Khatib Bongsu - Singapore's Threatened Paradise
This is an important mangrove area in the North, near Yishun, where herons and other migratory birds nest and rest. I came here in April 2003 with E.T. - a real idyllic sight so rare in urban Singapore. One even sees foreign workers turned fishermen here netting fishes the way they do in their home villages in the Spice islands.
Khatib Bongsu has been excluded from the URA Master Plan 2003, which means it will soon be dammed and drained, about to disappear forever from this land. The old Taoist temple is already gone and the bulldozers have moved in. This is yet another example of Nature's defeat in the battle against over-development in this country. And the high-handed way the Authorities handle environmental issues. Perhaps our future generations will mourn the loss of this valuable component of our natural heritage. When that happens, it will be too late anyway.
Tan Wee Cheng Email Me
See here for details on how to get there.
And here for many of Singapore's natural sight - all by Victor Wong