Singapore Quarry seemes to come out of nowhere: one moment you’re lost in the steamy rainforest of Dairy Farm Nautre Reserve, the next you’re confronted with a vast lake and sheer, scarred cliffs. It used to be the site of a granite quarry that devastated the wildlife of a once diverse area; now abandoned, the animals are slowly returning– we saw a Grey-headed Fish Eagle, an internationally endangered species.
While the environmental degradation in the rest of Singapore isn’t as visible, it is no less harmful. Singapore Quarry is only now recovering from its blatant abuse, after a good few decades. This fish-eagle is a sign of growth and good health, but it has taken so long to reach that stage. With the accelerating rate of development here, places starting to grow back can be destroyed in a matter of months, or places that have been left alone for as long as Singapore has had a history just as easily become the new sight of a highway (*cough cough* BUKIT BROWN *cough cough*). The stark beauty of Singapore Quarry shouldn’t serve as a proof of humanity’s ambition, but rather as a reminder of the cost of it.
