Wednesday, November 18, 2009
BY: PRISCILLA CHUA
There had been a rising concern that youth’s lifestyle are ‘at risk’ due to the lack of recreational activities in Singapore. Recreational opportunities are important to youths as it can help to improve both their physical and emotional well-being. This also helps to prevent them from getting addicted into unhealthy hobbies such as gaming and whirling away their hours unproductively on social networking sites.
In response to this, National Parks Board (NParks) had been committed in introducing new recreational parks in the past one year. These fresh attractions were well-received by the youths. This is especially for Dairy Farm Nature Park and Xtreme SkatePark @ East Coast which were launched recently.
Dairy Farm Nature Park and Xtreme SkatePark @ East Coast provided excellent opportunities and facilities for youths to discover healthy interest, as well as build positive friendship with peers who shared common likings as them.
Dairy Farm Nature Park was developed in September 2009 to serve as an alternative recreational venue to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Dairy Farm Nature Park makes an excellent spot for nature trails.
Chuah Wei Ting, 19 years old, a frequent visitor to Dairy Farm Nature Park, said “Ever since I started visiting this park, I developed a newfound love in nature. I really enjoyed taking nature walk and trails here in Dairy Farm Nature Park.” She added on saying, “It feels good to exercise in the nature. While exercising, you can listen to the natural music from the singing of birds and insects, which are hiding somewhere deep in the green. It makes me feel refreshing and all relaxed.”
Youths and children conducting research in the Wallace Education Centre.
There are several facilities in Dairy Farm Nature Park which is specially catered to the youths and children. An example would be the Wallace Education Centre that is located within the park. It served as grounding for youths and students to conduct research such as water, soil, rock, and insect studies.
Xtreme SkatePark @ East Coast, opened in July 2009, also received positive reviews from the youths. The new Xtreme SkatePark is a collaborative effort by NParks and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). Xtreme SkatePark is the first skate park in Singapore that was built to international competition standards. The advance facilities in this new skate park provide excellent opportunities for extreme sports enthusiasts to train and enhance their skating experience.
Youths who are into extreme skateboarding had been anticipating eagerly for the launch of this new extreme skate park ever since the news was announced.
Jonus Lim, 18 years old, an extreme skateboarder, said “Before this park was launched, we could only train at the Somerset Skate Park. When my friends and I heard that a new and bigger skate park will be built against the beach setting of East Coast Park, we were all very excited about it.”
Jonus felt that the combination of sun, sea and sports encouraged youths to exercise during their free time. He added on saying, “Rather than spending time on your computer games, new recreational parks like this motivate youths to go outdoors. This is beneficial to their body, mind and souls. ”
Most of the youths who visited agreed that developing Singapore’s green spaces into recreational parks will help to inject more vibrancy to the activities that youths can engage in. This also helps to prevent youths from undertaking the wrong path during their leisure time.
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