"Nature in Singapore - Ours to Protect" by Dr Chua Ee Kiam, won a National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award in the non-fiction section.
The awards were given in recognition of excellence in writing and are presented once in two years for works in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and children & young people.
Dr Chua received his Award from Professor Chan Heng Chee, Director of the Institute of South-east Asia Studies at the Raffles Hotel on 19 Nov 1994. He also received a cash prize of $2,000
Aladdin's cave (Yes, right here in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve) by Sit Yin Fong
excerpts from Straits Times, Friday, December 16, 1994An Intruder into the primary forest of Singapore sees noth- ing as he nervously tramples the undergrowth in fear of snakes. But the trained eye of naturalist Dr Chua Ee Kiam, a dentist, and his cameras have captured minute creatures of such unworldly and fascinating shapes that the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve becomes a veritable Aladdin's cave of flora and fauna.
These strange creatures new, odd-looking versions of mushrooms, fungus, beetles, caterpillars and butterflies are reproduced in Dr Chua's book, Nature In Singapore, Ours To Protect, which won this year's National Book Development Council's award in the non-fiction (English) category. It was published in April last year by the Nature Society,of which Dr Chua is a member. But Dr Chua's happy hunting ground for six years has been shrinking, giving way to development Now, only 75 ha remain.
Still, the amazing and almost unbelievable ranges of flora and, fauna life in the Bukit Timah reserve belies the small size of the place, Dr Chua's book offers these statistics~
166 species of woody and herbaceous climbers,
80 species of ferns reported in Fern valley alone;
As many as 800-1,000 species of flowering plants;
As many as 800-1,000 species of flowering plants.
At least 600 species of spiders;
A checklist. of land animals in 1990 stands at 76 species