Cultural Heritage and Peripheral Spaces in Singapore
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TAI WEI LIM CULTURAL HERITAGE AND PERIPHERAL SPACES IN SINGAPORE Cultural Heritage and Peripheral Spaces in Singapore Tai Wei Lim Cultural Heritage and Peripheral Spaces in Singapore Tai Wei Lim SIM University Singapore, Singapore Research Team Members: Tai Wei Lim Dr Adrian Kwek Ms Soh Hui Shi (Research Assistant) Ms Clara Tay En Ting (Research Assistant) ISBN 978-981-10-4746-6 ISBN 978-981-10-4747-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4747-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940206 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore CONTENTS 1 Introduction: A Personal Trekking History 1 2 Southern Singapore: The Constituency of Tanjong Pagar and the Surrounding Areas of Marina, Bayfront and Raffes Place in Southern Singapore 35 3 A Passion for Heritage and Nature: A Case Study of the Mature Tiong Bahru Estate and Surrounding Areas 61 4 The Pedagogical Contributions of the Peripheral Spaces of Walks: Fort Canning and Tiong Bahru 97 Adrian Kwek 5 Peripheral Land No More? Fetishisms of Space and Case Studies of the Green Rail Corridor and Clementi Forest 139 6 Singapore’s Green Lungs: The Central Catchment Area and Its Peripheral Areas 173 7 Terminal End of Singapore’s North–South Hike: Fetishisms of Nostalgia and Rusticity in Northern Singapore 199 v vi CONTENTS 8 Journey to the West: Hiking Along the Peripheral Spaces of the Southern Ridges 227 9 Hiking the East Coast of Singapore 255 10 Conclusion 283 Index 297 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 2.1 A mother hen leading three chicks through Fort Canning. These are wild junglefowl. The rooster rummages through the bushes while keeping watch over his family nearby 45 Fig. 2.2 The author’s camera captures the lone fgure of an Indian Muslim wearing muslin textiles sitting on a stool at the back of a shophouse taking a break from work, gazing far into the corridors of Arab Street where the watchtower of the Sultan Mosque stands. He is an example of the hardworking people in this area who make the daily commercial activities in Arab Street possible 56 Fig. 3.1 A beautiful wild stray cat with blue eyes in the Tiong Bahru area 73 Fig. 3.2 Mysteriously, a wild red junglefowl, the ancestor of the farmed chicken, has made Tiong Bahru Park its home. It is often seen hunting for worms near a drainage canal 74 Fig. 3.3 A plantain squirrel at the Tiong Bahru park. Plantain squirrels inhabit the areas between Alexander canal, through Tiong Bahru Park and into the trees growing along Redhill. They survive well in an urban environment. The author has seen some wandering into the nearby housing estates. On 4 September 2016, the author spotted a plantain squirrel searching for fcus tree nuts. These squirrels are not threatened and are quite common, and can even be found near housing estates. This particular squirrel was versatile and hung upside down while searching for its food 76 vii viii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 3.4 Tiong Bahru was the frst consolidated public housing estate in Singapore. This photo features the Singapore Improvement Trust buildings from the 1930s 77 Fig. 4.1 The pair of informational signboards at the beginning of the fourteenth century Walk 108 Fig. 4.2 The break at H6: The archaeological dig 115 Fig. 4.3 The break after H11 116 Fig. 4.4 The break at H13 117 Fig. 4.5 The exhibition passageway 118 Fig. 4.6 Botanical signage intermingled with walk signage 120 Fig. 4.7 Chang Wei’s “A Portrait” 121 Fig. 4.8 The trail map reproduced on the top right-hand corner of every piece of site marker signage 123 Fig. 4.9 Signage 06 and surrounding Streamline Moderne architecture 127 Fig. 4.10 Signage 10 and surrounding international style architecture 128 Fig. 4.11 Example of site marker signage with road name information 132 Fig. 4.12 The informative signboard about Tan Chay Yan 133 Fig. 4.13 The informative signboard about Tan Kim Cheng 134 Fig. 5.1 The lush green canopy of the Clementi Forest. Flocks of birds fy over this area in the late afternoon and evening. The Clementi Forest has witnessed thunderstorms and a variety of man-made events, including the smoke particles that were blown into Singapore from forest fres in the region 145 Fig. 5.2 A changeable lizard hides in waiting at the Kampong Bahru end of the Green Rail Corridor 161 Fig. 5.3 One of the author’s most important visual sightings was that of a black spitting cobra! It hurriedly avoided the Green Rail path and slithered away in muddy water when it spotted hikers. When threatened, the black spitting cobra opens up its hood and can spit venom accurately at the eyes of a predator up to 2 meters away. This particular snake is estimated to be around 1.7–2.0 meters long 167 Fig. 6.1 The rising sun and still waters at MacRitchie Reservoir on 5 March 2016 180 LIST OF FIGURES ix Fig. 6.2 An alpha male monkey sits at the entrance to the tree top walk together with its two female companions guarding the entrance fercely. Eventually, it leapt at one of the author’s hiking mates and attempted to chase them off. This was probably one of the most hostile long-tailed monkeys encountered during the hikes for this volume. Most long-tailed macaques are inquisitive, playful, shy and quiet 182 Fig. 6.3 In the Bukit Panjang area, the author encountered a slightly venomous banded mangrove snake sleeping curled up in a tree. A nocturnal creature, it becomes active at night look for small prey 183 Fig. 6.4 On 29 October 2016, the author spotted a green crested lizard (bronchocela cristatella) on the Bukit Panjang/Zhenghua Park trek 190 Fig. 7.1 The highly toxic pong pong fruit. Its white sap contains toxins that may affect the heart 210 Fig. 7.2 A monitor lizard lazes on a wooden deck sunning itself 211 Fig. 7.3 A monitor lizard sticks its forked tongue out to taste the water 212 Fig. 7.4 The crocodile captures visitors’ imagination. The author spotted a submerged estuary crocodile hiding in the water with only its eyes above the surface of the water 213 Fig. 7.5 Arrival at the northern-most point of Singapore. This was the point beyond which the research team could go no further without a passport. In the future, Jurong East will be the new site for a train terminal for the high speed rail system to Malaysia 220 Fig. 7.6 The tawny coster butterfy found on Coney Island 223 Fig. 7.7 The majestic brahminy kite soars over Coney Island 223 Fig. 8.1 Amazingly, the giant red ants form a bridge using their own bodies so that their compatriots can cross between a signboard and a leaf, connecting an urban infrastructure with a natural green leaf 230 Fig. 8.2 Bright orange fungus growing on rotting wooden logs along the Henderson Waves trail. The same bright orange fungus could also be found growing on rotting wood along the sloped pathways of Mount Faber 232 x LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 8.3 A picture of the treetop walk starting from the entrance opposite Hort Park. Visitors walk along the steel pedestrian bridge of the treetop walk and enjoy a spectacular bird’s eye view from a vantage point near the peak 233 Fig. 9.1 The majestic Sultan Mosque with its golden onion dome, spires and a brown/beige color scheme. When this photo was taken, the Mosque had just gone through a round of renovation 262 Fig. 9.2 The former palace grounds of Kampong Glam, which used to be the residence of the former ruler/Sultan of Singapore 266 Fig. 9.3 Probably a tripod fsh that is not usually valued by anglers caught on the east coast of Singapore. The organic and laissez faire gatherings of the community of anglers have their own evaluation system of prized catches and “trash fsh”. Anglers who catch fsh such as the tripod fsh throw them back into the sea, sometimes without harming them by removing the hooks from their mouth.