MEDIA FACTSHEET

NParks’ SG50 Activities

The (NParks) will be launching several activities and initiatives to celebrate ’s 50th birthday and the nation’s long-standing identity as a City in a Garden.

NParks will be enhancing the streetscape along five expressways, and major roads in the civic and central business districts. East Coast Parkway will be enhanced through additional planting and landscaping to make it even more distinctive. Special lighting will also be installed along the 3.4km stretch from Changi Airport from the 3rd quarter 2015.

NParks “Concert Series in the Park” will be held in various parks and gardens, beginning with Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park on 14 March 2015. These free concerts will happen at a total of six locations during the year and feature home-grown talents and community performing groups.

NParks staff will be paired with community gardeners from 50 Community in Bloom groups from across Singapore to create five celebratory SG50 Community in Bloom Gardens at HortPark. The “SG50 Community in Bloom Gardens” would be an embodiment of a shared love for gardening which underpins the spirit of NParks’ Community in Bloom programme.

2015 marks 25 years of the Park Connector Network, which was first announced in 1991. The community will be able to participate in a mass tree-planting exercise between September 2015 and October 2015, planting 5,000 trees in 50 locations along the Park Connector Network, Individuals and organisations who wish to take part in the “SG50 Mass Tree Planting” may sign up with the Garden City Fund at www.gardencityfund.org.

The GreenUrbanScape Asia (GUSA) trade conference will also be held in November 2015, to facilitate meaningful conversations on innovations and solutions in landscaping, urban greenery and biodiversity, to further our City in a Garden vision.

The Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year competition (SGPY) was also launched in September 2014, in which members of the public are invited to rediscover our natural heritage by submitting their photos of our parks, gardens and nature reserves.

For more details, please see Annex A.

For media enquiries, please call Ms Grace Chen at 9383 2552 or Ms Cassandra Lew at 9823 5156. Updated as of 5 February 2015. Page 1 of 4

ANNEX A

NParks SG50 Activities

As Singapore celebrates its 50th birthday in 2015, NParks and partners will be organising a host of activities for the community to play an active role in our City in a Garden vision. These activities aim to cultivate a deeper appreciation for our green spaces and natural heritage, as well as to encourage more to join us in continuing to green up the city. For update, please visit www.nparks.gov.sg/sg50

Key events and activities include:

Month Events and Activities September 2014 to Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year April 2015 The “Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year” photo competition aims to create a greater appreciation and awareness of our natural heritage through the lens of the community. Participants can submit photographs to both the open category and the Instagram category, capturing what they think best represents the four themes: “Singapore Botanic Gardens – Celebrating Our Heritage”, “Trees, Forests and Parks”, “People and Nature” and “Our BiodiverCITY”. Participants stand to win cash and camera prizes worth about $50,000.

All entries must be sent to www.nparks.gov.sg/sgpy. Deadlines for the first two themes have already closed but the submission dates for the third and fourth themes are open till April 2015. Please visit the website for details.

From March 2015 Concert Series in the Park

Free public concerts will be held in various parks and gardens from March until the end of the year, featuring home-grown talents and community performing groups. Catering to both young and old, these concerts will bring nostalgic melodies to the parks with a wide repertoire of jazz, classical, contemporary and xinyao.

The concerts will be held at:  Bishan- Ang Mo Kio Park (14 March 2015)  (9 May 2015)  Singapore Botanic Gardens (7 and 8 August 2015)  Park (26 September 2015)  (31 October 2015)

For media enquiries, please call Ms Grace Chen at 9383 2552 or Ms Cassandra Lew at 9823 5156. Updated as of 5 February 2015. Page 2 of 4

(19 December 2015) From March 2015 SG50 Community in Bloom Gardens

50 Community in Bloom groups from Singapore will gather to create five celebratory “SG50 Community in Bloom Gardens” at HortPark. The gardens will showcase displays of a high standard and provide a platform for community gardeners from residential estates, public and private organisations, schools and voluntary welfare organisations to bond through a shared love for gardening. The public will be able to view the display gardens in September 2015.

September 2015 to SG50 Mass Tree Planting October 2015 The community will have the opportunity to take part in planting 5,000 trees at 50 locations islandwide. Proceeds of this mass tree planting will go towards the Garden City Fund.

Interested individuals and organisations may contact [email protected].

5-7 November 2015 GreenUrbanScape Asia 2015

This biennial trade is co-organised with industry associations for professionals in the landscape, leisure, greenery design, construction and urban greenery technology arena. The theme for 2015 will be on innovation in greenery for the future.

For media enquiries, please call Ms Grace Chen at 9383 2552 or Ms Cassandra Lew at 9823 5156. Updated as of 5 February 2015. Page 3 of 4