96-Lhk-21 12 Nov -1996

National Archives of Singapore Library 12 NOV-1996 Release No.: 10/SEP 14-l/96/09/06 96-LHK-21 SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG, MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF ISTANA PARK AT ORCHARD ROAD ON FRIDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 1996 AT 7.30 PM Our tree-planting and park development programme has successfully given Singapore a beautiful, pleasant lush environment. This has earned us the reputation of a Garden City. It has given us a quality living environment to soften our largely urban setting. We will continue to beautify our Garden City year after year. We have put in new and exotic plants, adding exciting dashes of colours and fragrance to the lush greenery. We have also built more parks and created green spaces to enhance the image of our Garden City. Where there is concrete or tarmac, there is a park or green space created for balance. More than beautifying our city, parks have another important role to play. The ambience and wide open spaces of our parks provide our people with a soothing environment to unwind and relax. All of us enjoy a leisurely stroll or an outing in the park with the family or friends. On weekends, parks are very popular. There is an increasing number of Singaporeans, young and old, enjoying a variety of activities in our parks. This is an encouraging trend. It 2 underscores the importance of our park development programme. It reinforces our commitment to provide Singaporeans with a wide variety of parks for recreation and leisure. We will continue to build more parks for Singaporeans. But the greater challenge for the National Parks Board is to continually raise the quality of our parks. Our park planners and landscape architects must be able to generate creative and innovative ideas to make each park as distinctive and as interesting as possible. Each park must have its own charm and unique features to attract and delight visitors. It is important that each park is designed with a fresh perspective, incorporating new ideas, new features and new approaches. Only then can we succeed in attracting more people to use them for their recreational and leisure needs. How can we enhance the quality and attractiveness of our parks? We can do two things. One, to provide a variety of parks to give people more choices for their recreational needs. Two, to enhance the aesthetics and features of the parks. We are developing a new generation of thematic parks. This will give Singaporeans a variety of choices in pursuing their recreational and leisure interests. The Sungei Buloh Park and the Pulau Ubin Recreation Area provide an enriching experience for nature lovers. Mount Faber is redeveloped with a maritime theme. Labrador Park is being transformed into a historical park to highlight the World War II artifacts there. We will also create riverine and adventure parks that capitalise on their natural settings. 3 The beauty of a park can certainly be enhanced by the way it is landscaped. The right choice of trees and plants, and well-designed features can further enhance the allure of a park. The design of the $13 million Istana Park underscores this important point. We have conceived the Istana Park as a tropical oasis with palm trees and water. These are two distinctive features of the Istana Park. Despite the small area, there are over 20 types of palm trees and some 150 species and varieties of plants here. I encourage Singaporeans to visit the Istana Park to enjoy the refreshing sights of this wide variety of palms and plants. The other main attraction of this 1.3-hectare Istana Park is the reflecting pool. Visitors will find the reflecting pool a charming sight, with cascading waters around it and a festival arch rising prominently above the waters. This beautiful Istana Park acts as a gateway to our Civic District, the historic and cultural heart of Singapore. The park will be a strong symbol and distinctive landmark of Singapore as a Garden City. Ladies and gentlemen, despite our land constraints, the Government places a high premium on developing parks for Singaporeans’ enjoyment. On our part, the Government will live up to the challenge of building good parks to enhance the quality of life in Singapore. You can look forward to more exciting parks as well as more activities in the parks in the future. Singaporeans, on their part, will have to live up to the challenge of keeping the parks clean and in good order. If park users behave irresponsibly and cause damage to these public amenities, then I am afraid the quality of our parks will degenerate. If people were to throw rubbish into a pond or damage park furniture, then it defeats the purpose of enhancing the attractiveness of the park with these features. It may then be best to design parks that are stripped of all the niceties. But I am sure you will find such parks boring and unappealing. The developinent and maintenance of parks require a great deal of effort, time and commitment. But they are worth it, if they contribute to the quality of life in Singapore. This they will do, if Singaporeans can make use of them in a manner befitting a gracious and mature people. It now gives me great pleasure to declare the Istana Park open. .

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