60 years of greening Singapore
On 16 June 1963, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a Mempat tree at Farrer Circus, kickstarting Singapore’s nationwide greening campaign.
The following decades saw various efforts to green up Singapore and conserve our natural heritage, with the involvement of the community very early on through tree planting events. In 2023, we commemorate the past 60 years of greening and conservation efforts with the community, who have helped create the high-quality living environment that Singaporeans enjoy today.
Commemorate 60 years of greening Singapore with us! Let’s continue to work together to transform Singapore into a City in Nature! Sign up for an upcoming tree planting activity or join us at one of our events to participate in Singapore’s greening and conservation efforts, and to celebrate our natural heritage. Individuals or corporations who would like to do their part for our natural heritage can also make a donation through NParks' registered charity and IPC, the Garden City Fund.
Tree Planting Day
Tree Planting Day is an annual event in Singapore which typically involves the planting of trees and shrubs in public places like housing estates, parks and schools. The event, which is usually held on the first Sunday of November, was officially started in 1971.
The initiative began as a tree planting campaign on 16 June 1963, when then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a mempat tree at Holland Circus, which was subsequently removed due to road works in the mid-1970s.3 The campaign aimed to have at least 5,000 households planting trees in their homes to replenish felled trees in Singapore, induce rain to provide more water, and make Singapore a more pleasant home. In his book, From Third World to First, Mr Lee Kuan Yew wrote about the drive to make Singapore a tropical garden city, which included planting trees and shrubs around the island, in a bid to achieve First World standards. For instance, greenery raised morale and made people proud. It also showed effort put into maintaining Singapore and impressed foreign VIPs. Tree Planting Day was one of the events used to support the tropical garden city initiative. Mr Lee also mentioned that Tree Planting Day was set at the beginning of the rainy season in November to minimise watering.
The first official Tree Planting Day in Singapore was held on Sunday, 7 November 1971. Then acting Prime Minister, Dr Goh Keng Swee, launched the event by planting a rain tree at about 9.45 am on the summit of Mount Faber. A total of more than 30,000 plants were planted on that day, including trees, fruit trees, shrubs and creepers. Similar tree-planting activities, led by Ministers and Members of Parliament, also occurred around Singapore the same day at spots including Kampong Java Park and Queenstown community centre.6 With the arrival of the third term vacation, schools had celebrated Tree Planting Day earlier, on 4 and 5 November.7 52 schools chosen by the Ministry of Education had planted about 592 trees on 4 November. Moving forward, Tree Planting Day was celebrated annually in Singapore on the first Sunday of November.
The Blossoming of Tree Planting Day
Acting Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee planting a rain tree on Mount Faber on 8 Nov 1971, Singapore’s first annual Tree Planting Day
When acting Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee planted a rain tree sapling on the summit of Mount Faber on a Sunday morning in 1971, there was little to suggest that it was a momentous occasion. The only people present were Goh’s wife, E.W. Barker, the Minister for Law and National Development, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of National Development.
As the Straits Times reported: “There was no fanfare, speeches, no long retinue of assemblymen and PAP [People’s Action Party] party cadres as Dr Goh, in a long-sleeved blue shirt and gold-rimmed sunglasses, potted the sapling into its newly prepared bed.” The event itself was very short. “Within five minutes of Dr Goh’s arrival, the sapling, which is under a year old, was promptly embedded, watered, and was given its name tag on a black plaque.” The report added that groups of tourists, schoolchildren and local sightseers walked past Goh, “totally unaware that history had been planted”.1
What was so special about that Sunday morning some 50 years ago? That day, 8 November 1971, marked the start of what has become an annual ritual in Singapore: Tree Planting Day.
