4180. WILDLIFE in Yishun Pond and KTPH area on 22 Jul 2025.

I am Dr David Sing, 75 years old. A grandfather of 5. I create this Wildlife video for them.

On 22 July 2025, at around 9 am, I drove to the Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital (KTPH) to collect a form for my son. At the same time, I could walk my daily 5,000 steps in a green environment to take some wildlife photos of the area around KTPH and Yishun Pond. 

 

Many Seniors have had lost mobility.  Hopefully, I would prevent sarcopenia in my leg muscles by walking at least 5,000 steps as long as I live
 

1. A rare sighting of a dragonfly, likely a young male or female Neurothemis intermedia with gold yellow abdomen, purple and green eyes. Wings are gold yellow with a tinge of red at border. See photo. An overweight female Security guard asked what I was doing when she saw me taking photo of the dragonfly with my Canon R5 camera placed on a tripod.
 

"It is ok to take the photo of Botanic Garden of KTPH but not any other area," she said with authority and walked away. I didn't reply. Some security guards will question me when they see my tripod set up to take photos. If I use the handphone, no guard will bother.

 

 PHOTO OF BILLBOARD. 

 

 

2. Around KTPH, two young waterhens loitered on the concrete walkway, not bothered with passers by.
Not oblivious to the danger of being caught by some people unlike the older ones.

3. I walked to the Yishun Pond. Ripples in the shallow pond. Breeze. A female Junglefowl hen with some chicks appeared. Walked fast, chicks had to keep up. She used her claws to scrape the earth looking for insects. The area was sterile of insects. Even mosquitoes.

Scraping the earth would reveal some bugs. That's how the family survived. The hen jumped at another adult hen near it to chase it away.

 4. A movement among the grass and the reeds at the edge of the Pond. A young Water Monitor lizard was prowling the edge of the pond. Eyes bright, long tongue flicking out of his mouth. 

5. A young waterhen appeared.  Clucking with no fear of the .aw two chicks near the Yishun Pond edge chirping away. One of them was near a moving young monitor lizard which did not bother it. I had a phone video made.

6. A medium-sized butterfly fluttered fast and out of sight. I couldn't photograph it.

7. Two mynahs hopped on the grass. Their numbers have been considerably reduced nowadays. Trapping and poisoning perhaps.

7. REWILDING sign.

8. Was the Asoka tree flowering? Yes. Few blooms and has lost its glorious appearance as evident from my photo some months ago.

Ahove was an interesting encounter with different types of wildlife at one visit. Sometimes, I don't see any.   

 

UPDATES:
https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2025/07/4180-wildlife-in-yishun-pond-and-ktph.html

 

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4179. Lee Kuan Yew's legacy for Samy, 80-year-old retired teacher

23 July 2025: 8 am encounter with Samy.

 

 I met 80-year-old Samy this morning walking around Lentor Plain. He said he gave his old coins to friends who collected coins. I mentioned about somebody who wanted to give me a coin with Lee Kuan Yew but I did not accept it as I don't collect coins. This led him to speak up about Lee Kuan Yew's impact on his life. He had been a teacher for the past 37 years.

 

1.  Around 1967, LKY's government said that only Singapore citizens born in Singapore could be teachers in government schools. He was asked to leave as he was born in India although he was given Singapore Citizenship earlier, after a few months applying for it.

"I went to a missionary school to teach at St Margaret School in Farrer Road," he said. "It is a government-aided school and I was still paid by the government!". He stay in this school for over 30 years and later rejected a post as a school principal.

2. "In the old days, the employer and employee contributed 25% of the basic salary to the Central Provident Fund," he told me how he was able to put a downpayment for buying a house off the plan in Lentor Terrace around 1969. Lentor Green houses were built and was being sold as the developer could not pay the bank. However, he could not afford the downpayment and hence bought Lentor Terrace house off the plan (plot of land with house to be built)>

 

3. He had a government bursary for 2 years of his University study.

4. He came to Singapore as a 10-year-old leaving his poor parents in India. He was sent to the Boys' Home operated by the Ramachandran temple, not associated with the "Boys' Town". 

The Ramachandran temple helped pay for his primary education. His younger brother worked to finance his education but later he helped his brother to secure education in ACCA in the UK. The brother is a successful accountant in Kuala Lumpur now.

5. Married. 2 boys and 1 girl. All grown up. They paid for a maid from India to help him and his wife in the house. Daughter had married a cyber security husband and both had migrated to Australia. His two sons lived by themselves and now he and his wife are empty nesters.

6. A very healthy white moustached man who walks in the morning, meeting and talking to passers by. 

7. He served as President of the Ramaachandran Old Boys. 

"Lee Kuan Yew's policies had affected my employment as a government teacher, but I have no ill feelings against him as he had converted Singapore from a undeveloped country to a modern one."

"When one door closes, another door opens," I said to him.     

4178. PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: Dragonfly at KTPH on 22 Jul 2025.

 

 

REFERENCE:

https://thaiodonata.blogspot.com/2011/03/neurothemis-intermedia-atalanta.html

Family: Libellulidae

Genus: Neurothemis

Species: Neurothemis intermedia atalanta

Common name(s): Paddyfield Parasol, Pale Yellow Widow, Ruddy Meadow Skimmer

Thai name: แมลงปอบ้านใหม่กึ่งวิถ

Habitat: Varied (Open lowland paddy fields to the edge of uplands forests)

Province(s) sighted: Widespread (Khon Kaen); Nam Nao NP/environs (Petchabun);  Phu Rua environs (Loei); Widespread (Chiang Mai); Khao Yai (Nakhorn Ratchasima); Khao Soi Dao (Chantaburi); Kanchanaburi environs (Kanchanaburi); small pond, Kabin Buri;  Pang Sida NP (Sa Kaew); Koh Chang (Trat).

