Gardens and me

Even before I write this I know it sounds weird. I love gardens. I really do. Back in my younger wanderlust days, backpacking on a shoestring budget, I nonetheless always made it a point to get to the city garden. It didn't matter if I had to spend a bit f my precious little travel cash to hop on a bus to get there and to pay an entrance fee... I just needed to get in, walk the grounds, sit on a park bench, jot my thoughts in my travelogue and generally just soak up the tranquility afforded by the trees, flowers and lawns.

From Tokyo imperial gardens, to the world famous Hyde Park in London and Central Park in New York or the beautiful Kirstenbosch in Capetown or Barcelona's Parc Guell, I've been to them all... More than once, even. 

But the gardens that I've been to most almost on a weekly basis,for the past couple of years, is the Singapore Botanical Gardens. I've made it a point to be the chauffeur for M every Sunday afternoon for her Math class. I drop her and then go to the Gardens next door and spend a better part of the next two hours on some functional core routines and run the paths in SBG. It's not too far fetched to say I know every nook and cranny of this impressive gardens. And as I jogged all over it, I am only too aware of its attractions and history and had hoped the UNESCO would see them too.

Yesterday, the SBG was conferred the status of being a UNESCO world heritage site. This means it will continue to be preserved well for posterity. That's a really nice thought. Too many things of worth and purpose, too many institutions too for that matter, have been destroyed by poor governance. In fact, as Singapore Botanical Gardens (and by extensions their custodian, the NParks run by the Singapore Government) is recognised for having taken good care of this asset, my home country is a washed with a corruption scandal so egregious, it boggles the mind. 

But back to Singapore, well done! And to the photographer of the above photo: Lee Hsien Loong.