The 1963 Tree Planting Campaign
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew planting a mempat tree sapling at Farrer Circus in 1963. The ceremony also signified the beginning of an island-wide tree planting campaign
When the People’s Action Party government came into power in 1959, it continued the practice of tree planting. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew believed that it was important for cities to have greenery. “I have always believed that a blighted urban jungle of concrete destroys the human spirit. We need the greenery of nature to lift up our spirits,” he said. “Even in the 1960s, when the Government had to grapple with grave problems of unemployment, lack of housing, health and education, I pushed for the planting of trees and shrubs.”4
In 1963, Lee launched an island-wide tree planting campaign. He noted that such a campaign was needed because Singapore was “becoming barren of trees” and estimated that only one tree had been planted for every 10 that had been felled for building projects. According to a contemporary news report, Lee said that planting more trees “would not only increase the island’s water supply – trees encourage cloud formation and retain moisture that would otherwise be lost – but would make Singapore a pleasanter place to live in”.
Lee set a target of planting 10,000 trees annually. Of these, half were to be planted by the government along roads, in housing estates and parks, and the rest by the public. To prevent vandalism in housing estates, Lee suggested that “young trees be guarded by barbed wire”. However by April 1967, the government felt that more needed to be done as there was still “a lack of feeling of care for trees among the people” and “a lack of experts” within the government to provide advice on “how best to give scenic beauty to the city”. On 11 May 1967, the Garden City campaign was announced.
Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew launched the first nationwide tree-planting campaign
Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew planting a Mempat tree at Holland Circus during his tour of Ulu Pandan constituency on 16 June 1963
Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said Singapore’s greening journey started on June 16, 1963, when founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew launched the first nationwide tree-planting campaign.
“A few years later, he started the tradition of marking Tree Planting Day annually, to get people out to plant trees all over our island. “We continue this tradition to this very day and will continue to do so well into the future,” said Mr Lee, who added that the first greenery plan was set in 1967, to transform Singapore into a Garden City.
The minister, who was speaking at an event on Saturday at the Singapore Botanic Gardens to mark 60 years of greening Singapore, said the island could have easily become a city of concrete and steel because of competing needs for the little land that was available. “It was because of the movement that started 60 years ago, that we are one of the world’s greenest cities today,” said Mr Lee. A key thrust of the Singapore Green Plan to restore nature and build climate resilience is to transform the city-state into a City in Nature.
Tree Planting Day in Singapore: 5 things about the 51-year-old tradition
1,500 residents of Tanjong Pagar GRC and Radin Mas SMC joins Former Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew and other ministers at the annual Tree Planting Day
On Nov 2, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a sea teak tree in Bukit Merah View, marking the 51st year of a tradition he started. The usual shovelling was swopped for a more snazzy launch, and the tree was watered by sprinkers activated with the pressing of a plastic sphere. More than 1,000 residents turned up at the event held in Mr Lee's Tanjong Pagar constituency.
Mr Lee has planted more than 60 trees over the years, and this year, it was a tree that has become increasingly rare. According to nature website Wildsingapore, the sea teak tree is mainly found on sandy beaches where it is found in groups at the high water mark. Currently, it can be found on the natural cliffs of Sentosa. Mr Lee envisioned that a clean and green Singapore would carry a competitive advantage. He started the tree-planting campaign by planting a mempat tree in Farrer Circus in June 1963. "After independence, I searched for some dramatic way to distinguish ourselves from other Third World countries. I settled for a clean and green Singapore," he wrote in his 2000 memoir, From Third World to First.
The first Tree Planting Day in Singapore was held on Nov 7, 1971. Then-acting prime minister Goh Keng Swee launched the event by planting a rain tree on the summit of Mount Faber. Mr Lee said in his book that Tree Planting Day was set at the beginning of the rainy season in November to minimise watering. Each town council holds tree-planting day activities with its own Members of Parliament. There are also parks where foreign VIPs get to plant trees. Families even adopt trees for their children as gifts or wedding presents. And we do not only plant trees here. President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife, Mrs Mary Tan, planted a pink silk tree in Australia in June this year. They planted it at The Central Valley, home to ceremonial trees planted by significant dignitaries and leaders, according to the National Arboretum Canberra.
