen not just in Coney Island but also in Botanic Gardens and Sembawang Park – last week I planted some less commonly found fruit trees, including a durian tree
The results are showing. I early talked about the school of thought of leaving nature as it is and it will heal. Just by these reforestation, we see that birds are coming back. Some are not so common, like the Rusty-breasted Cuckoo and the Spotted Wood Owl. Maybe it is still too bright to spot them today, but there is one more story which I want to share. When NParks was doing this project, they discovered a Brahman bull, alone, on the island. It was very sickly, in fact it was dying. One easy way was to let it die painlessly, but NParks decided to get in some vets. So, slowly and painstakingly, we nursed the bull back to health. The bull is around here, but a bit lonely, since it is the only one. What is puzzling to us, and remains a mystery is, how did it end up on Coney Island? So perhaps, through the media, some old Singaporean who probably kept it as pet and kept it somewhere may come forward to say he/she is the owner.
This Brahman bull is quite a different species of cattle from what we normally see, for example the kerbau or water buffalo. After we restored it to good health, we have options again – what should we do with this bull? Of course, a simple option is to donate it to the zoo; another option is a terrible one which I shall not say and object vehemently to; third option is to ask if it is safe, will be pose public health issues. We consulted experts and they verified that it is safe and there were no public health concerns.
In fact, they are very shy and if you see it later, don’t get too near. You can take photographs but don’t get too near as they get frightened quite easily. So we took the option of letting it roam, it is a legitimate resident of this island with more right to this island than we do. Our job is to respect it and give it privacy.
So, once again, let me thank Singtel and all our volunteers who help us keep Singapore beautiful and sustainable. The message is a simple one – recycle, renew and reforest. And we will have a beautiful environment on this little island, occasionally with a little haze from our neighbour, but that can’t be helped. Hopefully we can invent something that can change wind direction, but that will take a long time. Thank you very much.