LFS89508 Singapore Story

Assignment 1
(Group 3)
Names of Group members:
Zidan
Rifdi
Rizqi
Iqbal
Farihin
Fikri
Class: RZ2304C
 Contents
Page
1. Introduction 1
2. Theme 2
3. Objectives 3
4. Target Audience 4
5. Mode of Transportation 5
6. Duration & Sequence of Trail 7-8
7. Identified Trail Sites 9
a. Site 1 and Planned Activity 10 - 17
b. Site 2 and Planned Activity
c. Site 3 and Planned Activity
d. Site 4 and Planned Activity
8. Conclusion 18
9. References 19
10. Annexes 20 - 22
Introduction
This trail is named the “Bukit Timah Trail” where the trail is being
organized and catered for all ages. There are 4 sites on this trail – Bukit
Timah Railway, Ford Factory, Dairy Farm and Bukit Timah Nature
Reserve. The whole trip will take you to. The key activities are cycling
on the bike trail.

Theme
Our theme is The Nature of Bukit Timah, the reserve as one of the
richest and most diverse ecological systems. Visitors will see an
astonishing variety of plant, animal, and insect life. As well as the Dairy
Farm operation and production.
Objectives
What we would like to achieve at the end of the trail is to share and
learn the history of the place. At the same time, they can also learn on
the different wildlife living in the forest and varieties of plants

Target Audience
The target audience are children aged 7 to 21 as most of them would
like to have a bit of an adventure. Some of them might not have any
experience exploring the history of Bukit Timah.
Those who are enthusiastic and curious about the nature of Bukit
Timah are also the audience we aim to attract. Students who have
projects on Singapore’s history are always one of our target
audiences. Tourists are also important in order to experience the
history of Singapore's Nature.

Mode of Transportation
The mode of transportation is by school bus from the school to Bukit
Timah Nature Reserve. We will move classes by classes so that it will
not be overcrowded. The reason we chose this mode of transportation
is because they will have more time to explore. The children will love
to enjoy the scenery and the nature surroundings take some
photographs.
Public transportation is also a way for the students to travel to the
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This is for those who does not have any
school transportation or no private transportation provided by their
school. For those in college especially, the school would not provide
transportation as the students have to be independent.

Duration and Sequence of Trail

The total duration of the entire trail will take 5 hours and 20 minutes.
The time spends for the respective venues are as follows:
1. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
 2 hours with 20-minute break
Distance to the next destination will be 5 minutes by bus
2. Bukit Timah Railway Station
45-minutes with 20-minute break
The next destination will take 6 minutes to arrive by school bus
3. Ford Factory
45 minutes with 20 minutes break
The next destination will take 9 minutes to arrive by school bus
4. Dairy Farm
1 and a half hour with 20 minutes break
Identified Trail Sites
Site 1: Bukit Timah Railway and Planned Activity
The Singapore to Bukit Timah section of the Singapore-Kranji Railway (also known as the
Singapore-Johor Railway) opened on 1 January 1903, with the town end of the line
located at Tank Road. The Bukit Timah to Woodlands section followed on 10 April 1903,
and from Woodlands, passengers made the connection to Johor via ferry. At its inception,
a one-way first class fare from Singapore to Bukit Timah cost 56 cents with a return fare
at 84 cents, while third class fares were priced at 21 cents and 32 cents respecti vely.

The reason we chose this place because it’s beautiful and shows where
Singapore started
Actvity
• Photo Taking
• Coloring of sheets

Site Ford Factory and Planned Activity

Site 3: Dairy Farm and Planned Activity
Site 4: Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Planned Activity
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve encompasses the slopes and summit of Singapore’s
highest hill, Bukit Timah, which is 162.5 m above sea level. The 163-hectare
nature reserve, which is protected under the Parks and Trees Act 2005, contains
the largest primary forest in Singapore. Forty percent of the local flora and fauna
can be found in the reserve. It was officially declared an ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) Heritage Park on 18 October 2011.3
The Malay name Bukit Timah translates to “Tin Hill”. However, the hill is
composed mainly of granite and tin deposits have never been found in the area,
so it has been suggested that the name was a corruption of “Bukit Temak”.
Temak is the Malay name for Shorea, a genus of tall rainforest tree in the
dipterocarp family. Some botanists also attribute the term Temak to the species
Shorea roxburghii, but this particular tree is usually only found in northern
Malaysia, Thailand, India and Vietnam.4 Hence, it is most likely that the term
Temak was used loosely by locals to refer to any tree of the Shorea genus,
possibly the Shorea curtisii species (also known as the seraya tree), which is
commonly found in the Bukit Timah forest.5
The earliest reference to conserving the forests of Bukit Timah Hill is thought to
be in an 1848 paper by James Richardson Logan published in the Journal of the
Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. Logan stated that the “destruction of forest
on the summits of hills [in Singapore]” at the time was “absolutely prohibited”
by the governor. It is presumed that Bukit Timah Hill was among the places
Logan had referred to.6 By the 1850s, however, pepper and gambier plantations
had occupied swathes of land around Bukit Timah Hill.7

As Bukit Timah was rapidly deforested, the colonial government began to pay
more attention to the issue; by 1879, the hill had come under protection for
“climactic purposes”, as mentioned in a report on Malayan forests by then
colonial engineer J. F. A. McNair. At the time, the protection of forests in
Singapore was thought to be beneficial to health and crucial for maintaining a
good climate. In his report, McNair also recommended the formation of a
forestry department to oversee the conservation of the remaining forests and
to carry out reforestation. However, none of these measures was
implemented.8

In 1883, commissioned by Governor Frederick Weld, then superintendent of the

Botanic Gardens. Nathaniel Cantley published a report on the state of
Singapore’s forests. In his “scathing” report, Cantley pushed for the creation of
forest reserves under protective legislation, reforestation of cleared land and
the establishment of a forestry department.9 By 1884, the Forestry Department,
led by Cantley, had been set up and Bukit Timah declared a reserve. A protected
area of 343 ha was demarcated by a boundary six miles (9.7 km) in
circumference and 16 ft (4.9 m) wide. The boundary acted as a fire break,
preventing fires from spreading into the reserve area.10 Patrolling of the reserve
was also started to discourage illegal harvesting.11

Unfortunately, by this time only one-third of the reserve was still forested, with
the rest of the area comprising largely grass, ferns and brushwood. New trees –
both foreign and native, such as teak and casuarina – were planted with saplings
grown in the nursery that had been set up within the reserve in 1884.
Reforestation efforts took place from 1884 to 1893; in 1886, it was reported that
48 ha of land had been replanted with trees.12 The reforestation, however, was
met with mixed success.13

During the years that followed, the municipal budget for the forest reserve
steadily declined because the land generated low revenue. In 1909, 52 ha of the
reserve area east and northeast of Bukit Timah were taken over by the
municipality for the expansion of a water catchment area.14

The nature reserve was reconstituted in 1930 to include only forest land,
reducing its area to about 70 ha.15 The following year, the government
proposed to abolish all forest reserves, citing that the income generated was
dismal. However, with the intervention of the then director of the Botanic
Gardens, Eric Holttum, it was decided in 1936 that a portion of the Bukit Timah
reserve would be preserved.16 One year later, the forest reserve came under
the charge of the Gardens, after being managed by the Land Office since 1895.17
In 1939, Bukit Timah was regazetted as a forest reserve.18
Conclusion
References
Annexes (brochure / vlog clip)