The process of acquainting myself with the shores of Singapore for a project I am working on, Points of Departure, has providedΒ me with some incredibleΒ experiences. One that I was especially gratefulΒ to have had was the experience of paddling through a green watery space that is almost magical in its beauty. Set in the relatively unspoilt lower reaches of Sungei Khatib Bongsu, one of Singapore’s last un-dammed rivers, the space is one that seems far out of place in the Singapore of todayΒ and holds in and around its many estuarineΒ channels, one of theΒ largest concentration of mangroves east of the Causeway alongΒ the island’s northern coast.
Paddling through the watery forest at Sungei Khatib Bongsu.
The much misunderstoodΒ mangrove forest, isΒ very much a part of Singapore’s natural heritage. The watery forests, had for long,Β dominated much of Singapore’s coastal and estuarine areas, accounting for as much as an estimated 13% of Singapore’s land area at the time of the arrival of the British. Much has since been lost through development and reclamationΒ and today, the area mangrove forests occupy amount to less that 1% of Singapore’s expanded land area. It is in suchΒ forests that we find a rich diversity of plant and animal life.Β Mangroves,Β importantly, alsoΒ serve as nurseries for aquatic life as well asΒ act as natural barriers that help protectΒ our shorelines fromΒ erosion.
Khatib Bongsu is a watery but very green world.
The island’s northern coast wasΒ especiallyΒ rich in mangrove forests.Β MuchΒ hasΒ however, been cleared throughΒ the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, with large tracts being lost during theΒ construction ofΒ the airbase at Seletar and the naval base at Sembawang in the early 1900s. The mangroves of the north,Β spreadΒ along theΒ coast as well as inland throughΒ its many estuaries, along withΒ those found across the strait in Johor, were onceΒ the domain of the Orang Seletar.Β A nomadic group of boat dwellers, the Orang SeletarΒ had for long, featured in the Johor or Tebrau Strait, living off the sea and the mangroves; finding safe harbourΒ in bad weather withinΒ theΒ relatively sheltered mangrove lined estuaries.
Mangrove forests had once dominated much of coastal Singapore.
Boat dwelling Orang Seletar families could apparently beΒ foundΒ along Singapore’s northern coast until as recently as the 1970s. While the Orang Seletar in Singapore have, over the course of time, largely been assimilated into the wider Malay community,Β the are still communities of Orang Seletar across the strait in Johor. Clinging on to their Orang Seletar identity, the nine communities there live no longer on the water, but on the land inΒ houses close to the water.
Safe harbour in the watery woods.
It is the labyrinth of tree shaded channels and the remnantsΒ ofΒ its more recent prawn farming past that makes the side of the right bank ofΒ Sungei Khatib Bongsu’s lower reaches an especially interesting area to kayak through. Much has since been reclaimed by the mangrove forest and although there still is evidence of human activity in the area, it is a wonderfully green and peacefulΒ space that brings muchΒ joy to to the rower.
The canalised upper part of Sungei Khatib Bongsu.
The area around Sungei Khatib Bongsu today, as seen on Google Maps.
Paddling through the network of channels and bund encircled former prawn pondsΒ – accessible through the concrete channels that once were their sluice gates,Β the sounds that areΒ heardΒ are mostlyΒ of the mangrove’sΒ many avian residents. It was howeverΒ the shrill call of one of the mangrove’s moreΒ diminutive winged creatures, theΒ Ashy Tailorbird,Β that seemed to dominate, a call that couldΒ in theΒ not too distant future,Β beΒ drowned out by the noiseΒ of the fast advancing human world. Β It is just north ofΒ Yishun Avenue 6, where the frontier seems now to be,Β that we see a wide barren patch. The patch is oneΒ cleared of its greenery so that a majorΒ road – an extension of Admiralty Road East, can be built; a sign that time may soon be called onΒ an oasisΒ that for long has beenΒ a sanctuary for a richΒ and diverse avian population.
The walk into the mangroves.
The beginnings of a new road.
The Sungei Khatib Bongsu mangroves, liesΒ in an area between SungeiΒ Khatib Bongsu and the leftΒ bank ofΒ Sungei Seletar at its mouth that lies beyond the Lower Seletar Dam that has been designated as South Simpang; at the southern area of a largeΒ plot of land reserved for public housing that will become theΒ future Simpang New Town. The area is one that is especially rich in bird life, attracting a mix of Β resident and migratory speciesΒ and wasΒ a majorΒ breeding site for Black-crowned Night Herons,Β aΒ herony that has fallen victim to mosquito fogging. While there is little to suggest that the herons will return to breed, theΒ area is still one whereΒ manyΒ rare and endangered species of birds continue to be sightedΒ andΒ whileΒ kayaking through,Β what possibly was a critically endangered Great-billed HeronΒ made a graceful appearance.
