Kimberly Ng 2F/06

A New Beginning

Reminding one of their existence
The trees mark the path
Their leaves acting as shade
Using the sunlight as their bath

A source of protection
A friend for company
A time to start anew
A chance to be free

Treasure the support Nature’s lent
Forget the bad past
Start a better present
Make good times last

A new beginning is waiting for you.

I got the inspiration from this photo which has a path that looks deserted and is surrounded by trees. The tranquil scene allows you to think clearly with no clouded opinions. The trees there seem to be giving support and seem to be guiding you down the path. The path offers a new beginning, a chance to start again for those who have had terrible memories. This new beginning will allow these people to create better and happier memories. For others, this path could lead to the construction of more happy times. I wrote this poem with Romantic poets such as Coleridge in mind. I was thinking about their unhappy childhood and if people were ever experiencing bad times, they should look ahead and try to make their lives as happy as it can get. The scene also shows how nature is there for support and they mark the path. Without those trees marking the path, one might not see that path which could eventually lead to their happiness.

Kimberly Ng 2F/06

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

Jean Ng 2D/06

This picture is shows a pathway in the botanic gardens, splitting nature into two separate parts. To me, the picture looks like someone had deliberately bulldozed his way through the greenery, and that someone is Man.

When this park was built, a part of nature definitely had to be destroyed in order to make structures like buildings and pathways, even though the botanic gardens is a nature park and is supposed to convey the idea of preserving nature. Parks in general are a form of Man trying to bring back what they have lost though industrialization. Man is trying to preserve whatever he has left of nature and teach the future generations to learn not to exploit nature as well. However, in building such parks, they inevitably destroy more of nature, and add human touches to nature. It will all be worth it if people begin to appreciate nature because of nature parks and stop exploiting nature, however that will never happen because Man relies too heavily on nature for resources.



This picture shows a notice in the botanic gardens telling pet owners not to bring their pets to the botanic gardens as their urine will be absorbed by the granite boulders and fossilized tree trunks and will lead to unpleasant odour.

Pets are domesticated animals, and they rightfully belong to nature. Man is disrupting nature’s cycle by not allowing pets to roam free in nature. Even though we can be seen as protecting nature by not allowing pets to pollute the Evolution Garden, however, there would be no need to protect the plants if Man did not put those granite boulders and fossilised tree trunks there in the first place. Man is selfish, and we prevent pets from coming into the garden so that we can enjoy it by ourselves. The fact that our pets live in our houses and that we keep potted plants in our house shows that we want to bring back that connection with nature, however when we do that, we are reforming nature, and confining it to our urban society.



This picture shows a shadow of a person cast over a dirty pond.

The shadow represents darkness and death, and because it is a shadow of a person it represents Man bringing destruction onto nature. The dirty pond is an effect of Man’s pollution, a sure sign that Man has already started on destroying the environment. However, a shadow is only the absence of light, it is temporary, and it will disappear once light is shined upon it. On the other hand, the pond will be there longer than the shadow. Hence, Man will only temporarily gain control over nature, and ultimately nature will still be the one that is in control of mankind. In urban society today, Man only sees nature as a form of resource and exploitation. Even if we try to conserve resources, our technology is developing at such a fast pace that we end up using more from nature. Nature is now getting back at us for our endless destruction, through global warming and the hole in the ozone layer. The endless pollution and exploitation will never stop, because Man has already become too reliant on nature.

SIDDHARTH! 2E'06

I got the idea for this poem from looking at the trees in the botanical gardens. It also made me realise that we all take trees for granted and even cut the down without any regards for the consequences of what effect it might have on the environment.

The Story Of A Tree

The tree stands tall
Giving breath to all
Its everlasting Beauty
Enduring all weather and time

Giving shade from the sun
Its leaves dancing in the wind
Branches swaying with the breeze
Its death provides for the earth

Its wood carries the written word
Its children feed the hungry
Why does man not relieve
The tree of its pain

Done by: SIDDHARTH! of 2E'06 YAYY!

Chuang Ying Xuan 2A06

Shadow

A little light,
A little shade,
A little sight to behold.

A wind blows,
The fronds tremble,
It becomes a blur.

Misty,
Murky,
Ever changing,
It is alive and kicking.

It caresses me,
It kisses me.
I see my own—
The shadow.

by Chuang Ying Xuan 2A06

(Sorry Sir, I forgot to include the epilogue :/ )

Epilogue:
I was inspired by how the Romantic poets can personify and show appreciation for Nature through different means, like by seeing with their own eyes or through another element of Nature (take the Ode to West Wind for example). Ergo, I have tried to use one element of Nature to emphasize on a palm tree. But instead of showing an actual palm, I have tried to appreciate it through something that is related to it- the shadow it makes in the sun.