Not scrap metal, but a bridge to the past
Letter to TODAY by Liew Kai Khiun, 22 Jun 2011.
For the past fortnight, along with Singaporeans from all walks of life, I have been joining the walks along the Malayan Railway tracks organised by the “We support the Green Corridor” group, comprising conservationists and nature experts who are promoting awareness of the need to conserve the line between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands as a green lung, after it ceases operation at the end of the month.
Aside from the stretches of lush greenery along the train line, many visitors have been tremendously fascinated by the engineering structures. These include the levers in the control room of the Bukit Timah Station, the train tracks and the cast-iron Truss bridges on Dunearn Road and Railway Mall on the main line, and the smaller counterparts at Sungei Ulu Pandan and Sunset Way along the defunct Jurong-Bukit Timah line.
Source: TODAY
NSS’s Letter for a 6 month moratorium
Ref: SLA’s Tender for Removal and Storage of Railway including ancillary structures from Woodlands Train Checkpoint to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, which was awarded on 2 Jun 2011.
Nature Society (Singapore) has already send letters to the relevant authorities to seek a 6 month moratorium commencing 1 July 2011 for the above work.
NSS asked that any dismantling works of the KTM tracks and ancillary structures be deferred during these 6 months except for reasons of safety.
NSS requested that the public be allowed to venture and explore the entire railway land and suggested that the authority should take the opportunity during this 6 months moratorium to garner feedbacks and conduct consultations to find out how the public would like the railway land to be used.
As the Singaporean public has been kept out of the KTM railway land for decades during the tenure of KTM, NSS thinks that this would be a once in a lifetime chance for the public to see the railway land as it is with its railway tracks, structures, bridges etc all intact.
Organised walk can be conducted by local or even KTM staff on the railway.
This would make for a fabulous and educational trip on our shared heritage as the railway has been a historical landmark of Singapore.
The railway has been with us for many decades – relatively an additional six months is a very short amount of time.
Source: NSS
Government in talks on ‘green corridor’
By Grace Chua, Straits Times, 16 Jun 2011.
The Minister of State for National Development has sounded what green groups have read as a positive note on the fate of the island’s north-south strip of railway land.
Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan Jin indicated in a Facebook post that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the National Parks Board have been in talks with the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS) over several interest groups’ proposal to turn the land into a continuous strip of recreational space.
The 173.7ha tract of land, which now belongs to Malaysia’s Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), reverts to Singapore on July 1. About 40km of railway now sit on it – 26km from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands, and at least a further 14km of disused line from Clementi to Jurong.
Source: The Straits Times via Wildsingapore
Pockets of solitude, places to retreat to in Green Corridor
By Lynda Hong Ee Lyn, TODAY, 16 Jun 2011.
The possibility of conserving the KTM railway and its green environs, termed the Green Corridor, is under serious consideration, said Minister of State for National Development, Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin.
He revealed on his Facebook page that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the National Parks Board have been discussing the possibility with the Nature Society Singapore (NSS), which submitted a proposal in October last year.
He added: “I have read their … proposal and it’s fascinating.”
The challenges faced by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the “re-looking of policies so that we can meet the needs of Singaporeans” has sharpened his own sense on what is Singapore – a small nation that needs to squeeze in housing, recreation, industry, business, defence, catchment and heritage needs in slightly over 700 sq km of land, BG (NS) Tan said.
Source: TODAY
MND mulling “Green Corridor” along KTM railway land
By Channel NewsAsia, 16 June 2011.
The possibility of a “Green Corridor” along the KTM railway is being seriously looked into.
Minister of State for National Development, BG Tan Chuan-Jin, posted on his Facebook page that the Urban Redevelopment Authority and National Parks Board are actively discussing the matter with the Nature Society Singapore (NSS).
Source: Channel NewsAsia
Our Green Home
By Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister of State for National Development, 15 Jun 2011 (this note was posted on his Facebook page).
“Home is where your friends are…where your family is.”
We have been having weekly brainstorming sessions at MND to study and discuss the issues facing us. We are moving on HDB challenges. We are re-looking at policies so that we can meet the needs of Singaporeans. These are unfolding and more will be shared when ready. We may not be able to meet all needs, but we can certainly do more than where we are today.
