Sculptures in the Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens – a UNESCO World Heritage site – is a wonderful, accessible oasis in the city, offering a wealth of experiences for everyone.

Picnics, jogging, strolls and exercise. Wandering, photographing, running free. Orchids, terrapins, fish and resident monitor lizards. Food. Dogs – almost as many as people – enjoying their walks and social experiences. Black swans. Children taking first steps, children playing ball, children absorbed by the fast growing families of oh-so-proprietorial jungle fowl. Not to mention the cornucopia of trees, plants, flowers and gardens.

But there is one more experience to experience. The donated sculptures scattered across the 74 hectares of this beautiful space. Chopin, a a gift from the people of Poland to Singapore. The Clock Tower, inspired by the Sealing Wax Palm, the logo of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Conversations – from Nature, donated by the Korean embassy. Cranes and elephants. A farfugium fountain and a fan palm fountain. Fifty Wings, inspired by the seed of the Dipterocarp tree found in the Gardens. Flight of Swans, taking off from the centre of Swan Lake. Geese, with terrapins basking in the sun’s warmth beside the sculpture. Girl on a Bicycle. Girl on a Swing. Joy. Lady on a Hammock. Little Girl with Shell. Mystree. Nurturing. Swing me Mama. The Swiss Granite Fountain and its continually revolving stone ball – so irresistible to children.

They are many, and you come across them unexpectedly, and it gives you pause among the nature and green, to appreciate the people behind these pieces of beauty and the meaning the sculptures embody both to the donor and the visitor.