During the Q&A at Geoconnect, Kah Mun suddenly asked us to share a building which is memorable to us. I was thinking hard which building? When Kah Mun talked about a building which is no longer around. I suddenly recalled my kampong house at Jalan Waspada which my family lived in till the 80s when we shifted to a HDB flat in Tampines.
The house was built with zinc roof, wooden walls and concrete floor. There was no toilet in my house and we had to use the one near our house. It was like a small hut that was raised. We had to bring our own candles at night and leave it on the ledge as there is no lighting. The walls were creepy with spider webs and insects. We would hold our breath as we go into the toilet and I don't think I need to explain why. The "night soil men" would manually collect the waste from the bucket at night.
Our house had a shower area beside the kitchen. Water was shared and thus we stored our water in an urn. If my neighbour switched on the tap, we would not have water and vice versa. The used water would go down the drain which run across the shower area and kitchen.
Gotten AI to generate the above images based on my sketch.
We had two rooms which are like big raised platform which the mattress are laid on top. There was no TV in my house and the children all went to one of our neighbour's house as they have a TV set.
This is the blog entry which I won 2nd prize in the memories category - a contest on mystory portal organised by NHB in 2007.
Did not manage to find the exact location of Jalan Waspada but it was somewhere near Tai Seng (fond memory of the street vendors, esp the one selling kway chap) as well as Kim Chuan Abattoir (could still remember the scream from slaughterhouse). I have attached the 1978 map extract from libmaps.
My house was located on a hill slope and I often dashed down the slope to get to the bus stop for school 5 plus in the morning. Must have been one of the locations which has more contour lines close to each other indicating the hilly nature of the area.
At the learning journey on Sustainable Sentosa, we get to see the earthworms breed to break down food waste into high quality fertilizers. There were many families raising chicken in cages near my house. We often flip the concrete slabs along the foot path and we could found a lot of fat earthworms which we used to feed the chickens. The earthworms would still wriggle when we cut it into 2. Mr Karl from Siloso Beach Resort shared that the head of the earthworm would live on if its 5 hearts are not damaged when cut. A teacher asked me how does the earthworm taste like? I told him I wouldn't know as all the earthworms are fed to the chicken.
There was also a well near my house. Once I brought the water to the school for my science lesson and my goodness there were so many microscopic organism.
Thanks to the power of social media. Kah Mun actually managed to get hold of a map with Jalan Waspada. He consulted his old (and treasured) road directory and found Jln Waspada! Circled in pink aligned with Kim Chuan road.
The residents of the Kampong were resettled in 80s and the image below shows what the area is now.
In my search for Tai Seng I found a photo of the cinema my mum used to bring us. Watched a movie of a girl with snakes in her head. It was a real treat to watch a movie in the early day.
So if you ask me would that be a positive or negative sense of place? I would say both. I often share my Kampong stories with my students. Knowing the past make us appreciate the present better.
Participated in this learning journey as part of Geoconnect 2025. The LJ offers participants a unique opportunity to learn more about Sustainable Sentosa, and how different stakeholders are brought together to work towards a common goal of sustainability.
We met at Vivocity to take the Sentosa Express to Imbiah Station.
Some interesting facts learned along the way from Doris. Why is the heritage tree preserved opposite the Sky Helix, a built attraction? The sound we heard changes as we moved towards the nature area. We could hear the crickets and birds chirping.
Our first stop was at the Sentosa Nature Discovery. Staff from the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) where we get to see their newly opened gallery featuring their conservation efforts to protect the native flora and fauna. This will be followed by an engagement session with SDC staff on how Sentosa strives to achieve sustainable tourism by working with its partners.
Interesting "hooks" along the path to the SND.
Great intro to the efforts to preserve biodiversity on Sentosa by Jeremy.
The building used to be a monorail station. Sustainable use of buildings in Sentosa. Sentosa used to named Blakang Mati.
Nature cinema featuring Asma who was born on pulau seking and her husband belakang Mati.
Nature area in Sentosa protected with 6 natural habitats: Coastal forests, Coral reef, Mangrove, Rocky shore, Sandy shore, Sea grass meadow, secondary forest.
