Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Monkey Outside Bukit Timah Reserve

Last Saturday a group of us decided to hike around Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and rainwater catchment area.  It contains about 160 ha (400 acres) of pristine rainforest and is home to a huge variety of plants, some of which are found only here.  When one is here, you can hardly believe you are only a short distance from a vibrant and busy metropolis.  The preserve is also home to over 500 species of animals, incluidng long-tailed macaques or monkeys, of which this little lady is one.  (She calmly sat on the walkway as we passed by.)  We didn't get a chance to see any of the flying lemurs or squirrels, but some ran across one ant variety that is over an inch long! 

It's very impressive how land has been saved in several areas like this to preserve a piece of Singapore's history and more importantly, protect so many species of flora and fauna that otherwise would disappear under the concrete and stone of Singapore developments.  So often in the morning, as I open the windows of our flat, I have to close them again until the smoke from the fires of Indonesian rainforest burnings has cleared.  When you see the poverty of these lands, you can understand the desire to do what it takes to make money to survive.  In our own country, we Americans did similar damage to so much of our land (and still we continue).  There just wasn't anyone to say "Stop!  You don't know what long-term damage you are doing to the environment."  It hurts me to realize the ecological damage that is being done there and other developing areas in Asia, but we certainly cannot point fingers too strongly.  Near our own Mullhaven, there are two place called Alpha and Omega Diggings that look like the moon, they are so damaged from the water cannons used over 150 years ago during the gold rush.