On 16th October 2003, a friend in NUS Museums emailed me about introducing a group of NUSSU committee members to Kent Ridge's heritage. She had heard of the RMBR Kent Ridge Heritage Walks so asked to meet up.
So at 3om today, I met the NUSSU group at the Raffles Museum, briefed them and then conducted a short walk. The students were from engineering, science, arts and building and real estate. They were good company and the walk was enjoyable as always. We reached reached Bukit Chandu at 6pm, and my legs were aching for once!
I noticed some changes. There are no more works around what I think was Prince Edward Point (= pt. 270) in NUS, but we cannot access the 1939 outpost. A lot flowers were blooming and good examples of a wide diversity seemed laid out in a just a stone's throw.
The sheltered path to Marina Hill has some panels about flora put up by DSO. At Kent Ridge Park, a photo of the southern islands panorama has been setup at the lookout point (pt 225); most of the islands are identified. And the canopy walk is functional. Oi Yee had mentioned as much some weeks ago.
This year, I will be conducting the walk on Saturday, 14 February 2004, in commemoration of the battle of Pasir Panjang Ridge (11 - 14 Feb 1942).
The area was actually only named Kent Ridge on 3rd October 1952 [actually in 1954]. A faded stone that indicated this was overlooked by most. After a similar session with NUS' OED, they helpfully painted the words of the marble inlay in late 2002 or early 2003. You can't miss it now, and that's where I rendezvous at 5.50am for Marina South bike rides, which is how this day began!
First posted at Otterman speaks, 08 Jan 2004.
