Singapore has never been a kayaker’s dream city to live in but this is about to change if PUB with their
PUB-ABC Water Bodies Plan is implemented – which is truly astonishing. Go check out their website and if you love the waters,
Singapore would truly be a dream place to kayak and live in. I came to know about this truly amazing piece of delightful news from
Huey, my kayaking kindred spirit in
Singapore who was equally delighted of his ‘favourite’ public utility company plans to embrace the aquatic realms!
If they can do so much with only a paltry 32 numbers of rivers – imagine what we can do with the literally hundreds if not thousands of river we have in Sarawak alone! But sadly the authorities who are supposed to manage our rivers and water bodies are only paying lip-service in carrying out their duties much less having any big dreams or the visions to create such a wonderful environment for living, recreation and sports. As a Malaysian I feel anger, shame, sadness and frustrations with our ‘elegant silence’ in not getting anything done and I sense most of us are losing heart about really moving ahead towards Vision 2020. I supposed we would move ahead faster and definitely in great comforts cosseted in private yacht and jet plane. *sigh* Do you know that you cannot even get hold of a river map of Kuching and surrounding environs from our river board? Pathetic in the most positive light, but in the light of truth; truly sad and depressing and I feel a sense of dread for the younger generation who has to inherit such malaise and incompetence from this generation.
And at the speed that the Singapore government can usually get things done unlike tak-boleh-land (where despite claims to the contrary - corruption still rules); it wouldn’t be too long before they’ll realized the vision of Singapore being a land of gardens and water. Then I might emigrate to live and retire in kiasu-land. I can’t believe that I’m actually saying this! But the vision is really so enticing. I’ll envy Huey then as he is envying me now living in the “land of rivers”- where the rivers are under appreciated as well as under taken care of. Meanwhile I'll just drool me a river ...
All images are taken from PUB-ABC Water Bodies Plan:
www.pub-abc.com.sg
Labels: General, Kayaking
Stumble It!As a Sporean, who gets damn disgusted by people who throw rubbish into the rivers, I must say the PUB's strategy is brilliant. Instead of keeping people away from the water, their strategy now is to draw people to the water - so that they would love it and treasure it and thus would want to protect it.
For example, my son and his fellow kayakers at MacRitchie Reservoir have to follow strict rules about bringing plastic into the water. In time to come, we will have a generation who will understand these disciplines .. hopefully.
You know dont't you, that all these rivers (streams by S'wak standards) will one day become our reservoirs when Msia ends its water agreements with us.
Wuching said: