The Tree Planting campaign was launched by the government in 1963 with the objective of making Singapore a green city. Every year a minimum of 10,000 saplings are planted as part of this campaign. The campaign includes an annual Tree Planting Day.

Tree Planting Day is an annual event in Singapore which typically involves the planting of trees and shrubs in public places like housing estates, parks and schools. The event, which is usually held on the first Sunday of November, was officially started in 1971. ...

Singapore is served by a modern sanitation system in which all used water is collected through a network of sewers and channelled to water reclamation plants. But this was not always so. In the 1800s, the sewage collection and disposal system in Singapore relied ...

Ford Malaya was established in 1926 to directly control Ford operations in Malaya. It set up a full-fledged assembly plant in Bukit Timah in 1941. The plant became famous not only because it was the first in the region, but also because it was the venue where the ...

Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, commonly referred to as Vanda Miss Joaquim, is the first recorded orchid hybrid from Singapore, created in the early 1890s. On 15 April 1981, the Agnes variety of the Vanda Miss Joaquim was launched as Singapore’s national flower. The ...

Named after a long stretch of sandy beach along the southwestern coastline of Singapore, the Pasir Panjang area developed around a main road of the same name that used to hug the coastline prior to land reclamation works. In the early days, the area was occupied ...

Mandai Orchid Gardens (MOG) was a commercial entity located at Mandai Lake Road. It was owned by Singapore Orchids Private Limited (SOPL), a worldwide exporter of cut flowers and live plants. Initially meant for growing and cultivating orchids, MOG was later transformed ...

Flame of the Forest (scientific name Delonix regia), introduced into Singapore during the first half of the 19th century, belongs to the bean family Fabaceae and subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It is planted as a shade tree in parks and open spaces due to its broadly-spreading ...

Established in 1859, the Singapore Botanic Gardens is the oldest garden in Singapore. Besides being an ornamental and recreational garden, it was also a scientific garden in its early years. Currently, the Gardens’ mission includes providing botanical and horticultural ...

Pulau Brani, which means “isle of the brave” in Malay, is an island situated at the south of Singapore’s Central Region. It was once home to the Orang Laut. For a while, the island had a brick kiln, a coal depot, a tin smelting plant and a ship-repairing dock. ...

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded in the United States by Harvey S. Firestone in 1900. It was one of the largest producers, purchasers and users of natural rubber. Besides producing tyres for almost every type of vehicle, the company also manufactured ...

Located on Keppel Road near the entrance to the island of Sentosa, St James Power Station was a coal-fired power station built by the British between 1924 and 1927. The power station was decommissioned in 1976 as it was unable to meet Singapore’s rising demand ...

Pandan commonly refers to Pandanus amaryllifolius, a plant whose aromatic leaves are used as flavouring in food and drinks, particularly rice and desserts in Malay and Peranakan cuisine. The plant is not commonly known to flower or fruit. Instead, pandan is propagated ...

Mangroves are a group of shrub and tree species that live along shores, rivers and estuaries in the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves are resilient. They are able to withstand the brunt of flooding, ocean-borne storms and hurricanes. They also have the ability ...

The ginger order Zingiberales has nearly 3,000 species under its eight related plant families: ginger (Zingiberaceae), canna (Cannaceae), spiral ginger (Costaceae), heliconias (Heliconiaceae), orchidanthas (Lowiaceae), prayer plant (Marantaceae), bananas (Musaceae) ...

Water Chestnut (Trapa natans), an aquatic plant, belongs to the family Trapaceae. It is not to be confused with another aquatic plant of tather similar name, Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) of the family Cyperaceae, which is a popular ingredient in Southeast ...

Brinjal (Solanum melongena), also known as eggplant or aubergine, is an easily cultivated plant belonging to the family Solanaceae. Its fruit is high in nutrition and commonly consumed as a vegetable. The fruit and other parts of the plant are used in traditional ...

Betel chewing was known in the colonial days as betel-nut chewing. The art of paan or betel chewing dates back to the pre-Vedic Saivite Harappan empire, and the activity is also known as makan sireh in Malaysia and Singapore. It requires three different plants ...

Gardens by the Bay comprises three public gardens in Marina Bay occupying a total land area of 1,010,000 sq m (101 ha). Built on reclaimed land, the three gardens – Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central – started out as projects of the National Parks Board (NParks). ...

The papaya (Carica papaya) is widely distributed in most tropical countries and islands, where it thrives in the warm climate. Papaya plants are extremely common in Singapore and are often cultivated in private gardens. In 1993, special stamps featuring the papaya, ...