Central and Northern Singapore are a paradox. The two areas house some of the island’s most heavily populated districts yet contain, at the same time, most of its pockets of nature. In fact, these parts of the island offer such large tracts of tropical forest, mangrove and swamp that getting close to nature here is as much a part of Singapore life as eating and shopping.
Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery.
Vincent Ng/Apa Publications
Lian Shan Shuang Lin
Some 5km (3 miles) north of Orchard Road is Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery 1 [map] (tel: 6259-6924; www.shuanglin.sg; daily 8.30am–5pm). Better known as Siong Lim Temple, it is located in Toa Payoh, one of Singapore’s oldest Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates.
Its full name, Lian Shan Shuang Lin Shi, means “Twin Grove of the Lotus Mountain Temple”. Completed in 1902, the temple was modelled after Xi Chan Si, a well-known cong lin temple in Fuzhou. Cong lin means “layers of forest”, and Xi Chan Si is a monastery that was built according to an established layout which allows monks to move around to a set pattern to perform rituals. This enables them to find their way about in any cong lin temple they might be in, whatever its size.
Siong Lim Temple was the result of one man’s dream, Low Kim Pong (1838–1908), a Buddhist who was a successful trader, landowner and a leader of the local Fujian community.
The story goes that one day in 1898, Low had a dream in which he saw a golden light shining from the west. He found out, the next day, that his son had the same dream. Taking it as an omen, father and son went to the harbour and waited. At sunset, a boat sailed in from the west, carrying a family of 12 Buddhist monks and nuns who were on their way back to China after six years of pilgrimage in India, Sri Lanka and Burma. It was Low’s dream come true. Inspired, he persuaded the group to stay and promised to build a Buddhist monastery for their use.
It was a massive exercise that took over 10 years to finish. The work was done in stages and with substantial funds donated by Low. Though he did not live to see the completion, his name has always been associated with it. In fact, it was often referred to as Low Kim Pong’s temple.
Over the years, the Siong Lim Temple deteriorated and in 1991, it underwent major restorations. Four of its structures were restored – the impressive Entrance Hall, topped by a granite wall panel depicting scenes of Chinese culture and history; the Drum Tower and Bell Tower flanking the main courtyard; and the Main Hall, housing the key altar.
The Main Hall is the hub of the monastery and is noted for the beauty of its decorative panels, wood carvings and sculptures of deities. Other secondary buildings of no architectural value that were added over the years were replaced with new ones built in traditional style. Then in June 2002, a huge seven-storey granite Dragon Light Pagoda – topped with a golden spire – was completed by craftsmen from China, culminating an 11-year restoration programme that had cost over S$40 million.
Although the farms and villages that used to surround Siong Lim Temple have been replaced with high-rise apartment blocks and the Pan-Island Expressway, the traditions of the temple continue to endure.
Enjoying the Treetop Walk at MacRitchie Resevoir.
Vincent Ng/Apa Publications
Memories at Old Ford Factory
Address: 351 Upper Bukit Timah Road; www.nas.gov.sg/moff
Tel: 6332-3255 or moff@archives.nlb.gov.sg
Opening Hrs: Mon–Sat 9am–5.30pm, Sun noon–5.30pm
Entrance Fee: charge
Transport: SMRT Bus 67, 75, 171, 173 to Upper Bukit Timah
Established in 1941, the Ford Motor Factory was the first Ford vehicle assembly plant in Southeast Asia, but it is most notable as the venue for the formal surrender of Malaya by the British to the Japanese in 1942. This marked the start of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore during World War II. The Japanese took over the facility and used it to assemble military trucks and other vehicles for their army. After the war, the factory was reopened and remained operational until 1980. It has since been gazetted as a national monument and has a well-thought-out gallery filled with memories of the war, including interactive displays. Look out for the small paintings and sketches, now turned into colourful window displays, depicting the harsh living conditions in the POW camps, as well as archival records and first-hand historical accounts.
