Over 2,000 people turn up at Hong Lim Park over Maju Forest & Gillman Barracks plans

The Maju Rally, an event organised by SG Climate Rally in response to housing plans at Gillman Barracks and Sunset Way sites, drew over 2,000 attendees at Hong Lim Park on Aug. 16, the organisers estimated.

The Sunset Way site is also where Maju Forest is located at.

The event featured songs, poetry and speeches, and set out three demands: to protect nature areas, to let the people decide, and to redefine progress for all.

1,000 programme booklets were given out by 5:15pm, about two hours after the start of the rally.

More than 250 postcards were also distributed for attendees to write a message to their MPs, which the organisers have digitally scanned and will be sending to the MPs on behalf.

Politicians from the Workers' Party, Singapore Democratic Party and Progress Singapore Party attended, as did former Nominated MP Anthea Ong.

What is the Maju Rally about?

SG Climate Rally set out three demands at the event.

Among the demands, the group called for nature parks to be permanently safeguarded rather than treated as land banks.

It also called for 10 nature areas to be upgraded to nature parks to be safeguarded from development, including Clementi-Maju and Alexandra Woodlands.

These 10 nature sites were identified to be biodiversity important by a report, Our Wild Space 2.0, issued by environmental group LepakInSG.

It also proposed to make environmental impact assessments (EIA) a legal requirement and to be carried out before plans are drawn up, saying the current process treats public feedback as "a box to check".

Its third demand was to redefine progress, arguing that a forest should be valued "much more highly".

The beating heart of our democracy

Workers' Party MPs Dennis Tan, Jamus Lim and Fadli Fawzi were among politicians who attended.

Dennis Tan said:

"I hope that this will not be the end point. I hope this will be the beginning for more Singaporeans to voice their concern on preserving the green spaces in Singapore, which is already very limited."

Jamus Lim said:

"It's obvious that everyone that is here feels very strongly about this matter, and I personally think it's heartening that we have young people expressing themselves and gathering to inform themselves on a matter of national importance. So that speaks well for the beating heart of our democracy."

Fadli Fawzi said:

"I think it's very heartening to see so many people, especially young people, coming together for a cause. I think it's also quite important for people to have their voices heard on these issues."

@mothershipsg Familiar faces from various political parties were seen attending the SG Climate Rally at Hong Lim Park on Aug. 16 in response to the Maju Forest & Gillman Barracks redevelopment. Over 2,000 people attended the rally, the organisers estimated. #mothershipnews #singapore #majuforest #gillmanbarracks #fyp ♬ original sound - Mothership

Caring enough to speak up is a form of nationalism

Holly Ngiam, 44, came with her three children, aged four, seven and 10.

She told Mothership the issue went beyond protecting two sites; it was an important conversation on how development is managed in Singapore with a growing population.

She explained that she brought along her young children to the rally because she and her husband "firmly believe" that their children need to be involved in such conversations.

She said: "You may not know by looking at me, but we're Singaporeans. They're Singaporeans, and this is something that will impact their future. So it's important for us that they see the process and see that their voice can matter."

Ngiam added that the Maju Forest is special to the family as her in-laws live in a HDB unit nearby and the latter chose to live in that unit because they can look out at the forest, which is something rare these days.

Originally from the U.S., Ngiam has lived in Singapore for the past 16 years.

Someone recently told her that it's "not very nationalistic to oppose" the housing plan at Maju Forest when they were discussing about the issue.

However, she shares a different view.

"Nationalism is caring enough about the future, that we speak up for what will matter -- not just now, not just more houses and more people now, but what will matter in 20 years when they're raising their families."

"I still haven't explored the Maju Forest"

Ethan Wee, 14, said he came because he loves nature.

He said: "It's very sad to see the Maju Forest go just like that. I hope that the government will consider to reorganise and redesign how they develop the Maju Forest."

"I still haven't explored the Maju Forest before. But seeing all the videos on it online, it looks very fun, and I would like it to stay. I'm really inspired by everyone here, so that's what made me come to this event today," he told Mothership.

A few days prior to the rally, Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan said that the government will be retaining more greenery for both sites and will continue to welcome feedback from the public.

Under the current plan, 40 per cent of the Gillman Barracks site is retained while 35 per cent of Maju Forest is retained.