It’s always nice to see neighbours living in the same HDB estate coming together to bond over shared interests, like a beloved community cat or sharing food with one another.
Some may even say that community activities as such may even help to rekindle what’s left of the kampong spirit that was once strong back in the old days.
Of the top few hobbies people, gardening is one that many fell in love with.
Gardening together with a community especially when you have nothing but time at home can be most rewarding.
Unfortunately for this estate, it seems like their old garden will have to go soon.
Bukit Batok Carpark Garden To Be Removed
Some residents living in Bukit Batok West have found a way to spice up the dreariness of their multi-storey carpark rooftop with various floral decorations.
According to residents, the HDB blocks in the estate were completed in 2004, and since then, various community members have been contributing to this rooftop garden.
Over these 17 years, more and more potted plants accumulated in the garden, and so did the number of residents finding solace in it.
As of now, there are about 2,000 potted plants in the garden of all shapes and sizes.
The carefully planned garden had also become a common space for the residents to socialise while enjoying the beautiful flowers.
Sadly, resident Shirley Cheng woke up one day to see a notice from the HDB authorities informing them to remove all the potted plants in the garden as they received reports of illegal planting.
They were told to remove all potted plants at Block 395A along Bukit Batok West Ave 5 by 12 September or face removal without further notice.
It was suspected that someone reported the rooftop garden to the authorities out of concern that the recent heavy rain spells would make the place an ideal breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes.
Disappointed Residents Hope To Continue Running It
Most of the residents who were invested in running the rooftop garden happened to be housewives or elderly retirees, as reported by Shin Ming Daily.
One 60-year-old housewife Mrs Chen expressed that she was upset and disappointed upon receiving the bad news.
She shared that she had cultivated over 20 plants of her own on the rooftop garden, and that she could not possibly bring all of them home to place along the corridor.
The lack of sunlight there as compared to the rooftop garden also made her more reluctant to remove her fruits of labour.
Another 78-year-old housewife Ms Chen also said that the potted plants were cared for and bought with residents’ own money, who spent a lot of effort on up-keeping the place.
“We grow flowers, dragon fruit, vegetables and colorful leaves here, and we will share planting techniques with other residents. It’s like our second home,” she added.
According to retiree Zhuang Ruifeng, residents would visit the garden every morning to water the plants and rush down when it was raining to drain the excess water collected in the pots.
What she wishes for is that the authorities would at least give them more time to figure out what to do with the plants, such as giving them away to friends and family, despite it being a pity.
If possible, they hope that the authorities will allow them to continue running the garden just as it is.
According to The New Paper, residents were also going around collecting signatures for a petition, hoping to gather enough to keep the rooftop garden going.
Having made many friends there and finding new interests in a comforting space have made the rooftop garden special to these residents.
All those years of hard work going down the drain can never be easy to come to terms with.
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