I have moved to mokyingren.com :)

MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore's first reservoir, built in 1867-68. The development of the Reservoir brought the forest devastation around the area to a halt. The forest around the reservoir was protected as a water catchment reserve.

Notice the switch from present to past tense. While the former fact would be arguably hard to deny or render false by any means, the latter seems to have succumbed to the evils of depreciation and a highly skewed sense of myopic pragmatism. In order to fight for something, one has to consider the most important ‘What’ and subsequently ‘Why’. What then, is a reservoir, and why is it here? Seeing as how technical definitions would not help, (A reservoir is, most broadly, a place or hollow vessel where fluid is kept in reserve, for later use) perhaps the ‘Why’ will enlighten. The first paragraph succinctly illustrates its fundamental purpose as a reserve. While often thrown about and perhaps even confused at times with its sugar laden condiment cousin that stands taller with a preceding ‘p’, the term still retains much meaning and significance. It is a bastion of hope in this jungle of a country on steroids. Primary, secondary, tertiary, heck, even plastic plants would do. Greenery is the point isn’t it? A tree is a tree is a tree. My argument is two-fold. One persuades against the subsequent demolition of the venue, and the second against the ambience.

When we have landslides and waterlogged areas after the rain, well, that just won’t do. People get angry. Shoes get muddy. Running becomes a lot harder. Sure, landslides are dangerous, and everyone would clearly accept lending a hand to the environment (which is completely out of whack because of our initial interference in the first place) to correct faulty terrain. We can’t have landslides after every storm, so the landscape needs tweaking. And that’s precisely what happened last year to a significant portion of the running route near the Ranger’s station. But what more? It seems recently another portion of the route was resurfaced, for no crime greater than being a little muddy. I am referring to the portion just before the Boardwalk. Where, then, do we draw the line? But more importantly, let’s go back to the ‘Whats’ and ‘Whys’. What is the purpose of these ‘improvements’? Landslide prevention would most probably be socially and economically accepted, falling under the category of safety. But when it comes to making the route ‘more efficient’ for runners, I dearly hope I am not the only one who notices the vulgar paradox. We are damaging nature for the sake of running in an increasingly artificial environment that was instituted in the first place with the aim of preserving nature. Perhaps the problem lay not in the helpless soil, continually trampled upon to the point of sterility, but in the fickle and confused ‘runner’ who has made a miscalculated choice in his running venue.

It is also becoming clear that the monkeys in Macritchie are becoming increasingly well behaved. However, I am sad to report that their rise in hierarchy is only made possibly by a displacement that shifts the mean down. While it has been established that Macritchie is a reserve, when we regard the venue as an attraction, redefinitions are in order, as we source for new ones that incorporate the human ‘consumers’. My underlying assumption here is that everyone ‘owns’ Macritchie equally, and hence no one can be denied use or command more authority over others. That I accept, and it is in this humble stance that I conduct my argument.

Formerly regarded as a training ground for enthusiastic runners, equally attracted and intimidated by the challenging slopes and difficult terrain, the social scene has now ‘evolved’ into something vastly more complex, with a significantly more diverse clientele. Recently, the venue of the canoeing nationals shifted to Macritchie, and canoeists from schools all over the country now frequent the site. Furthermore, with the advent of sites such as the ‘tree-top walk’, casual nature enthusiasts are now drawn to the locality as well, commonly identified by their big back packs, water supply that draws envy from Macritchie itself, and a multi-purpose umbrella that remains open ‘just in case’. They march in file of typically twos or threes, perhaps a vestige of their army days. Their pace usually ranges from the bus inching towards its depot in a cunning bid to arrive ‘on time’, to the disillusioned tortoise that never quite beat the hare.

So is it a case of Runners vs Canoeists vs Social visitors? Or can we all co-exist with a simple ‘keep left’ rule? And who has priority? My premise earlier renders the latter an invalid query, for the socialist nature of the reserve means it is equally accepting to all visitors. As are our roads, all drivers are equal, but we have still invented mechanisms such as ‘right of way’ and ‘keep left unless overtaking’, solace providing pillars without which it seems our most pragmatic society would just break down. Perhaps such institutions need to be introduced to Macritchie users as well, thereby setting their cost benefit calculations right.

As a runner whom frequents the locality every week, I find that constantly getting blocked by ‘walkers’ and ambitious canoeists who carry multiple vessels at once, complete with flailing oars, disrupts my workout and necessitates the seemingly unnecessary verbal ‘keep lefts’ at inordinate intervals (to which individuals respond in a most unhelpful manner, e.g. by keeping still in the centre, if at all.) I’m equally certain their day would be rendered less ideal with a sweaty, noisy, runner shouting out at them to keep to the side, and on occasion bumping into them when their ear-brain-body network fails them. I attribute their actions to either ignorance (which education, what I am proposing, will ideally solve) or apathy (perhaps with malicious intent, i.e. people whom bear an unexplainable, inexplicable grudge against all runners, or just people moving at a pace faster than them, and will do everything in their power to destroy their workouts). I prefer to remain optimistic, blindly awarding the benefit of the doubt, herding all to the former category. In this scenario, then, perhaps we should follow the all powerful law of the road, encouraging ‘slow moving vehicles’ to keep to the left (when the question of which left arises, perhaps a more comprehensive scheme of education should be made available) and priority should be given to ‘faster moving vehicles’. Stopping short of drawing double yellow lines along the whole route and yellow boxes (no, smokers, dream on, I refer to the much neglected ‘give way’ boxes that function as little more than carpets on our well tarred roads), perhaps a ‘system’ should be established and propagated, be it on the information boards or on a huge balloon that towers above the car park (I am a dreamer). With the renovations coming up I fear the influx of visitors will exacerbate the existing problem, and hence as a pre-emptive manoeuvre with current education, we will build up a cohort of role models whom will propagate the positive behaviour that will yield a most efficient utilisation of Macritchie. Let’s borrow a leaf from the Monkeys, barring their water bottle stealing tendencies. If they can do it, so can we.

By Devathas