Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a rain tree at Holland Village Park on Sunday, continuing a what has become an unbroken 50-year tradition.

On the same day in 1963, Mr Lee planted a mempat tree at Farrer Circus, then a traffic roundabout, to signify the start of an island-wide tree-planting campaign.

The National Parks Board will mark 50 years of tree-planting and greening Singapore by setting aside 1,963 trees for members of the public to plant from now until November this year.

More than $470,000 raised will go to enhancing the biodiversity and heritage value of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.