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SINGAPORE: Every morning, 92-year-old Mrs. Lim Yee Mun sits at the top of a multi-storey car park in the Dover Estate, gently moving her arms and legs through the movements of the Exercise, in the middle of a lush green. A haven of tranquility.
Once she's finished, Tai Chi Ah Ma – as she is known to other residents – gets on her heels and begins her other daily routine: weeding the rooftop garden, where d & # 39; innumerable herbs, plants grow in profusion.
"These plants keep the air fresh.The air on the ground floor is not so good," she says, scraping the floor.
Mdm Lim Yee Mun, or Tai Chi Ah Ma as it is known to other residents
Volunteer Lim Kiat Kee has been cultivating herbs for over seven years. 75-year-old man also has a nickname: Bus Ah Ma, because he was a former bus driver.
They live in the same block, on different floors – but it was in the garden where their friendship has blossomed, where many other bonds between neighbors have been forged.
A unique sign captures the open mind that s 39; flourishes here. "Choose our herbs and spices for free," she invites everyone, even those who have not done gardening.
In community gardens elsewhere, fears of abuse often lead to locked fences and turf wars. But here at Dover Crescent there is a special kampung spirit at work
WATCH: Measuring in Community Gardens Enough To Limit Cases of Abuse: Teo Ho Pin
However, a resident to transform what was once banal green stamp – so uninspiring that Tai Chi Ah Ma had the habit of practicing on the ground floor – into something a lot more.
This man was Mr. Benjamin Ee, and he was guided by a simple philosophy. : "You can not call it a community garden if it does not bring people together."
CHOOSING TO BE GENEROUS
M. Ee, who recently retired from her job as Project Manager in the construction industry, has always loved gardening. But this personal project in his field is his first stab in a community garden.
And he chose not to be territorial. "Because we grow different types of plants, invariably people would come and ask us," Can I have this? Can I have that? And I say, let's be generous, "said the 60-year-old
" All we can afford to give, give them to us because we want to engage the community. " ] (dp) Edible Community Garden Dover Crescent 4 “/>
M. Benjamin Ee.
It does not bother him that some people want the product without getting to work, because he wants to "make this garden a little different".
What tends to be a painful point among the green fingers in Singapore – the damage to pots and plants, pilfering and trash – does not seem to bother him either.
"People deliberately broke branches, stole" There are people who smoke and leave cigarette butts here, and cans of beer – not here on the cobblestones. area but on the garden ground. "
Such incidents have not detracted from its open garden concept, where students come to study, where foreign workers settle in to take their meals and where other residents have to go to school. other reasons to be attracted.
"We had people coming here in the morning to read their papers and someone who was reading the Bible. One night, a lady came here crying, to be alone, and she asked me for advice, "he says.
"I had neighbors from other constituencies, even the neighboring condominium, who came to ask for some of the edible flowers, giving them seeds. I had people in wheelchairs who were looking around me, so I gave them the hose to water (the plants).
"We have people, this afternoon, who come to discuss serious matters, I saw the seriousness on their faces."
APPROACHED ON BLUE [19659002] In its original state, however, the rooftop garden consisted of common cow grass, some palm trees, some linden trees, a group of pandan shrubs, "and it does not have a lot of trees. there was no shelter – it was just that. "
"Many locals said that they came here, watched it and left, there was nothing to interact with," said Mr. Ee, who estimates that there are now more than 80 species of plants, spices and medicinal herbs.
He may have never been involved in the garden, otherwise for another C & # 39; was in December 2010, and he was having breakfast with his family at the cafe, with a potted plant that They had bought on their table, when an elderly lady spotted it.
Seeking people interested in gardening, she decided to ask him if he would be willing to create a suitable garden for the residents. After thinking, it made perfect sense.
Their domain was new, the one that had just replaced several blocks at Dover Road that had been selected for the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Project
. moved, it would be good to start something to gather them, he reasoned. And the name given to their domain could hardly be lost on him.
"When I first came here, I saw the sign.He said that 's called Dover Gardens.But a garden must be something d & # 39; exciting, "he said, adding that" it was time "also to give back to the community.
The next month, he had a seven-person committee, and they held their first meeting in his 40-story apartment with coffee, cookies, and cakes to start planning and budgeting.
Having approached the town council by the Residents Committee of Dover Crescent, he was given the go-ahead. in April 2011.
The Roof Garden of Block 28 Dover Crescent before the arrival of Mr. Benjamin Ee's team
They started a month later on the new garden: Three plots totaling more than 200 square meters. "For me, it was like" Wow. That's more than I can expect.
NO SUFFICIENT FUNDING
While the garden may have come a long way since then, the trip has had its share of ups and downs At the beginning, for example, the Mr. Ee's team was to operate the garden without funds being provided.
