Let's Plant a Tree!

‘Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit under’.  (Ancient Greek proverb)

To celebrate Newnham College, Cambridge's 150th anniversary, alumni embarked on worldwide Tree Planting project. Newnham alumni in Singapore contributed to this project by participating in NParks' OneMillionTrees movement. We raised funds to support the planting of five trees--Yellow Cow Wood (Mampat), Yellow Saraca (Bunga Asoka), Small-leafed Oil fruit, Marsh Molly (Mensirah) and Shore Laurel (Tejur Pasir). Five alumni were able to come together on a very hot Saturday morning in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park to do our tree planting. 

I managed to snap a photograph of 'The Mango Tree' against one of the tree saplings. A fellow alumna remarked about the poetic journey of my mango tree--its demise bore many more 'fruitful' books. 

To the "shameless" people who cut down my mango tree in Gedung Kuning, you may have gotten rid of my beloved tree but you will never get rid of my spirit. The tree is now immortalised in many forms and through many actions. Dear fellow Muslims who were responsible for cutting the mango tree, have you forgotten that you had committed a grave sin in Islam? Trees are important in Islam as it is a sin to cut down a fruit tree even during wartime. Prophet Muhammad swt had said, “Even if the Resurrection were established upon one of you while he has in his hand a sapling, let him plant it.” As per Mr Brown, "You'll live to repent, I tell you!" 

One Million Trees Movement

Garden City Fund

Newnham 150th anniversary activities and Global Tree Planting Project