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Address: 12 Tai Gin Road; www.sysnmh.org.sg
Tel: 6256-7377
Opening Hrs: Tue–Sun 10am–5pm
Entrance Fee: charge
A national monument, Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall 2 [map] is a lovely two-storey, Victorian-style bungalow, built in 1900 at Balestier. To find it, look out for the seated statue of Sun Yat Sen, the leader of China’s nationalist movement, just in front of the building in the garden.
In 1906, when Dr Sun Yat Sen arrived in Singapore to drum up support for his nationalist cause among the overseas Chinese in Nanyang (meaning “southern seas” in Chinese and referring to Southeast Asia), he was given the villa for his use. It was here that he plotted the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in China. It was also at the villa that the Tong Meng Hui Nanyang Branch was founded and the villa made its Southeast Asian quarters. Soon after, the bungalow became known as the Sun Yat Sen Villa.
After the successful revolution in China in 1911, the villa fell into disrepair. In 1938, a group of philanthropists, who were members of the Tong Meng Hui society, bought the building with the purpose of preserving it.
In 1942, during World War II, the Japanese used the villa as a communications centre, and then after the invaders departed in 1945 it became the headquarters of the Singapore Branch of the Kuomintang. In 1949, the villa was handed over to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry to manage. It was restored in 1965 and turned into a library and museum. In 1966, on the centenary of Dr Sun’s birthday, the villa opened to the public.
Sun Yat Sen Nan-yang Memorial Hall.
Dreamstime
In 1997, the villa was closed for major refurbishments, before reopening four years later on the 135th anniversary of the famed revolutionary’s birth. Among the various exhibits, the Father of Modern China’s revolutionary exploits in Southeast Asia are also told through the collection of some 400 black and white photographs. It was again renovated in 2011 and reopened a year later with a revamped Memorial Hall and new galleries. Find out more about the impact the 1911 Chinese Revolution had on the Singapore Chinese community.
Kong Meng San Temple
Five kilometres (3 miles) north of the villa is the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Temple 3 [map] , located at Bright Hill Drive (tel: 6849-5300; www.kmspks.org; daily 6am–9pm. Most of the halls are open 8am–4pm). Built in 1980, it is Singapore’s largest Buddhist temple and one of the largest temple complexes found in Southeast Asia.
Spread over 12 hectares (29 acres) of land, its gilded roofs are visible from afar. It’s easy to get lost among the many halls of prayer and meditation. The Hall of Great Compassion houses a 9-metre (30ft) -high Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin, carved in marble. This Bodhisattva image is crafted in the Indian tradition and has 1,000 arms and eyes. Look out also for one of Southeast Asia’s largest images of the Medicine Buddha, which sits beneath a golden stupa in the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas.
Also on the grounds is a Bodhi Tree (the Buddha gained enlightenment under such a tree), a home for the aged, a crematorium and a columbarium. There is also a pond housing turtles and an enclosure where doves are released every year as a merit-making gesture on Vesak Day, which celebrates Buddha’s birth, death and attainment of nirvana.
In May, Vesak Day celebrations are held here on a grand scale, sometimes stretching over three weeks, and visitors are welcome.
West of the temple is a lush green expanse known as MacRitchie Reservoir Park 4 [map] which, together with the Pierce Reservoir Park 5 [map] further north (comprising the Upper Pierce and Lower Pierce parks) and Upper Seletar Reservoir Park 6 [map] , form what is collectively known as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, one of four gazetted nature reserves in Singapore (www.nparks.gov.sg; all daily 7am– 7pm; free). The other protected green areas on the island are Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Labrador Nature Reserve. Together, they comprise some 3,347 hectares (8,271 acres) – which is no mean feat in land-scarce Singapore.
Ceremony at Kong Meng San.
