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  The Sunday Times, 13 Feb 05 online on the Straits Times Interactive
 How can a trek be cushy?

I READ with astonishment that Singaporeans complained that the 10.3km trek to and back from MacRitchie's TreeTop Walk is long and arduous ('TreeTop Walk too tough? Try the Kent Ridge trail'; The Sunday Times, Jan 30).

One housewife even lamented that it was too hot to wait for her turn to get onto the suspension bridge. While more informative signs could have been useful, pampered Singaporeans, used to being spoon-fed by the Government, similarly expect nature to serve their convenience.

The point of the bridge is for nature lovers to admire the forest canopy. Do they want a bridge above Lornie Road so they can walk from the bus stop, then up the bridge? Do they expect birds and wildlife to be waiting above a busy road?

Would the National Parks Board one day be pressured into constructing paved, sheltered walkways in the forest because Singaporeans demand easier access?

I have walked across suspension bridges all over the world and never have I once heard complaints as ludicrous as these. Such people are better off spending their weekends shopping in Orchard Road, where taxis, buses, escalators and lifts are abundant.

Koh Wee Hoon (Ms)
links
Fact sheet on the Tree Top Walk with links to more articles.
Related articles on Re-creation in our wild places
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