Sightings (by me): Very common (except for the mature male)

In flight (that I have seen): February-December

A common member of the Libellulidae family is Neurothemis intermedia atalanta. It can be seen in many places from open wasteland to the edge of forests. I would say that the female is more commonly seen than the male.

 

 

seen in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Botanic Garden, 23 Jul 2025
Possibly a young male or female adult Neurothemis intermedia.
Tripod, Canon R5

The male

The male is easily identifiable. It is generally orange/yellow in colour. It has two broken black lines running dorsally along the abdomen. The stigma is black and becomes ochre as it ages. The eyes are cherry red dorsally. The base of the eye is green/white. It has feint markings on the synthorax.

Strangely enough, the mature adult male is scarce - for me anyway. It is similar to the younger male, but the abdomen colour has change to a bold orange, and the colour at the wing base is more prominent. Though scarcely seen, this male was spotted in my back garden!

 

 

 

 

 

The female

The female is very similar to the young male. The black dorsal lines are thicker than the males and the terminal segments are generally darker. The colour at the base of the wings is generally much less prominent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 JUL 2025: Shaded part of garden opposite Kopitiam
Canon R5

Tripod

AV 

105mm, 1/40 sec, f/11, ISO 400. 

Neurothemis intermedia dragonfly.
 

KTPH HAS a big billboard of photos of 30 species of dragonflies, but rare to spot one in the Botanic Garden today!

 

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 Rare dragonfly seen in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Botanic Garden. It has a billboard showing photos of over 30 species of dragonflies, but in real life, as a patient or photographer, you will be fortunate to spot one, as in my case.

 

 

4177. VET CASE STUDY. Lenticular sclerosis in a young cat

Lenticular sclerois is  a bluish, transparent haze that develops in the lens of the eye in middle-aged to senior cats. It is considered a normal change in the lens associated with aging and is observed as a cloudiness or bluish discoloration on the pupil. Vision does not appear to be significantly affected in cats diagnosed with lenticular sclerosis.

May develop into cataracts or may not.

 

No reports of a young cat having this condition. This image of a 3-year-old male cat has fibres in both eyes. No history of onset of eye problem?

   

4176. HEALTH TIPS: The Sea Lettuce in Sentosa 19 Jul 2025

This Sea lettuce or Meramong (Malay) is very well cared for by the gardener as evident by the beauty of the healthy blossoming flower at fruits. 

For the individual person, good health comes from spending time to take good care of your health and letting go of selfish demands for attention and entertainment from aquaintances.

ACQUAINTANCE

1. knowledge or experience of something.

"the pupils had little acquaintance with the language"

 

2.  a person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

 

 

 

 

 

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Photography Tips:
Garden at entrance to The Village Hotel, Sentosa

 

July 19, 2025. 2.11pm. Handheld
Canon R5, tv mode, 96mm, 1/2000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 160

 

 

 

4175. PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: New tourist attraction - Singapore Oceanarium. Use Tripod, f/16

 

The new Singapore Oceanarium, formerly SEA Aquarium, features 22 zones and over 40,000 marine animals

Canon R5, tripod, 67mm, 1/125sec, f/16, ISO 200.  

19 Jul 2025. 9.18am. Less crowds, use tripod, 

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It is rare to get a good photo of a tourist attraction as usually there will be crowds. 

The new Singapore Oceanarium opens on 24 Jul 2025. For a good photo, new building, clean environment and include a person to show how big the building is. Can you see the mynah bird?

Myna bird, Lower Left, outside entrance, left of a man taking selfie,  below cable car.

 

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4174. PHOTOGAPHY TIPS: Coral Jasmine bloom profusely at night and fall by morning. TRIPOD

Coral Jasmine bloom profusely at night and fall by morning

18 Jul 2025: This Tree of Sadness, Tree of Sorrow, Parijat, Hengra Bubar, Coral Jasmine has the highly fragrant star-shaped flower with orange centre. It is called Coral Jasmine (Nyctanthes arbortristis) flower. It is grown by an Indian family in Lentor Terrace. 80-year-old Samy had invited me to his house for a drink. He has a big garden with various flowers. 

He said to me: "You need to place a plastic sheet on the ground as the flowers bloom profusely at night and fall by morning." 

  18 Jul 2025: I could see many star-shaped white flowers on the ground and one still high up in the tree. I managed to take a photo of THIS one flower at 8.28am today 18 Jul 2025 on a sunny morning. 

His maid had collected the fallen flowers inside a plastic bag and gave to a middle-aged thin Indian man staying in Bullion Park condo. The man's wife will offer these flowers to an Indian Goddess but he does not know the name of the goddess when I asked him. The Goddess was Durga. 

Durga is a major Hindu goddess, revered as a powerful and protective deity, particularly known for her association with strength, motherhood, and the divine feminine energy known as Shakti.  

She is often depicted with multiple arms, each holding a weapon, and riding a lion or tiger, symbolizing her power and ability to conquer evil. Durga is a central figure in Hinduism, particularly in the Shaktism tradition, and is celebrated during festivals like Durga Puja festival.

18 Jul 2025: Sunny morning. 8.28 am. Tripod, AV Mode, 105mm, 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 100.  

 

 

 

 The Tree of Sadness, Coral Jasmine. Most flowers had bloomed 

overnight and dropped off by morning.

 

Canon R5, Tripod, 105mm, 1/25sec, f/11, ISO 100
18 JUL 2025. 8.30am.
Tree of Sadness, Coral Jasmine