Vincent Ng/Apa Publications
The Central Catchment Nature Reserve consists of a rich mixture of secondary and primary forests, and contains a surprising array of species, including the lesser mouse deer, pangolin and flying lemur. The reservoirs – MacRitchie, Upper and Lower Pierce and Upper Seletar – trap rain-water caught and filtered by the natural vegetation. The Central Catchment Nature Reserve also contains the only patch of freshwater swamp remaining in Singapore.
The reservoirs are surrounded by landscaped parks that are popular with joggers and mountain bikers. MacRitchie Reservoir particularly, with its boardwalks bordering the water’s edge and well-posted signboards, make for scenic tramps (see box). Picnickers are a common sight at weekends.
MacRitchie Resevoir.
Vincent Ng/Apa Publications
Into the woods
MacRitchie Reservoir Park’s easiest trails are the six boardwalks along the forest fringes. The trails – ranging in length from 450 metres (0.25 mile) to 2.2km (1.5 miles) – are named after native trees. Four of these – Prunus, Petai, Chemperai and Jering – skirt the edge of the reservoir and are readily accessible from MacRitchie’s only car park at Lornie Road. The truly indefatigable can also undertake the 11km (7-mile) Treetop Walk. This brings you across a suspension bridge 27 metres (88ft) high and 250 metres (820ft) long, which rewards hikers with a bird’s-eye view of the lush forest canopy. For more information, visit the park’s website www.nparks.gov.sg.
MacRitchie can be accessed via Lornie Road, Upper and Lower Pierce reservoirs via Upper Thomson Road. A map of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve can be obtained from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Visitor Centre, or downloaded from www.nparks.gov.sg.
To the west of MacRitchie is Bukit Timah Nature Reserve 7 [map] (www.nparks.gov.sg; daily 7am–6pm; last entry at 5pm; free). This reserve is in the geographic centre of Singapore, 12km (7 miles) from the city, and most easily reached by taxi. After the taxi turns into Hindhede Drive from busy Upper Bukit Timah Road, the reserve’s moist and dark-green quietness, overlaid by the uninterrupted buzzing of cicadas, will seem almost unreal, an isolated patch of land showing how the region would look if man had not intervened. At time of writing, the Summit trial can be accessed by the Main Road only on weekends due to renovation works. The rest of the Reserve remains closed for the repair works to be completed.
The reserve’s car park is surrounded by new private housing estates. At the Visitor Centre (helpline tel: 1800-471-7300 daily 8.30am–6pm) is an exhibition of Bukit Timah’s history, including its role in the war years and Singapore’s flora and fauna. A collection of old photographs includes one of the last tigers that was shot in Singapore, in 1924.
The reserve includes Singapore’s highest hill, Bukit Timah, a mere 164 metres (538ft), and protects 163 hectares (403 acres) of the nation’s only virgin lowland rainforest.
Much of Singapore’s forest was intensively logged right up to the middle of the 19th century. In 1884, in response to research on climatic changes arising from deforestation, Bukit Timah was declared a nature reserve. Over the past 100 years, boundary changes have reduced the size of the reserve, and poaching of timber and animals have reduced its ecological diversity. Today, most large mammals, including tiger, leopard and deer, are extinct in Singapore, as are ecologically sensitive birds such as hornbills, trogons and broadbills.
To explore the reserve, after its renovation is fully completed, follow the asphalted road from the car park to the hilltop. Many trees along this road are labelled in English and with scientific names, and give the newcomer to the tropics a feeling for the enormous diversity of plant species in Southeast Asia. In fact, noted conservationist Dr David Bellamy has pointed out that the number of plant species in the reserve exceeds that found in the whole of North America. Although few mammal species have survived, the frequently heard hissing identifies slender squirrels and plantain squirrels. Another squirrel-like mammal with a long pointed nose is the unrelated common tree shrew.
Bukit Timah Hill is a popular training spot for mountaineers. Understandably, it gets crowded, especially now that renovation works have limited access to weekends only for the forseeable future. There are five trails, all clearly marked and with varying levels of difficulty, taking from 45 minutes to two hours to complete. There is a also a challenging 6km (4-mile) mountain bike trail for enthusiasts. Free brochures and trail maps are available from the Visitor Centre.
