We received this email from Rafiz Mohyi Hapipi which he wrote to the Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang Town Council.
I am writing to express my deepest regret and unhappiness over the sudden destruction of the herb garden surrounding block 819 Yishun Street 81.
I have been a resident of this block and neighbourhod for the past 7 years. This was a peaceful and happy neighbourhood with a good mix of multi-cutural elderly, young adults and children. My two school-going children enjoy the company of Chinese and Indian friends as well as the care and concern of the eldery in the neighbourhood.
Since the day I moved into this neighbourhood, I have seen the elderly here tending to the herb garden that they have worked on for over twenty years. Others who retire later joined in and the herb garden became a regular routine activity that kept the elderly here active and cheerful. At the same time, while they were working on the garden or having their short rests in between, the elderly here lend their watchful eyes over the children. My own children grew up with their friendly smiles and hugs. They learnt the value of multiculturalism through experience away from force-fed curriculum of National Education taught in schools. My own parents who are themselves retirees, although not staying with me, frequented my place and enjoyed the company of people their age here.
The last few days have been traumatic for the elderly here. With much grieve they saw the herb garden that they have put their sweat and soul in for many years being destroyed heartlessly. I saw tears and heard voices of despair as some of the elderly tried to salvage whatever is left from the plants into pots. Some had given up. An elderly Chinese neighbour at the second floor shared with me, “Sudah Dua Puluh Satu Tahun saya jaga ini pokok. Ini bukan pokok bunga tapi semua ini pokok Ubat yang banyak gunanya. Siapa lagi yang tahu? Kita (orang tua) saja yang tahu. Saya sedih. Macam saya nak cakap suruh buang saja semua jadi saya tak nampak. Apa boleh buat? Diorang boleh buat apa diorang suka. Dua puluh satu tahun diorang takda peduli tapi sekarang semua buang.”
“It has been 21 years since I cared for these plants. These are not flowers but all these are herbs that have many uses. Who else would know (about the herbs)? Only us (the aged) would know. I’m sad. I feel like telling them to dispose of everything so that I can’t see (anything left behind – note: some small plant in pots were left behind). What can I do? They can do what they want. For 21 years nobody cared about this area and now every they dispose.”)
I personally share my tears and grieve with them. I find the whole episode appalling. It is an outright contradiction to the messages of Active Aging that have been sloganised over and over.
My own daughter who is only a kindergarten student was upset when she saw the workers grabbed and dumped the plants aside. I personally feel that the actions in this episode is a reflection of heartless and cold-hearted mechanical policies.
Twenty years of effort have been destroyed. The pride of the aged here has been badly hurt. This episode will definitely be part of my memory and the memory of my children as well as the children in this neighbourhood.
Please relay my message to the Town Council Advisor.
Thank You.
In Utmost Unhappiness,
Rafiz Mohyi Hapipi
———-
Rafiz, just saw you on tv – handsome man – way to go!
gemami(Post#36)
Thank You for the support!
patriot
thumbs up to you for finding the justice in our unfair society
too many things have been done with regards to the citizen’s voice
it is obvious that little thoughts have been put into it to solve the source of the problems- rodents. Herb gardens are not the cause of rodents, town councils or even HDB should consult pest control expert on how to solve it instead of blindly removing the garden.
i hope more of this can be done to make our society a better place to live in
in STTA: sack first talk later
in NSS: Demolish first talk later
what next? – theworld (#50)
In Army: dunk first, talk later
In Navy: collide first, talk later
In Banks: mis-sell first, talk later
In CPF Annuity Scheme: Die first, talk later
In Healthcare: mean-testing first, treat later
its really sad. that people are now not required to think. the interpersonal eq between people have also stooped into a new low. seriously, just because of a phone call, the the next day the herbs are removed?
1)did the relevant town councils staff even go down and investigate?
2)after 22 yrs of no issues then suddenly the TC went bonkers?
3)where was the level of human interaction or communication?
4)i may agree, rules might have not been followed regarding the growing of plants/herd, but shouldnt they have look at the positives it has created?so much for active aging….this just reeks of not practising what u preach.
5) lets look it at another angle, if this have happened at say a upper class bukit timah estate , would the same have happened?
my guess is as good as yours….
the TC is unfortunatley going 2 just sweep this under the carpet, or just some big words to justify the means of action.in myammar, they oppress ppl freedom, in singapore they oppress even your words and also your ability to think..
