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  Straits Times 11 Feb 06
Tanjong Pagar GRC's parks to be linked
by Tan Hui Yee

THE southern and central districts will be transformed into a green haven in the next few years as the stretch from MacRitchie Reservoir to Mount Faber will be linked with tree-lined pathways. The pathways are part of a nationwide plan to link up all the parks and gardens in Singapore.

Last night, the man who pushed for the greening of Singapore 40 years ago, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, watched keenly as the town council of his constituency, Tanjong Pagar GRC, outlined improvements expected in the next five years The town council, which will launch its five-year upgrading masterplan only on Feb 26, screened a five-minute video at its Chinese New Year celebrations yesterday to show residents what is to come.

The GRC's boundaries, which include the districts of Moulmein, Tanglin-Cairnhill, Queenstown, Tiong Bahru, Radin Mas and Tanjong Pagar, cover MacRitchie Reservoir Park in the north, the Botanic Gardens in its centre and Mount Faber Park in its south.

All three parks are set to be linked up by 2015.

Residents can also look forward to having more facelifts for their flats and precincts and lifts stopping on every floor. All 15 of its public toilets in hawker centres and markets will also be upgraded by the end of the year. The town council highlighted its commitment to giving as many of its conservancy jobs as possible to its residents. Currently, 70 per cent of its 300 conservancy workers are locals, while 50 per cent live in the constituency. It also highlighted upcoming developments like the Pinnacle@Duxton, the 50-storey public housing development in Duxton Plain, as well as the facelift for Orchard Road.

Without revealing too much, the chairman of Tanjong Pagar Town Council, Dr Chong Weng Chiew, said: 'We're going to make full use of the assets within Tanjong Pagar GRC, improve on it, personalise, and humanise it.'

One resident, Ms Lim Lay Kian, 44, was especially pleased that the parks were going to be linked up. The senior accounts assistant, who strolls in Mount Faber Park once a month, said: 'It will give me more opportunities to exercise.' Ms Tan Cheng Lian, 50, a regular jogger in the parks near her estate in Jalan Membina, said: 'It means I get new surroundings. That's good.'
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