Climate change scientists are looking at the head sea grass in the sea grass meadow at Palawan beach. Head seagrass camouflage in the the sea grass meadow. It is a food source for endangered species such as Dugong, a marine mammal.
Terrestial habitat
Biodiversity in the Urban landscape
Polinator garden - Ecosystem for pollination.
In the year 2020, the fruit percing moth and hornet mimicking hoverfly were sighted in Sentosa. It used to be found in central catchment. Does that mean that the biodiversity in Sentosa has grown?
Unique mammals on the island shared by Jeremy.
Hornbill breed in tree hole.
Appealing for volunteers during June - Sept to patrol beach for turtle nesting. Great advocate for environmental stewardship.
Replanting of native species and 14 new species.
Sustainable Sentosa with greater biodiversity
Unique and almost extinct on coastal forest.Ridley Fragraea.
This mantis is named after Sentosa being discovered by an Australian researcher in Sentosa.
After WW1 the Imbiah battery was decommissioned and the swiftlets were found in the bunkers in colony. Two species of sqiflets were found. Unique characteristics of swiftlets: Echo to navigate and they make their nests with saliva.
The nest of the swiftlets.
Jeremy said some of the nests were like layered as new swiftlets which occupy the nests on top of the old ones could be from another species, like kueh lapis.
A talk on the sustainability efforts by Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) from Tammy. Sentosa has 30 attractions ifly, luge etc and many hotel, golf course. As many as 19 millions visitors to Sentosa this year. She also talked about the role of SDC in sustainable tourism with their partners, including business.
Development of Lazarus island master plan. Light touch. Tiny home and clamping instead of hotel. Non motorised sea sports such as kayaking etc on the island.
Restaurants on Sentosa are 'Farm to Table' certified, as they source from local farms.
Skyline luge activities help to reduce carbon footprint. It makes use of the natural terrain for luge activity. The luge will move downwards due to gravitational pull from the peak. Guided tour of nature trails are also available on the island. More accessible beach tracks are built on Siloso and Palwan beach to allow for inclusive wheelchairs accessible.
46 Solar panels were built on buildings across Sentosa together with partners in the Carbon neutral network (CNN) . Public transport are fully electric including the use of electric buses, beach tram, cable car, Sentosa Express. CNN Island partners are not allowed plastic water bottles. Hotels and restaurants PCRS with NEA. Looking into bottle return scheme. Sentosa also launched the playrooms for reducing disposables. Sculptures at Palawan beach are made of recycled wood.
We saw one sculpture using recyled wood at the turn to Siloso trail.
Sensory scape was built as part of Southern waterfront plan. Imbiah and Serapok. This is not only mitigation but also adaptations. The attraction is constructed with consideration of shade and wind flow.
Heritage buildings such as Madam Tussauds used to be the military hospital in the past. Other than preserving heritage, it prevent having to tear down and building new ones.
You can see the Madam Trussauds building in the background here.
Carbon neutral network.
Certified by GSTC
Getting guests onboard to lower their carbon footprint. There is carbon calculator and the website can give suggestions to lower carbon emission. An important role of tourists in sustainable tourism.
🌿 Hi there! Welcome to Sentosa's Sustainability Learning Journey 🌞 I'm your trainee AI guide (beta version). Feel free to ask me about Sentosa's sustainability efforts — let's explore around together! 🌱
How does businesses take part in sustainable Sentosa
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Businesses on Sentosa participate in sustainability initiatives through various collaborative efforts. For instance, during the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) conference held in Sentosa, businesses across the island, including members of the Sentosa Carbon Neutral Network (SCNN), showcased Singapore's collective progress in sustainability. This included providing electric bus transportation, sustainable menus, local cultural performances, and circular economy practices like recycling lanyards and nametags. Additionally, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) aims for all hotels on the island to obtain sustainability certifications by 2025, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to sustainability across tours, attractions, hotels, and dining experiences.
Interactive place based learning
More Learning Journeys to learn about sustainability.