This is a 1st class solution to solve a problem.
“Garden with rodent problem – REMOVE THE GARDEN.”
“Garden with rodent problem – REMOVE THE GARDEN.” – Putra (#56)
And I thought the MPs are the rats.
55) cruxgod
did anyone ask who made the phone call?
i have a hunch the call must have came from LBH.
#47 and #56
Seem like a trend:
Old Folks playing cards – REMOVE STONE TABLES AND CHAIRS.
Garden with rodents – REMOVE GARDEN.
Well done TOC, your profile has just gone up a few more notches.
Let’s keep going! ……….. vroom!…….vroom!……….
We now wait for Rafiz to comment …………
if anyone noticed the reply from TOC…
big junk of words…..
did anyone noticed, there is no usage of the words…
“regret /apologise/sorry.”
yet they still turn the arrows n taiji back to u…
so much for self motiativation…basically they are saying now
‘i didnt ask the old ah peks n ah ma to grow plants/herbs,its they kpo,if they wan to grow plants, they must photocopy their ic n submit within 3 working days to us for approval.so if plants remove, its NOT MY BUSINESS…”
i think the monkeys are just missing the point about this whole issue….
hi genami..
mayb its some cronies from the rc or something..now en bloc fever so hot, they might wanna build a 20th storey shopping centre there on the old garden
Rafiz
I hope this this will have a happy ending. And thanks for hellping the elderly articulate their sadness and anger.
That zone chairman’s email was apalling. You shld pass on his email to the MPs. They shld be concerned. It is people like him that give the PAP a bad name: not that they smell sweet in the first place.
And you shouldn’t be so gentlemanly by omitting his name in yr posting. People in area ought to know that guy is mini-emperor.
62) CRUXGOD
now……how come i didn’t think of that :)
TOC,
what happened to the explanation letter from AMK TC?.
My post #60, was in reply to the letter.
I believed the sadness is not so much of the destruction of the herbs garden, more so are the amount of effort (21 years of it), the rarely seen Community Camaraderie (in these days where people are mostly gears towards materialism and with very selfish mindset). Even the compassion is lacking. How sad can this be? Very, indeed.
Even if now they (TCs) are willing to allow the replanitng (assuming a sort of happy ending), the fact that 21 years of warmth and care not only to the plants but within the community who lives in is not going to be the same. The fact that there will always be people who do not appreciate nature (well, by and large most uncompassionate people falls into this category).
Hopefully those people working in the TC as well as edgy residents do spare a thought on what was been through before making an otherwise unnecessary complain because of some rodents (they too have a right to live in this sick planet earth). Try not to be so dogmatic and exercise more conscience. Considerate, Passion and Kindness certainly will help build a better nation of people with compassion.
On behalf of all fellow senior citizens, hhanks again to Rafiz.
gemami,
We’re trying to get confirmation from the town council that the comment was indeed posted by its manager, Mr Goh.
Once we have confirmation, we’ll put it up as a separate post.
Regards,
Andrew Loh
OMG! 21 years and they just noticed the rats and demolished the garden because of that? Really world class eh.
- Did the alleged “rats” caused any problem at all?
- Did the alleged “rats” caused any problem at all In the past 21 years?
- Did the alleged “rats” have a permit to gather at the herb garden?
- Had the police interrogated those alleged “rats”?
- Was any video footage taken as evidence of those alleged “rats” for gathering without a permit?
- When will the alleged problem causing “rats” be charged for illegal assembly?
- Had those “rats” causing problem been arrested?
- Was those rats wearing kangaroo T-shirts?
- Why not just get rid of the rats instead? Send in some cats.
- Is this just an excuse to get rid of the seniors, instead of the rats?
= =
It is most uncaring and heavy handed , a reflection of society at large or it is just an over zealous town hall official? Keeping the old folk occupied and happy is just what is needed to keep them healthy. It cause the state practically nothing to allow them to plant a few herbs on a piece of land that had no other uses. Maybe the town hall want to spend their budget to plant a few flowers and keep the FT occupied? Very sad. The Sinkapore I loved and grow up in is no longer the same. Government longer consult and care about its citizen.They just do what they think is best regardless about the benefits of their action.