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  Straits Times 10 Apr 07
Bye to kampung life for 2 diehards
Khatib Bongsu's last two residents - both illegal occupants - get eviction notice
By Jocelyn Lee

Straits Times Forum 2 Apr 07
Don't deny public entry to tranquil Khatib Bongsu
Letter from Ernst Becker

Today Online 30 Mar 07
Almost sunset for residents at Khatib Bongsu
Gracia Chiang

Straits Times 28 Mar 07
You may need permission to enjoy this nature spot: Khatib Bongsu
Khatib Bongsu is part of SAF training area, but nature lovers hope for free weekend access By Tan Hui Yee

NATURE haven Khatib Bongsu may be closed to the public from next month.

The Nature Society was told last week that it will soon need permission to go in there for its guided walks. It is also used as a training area by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

The news has dismayed various groups which make their way regularly to the former riverside kampung near Yishun to fish, check out its abundant wildlife and learn first-hand about life in this rural spot.

When asked about its plans for the area, the Ministry of Defence said the public should not venture there. Its director of public affairs, Colonel Benedict Lim, said: 'The forested areas on both sides of Sungei Khatib Bongsu are within the boundary of an SAF training area that was acquired by Mindef in the early 1990s. The public is advised not to enter such protected areas.'

The head of the Nature Society's conservation committee, Dr Ho Hua Chew, hopes the public can still be given free access to the nature haven on public holidays and weekends, when the area may not be used by the military.

The area is home to species such as the uncommon Changeable Hawk Eagle and Straw-headed Bulbul. Migratory shore birds use it as a stopover on their journey from as far away as the Arctic Circle. Aside from the rich birdlife, otters have also been found there.

Plans surfaced in 2003 to dam up Sungei Khatib Bongsu to create a reservoir, but these appear to have been put on hold. The Public Utilities Board said it has 'no plans' for this 'in the near future'.

Currently, walkers and anglers get to the woodlands, mangrove and mudflats in Khatib Bongsu from a small track off Yishun Avenue 6. There are signboards to the right of the track telling people it is a protected area.

Anglers head to the end of the track to fish in the pond, while school groups, photographers and adventure groups like Nature Trekker ramble through it to enjoy the greenery.

Dr Ho told The Straits Times that while helping to guide a school group around Khatib Bongsu last week, some Nature Society volunteers ran into a person, who told the group they will have to seek permission from the authorities to enter the area in the future. The person identified himself as an employee of the Defence Science and Technology Agency, a statutory board under the Ministry of Defence.

Dr Ho, who contacted this person later to seek clarification, said he was told that access to the area would be restricted after the end of this month.

Frequent visitors to the area are upset at the idea of losing the nature haven. A biology teacher from Raffles Girls' School, Ms Tan Beng Chiak, takes her entire Secondary 3 cohort to the area once a year.

She said: 'It's very disappointing for me to learn that the students will lose another place where they can learn about biology and culture all at one go.'

The kampung houses in Khatib Bongsu, which are mostly empty now, bring the past to life for her students, she said.

Angler Kenneth Chiang, 19, who was fishing when The Straits Times visited last Friday, said: 'It's going to be a big pity. You feel close to nature here.'

Today Online 30 Mar 07
Almost sunset for residents at Khatib Bongsu
Gracia Chiang

FOR the past 70 years, Mr Tan Siong Ling, 74, has called only one place his home. As a boy, he would spend hours at his father's two prawn farming ponds. Even when most of his neighbours moved to Housing Board flats during the 1970s, Mr Tan would not give up his two-storey zinc-roofed house at Khatib Bongsu.

"I'm a kampung boy. I'm not the type who can stay in a HDB flat," he said. Located at Yishun, the nature area is home to mangroves, wooded vegetation and at least two individuals who will have to pack their bags soon.

The forested areas on both sides of Sungei Khatib Bongsu have been used as training areas by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) since the early 1990s.

The authorities have been in talks with him for the last seven years, he acknowledged. He was given an eviction notice last month, which requires him to leave by May.

Less than 100 metres away, a 44-year-old man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, has been staying in a sparsely decorated attap house for more than 20 years. He, too, was recently asked by the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) to leave, but he — like his neighbour — is not keen to move.

"Living expenses here are cheap, less than $200 every month," he said. "What job can I find with my Secondary 2 education?"

Mindef's director of public affairs, Colonel Benedict Lim, confirmed that the ministry has "served notice to trespassers to cease unauthorised occupation of the land and to cease conducting business" but said that the public has always been advised not to enter such protected areas.

Last week, the Nature Society found out from an employee of the Defence Science and Technology Agency that it might need permission to enter Khatib Bongsu from next month onwards.

The chairman of the conservation committee of Nature Society, Dr Ho Hua Chew, felt that nature trekkers and photographers would be deprived of yet another bit of Singapore's increasingly rare countryside. School groups have also visited Khatib Bongsu to catch a glimpse of uncommon species like the grey-headed fish eagle, the banded krait snake and the small-clawed otter.

Dr Ho's suggestion: Allow free access to the area on public holidays and weekends when the military is not using the grounds for training.

