28 Jun 2025 - Kent Ridge Park

Early this morning, we drove Javier to NUS for the second round of Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (SMO) competition.  While waiting for him, we decided to go for a walk in the nearby Kent Ridge Park.

Kent Ridge Park is a 47-hectare public park in southwestern Singapore that serves as both a tranquil green space and a powerful historical landmark. A part of the Southern Ridges network, it connects to other notable parks like HortPark, Telok Blangah Hill Park, and Mount Faber Park, offering a seamless and extensive trail for hikers and nature lovers.

One of the highlights of Kent Ridge Park is the Canopy Walk, a 280-meter elevated boardwalk that connects the park to HortPark. Suspended above the forest floor, it gives you a chance to see native wildlife, such as squirrels, sunbirds, and monitor lizards, up close, all without disturbing the forest ecosystem.

The park's ecosystem, primarily a secondary forest that has regrown on land that was once agricultural plantations, is a testament to nature's resilience. The park's vegetation is diverse, with native trees and plants from Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.

The park’s elevated terrain provides stunning views of the southwestern coastline and the nearby harbor. On clear days such as today, we were able to spot ships docked at Pasir Panjang Terminal and even glimpse the Southern Islands in the distance.

Thanks to its relatively undisturbed ecosystem, Kent Ridge Park is home to a wide variety of birds and insects.

One of the things that makes Kent Ridge Park such a rewarding place to explore is the variety of paths and stairways that weave through its lush landscape. The park’s elevation, historical features, and natural forest environment mean the terrain is more dynamic than many other urban parks in Singapore.

After we descended from a flight of stairs, we arrived at a pond in the lower section of Kent Ridge Park. Surrounded by secondary forest, tall grasses, and flowering shrubs, the pond offers a refreshing contrast to the more elevated ridgeline trails. It's smaller and quieter than water features in other parks, but while it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in atmosphere.

Kent Ridge Park may not have the glamor of Marina Bay or the crowds of East Coast Park, but that’s exactly why it’s worth visiting. It’s one of those rare places in Singapore where you can enjoy tranquility, history, and nature all in one place.

One of the unique aspects of Kent Ridge Park is how it blends natural beauty with wartime history. During World War II, the area was the site of the Battle of Pasir Panjang, where a small group of Malay Regiment soldiers held their ground against overwhelming Japanese forces. Today, visitors can learn more about this chapter of Singapore’s past at Reflections at Bukit Chandu, a museum housed in a restored colonial bungalow just off the park’s main path.  I will share more details about this museum in my next blog post.