Seletar Base 3: Nature

I must confess that one reason why I like Seletar base so much is because it's slightly run-down.

When man lets his grip loosen on the land, nature steps in and reclaims some of it. Seletar base is old enough and neglected enough that it's become a little fuzzier and green around the edges, and if you look, you can see the jungle re-asserting itself.

big green leaves

My mother used to tell me that as a child growing up in a kampong (village), they would use these leaves as umbrellas when it rained. It's hard to get a sense of scale from the photograph, but each of these leaves is about a metre in length.

fallen branch and grass

I fear that one day someone will "develop" the civilian part of Seletar base. Development like that inevitably involves tearing down the old and replacing it with a condominium, or a row of new restaurants. One by one our little backwaters and ulu places get pulled into the twenty-first century, given a facelift, and returned to us unrecognisable. Seletar base has held out so long in part due to the military presence, and in part to its isolation, but on a small island like ours, eventually urban sprawl will reach there as well.

Lost feather

Parts 1, 2,and 4
An ongoing photoset can be found here.

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