Free admission weekday for LJ to send in request with moe email To SDC. Must come in by coach
Remnants of the monorail track towards the Siloso Beach Resort.
We walked to Siloso Beach Resort (SBR), a Singaporean-owned eco-resort. The resort has been using its facilities as a showcase and test-bed of environmentally friendly technologies and practices. The Eco Tour Programme implemented a few years ago has attracted numerous stakeholders to visit the resort for the purpose of learning more about sustainable practices and technologies.
The resort actually surveyed the species of trees found in the area and mapped them. The resort is built around the 200 existing onsite and planted 300 plus smaller ones. 30% of the resort are open areas with nature. Biodiversity are kept intact sunbird, squirrel, Hornbill. Reduce air conditioning and lighting. Maximising natural lighting and ventilation.
With sea facing rooms and 12 villas, the resort is recognised as an eco-resort. Enabling workers with disabilities. 20% of the staff are people with disabilities.
We were brought to a villa and saw two trees inside the room. Barrier were put around the tree to prevent damage to the tree. Rubber seal the roof it grows through the roof.
Efforts in preserving the trees can really be seen here. The villas are built 2m above ground on stilts so that no digging into the ground damaging the roots.
Messages from the hotel are accessed from a leaflet with QR codes. Info on sustainability efforts by the hotel and suggestions to participate in the resource consumption. Use of the spring water for the waterfall.
The green iniatives of the resort via the QRcode link:
The target tourists of the resort are those conscious of nature. One teacher asked if the guests will damage the trees inside the room and Karl said so far no as the guests are more premium.
There is a tree with spikes outside the room. It is reserved but architect will make sure the trees are outside the villa so that they do not hurt the guests. Planning on the site of the villa is mainly around the trees so that the trees are protected.
Villa guests are mainly from retirees overseas, e.g. Australia, Europe, China. The family room more popular with locals with family.
Superior room cost 250 ++ and Villa cost 800 to 1500.The biggest villa has 7 trees preserved inside.
The resort also advocate farm to table. We visited the farms on the rooftop. At the herb garden we tried the Stevia leaf which is so sweet. The chocolate mint is fragrant too.
Vegetable farms are located on the roof top so that there are less pests. The resort do not use pesticides and no chemical fertilizer. Earth from composting provide for 5% of hotel need. Expand and add to guest experience.
Mr Karl sharing with us the gems from the gardens.
Lowering ambient temperature with roof garden.
We then visited the wormery where 100 trays of earthworm are kept. The earthworms break down the vegetable and fruit waste, which are then used as fertilizer. It can break down the food waste in 2 days. The earthworm can live for more than 2 years. The earthworm casting. High quality fertilizer, good bacteria, reduce fungus and help to break down nutrients for the plants to use. Plant spur. NTU isolated the growth enzyme which can help to accelerate plant growth. The high quality fertilizer only use for growing of vegetable, herb, extra donated the community and school gardens. The fertilisers can be harvested every 2 days. 2 months and they will shift the earthworm. 400kg of casting per month now scale down to 200kg.
Longest pool at 85m long with a depth of 1.2m. Spring water is used for the pool. The resort discover a pipe running towards the sea when they were construction the resort. Permission was given to the resort to use the spring water. The spring water is filtered for use in the pool and landscaping. This helps to reduce water consumption. The spa pool is heated using heat waste from the air-conditioning system. Room heated water from the heat waste from the air conditioning. This improve energy efficiency. However temperature will fluctuate depending on use of air conditioning,
A 120 year old sea apple tree that is protected with building built around it. It is wired up to protect it from lightning. A hole in the building is big enough for it to sway.
A green wall with Shingle plant. Low maintenance and sustainable.
At the cafe. More than 40 plants are grown mosquito. Fish and dragon flies in the water help to reduce mosquitoes
Recycled bottles for landscaping. The hotel also tries to reduce food waste.
Hoping that the guests will take inspiration from the use of recycled water bottles.
A visitor from nature. A monitor lizard very eager to go to the kitchen of the cafe. This is the daddy and heard from the staff the mummy and baby visited more regularly.
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