His work SHINES AT NIGHT

Travel @ AsiaOne His work SHINES AT NIGHT He is a reason 15-year-old Night Safari is one of S'pore's best attractions. -TNP  Sun, May 31, 2009 The New Paper [top photo: Mr Melvin Tan is the assistant director of horticulture at the Wildlife Reserves Singapore.] By Ng Tze Yong VISITORS to the Night Safari are often in the dark about Mr Melvin Tan's efforts. The lack of daylight is an essential ingredient in the work of the 48-year-old assistant director of horticulture at the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS). THE SHORT ONE: Kayin, whose name means "long-awaited one" in Swahili, is the first giraffe born after six years. WRS is the parent company of the Night Safari, which turned 15 this week. His trees, magnificent as they are, can only be admired in the dark. His pretty flowers compete for attention with tigers and elephants. But he is one of the reasons that in its 15-year span, the Night Safari has proven to be one of the best attractions here. More than 13 million visitors have passed through its gates. That's an average of almost a million a year, or more than 2,000 every night, night after night. It received a 3-star rating, the highest possible, from the Michelin Singapore Green Guide. It has also been voted the Best Leisure Attraction Experience by the Singapore Tourism Board seven times over. All this is a far cry from a scepticism in the park's early days - that visitors would leave their TV sets to visit an outdoor safari park at night. It was the flora, not just the fauna, that played a key role. 'With the greenery, we could create the moods of the night, such as the calmness, romance, magic and mystique, which are seldom the attributes of the day,' said Mr Tan. The cover of night was turned into an advantage. 'In the night, your senses of sight, smell and hearing are heightened,' said Mr Tan. Night-blooming, sweet-scented flowers such as the chempaka, orange blossoms, pigeon orchid and butterfly ginger were planted, to appeal to the visitors' sense of smell. Besides the crickets and cicadas, Mr Tan's team also created many waterfalls and streams, specially-designed to produce more turbulent - and noisier - flow. 'Waterfalls in the zoo are designed for you to see,' said Mr Tan. 'Waterfalls in the Night Safari are designed for you to hear.' Special lights which mimicked moonlight helped focus visitors' attention on only the things curators wanted them to see. 'It is almost like creating a theatrical production,' said Mr Tan. The Night Safari took three years to complete. It has seen many successful births over the past 15 years, as a result of its captive breeding programme. These are two of its latest babies - Kayin, whose name means 'long-awaited one' in Swahili, is the first giraffe born after six years. Victoria, born just three months ago, is the 27th tapir birth at the Night Safari. Opened in 1994 Officially opened in May 1994 by then- Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, the Night Safari was loosely modelled after the Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in Nepal's Chitwan National Park. The Singapore Government took two years to approve the $62 million grant for its construction. Mr Said Mohd, the Night Safari's 54-year-old assistant curator of horticulture, remembers hacking through 40ha of secondary forest with a parang, driving along mud tracks on jeeps, and marking out areas ear-marked as future enclosures with raffia string, as the Night Safari was being built. TRANSFORMATION: How the land has changed. 'It was quite an adventure,' he said. The vision was a forward-looking one. 'In the past, zoos were people-centric,' said Mr Tan. 'They were about collecting. Lions, leopards, tigers - they were collected in zoos like a stamp collection, probably as an expression of wealth and power. People wanted to control nature.' At the Night Safari, however, the aim was to create 'an ecological experience'. 'Planting the same plants inside and outside the enclosures created an immersion effect, which makes visitors feel they are sharing the same space with the animals,' said Mr Tan. Looking back, Ms Fanny Lai, CEO of WRS, attributed success to several things. 'Firstly, we have a dedicated team. Secondly, we are bringing people in at night when the animals are most active. Thirdly, Singapore's nights are cool and pleasant. 'Our location offers an advantage as sunset comes at a fixed time, between 7.15 and 7.30pm, daily, unlike in temperate countries,' she said. But why would a plant person work in a place for animals? 'Ultimately, zoos have universal appeal,' said Mr Tan. 'Someone who does not go to the Botanical Gardens may still come to the zoo and we'll have a chance to educate them about the plants.' This article was first published in The New Paper.