Tay Xiu Yu 2A

This is a picture depicting a creeper growing on a tree. The relationship between the creeper and the tree is the used and the user. The creeper uses the tree to help it grow as the creeper is too weak and thus unable to survive alone and the tree does not benefit from helping the creeper. I believe the relationship between man and nature is similar to the relationship between the creeper and tree. Man is like the creeper, dependent on the tree for survival while nature is like the tree helping man for nothing.

Like the creeper, man cannot survive on its own. Without nature and its resources, man would soon become extinct from starvation and other factors yet man is ungrateful, he takes more than he needs from nature simply because he feels that the more the better. He exploits nature’s resources building things that he does not need simply because he can build it.

Man’s actions will lead to his destruction sooner or later. With his exploitation of nature and its resources, man is progressing faster towards his doom like a moth drawn to flame. If man does not stop or slow down his exploitation of nature, he would go quicker to his extinction. Nature does not need man to survive. It survived when the dinosaurs went extinct; it would continue to survive even after man is extinct.

The preservation of nature in today’s modern society has become more important. I think it is more important compared to economic development because money is but paper, you cannot bring it with you when you die. Nature should play a more important part in modern society than it is playing now.

This is the picture of plants enclosed by a wooden “enclosure” with some plants breaking free of the “enclosure”. Man, in this case, is symbolized by the “enclosure”, Nature, as the plants inside the “enclosure”. Man is always trying to tame nature, trying to conquer it, trying to prove himself as the supreme master of the universe. Nature, however, is not giving in without a fight. Just like the plants breaking free of the “enclosure”, Nature is trying to break out of Man’s control.

Man cannot tame nature totally as there will always be a part that escapes. The best man can do is to try to contain it and even so, nature will always prevail. It will always find a way out of the prison man creates for it. Nature is never fully tame; it will always try its best to escape. Some examples include tree roots cracking the concrete slab, plants growing in the cracks of concrete slabs.

In the picture, the green grass and tree trunk seem much brighter when compared to the dull grey of the concrete slab. It is as if nature is trying to brighten the dull man-made landscape with its bright colours, making the world seem more beautiful, more colourful.

This characteristic of Nature, to survive despite obstacles, makes nature hard for man to control thus we can find plants growing everywhere. Examples are fungus growing beside the sink, plants growing within the cracks and the odd plant in some weird places. The colours that nature adds to our landscapes give our landscape a different dimension. The trees planted along the roadside make Singapore seem a brighter and less dreary place. Nature brightens up our landscape and makes Singapore seem a more beautiful place and without the addition of colours from nature, Singapore will look duller so I think Singapore cannot do without nature, there should always be a place for nature in modern society.

This picture shows a woman and her boy walking on the grass, relaxing which is one of the many benefits Nature can bring to man. This picture itself evokes a sense of calmness, a sense of harmony. Some of the other benefits Nature can bring to man are that it can act as a source of inspiration for artists, poets. It can also calm the mind and soothe the soul when one is troubled Nature can also teach students many lessons that cannot be learnt in classrooms. For example, Nature can teach a person that life in all form is sacred and that all life should be cherished, not just the life of a human but also the life of the flowers, animals even the life of a tiny ant.

Being among Nature (the flowers, the trees, even the rocks and rivers) could always bring men calmness. For me, I have always liked beaches, forests, places where I can “get in touch” with nature. For example, sitting on a beach with wind blowing at my face has always made me feel no worries, as if the wind had blown my troubles away. Just like the woman and boy in the picture, I like walking on grass, feeling the crunching of grass beneath my feet, using my toes to close the leaves of the mimosa.

Now, in Singapore, there are few spots of nature left. The preservation of nature has become secondary to economic development. Few people care about preserving what little bits of nature we have left, most people only care about money. Maybe one day, the above picture will never appear again. Real trees, flowers may be replaced by artificial ones and nobody will know the delight at smelling the flowers, running barefooted on the grass.

Tay Xiu Yu 2A