A STOMPer was in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve when he realized that people has been plucking fruits off the trees in the forest. Through these pictures he told a story of the forest and its free fruits.
Arborist told STOMP via email today (Jul 7):
"These pictures were taken at Rifle Range Road near the forest at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
"A motor-cyclist came early in the morning to pick rambutans and durians growing on state land.
"Anyway these are free as there is no notice put up to tell visitors that picking of fruits is prohibited.
"The problem is that when the fruit hunters left, they left behind broken branches from the denuded rambutan tree.
"Many rambutan trees became bare after the raid by these fruit hunters and they left behind the broken branches as evidence of their trespass.
"At times three or four foreign workers would climb up a tall rambutan tree and the stem became slanted as the tree could not take the combined weight of the fruit hunters.
"The more religious workers brought along items for praying as they kept a vigil for the durians.
"They brought newspapers, eggs, oranges and pineapples to pray to the spirits of the forest so that they would not be harassed by the spirits and also to appease them.
"However, when the workers left, the monkeys came down from the trees to enjoy the free eggs on the forest floor.
"Soon the squirrels would come to feast on the free pineapples provided by the human visitors."
Related posts: All night vigil for free durians at Jln Kampong Chantek (6th July 2009)
Durian paradise uncovered in Lim Chu Kang (6th July 2009)
Psst! Here's the secret of where to get durians in S'pore -- FREE (3rd July 2009)
Wild buah langsat at Jalan Murai a treat for foreign workers (28th June 2009)
