In a quiet residential estate atop Mount Rosie in the Novena neighbourhood stands a lychee tree more than a century old, around since the 1800s when Singapore was a small trading port.

Now, it needs a bit of help to continue growing alongside other lychee trees in the vicinity. Standing at 18m tall - about six floors high - and boasting a girth of 6.6m, the tree has since 2017 been held steady by a galvanised, permanent steel structure built to help it weather the elements.