NSS Kids’ Fun with Community Gardening

By Gloria Seow, Vice Chairperson Education Committee

Photos by Gloria Seow & Lena Chow

The Moulmein-Goldhill Community Garden brims with the earth’s goodness.

Despite the looming school exams, a group of children and their parents turned up to admire the lush and beautiful Moulmein-Goldhill Community Garden on 29 September 2018. Led by Auntie Angel Ang who lives a literal stone’s throw away, we were brought on a tour of the substantial plot of community land brimming with the earth’s goodness.

Under the loving care of 30 odd volunteer gardeners, this award-winning garden was heaving with fruit trees such as Papaya, Banana, Breadfruit, Starfruit and Kedondong. Auntie Lena Chow then pointed out the strange and barely-visible Starfruit Plume Moth. There were rows of leafy pesticide-free vegetables growing under mesh to protect them from insects and the harsh tropical sun. Vegetable saplings are purchased from local farms and take about a month to mature. Auntie Angel rattled off the various greens growing such as Cai Xin and Xiao Bai Cai, which to the untrained eye were difficult to tell apart. One of these vegetables has a funny Hokkien name ‘Pa Bor Cai’ (translated as Beat Wife Vegetable). Auntie Angel then told the story of a husband attributing the reason of a stack of vegetables shrinking substantially when cooked to his wife having a lover, and consequently beating her up.

Auntie Angel telling us about the many facets of her award-winning community garden.

We also found many other edibles growing, from Lime and Lady’s Fingers to pretty Double Blue Pea flowers. The garden also has decorative ornamental plants, lattice work and rock garden features. Auntie Angel revealed that to win competitions, she and her gardeners outdo themselves every year by growing “difficult” plants such as Dry Padi (rice). The kids were pleased to spot the Four-lined Treefrog that lives in the pond area.

The tiny Starfruit Plume Moth on the leaf of the Starfruit.

Auntie Angel’s husband Uncle Milton Ang then took over to tell us the story behind the creation of the garden and nearby Malcolm Park (where great birds like the Crested Serpent Eagle can be found). Malcolm Park and the garden itself were once forested areas. Malcolm Park is one of the reasons why the Bukit Timah area no longer experiences major floods. Singapore’s Water Agency PUB built a huge storm drain through Malcolm Park to link the Bukit Timah canal with the Thomson canal, so that excess rainfall can be shunted in either direction. The patch that is now the community garden was cleared to facilitate the removal of a hornet’s nest in the forest behind. The residents proposed a community garden in its place.

Our stroll through Malcolm Park produced the charming Oriental Pied Hornbill.

Uncle Milton also related that during the infamous Mas Selamat escape from the nearby Whitley Road Detention Centre, the police swarmed the Malcolm Park and Goldhill neighbourhoods in door-to-door searches. We then strolled through Malcolm Park itself for a spot of birdwatching. The place is a known stake-out for long-lens photographers to shoot the resident Crested Serpent Eagle. Although we did not see the eagle, we were rewarded almost immediately with a pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills that flew in and landed at close range. We scoped the Asian Glossy Starling and Pink-necked Green Pigeon, and encountered many other birds including flocks of Red-breasted Parakeets and the Black-naped Oriole. The globally-threatened Straw-headed Bulbul serenaded us with its distinctive call. We even had fun harvesting fragrant Pandan leaves with pen knives. Auntie Lena Chow identified a couple of dragonflies that hung out at the stream.

 We ended with a delectable community feast prepared by Uncle Milton and Auntie Angel.

Back at the community garden, we trooped into the airy shelter where Uncle Milton and Auntie Angel had graciously prepared for us a feast of Putu Mayam (an Indian snack) and two kinds of Goreng Pisang (deep-fried banana) which we washed down with refreshing Lemon Grass drink. We thank them for being the perfect hosts.