Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine April 2017 | Page 94

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Travel | Singapore
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Singapore is certainly unique: a bustling city-state of 5.78 million
people with languages emitted from its streets ranging from Mandarin
to Tamil, Malay to English. The country’s first prime minister, the late
Lee Kuan Yew, introduced the ‘Garden City’ movement in the mid-
1960s, an ideology that has been manifested today in the plethora
of green spaces that can be found across this bustling metropolis.
Named the ‘Second Greenest in the World’
by the World Cities Culture Forum, incredibly
nearly half of Singapore’s land area is dedicated
to parks and gardens. Deciding which ones to
visit can be quite a daunting task, so I decided
to take some local residents’ advice.
“I guess it depends where in Singapore you
live,” says Lina, an expat originally from the
Netherlands who has been liv ing in the city
for two years. “I live on Robertson Quay and
I attend boot camp in the park three mornings
a week.” She tells me her favourite outdoor
space is Fort Canning due to its close proximity
to home, its hills and many steps – perfect for
those hardcore workouts she loves so much.
For local resident Byron Lim, it’s the
MacRitchie Reservoir, located further north.
“You’d either have to drive or take the MRT
to Marymount, but it’s worth it once you’re
there because you really feel like you’re
away from it all – and the kids love it,”
he tells me over coffee on the lively
Orchard Road. “Just don’t feed
the monkeys!” he laughs.
Clearly, the expression ‘each to their own’
applies when attempting to narrow down
the city’s must-see green spaces. So, with
a general overview of where to go, I strapped
on my walking shoes and headed out
to explore the great outdoors.
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1 Welcome to the Gardens by the Bay,
an oasis of nature in the middle of Singapore.
2 Visitors taking photos of orchids in
the Mist House at the Botanic Gardens.