So one thing he did was to stock up on recyclable or recyclable materials, such as paving stones, which he ensured from his contacts in the construction industry. .
These are surplus stones that the contractors would have had to pay to dispose, so he paid their workers instead of bringing them to the garden, where his team "Even this bench on which I sit is recycled taking a number of broken benches and assembling them, and you get one that is still usable, "he told CNA Insider
. was still needed, however, so his team pooled $ 700. "As the garden grew, other neighbors heard about it and began to put money in," he said. "When we were growing vegetables, they would come and take their vegetables and say," Okay, I would like to give you a contribution of 100 Singapore dollars. I would say that S 2 is good enough, but they would give S $ 100 or S $ 10. "
The team of Mr. Ee called his interest group" Petals, Greens and Friends ""
There were also those who gave in kind, including plants, seeds and fertilizers.A resident, for example, gave him Indian lemon seeds to plant.
"She said that she had been trying for more than a year. a year but that she could not grow it.Then I took the seeds and cultivated them.She said, "Woah, you are blessed, your hands are blessed." J & # 39; was like "No, that's the nature," he says
He estimates his own contribution over the years at $ 1,000 S at most 19659002] HANDS OF THE HAND- WORK
The money, in the end, was not the biggest challenge.Manpower was including managing the small team that he had.
When Mr. Ee focused on the development development of a flower garden on one of the three parcels, problems appeared among the committee members to whom he had handed the garden. "There were relational tensions that caused major challenges, which affected the garden, and I was often called to be the intermediary, which was not what I wanted to do. "
The once prosperous vegetable garden, which produced nearly 175 kilograms of harvest per month, fell into disrepair. Thus, in 2013, he turned it into a flower garden for flowers, which means less maintenance.
Despite these struggles, the rooftop garden received an Environment and Biodiversity Award from the National Parks Board the following year. $ 1,000. It was then that Mr. Ee suffered one of the biggest blows.
To use money, his committee had to join CR Dover Crescent. But the other members objected because the RC did not give them funding in the first place.
They resigned, letting him join the RC alone in the hope that he could hire more residents.
"It was very discouraging at the time. There were times when I thought, "Yeah, maybe I should give up," admitted Mr. Ee, who was still working full time then.
"I was starting to put in more and more time, and my wife say," Hey, what's going on? "You do not have the hand-in-hand. and you take so much time out of the family. "
But the plants were not healthy, and some residents even sent him a text message asking what was going on with the garden. "I said to myself," Well, it's heavy on my shoulder, "he recalls.
For a time, he was watering the garden at 6:30 because of the shortage of manpower and having one of his some volunteers do it another day. Yet he did not blame people for not volunteering.
"Most Singaporeans generally find it difficult to work under the sun. And then, sometimes, insects buzz. It can be very uncomfortable, "he said.
"I think that's why they are not so fond of gardening. But they usually love the garden. "
A SUGGESTION FOR WOMAN
Mr. Ee still had people who were encouraging him – people like Tai Chi Ah Ma and Bus Ah Ma, who was one of his first volunteers
Mdm Lim Kiat Kee, or Bus Ah Ma, as she is nicknamed.
Mr. Rahman Latiff, who loved the garden and volunteered to do watering and cleaning while learning Chinese herbs and making plantings.While growing 80, he is in the garden at least four times a week.
The turning point came last year when l & rsquo; Mr. Ee's wife suggested that he open half of the garden for people to take what is grown.the possible plants.
They have not looked back since nor residents no longer.Siti, the domestic help, who comes three times a week for pandan leaves, prepares a drink to Barley for the family of his employer.
There is Amy, 56, who discovered that the garden was a good place to practice tai chi, and also picks one or two lime leaves.
And there are many more, but only if necessary: sweet potato leaves, lemongrass, kaffir lime, brinjal, ladies fingers, chilli, Thai basil, garlic, ginger and so on.
Throughout its many transformations, the garden has gone from strength to strength, winning eight awards, including the Gardeners' Cup 2018 last week at the Singapore Garden Festival
. An open concept even caught the attention of Temasek, who decided to donate to the garden of herbs and edible plants exhibited at the Temasek Ecosperity conference last month
at the Dover Crescent Community In 1965, there are now more than 1,000 community gardens as part of NParks' Community In Bloom initiative. A minority of them are rooftop gardens. But Mr. Ee hopes that what he and his team do is very special.
And he wants to do more, like the activities held in the garden before when he had more manpower – for example, the BBQ evenings and Christmas under the stars – so we could build this community ".
As he emphatically emphasized, "The garden is all about relationships.It is not just about plants."
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