A place where I can live, breathe, talk and see

A gloomy Sunday afternoon, with dark clouds looming above the sky. I'm sitting at the bus, on my way to meet a stranger for some thing I want to buy (nothing illegal, I can assure you).

I keep my eyes on the small forest which stretch along the way from my suburban area to the city. And seeing those beautiful trees, I'm remembering Bintan.

Remembering the clear star-filled sky, and the magnificent giant trees which stand proud about 40m tall, stunningly and beautifully straight. The branches only show on the far top part of the tree. Before I don't really appreciate such a quality in a tree. It's very normal to me seeing straight trees, having lived my entire life in the island of Java, where teakwood is literally scattered everywhere; it makes all the canopied and widely branched trees of Singapore are stunningly beautiful to me. And with the average height of 30 meters and it's huge moldy branches spread out very dramatic and ever gracefully to shade any other lives below; it always reminds me of the most ancient and wise creature from the Middle Earth; the Ent.

But now I come to realize the value of straight trees I often see in Java. Especially the monetary value. In the old days, those giant straight trees can be easily cut down and carved into a boat for our brave Indonesian sailors to cross the limitless ocean. Or in the recent days, you can just have it cut down and smuggled it abroad for some hefty amount of money. It's THAT precious. But of course there's also an environmental value for such a big tree can absorb the average of 20.3 kg of carbon dioxide/ annum.

And back to the trees of Singapore, it makes me realize that all the trees here are just 'recently' planted. The Singapore government started their Garden City campaign from the 1960's; and that's when they planted all of these magnificent trees. And those trees are carefully picked for its easy maintenance, the beautiful colored flowers, the fragrant scent, the canopied shape, etc. Everything but its economical value. That's why the trees in Singapore are so much different from what I usually see in Indonesia, which obviously, everything is naturally grown. Or purposefully planted for its economy value. There are of course wee bits of planned landscape in the city planning, but I think it's not as advanced as in here (CMIIW). Here everything is planned, engineered, even a tree tucked away in the far corner of Woodlands, it was there for a purpose, and was carefully picked to serve that purpose. :D

I don't know why I get so excited talking about trees. I realized it since I moved here. Those trees evoke my amazement and curiosity. Maybe I was a tree in my previous life? A Bodhi tree which shades Buddha during his journey in finding enlightment? Or a very old creature of Middle Earth called Treebeard? :D