Evidence of the former prawn ponds.
Kayaking into the former ponds.
It is for the area’s rich biodiversity that the Nature Society (Singapore) or NSS has long campaigned for its preservationΒ andΒ aΒ proposal for its conservation was submitted by the NSS as far back as in 1993. ThisΒ did seem to have some initial successΒ andΒ the area, now used as a military training area into which access is largely restricted, was identified as a nature area for conservation, as was reflected inΒ the first issue of the Singapore Green Plan. ItsΒ protection as a nature area seemed onceΒ again confirmed by the then Acting Minister for National Development, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, duringΒ the budget debate on 18 March 1994 (see:Β Singapore Parliament Reports), with the Minister saying: “We have acceded to their (NSS) request in priorities and we have conserved Sungei Buloh Bird Sanctuary and Khatib Bongsu“.Β
Unfortunately, the areaΒ has failed to make a reappearanceΒ in subsequently releasesΒ of the list of nature area for conservation, an omission that was also seen in subsequent editionsΒ of the Singapore Green Plan. What we now seeΒ consistently reflectedΒ in the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plans (see:Β Master Plan), is that asΒ part of a larger reserve area for the future Simpang, the area’sΒ shoreline stands to beΒ alteredΒ by theΒ reclamation ofΒ land. Along with land reclamation, plans the Public Utilities Board (PUB) appears to have for Sungei Khatib Bongsu’sΒ conversion into a reservoir that will also includeΒ the neighbouring Sungei Simpang under Phase 2Β ofΒ the Seletar-Serangoon Scheme (SRSS), does mean thatΒ the future of the mangrovesΒ is rather uncertain.
A resident that faces an uncertain future.
Phase 2 of the SRSSΒ involvesΒ theΒ impounding of Sungei Khatib Bongsu, Sungei Simpang and Sungei SeletarΒ toΒ create the Coastal Seletar Reservoir. Based on theΒ 2008Β State of the Environment Report, this was to be carried out in tandem withΒ land reclamation alongΒ theΒ SimpangΒ andΒ Sembawang coast. The reclamation couldΒ commence as early as next year,Β 2015Β (see State of the Environment 2008 Report Chapter 3: Water).
In the meantime, the NSS does continue with its efforts to bring to the attention of the various agencies involved in urban planning ofΒ theΒ importanceΒ of theΒ survival of the mangroves at Khatib Bongsu.Β Providing feedback to the URA on its Draft Master Plan in 2013 (see Feedback on the Updated URA Master Plan, November 2013), the NSS highlights the following:
Present here is the endangered mangrove tree species, Lumnitzera racemosa, listed in the Singapore Red Data Book (RDB). Growing plentifully by the edge and on the mangrove is the Hoya diversifolia. On the whole the mangrove here is extensive and healthy, with thicker stretches along Sg Khatib Bongsu and the estuary of Sg Seletar.Β
A total of 185 species of birds, resident and migratory, have been recorded at the Khatib BongsuΒ area. This comes to 49 % of the total number of bird species in Singapore (376, Pocket Checklist 2011, unpublished Β )Β β almost comparable to that at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. 13 bird species found here are listed in the RDB Β and among these are:Β Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, Straw-headed Bulbul, Ruddy Kingfisher, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, White-chested Babbler, etc. The Grey-headed Fish EagleΒ and the Changeable Hawk eagle are nesting in the Albizia woodlands in this area.
The mangrove dependent species present are : Crab-eating Frog, Dog-faced Water Snake & Malaysian Wood Rat. The Malaysian Wood Rat is regarded is locally uncommon.Β Β In 2000, Banded Krait (RDB species) was found here near the edge mangrove. Otters, probably the Smooth Otter, have been sighted by fishermen and birdwatchers in the abandoned fish ponds and the Khatib Bongsu river.Β
URA Master Plan 2014, showing the reserve area at Simpang.
It will certainly be a great loss to SingaporeΒ shouldΒ the PUB and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) proceed with their plans for the area.Β What weΒ stand to lose is notΒ just another regenerated green patch, but a part of our natural heritage that asΒ aΒ habitat for the diverse array of plant and animalsΒ many of which are at risk of disappearing altogether from our shores, is one that can never beΒ replaced.
The present shoreline at Simpang, threatened by possible future land reclamation.
The white sands at Tanjong Irau, another shoreline under threat of the possible future Simpang-Sembawang land reclamation.
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![The original intended location of the sports and recreation complex in Sembawang (area shaded in light green) [URA Master Plan 2008].](https://thelongnwindingroad.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/ura-master-plan-2008.png)
![The revised location of the sports and recreation complex in Sembawang (area shaded in light green) [URA Master Plan 2014]](https://thelongnwindingroad.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/ura-master-plan-2014.png)
The Long and Winding Road 