Monday, June 9, 2008

Tree

Thanks to Chinky for sending in this article. Interestingly, I've been to a house in the vicinity - someone there is feeding and not sterilising and there have been complaints as well. It's sad that a complaint could result in a tree being felled.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We had the same problem.

There was a lovely large tree with purple flowers opposite our house. It was not on anyone's property as it was between the drain and road. It gave a lot of shade and people would park their cars under it.
A neighbour asked for the tree to be cut down. We only found that out when we got home one evening and found the tree gone.

I still miss the tree & its shade everytime i walked out of the house in the day - it is definitely not cool.

Singapore Community Cat said...

As with community cats, we who care for cats and want to have cats in our midst, will have to speak out now while the cats are still around! All it takes is one complainant and the pest controller will have a field day!

Anonymous said...

Read One man’s efforts to keep chainsaws away from17-year-old mango tree

OUT ON A LIMB ...:

:One man’s efforts to keep chainsaws away from17-year-old mango tree

Tuesday • June 10, 2008


:GABRIEL TAN





IT IS heartening that the media has been providing greater issues about mother earth, issues which were once only the realm of “fringe fanatics” environmentalists.

:As a result, more people are practising a environmentally-conscious lifestyle. Companies are also making an effort to go green. Phrases such as “global warming” and most recently, “Saving Gaia” are now being used more frequently in the conversations of people in the street.

:The importance of trees in the fight against global warming cannot be understated. Yet among us, there are still many who will not hesitate to cut down a tree for whatever immediate benefits the action may bring.

I am trying to save a 17-year old-mango tree from being cut down by the management committee in Bedok Shopping Complex. I am running a business in this complex and the mango tree is right behind the shop unit that I occupy.

The tree has been providing shade for visitors and the shophouses next to it for a long time. In recent years, it had also begun to bear fruit, providing delicious refreshment for whoever cared to pluck them.

About a month ago, the management sent a contractor and two workers with chainsawsto cut down the tree. At that time, my vehicle was parked under the tree. I refused to moveit to stop them from cutting down the tree.

When I asked the management why the tree was being cut down, a few reasons were given, but none that would warrant cutting it down. My vehicle stayed under the tree that day.

After many appeals, emails and letters to anybody who might have had an influence on the matter, and a legal letter from the management to me, the tree is still standing.

However, I do not know how much longer I can keep the chainsaws away. The management committee claims to have the legal right to cut the tree down as it is standing on its land.

I am appealing to them to do the right thing.

In the eventuality that the mango tree is cut down, it will be another sad testimony to what is happening to millions of trees all over the world — cut down in the name of progress.

One tree may seem insignificant but my cry is “Save Gaia, one tree at a time”.