Public Can Look Forward to More Night Destinations in Parks and Gardens.

Public Can Look Forward To More Night Destinations In Parks and Gardens. 
National Parks Board aims to optimise urban spaces by enhancing night lighting in popular parks

As part of efforts to turn some of our popular parks into attractive night-time destinations, the National Parks Board will be enhancing night lighting at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and West Coast Park. This is in line with one of the key areas under the City in a Garden vision – optimise urban spaces for greenery and recreation.

This announcement was made by NParks' CEO, Mr Poon Hong Yuen, at the launch of "Trees of the World 2011", a month-long display of 300 tropical trees decked in Christmas lights at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Mr Poon elaborated, "As many of you would know, NParks has been gathering ideas from the public on how we can realise the City in a Garden vision. One popular idea is to increase night-time usage of parks. Given that Singapore is cooler, more comfortable and safe at night, we think this idea makes a lot of sense. To start this off, we will embark on a few pilot projects. In the Botanic Gardens, we plan to enhance lighting in 2 areas. The first area connects the Casa Verde cafe with the Palm Valley, which is already quite well lit at night, in order to create a lighted-up hub of night activities. The second area is the new Foliage Garden in the Bukit Timah Core which will greet night visitors from the MRT station. West Coast Park is another park with the potential to be a night destination. To draw more people to West Coast Park in the cooler hours of the evening, we will be considering feature lighting that can also double up as whimsical play equipment in the large playground area."

"Trees of the World" was first organised in 2009, to commemorate the Gardens' historic 150th anniversary. Conceptualised as a community event, it enables individuals, organisations and community groups to come together and dress up trees with Christmas lights provided by the Gardens.

This year, "Trees of the World 2011" involved a bigger group of embassies, corporations, schools and community groups. For the first time, the Gardens also invited individuals to participate in the event. A total of 300 trees, double the number in 2009, were decorated and displayed along the entire length of the Gardens, from the Heritage Core at Tanglin Gate to the Bukit Timah Gate, next to the Botanic Gardens MRT station. This event will be organised annually from this year onwards.

The event also marked the close of the International Year of Forests celebrations. To highlight the importance of forest biodiversity, NParks organised a series of exhibitions, guided walks, workshops and other outreach programmes, including the "Forests, People, Environment" exhibition at the Gardens in July, as well as the City in a Garden photography competition.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for National Development, was the Guest of Honour for the event. Apart from the dazzling spectacle of the Gardens bathed in Christmas lights, the guests were also treated to a rousing performance of songs by the Singapore Lyric Opera Children's Choir. As part of the launch celebrations, the public can also look forward to a jazz performance by Dagadana, a Polish-Ukranian trio on 4 Dec 2011, Sunday.