Saturday 28 March 2015

From left to right: Mr Vijaya Kumar Pillai, Wildlife Reserves Singapore director of zoology; Ms Lok May Kuen, WRS director of education; Mr Melvin Tan, WRS acting chief operating officer; and
Mr Alagappasamy Chellaiyah, zoology specialist at the Singapore Zoo. Over the years, all four have led Mr Lee Kuan Yew around during his visits to the Singapore Zoo. Photo: Robin Choo

His concern for the trees, not just

within the zoo but also around Mandai,
was such that when six deer escaped
from the Night Safari in 2010, Mr Lee
was anxious that they be found because
they could damage tree bark.
Another animal escape that upset
Mr Lee was that of Congo the hippopotamus, which eluded keepers for
52 days in 1974. Mr Lee was concerned
about the animal polluting the water,
said Mr Pillai.
He told Dr Ong, You dont catch it,
well close the zoo. He was so upset,
Mr Pillai added. Ms Lok recalled that
during the weeks when the hippo was
missing, people here would boil the water from their taps before drinking it.
Mr Lees attention to detail knew
no bounds. Mr Pillai recalled one of
Mr Lees visits to the zoo: I approached
and asked if he wanted anyone to take
him around. He didnt ... so the SOs
(security officers) just told us, Leave
him alone. And he put his hands on his
hips and just walked around, looked at
everything. Shook his head a couple of
times, and walked back into the car.
The next thing we knew we got a

letter from the P&R (the former Parks

and Recreation Department) ... to say
that the PM had visited the zoo and
found that the trees and your park are
poorly maintained ... Dr Ong called a
meeting, and the first thing he did was
to ask P&R for a few hundred-thousand
dollars (for maintenance) and P&R gave
him the money, he said.
Years later, finding Mandai Lake
Road was too narrow, Mr Lee saw to it
that it was widened. And observing that
the columns at the Night Safari building
were bare concrete, Mr Lee suggested
dressing it up, such as by binding it with
rope for a more rustic look.
He was like a child in that hes very
curious about everything,Ms Lok said
of Mr Lee. I remember he walked past
the gift shop (and asked) Why is this
gift shop like this? Go get somebody
special to come in and help you run the
gift shop. And then at the next visit, he
asked Dr Ong, Has it been done?. He
remembers what he asks you to do.
The zoo later engaged duty-free chain
DFS to run its souvenir store, before
eventually taking over operations again.
Notably, Mr Lee, who had been

Its not like we

followed them
blindly ... They
made sense.
Ms Lok May Kuen

director of
education for
wildlife reserves
Singapore, on why
Mr Lees suggestions
were usually adopted

concerned about animal waste washing into Upper Seletar Reservoir, also
chanced upon a better use for the refuse: Sell them as fertiliser.
From time to time, he would read
some article in the newspaper, and he
would tell chairman (about it) ... the Zoo
Poo was his idea ... He saw that (a zoo
overseas) was doing it, (and) sent the
cutting to Dr Ong, Mr Tan said. The
idea was a roaring success and demand
was high. However, the operations grew
too big to manage and the zoo stopped
the practice.
Mr Lees suggestions were adopted
time and again because they were often
sound. Its not like we followed them
blindly ... They made sense, noted Ms
Lok.
Singapore Zoo zoology specialist Alagappasamy Chellaiyah said he would
spend days preparing for Mr Lees visit,
bracing himself for his questions.
It used to stress me out, but by 2011,
when he visited, I was more relaxed,
he said. Whether he was fussing over
whether the animals in captivity could
end up inbreeding, or noting the size of
the trams being used to ferry visitors

around, Mr Lee was ultimately driven

by the desire that the zoo, like Singapore,
did well. His pride in how the zoo became
a world-class facility was evident, and in
his speech at the zoos 20th anniversary
dinner, he credited Dr Ongs hard work
for its success.
Said Mr Pillai: Once, at the entrance,
he saw the number of visitors, he nodded his head. He just nodded he head.
He must have felt very happy by the
number of people patronising the zoo.
Even after decades of visiting the
zoo, Mr Lee never tired of learning
more. Before the River Safari officially
opened in 2012, Mr Lee had a chance
to meet the resident pandas, and spent
30 minutes grilling their handlers.
And in 2011, after asking if the
zoo had found a successor to the late
Ah Meng, the orangutan which became synonymous with the zoo,
Mr Lee was introduced to Chomel, Ah
Mengs granddaughter. He shook hands
with her.
You could see the happiness in his
face. All my three outings with him,
I had never seen him so happy, said
Mr Alagappasamy.