110 years, 110 trees

Prof Tan Chorh Chuan (holding the shovel), together with senior management, planting the first of four Cratoxylum formosum outside University Hall

Some 110 trees will be planted across the Kent Ridge and Bukit Timah campuses by the end of the year to mark NUS' 110th anniversary, with some help from the University community of faculty, staff and students.

To start off the "greening exercise", NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan gamely picked up a shovel and planted a tree "the Cratoxylum formosum, commonly known as the Pink Mempat" outside University Hall on 30 November. He was accompanied by Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost Professor Tan Eng Chye, Vice President (Campus Infrastructure) Professor Yong Kwet Yew, Deputy President Designate (Administration) Mr Don Yeo, and Vice President (University and Global Relations) Professor Andrew Wee, who each planted a tree.

The launch of "Celebrating Trees" in NUS, organised by NUS Facilities Management (OFM), aims to further enhance green spaces and deepen appreciation of the University's lush natural heritage. To raise awareness of the initiative, OFM has set up an exhibition titled "Celebrating Trees in NUS at the Lee Kong Chian Wing at University Hall. The exhibition will move to University Town and Bukit Timah Campus after four days. A booklet featuring memorable trees on campus has also been produced.

Prof Tan Chorh Chuan spoke of the importance of valuing the natural landscape at the event, saying, "We're so lucky to enjoy [the natural landscape] hopefully [this] will encourage more and more of us to try to learn more about the trees, and with them, the flora and fauna of our campus as well as Singapore. He also touched on NUS' landscape being shifted towards indigenous plants, in a bid to "draw back indigenous insects and birds.

Prof Yong (right) presenting Prof Tan Chorh Chuan with a terrarium as a token of appreciation

As part of NUS' Campus Greenery & Streetscape Plan, a total of 2,000 trees will be planted in the Kent Ridge and Bukit Timah campuses over the next five years. These will complement the existing 4,000 mature trees on Kent Ridge Campus.

The fiery Red Flame, one of the trees featured in the booklet on memorable trees, is located in the Balinese Garden at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Also featured in the booklet is this majestic Angsana, which stands in a corner of the Lower Quadrangle of the Bukit Timah Campus and has seen generations of students take shelter under its leafy branches