Though the view from the hilltop is unspectacular, it is a good place to wait for white-bellied sea eagles or brahminy kites, and the besotted birdwatcher can meet the challenge of identifying at least nine species of swifts and swallows. The view over the protected forest of several water reservoirs makes visitors forget that they are in one of the world’s most densely populated cities.
Strolling about Bukit Timah.
Vincent Ng/Apa Publications
Address: Mandai Lake Road; www.zoo.com.sg
Tel: 6269-3411
Opening Hrs: daily 8.30am–6pm
Entrance Fee: charge
Transport: Ang Mo Kio MRT, then SBS bus 138, or Choa Chu Kan MRT, then SMRT bus 927
About 15km (9 miles) northeast of the reserve at Mandai Lake Road is Singapore Zoo 8 [map] . Occupying 28 hectares (69 acres) of greenery just beside the Upper Seletar Reservoir, the zoo stands out in nearly every category by which animal collections are judged: variety of wildlife (about 2,800 animals from 300 species, 29 percent of which are threatened), open-air enclosures that present animals in their natural environment, captive breeding of endangered species and attractive landscaping. But where the zoo really excels is melding education and entertainment into a delightful combination that reaches out to both adults and children.
It would be hard to find a zoo elsewhere in the world with a more creative approach to wildlife display. Modern glass enclosures offer visitors an underwater view of crocodiles and pygmy hippos in their riverine environment, while polar bears swim in deep-blue waters. Gibbons leap through the trees, as rhinos share space with antelopes in a stunning re-creation of the African plains. The home for the Elephants of Asia – one of its exhibits – is reminiscent of the logging areas in the hill tracts of Arakan in Burma. The zoo also has the world’s largest captive orang-utan colony.
A popular attraction is the Fragile Forest – an ecological wonder highlighting the interplay between animals and plants living in the rainforest, and man. The first zoo exhibit to display invertebrates and vertebrates under one roof, the Fragile Forest features a walk-through flight area and four centres showing various ecosystems. Venture into the flight enclosure and look out for tamarins, marmosets, lemurs, sloth, parakeets and butterflies.
A rare chance to see a prowling jaguar, at the Singapore Zoo.
Danny Santos/STB
Tip
If you plan to visit Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park (for more information, click here), save money by purchasing a Park Hoppers ticket. The discounted package includes a single admission to all three parks and is valid for a month. Call 6269-3411 for more information.
Animal shows are performed several times each day at the zoo’s open-air amphitheatre. One features coastal wildlife (pelicans, penguins and sea lions), while others feature elephants and assorted reptiles. Feeding times of the various animals are posted near the park entrance; the most spectacular feasts are at the polar bear and lion habitats.
River Safari
Address: 80 Mandai Lake Road; www.riversafari.com.sg
Tel: 6269-3411
Opening Hours: daily 9am–6pm
Entrance Fee: charge
Transport: Ang Mo Kio MRT, then SBS bus 138, or Choa Chu Kan MRT, then SMRT bus 927
The zoo’s parent company, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, introduced River Safari 9 [map] , Asia’s first and only river-themed wildlife park in 2013, which is home to over 5,000 animals including 42 endangered species. The highlight is the Giant Panda Forest housing the two resident giant pandas from China. Take a “river adventure” down the Mississippi, Congo, Nile, Ganges, Murray, Mekong and Yangtze rivers, and visit the Squirrel Monkey Forest and Amazon Flooded Forest. This park also houses the world’s largest freshwater aquarium.
Watching the elephants in Singapore Zoo.
