(Psalm 19: 1)
Singaporeans finally get it after reading headline news that floods could occur in Orchard areas, that our climate is indeed changing and we get heavy rain even in those months that are supposed to be dry months. Chinese 7th month is coming next week and is always a very hot month. If it turns out otherwise, this is really going to be exceptional.
Will Singaporeans notice it even if it is exceptional? They dislike geography as a study subject. Even when they go holidays, they are more interested in confining themselves inside the tour coaches, and shopping. Our urban way of life has blunted our sensitivity towards nature. We are always in a hurry, wanting to do so many things in one go (but are they all worthwhile pursuits?) that we forget to slow down to take notice nature around us. Somebody once made this remark, no matter how marvellous a man-made work may be, it can never rival nature’s work. In a city like Singapore, most of us spend bulk of our time indoor. Air-conditioned environment is available everywhere (we are the big contributor towards greenhouse effect). We are oblivion to natural phenomenon outside.
My years of growing up in a rubber plantation may be tough, but it has enriched my life. Our daily livelihood then was closely intertwined with nature. Sitting leisurely along the veranda of the wooden house, I enjoyed watching how the rubber trees shed their old leaves and replaced with new, young leaves; the bursting of rubber seeds that rhythm with seasonal changes in weather. I learnt from my mother how to read weather which turned out quite accurately, just by observing the colour of the sky, stillness of the air and insects behaviours. Alas! Now years of staying in city has also dulled my senses towards nature.
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