Before Singapore became a British colony in the 19th century, the island was almost covered with lowland dipterocarp forest. Between 1820 and 1870, vast tracts of the pristine rainforest were cleared for cultivation. By 1882, less than 10% of the original forest cover remained.
Today, about 2000 hectares of forest is found within Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Despite representing only a tiny fraction of the island's original vegetation, these nature reserves remain an important refuge for a rich assemblage of plants and animals, many of which are forest-dependant. In 1868, MacRitchie Reservoir was completed and its surrounding forest of about 600 hectares was protected as a water catchment reserve.
MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore's oldest reservoir, was completed in 1868 by impounding water from an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding Reservoir or Thomson Reservoir. On the 28th December, we went to MacRitchie Reservoir after our lunch. It was only a 35 minutes bus ride from our home to reach our destination.
We commenced our trail upon reaching our destination. Following the yellow route as indicated on the map, we embarked on our trail of 11kilometres. As we trailed along the board walks on both the Chemparai Trail and the Jering Trail, we caught sight of many different species of fishes and we detected some turtles swimming gracefully in the reservoir. As we trailed along this path, we came face to face with the majestic seven storey high Jelutong Tower which stands proudly in the middle of the forest walk. Climbing up the steep stairs was indeed tiring, but what greeted us at the peak of the tower is a bird eye's view of the varied terrain of MacRitchie and the skyline beyond the reservoir park.
Next, we trekked on the rocky path of the trail. We used the orange route at the Terentang trail and trekked along the sandy paths. This route, named Venus Link, led us through an old village ground featuring fruit trees and a trickling stream which ends at Venus Drive. Thus, concluding our trek at the MacRitchie Reservoir.
The rocky Road, the muddy slope as well as the straight path through the wooden bridge indicates that life is not a smooth sailing journey. It is full of obstacles. In order to grow maturally and enable us to stand firm to all challenges and temptations we face in society, obstacles will become an essential learning path to focus our thinking and broaden our vision.
Today, about 2000 hectares of forest is found within Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Despite representing only a tiny fraction of the island's original vegetation, these nature reserves remain an important refuge for a rich assemblage of plants and animals, many of which are forest-dependant. In 1868, MacRitchie Reservoir was completed and its surrounding forest of about 600 hectares was protected as a water catchment reserve.
MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore's oldest reservoir, was completed in 1868 by impounding water from an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding Reservoir or Thomson Reservoir. On the 28th December, we went to MacRitchie Reservoir after our lunch. It was only a 35 minutes bus ride from our home to reach our destination.
We commenced our trail upon reaching our destination. Following the yellow route as indicated on the map, we embarked on our trail of 11kilometres. As we trailed along the board walks on both the Chemparai Trail and the Jering Trail, we caught sight of many different species of fishes and we detected some turtles swimming gracefully in the reservoir. As we trailed along this path, we came face to face with the majestic seven storey high Jelutong Tower which stands proudly in the middle of the forest walk. Climbing up the steep stairs was indeed tiring, but what greeted us at the peak of the tower is a bird eye's view of the varied terrain of MacRitchie and the skyline beyond the reservoir park.
Next, we trekked on the rocky path of the trail. We used the orange route at the Terentang trail and trekked along the sandy paths. This route, named Venus Link, led us through an old village ground featuring fruit trees and a trickling stream which ends at Venus Drive. Thus, concluding our trek at the MacRitchie Reservoir.
The rocky Road, the muddy slope as well as the straight path through the wooden bridge indicates that life is not a smooth sailing journey. It is full of obstacles. In order to grow maturally and enable us to stand firm to all challenges and temptations we face in society, obstacles will become an essential learning path to focus our thinking and broaden our vision.
3 comments:
Excellent description of the history of the MacRitchie Reservoir but you seemed to got it from a website (and a journal entry was about personal feelings and descriptions - how shameful!). Anyway, you tend to describe more on the trail and apth that you followed instaed of your feelings and what you saw as well as how it impacted you. forgive me if I sound imprudent, but as a matter of fact, your description seems off. Despite that, your description of the Macritchie reservoir, coupled withb the excellent photos, made it an enlightening read.
Of course I will need to get from the internet about the history of MacRitchie Reservoir. I have never learnt about it in school and I can only find it on the nte or the library. Of course, the Internet is an easier way, so some information about the past is edited from the web!!!Therefore, you cannot blamed me for getting it from the net!!! :)
very informative post but with more personal feeling it should be better but overall much effort was put into it . cool post
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