Another regular visitor Mr Chia T H, 57, has been making half-an-hour cycling trips from his home in Yishun since 1984 to fish. He said: "Whenever I don't have to work, I try and come here to rest because it's very quiet. You can't find this anywhere else in Singapore."

Straits Times Forum 2 Apr 07
Don't deny public entry to tranquil Khatib Bongsu
Letter from Ernst Becker

I REFER to the article, 'You may need permission to enjoy this nature spot' (ST, March 28), in which it was reported that Khatib Bongsu may soon be closed to the public as it is used as a training area by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

I discovered this place about 12 years ago and it has since been a haven of peace and tranquillity for me whenever I need a break from the business life. Besides me, hundreds of people go there every week.

The wildlife that can be observed is amazing, from numerous bird species to giant monitor lizards and even pythons. The fishing can be great too.

When one enters the dirt road leading to it, it is as if one is entering another world. There is no other place like this in the whole of Singapore.

Also, there is a couple who have lived their whole lives there. The old man must be in his 70s. He never wears more than a pair of black shorts. He is still as strong as many young men would wish they are, swimming in the sea, handling the heavy fishing net on his kelong all by himself.

I wonder what living in an HDB flat would do to him?

To live in a country with a stable and honest government, a good education system, modern facilities and infrastructure and a vibrant business environment... all that is fine - that's why we are here in the first place - but it is not everything in life.

Do we really have to look elsewhere for anything else? The area in question is the part of an area the SAF currently uses as a training ground. I believe it could be isolated and kept open to the public without much of a problem (there is also a short cut into Khatib Bongsu from Yishun Avenue 6, just a five-minute walk).

My question: Is it really necessary to convert this small piece of paradise into a training ground - and destroy so much in the process?

Straits Times 10 Apr 07
Bye to kampung life for 2 diehards
Khatib Bongsu's last two residents - both illegal occupants - get eviction notice
By Jocelyn Lee

THEY are among the last Singaporeans who still live in kampung houses, but not for much longer. Mr Tan Siong Ling and his nephew will soon have to leave the nature haven Khatib Bongsu, the only place they have ever called home.

Last month, they were both given an eviction notice by the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and told to leave by next month.

Since the early 1990s, the forested areas on both sides of Sungei Khatib Bongsu have been used by Mindef as a training area for the Singapore Armed Forces.

For the past 70 years, Mr Tan has lived in the rural area off Yishun Avenue 6, an area of mangroves and mudflats that is also home to many bird species like the straw-headed bulbul and kingfisher. There is a small pond in front of his home, with countless anglers fishing there every weekend.

The 76-year-old is extremely reluctant to leave the two-storey zinc-roofed house, despite its dilapidated state. The white wooden planks of the walls badly need a fresh coat of paint. A staircase leads to the second floor of the two-room house. One room is a bedroom, with a mattress on the wooden floor. The second room, which Mr Tan appears to use as a storeroom, is also bare. Both are about two-thirds the size of an HDB bedroom.

Mr Tan said the house stands on a land area of about 1.2ha. Even when his relatives moved to HDB flats in the 1970s, Mr Tan continued to live there because of his love of kampung life.

As he cooked the prawns he had just caught from the sea in a pot of rainwater for lunch, the retiree said: 'I enjoy the carefree life here. I will not abandon the place I grew up in.'

There is no electricity there. He has to rent two generators at $600 each per month to power his five refrigerators and a television. He also has a big storage container to collect rainwater for bathing, washing his face and brushing his teeth. If it does not rain for a few days, he goes without bathing.

Mr Tan's wife and children visit him regularly. His son-in-law, Mr Siu Kim Beng, 52, who goes there every other day, said: 'I accompany him and talk to him so he won't feel lonely.'

If evicted by the authorities next month, Mr Tan will return to his rented flat in Ang Mo Kio where his wife lives now.

Mr Siu said: 'My father-in-law is so used to the life here. He will never be able to adapt to staying in an HDB flat where he can't walk around without any T-shirt and footwear.'

About 100m from Mr Tan's home, his nephew does not even have electricity at home. When the sun sets, he uses a torch to find his way around. He leads a simple life, eating two meals a day, either fish and prawns he catches from the swamps and cooks, or something from the nearest coffee shop, a 30-minute bicycle ride away.

The 44-year-old, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, has lived there for more than 20 years. Like his uncle, he does not want to relocate to an HDB flat.

Currently unemployed, he said he will take on 'any available job to pay for his living expenses' once evicted.

The two residents are not the only ones upset at the loss of the place they call home.

Regular visitors to the area cannot bear to see it go either. A member of the Nature Society's bird group committee, Mr Cyril Ng, said: 'There are almost 200 bird species here, some of which you will not see elsewhere in Singapore. It is such a pity.'

Colonel Benedict Lim, Mindef's director of public affairs, said: 'Mindef is currently still in discussion with the two illegal occupants.' He added that Mindef is 'exploring options which would allow public access to Khatib Bongsu'.
links
Khatib Bongsu: A Watershed of Sensitivity on Joseph Lai's eart-h.com, 18 Jun 2006

Khatib photos shared on the nature-singapore list

Khatib Bongsu: Green Lungs photos and thoughts on the soul conservation blog

Related articles on Singapore: recreation
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