Chinese, Japanese gardens reopen with blend of old and new

About 14,000 suggestions from the public were received by the National Parks Board (NParks) and, on Sept 8, visitors got to see how the new and the old blended together at the reopening of the Chinese and Japanese gardens in Taman Jurong.

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof

After extensive rebuilding works over the last five years, familiar landmarks such as the Twin Pagoda, Grand Arch and Stoneboat remain - alongside new spaces such as Water Wall Court and the Japanese Garden's Guesthouse, a multipurpose hall that can accommodate up to 1,000 people.

At the reopening, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who unveiled a commemorative plaque and planted a Syzygium aqueum tree, described the Sept 8 event as a long-awaited milestone.

He said that back in the 1960s, before it was developed, Jurong was just jungle and swamps with a few compounds and orchards.

SM Lee said: "Now, more than ever, we can look to Jurong Lake Gardens as a people's garden... For the people, by the people, we all have a stake, and everyone is welcome." Originally built in the mid-1970s, the Chinese and Japanese gardens, along with Lakeside Garden, which was completed in 2019, are the three gardens that make up the 90ha of Jurong Lake Gardens Singapore's first national garden in the heartland. Since 2019, Lakeside Garden has welcomed 25 million visitors.