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Ow Siew Ngim, is an Arborist and Manager (Streetscape) with NParks. She reveals more about her unique job and what it’s like to climb trees.


	Siew Ngim, what exactly is an Arborist and what is your job like? An Arborist (or tree surgeon) is a professional who practices arboriculture, which is the management and maintenance of trees. Climbing trees is an essential part of our job, although it is not as straightforward as it seems. There are special techniques you need to learn in order to climb trees, such that the trees are not injured in the process. Furthermore, you have to pass a test in order to be a certified Arborist. Special tree climbing equipment such as ropes, harness, safety helmets and climbing boots are also required.
At NParks, Arborists help to take care of the 1.3 million trees that are planted in Singapore. We are divided into zones, and I’m in the West zone, so I ensure that all the planted trees in the West zone are healthy and free of diseases and pests. We also liase with external agencies when there are road works or construction going on, in the event that there are trees which need to be cleared or protected.

Is being an Arborist something you wanted to be all along?

I did not know that I have a passion in trees initially. When I graduated from Animal Biology at NUS, I was looking for a job where I could enjoy the great outdoors as I love nature. So I was naturally inclined towards NParks and joined them without much hesitation. I’ve been with NParks in the Streetscape section for 7 years now.

I’ve only recently become a certified Arborist, and I do feel a sense of pride in being one as you have to pass a difficult exam to become an Arborist, and this is in addition to the fact that there are only a handful of female Singaporeans who are Arborists.

You took part in a tree climbing competition last year. How was the experience?

I fared alright in the competition, although I didn’t win. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience and it was great to learn and discuss climbing techniques with other tree climbers who took part.

The great thing about tree climbing is that you don’t have to be an Arborist to climb trees. Quite a few tree climbers are actually from different professions. And you could even learn to tree-climb at a course that the Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (CUGE) offers. CUGE is a newly formed training centre by NParks which offers courses for the landscape industry, or for those who simply want to learn more about botany and plants in general.

What challenges do you face in your job?

Being an arborist involves physical challenge as well as technical knowledge on how to keep the trees in good health. Understanding and taking care of trees are our passion and we would love to preserve them in good health and see them flourish under our care. However, we also have the difficult task of reaching a decision to remove trees when they are likely to cause a hazard to road users.

What do you enjoy most about being an Arborist?

I really enjoy planting trees and plants, so it’s great that we now have the Singapore Greenery Master Plan (SGMP), which is about creating awareness about nature among the public and making Singapore more beautiful with trees and plants.

In line with SGMP, NParks is working hard to make our roadsides and walkways more beautiful with planting more colourful species of plants and trees. The SGMP initiative is also timely as the public provided feedback that they would like to see more colourful plants on our roadsides.

A recent example is when we decorated the roadsides along Nicoll Highway with many colourful plants and flowers for the recent IMF World Bank Meeting. The public was very impressed and asked if we could look into implementing this new landscaping scheme all over Singapore.

This is something we are definitely working on, and at the moment, we are working on the landscaping along the roads which forms the Formula 1 track, so that it will be ready in time for the race in September.

What are your plans for the future?

Well, as a new Arborist, I’m definitely keen to improve my tree-climbing techniques and deepen my knowledge about trees.

And the great thing about working at NParks is that they are always supportive of your career and ensuring that you are able to acquire skills for self-development - this provides a very supportive environment to help nurture my passion and interest in becoming a well qualified Arborist, so I’m really excited to achieve more success with NParks!

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