Only in Singapore: Canopy Walk with no canopy.

You would think that it is not possible for NParks reputation to sink ever lower, but they still managed to surprise us. Incompetency apparently knows no lower limit. An irate user has written to the Straits Times forum a few days ago to complain that trees leading to the Tree Top Walk in MacRitchie Reservoir is being cleared away.

Apparently, this is to ensure 'safety' after a tree fell on an unfortunate SAF soldier at an army camp in another location sometime ago. This is an over-reaction bordering on the ludicrous if not criminally incompetent. One only hopes that the trees lining the Tree Walk hasn't been cleared away too. After all, what is the whole point of a Tree Walk if not to walk among the trees?

Shit happens. I mean, how many people get killed by falling trees? The only way to ensure it never happens is to chop down ALL trees. It is a good thing NParks staff do not run the health ministry. Otherwise, in order to prevent breast cancer, they would make it mandatory for all Singaporean women to undergo double masectomies. Sorry guys, no more fondling for you! To be fair of course, all Singaporean men will have to be castrated to prevent testicular cancer. In this case though, it would be an improvement. It would mean no more sex for favours cases or under-aged sex.

There is a canopy walk in Kent Ridge park. There too, the canopy has been removed. See picture below. The whole point of a canopy walk is to allow people to see what goes on in the canopies of trees. I cannot fathom the thinking behind the way NParks operates. Instead of being a custodian of our natural environments, it is instead a force for destruction. The way NParks has been operating is yet another visible symptom of the incompetency we increasingly see in public organisations.

At most, to mitigate the risk from falling trees, trees near enough to the walks could have guide ropes attached to their trunks in such a way that should the trees fall, it would be more likely for them to fall away from the walks. That would have been a sensible precautionary action.

Meanwhile, after multiple fatalities on our roads from supercars, the government has yet to impose a ban on such vehicles on our roads. I wonder why? Perhaps NParks should be put in charge of road safey instead!