News from the Natural World: The Singapore government is to cut down real trees in order to plant fake ones.
The controversial move follows the successful creation of the famous “Gardens by the Bay” tourist site in MBS in Singapore. The “Avatar” trees, as they have come to be known, have become famous all over the world. This is because of their striking build and amalgamation of nature and steel. The ‘fake’ trees are giant metal structures planted with climbing plants and flowers and have become incredibly popular. Due to this popularity, the government has taken the controversial step to continue the practice. They will immediately begin to cut down all real trees in order to plant fake ones.
“Fake trees are much better than the real thing. They last longer and their leaves don’t fall off. Also, they don’t provide habitats for pesky insects or have roots that spread everywhere.”
Spoke-person for the Peoples Action Party
However, critics have argued that Singapore was once all the primary rainforest. In the past tigers roamed across the country. In addition, despite its surge in wealth, it has cut down over 95% of its rainforest. Naturally, when you cut down 95% there is 5% left. It is this 5% upon which people often remark how “green” Singapore is. They say how eco-friendly it must be because some of the skyscrapers and hotels have gardens on their rooftops. The truth is much darker and this fusion of fake nature and construction bastardizes our perception of what is natural.
Singapore – fake trees better than real ones
Huge skyscrapers that are built by chopping down the rainforest are seen as “eco-friendly” if they have a sky garden. This bastardization is incredibly dangerous for future generations. Their perception of what constitutes natural will progressively be eroded by a shifting baseline. This will lead to people viewing giant air-conditioned luxury shopping malls as ‘natural’ because some trees have been planted… oh wait that is The Jewel at Changi Airport.