Danny Santos/STB
Address: 80 Mandai Lake Road; www.nightsafari.com.sg
Tel: 6269-3411
Opening Hrs: daily 7.30pm–midnight
Entrance Fee: charge
Transport: Ang Mo Kio MRT, then SBS bus 138, or Choa Chu Kan MRT, then SMRT bus 927
The world’s first night wildlife park, the Night Safari ) [map] , is next door to the zoo. It has 2,500 nocturnal animals from 130 species housed in seven geographical zones. Visitors will find habitats such as the Nepalese river valley, Indian subcontinent, Himalayan foothills and African plains.
The Night Safari features after-hours hunters such as tigers and lions, as well as lesser-known creatures like the Himalayan tahr mountain goat, babirusa pig, one-horned rhino and barasingha swamp deer. It may not be a real safari, but it’s probably the closest you can get to feeling you’re in the wilderness. With clever, unobtrusive lighting and realistic habitat re-creations, visitors do feel they are in the middle of a thick tropical jungle on a moonlit night. Free-ranging deer and other small animals wander to the tram, which makes a 45-minute journey around the park. Even tigers and lions appear to be roaming freely in their natural enclosures, oblivious to observers just a stone’s throw away. Walking trails are clearly marked and there are rangers to guide you along the way – there is no danger of stepping on a lion’s tail! Just remember that flash photography is prohibited.
Not to be missed is the interactive Creatures of the Night show (daily 7.30, 8.30, 9.30pm and Fri, Sat and eve of public holidays 10.30pm) featuring 19 species of night animals including the puma, leopard cat and spotted hyena.
Taking in the River Safari.
Singapore Tourism Board
Kids
Little ones will be enthralled with the Rainforest Kidzworld at the zoo, which fuses ecological and conservation themes with fun interactive features. There are animal rides, a water playground and an animal show for them to look forward to.
An anteater with baby on the Night Safari.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore
Kranji War Cemetery
Further west along Woodlands Road is Kranji Commonwealth War Cemetery ! [map] (tel: 6269-6158; daily 7am–6.30pm; free). Some 4,000 Allied soldiers who died in World War II and two of Singapore’s past presidents lie buried in this state cemetery. In the middle of the cemetery is the War Memorial. Over 24,000 names of soldiers who died in various battles in the Asian Pacific but whose bodies were never recovered are inscribed on the 12 columns. The design of the memorial is symbolic, representing the three arms of the service – army, air force and navy.
Address: Neo Tiew Crescent; www.sbwr.org.sg
Tel: 6794-1401
Opening Hrs: Mon–Sat 7.30am–7pm; Sun and public holidays 7am–7pm
Entrance Fee: free, except at weekends
Transport: Kranji MRT, then SMRT Bus 925. Alight at Kranji Reservoir car park and take a 15-min walk to the reserve
On the extreme northwestern coast of Singapore is the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve @ [map] , about 15km (9 miles) west of the Kranji War Memorial. This reserve is remarkable for its abundant and diverse bird life (over 212 species). It is also one of the few spots in Singapore where endangered heron species nest and breed.
A boardwalk guides visitors through part of the park, with hides at regular intervals from which birds can be observed and platforms that jut out at vantage points. There are three trails, which last from one to five hours, including one through a mangrove.
The old freshwater ponds still remain, supporting flora like water lilies and lotuses, and surrounded by mangroves. Some of the fish still thrive, and with the farmers long gone, birds have a heyday. Collared as well as white-throated kingfishers sit on the low stakes by the bunds, waiting to swoop while cinnamon and yellow bitterns stalk the reedy edges. But it is the migrating waders, of which more than 20 species have been sighted feeding on exposed mud beds, that are the stars of the reserve. From September to April, large flocks of plovers, sandpipers, stints, curlews, godwits and egrets gather to feed on the mud exposed by the ebbing tide.
With the reclamation of other coastal areas in Singapore, this sanctuary now stands out as its last sizeable feeding ground for migrating wading birds. The ornithological importance of the site is underlined by the fact that Singapore is the last stopover in the migration path down the Malaysian peninsula before the thrust to regions further south.