Looking at these issues have also sharpened my own sense about what home is for us. We are not really in the business of just building houses. It is about providing living space and common space amidst challenges that few countries face. I have always been struck by what Koon Hean, CEO HDB, shared about how there is little basis to compare us with Hong Kong, New York and other great cities. They are all part of a country whilst we are an entire country squeezed into slightly over 700+ square kilometres. Land is needed for: housing, recreation, industry, business, defence, catchment, heritage. Serious decisions are required. Trade-off is a bad word but that is what faces us all the time. Not easy. Few cities grapple with all these for they all invaribly have a hinterland to fall back on….we don’t. Read more
The Green Corridor walk along Upper Bukit Timah Road [26 Jun]
Sunday, June 26, 8 – 11am, Rail Mall to Choa Chu Kang.
Jerome Lim, the author of the excellent and popular blog, The Long and Winding Road, will lead this walk. Check out his heritage stories and photos at http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/.
Time: 0800 (meeting time) to 1100 (estimated ending time)
Starting point will be at Rail Mall (http://goo.gl/maps/exSd), Upper Bt Timah Rd – meet at section of mall close to the black truss bridge (there are two north bound trains scheduled to pass around 0732 and 0817)
Public Transport:
Upp Bt Timah Rd Bus Stop 43051 (Opp The Rail Mall) or 43059 (The Rail Mall)
Bus Services:
67, 75, 170, 171, 178, 184, 961, 961C
Highlights:
(1) Truss bridge at Upper Bukit Timah Road
(2) Girder Bridge at Hillview Avenue
(3) Gated Level Crossing / KTM Huts at Gombak Drive
(4) Widest Level Crossing ay Choa Chu Kang Road / Site of the former Bukit Panjang Railway Station
plus some interesting (non railway related) landmarks along the way
Register through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156845524386200.
If you’re not a Facebook user, just indicate your interest in the comments section below, and turn up on that day.
The Green Corridor walk along Bukit Timah [25 Jun]
Saturday, June 25, 8 – 10am, Bukit Timah Railway Station to Old Holland Road.
Join us for this leisure walk along the railway from Bukit Timah Railway Station to Old Holland Road. Mr Wong Kum Seng from the Nature Society (Singapore) will lead this walk.
We would pass by the Bukit Timah Railway Station, which has been gazetted as a conserved building on 27 May 2011. Built in the 1930s, the Bukit Timah Station is an endearing local landmark and a key building of our railway history. We would also pass by an area of significant secondary growth forest, refer to as Clementi Woodlands.
Meeting time: 8am
Meeting point: Outside Cold Storage, McDonald’s Place at King Albert Park (see map at http://gothere.sg/maps#q:king%20albert%20park%20mcdonalds).
Register through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138172079594336.
If you’re not a Facebook user, just indicate your interest in the comments section below, and turn up on that day.
Flooding and heritage – there’s a link
Letter from Vinita Ramani Mohan, 15 Jun 2011.
AS A resident of Bukit Timah, there are two issues that I have been following closely over the past year. The first is the intermittent flash floods and the second is the closure in two weeks of the Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah railway stations and the return of the Malayan railway land to Singapore.
Though the two issues at first glance seem unrelated, they both pertain to our natural environment and how rapidly the landscape of Singapore is changing.
A recent letter to Today provided a refreshingly intelligent perspective that aptly connected to The Nature Society’s proposal “The Green Corridor – A Proposal to Keep the Railway Lands as a Continuous Green Corridor”.
Source: TODAY
Green lungs to quell floods
Letter from Liew Kai Khiun, TODAY, 8 Jun 2011.
IT SEEMS certain that the islandwide floods are getting more routine as last year’s images of submerged roads, water-choked basement car parks and ankle-deep waters in malls returned to haunt us on Sunday morning.
In spite of the extensive drainage work undertaken over the decades, the authorities have conceded that no amount of preparation can stop such freak floods that are attributed predominantly to global warming and “acts of nature”.
Nonetheless, I would also like to draw a correlation between the floods and the high growth rates of the past few years, rapid urbanisation resulting from the property boom and the spike in population. Hence, the problems are not only global and natural but also local and man-made. Read more
