Saturday, May 17, 2008
haven't seen this sky in a long time. no actually i've been seeing the same sky everyday, its just this place, this angle, this minute and second that makes everything different.
in case you didn't know, i'm quite an avid lover of beautiful skies. the funny thing is that i seem to always find it beautiful. be it the inspiring sunrise that infiltrates my morning with hope, the azure blue dotted with fluffy cotton clouds that provides cooling comfort to the scorching midday, the sunset that dyes everything else orange, or the dark night that draws me into its mystery; i'm always amazed by the deep solace i find in it. calms me like i've always been part of it. maybe i will return to it as dust after i die, and i can heal the restlessness in others like it did in me. but i wonder how long the skies will stay visible, for it has always provided the most truthful reflection of happenings on earth.
and i wonder how long more i can admire that scene above. its actually taken at chinese garden at 7plus while i was on my way home from work. used to be part of my daily weekday routine as i get home from school and i will just be in time to see the sky change its hue. but i realised i've done that less than 10 times this year since work started. i'll either be home after nightfall, or too early to catch the sunset. that was just one of the days when i got lucky.
though the talk about development of the jurong lake district into a leisure park has stirred excitement among many, i've taken a different stand to it. call me stupid, call me stubborn and shortsighted, but all i wish to preserve is the symbolic haphazardness of the greenery that seems to be the only thing that breathes live amidst its surrounding concrete that punctuate the sky. i've often seen and heard unimpressed responses from people whenever the word jurong is mentioned. apart from the factories that churn pollutants, they think the rest of jurong is shrouded in grey skies and surrounded by marshes. i agree to a certain degree that the industrial area has indeed increased the acidity of the air in jurong a notch more than other areas, but what i have lived to love in my favourite hometown is the naturalness of its greenwalks that stands out from man-made parks. yes, i'm sure efforts to preserve the greens will be part of the development plans, but with trees planted in regimental rows, i'm sure they'll look more like intimidating soldiers in smart4.
i shall count my blessings before the jurong lake gets lit with bright lights and swarmed with people, like any other part of the island. maybe they'll incorporate a change of name into the package as well. orchard no.4 maybe?
posted @ 12:42 AM