New initiative provides parents a chance to plant a tree to celebrate child's birth

SINGAPORE - Miiya Dzafirah - who turns two this year - is usually confined to the stroller when outdoors because she has epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Family outings are limited to walks at Gardens by the Bay.

But on Saturday afternoon (March 12), the young nature lover had a hand in planting a tree with her family at East Coast Park's Coastal PlayGrove.

Her mother, Ms Syasya Firzanah, 29, said: "I held Miiya, and got her to hold the spade a little, when pouring soil around the planted sapling.

"We tried our best to include her in the activity, as she likes nature," added Ms Syasya, a social worker.

Hers was one of 10 young families who planted saplings at East Coast Park on Saturday, alongside Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli and Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, to kick off a new tree-planting programme.

The initiative, called FamilyTrees, provides Singaporean families with a child up to three years old an opportunity to plant a tree - to commemorate the birth of their child.

Miiya's father, IT specialist Dzulhilmy Masni, 30, said: "The tree can grow alongside my daughter, so we can bring her here to show her how it has grown after 10, 20 years."

Families are given a sapling that they place into holes prepared by National Parks Board (NParks), before covering the roots with soil and watering the plant.

FamilyTrees was launched to kick-start the Year of Celebrating Singapore Families, as 2022 has been designated by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

The new year-long campaign will see family-oriented activities throughout the year, as well as programmes aimed to strengthen family support and values.

FamilyTrees, spearheaded by Families for Life, a volunteer-led council, and NParks, will organise monthly tree-planting sessions for the long-term, beyond this year.

Families for Life council chairman Ishak Ismail said: "We hope to bring FamilyTrees to the heartland, starting with Choa Chu Kang and expanding to various towns around Singapore.

"And as families plant trees together in their neighbourhoods, it also lays the groundwork for the start of meaningful friendships among parents... supporting one another with parenthood."

FamilyTrees is part of the national OneMillionTrees movement, which began in 2020 and aims to plant a million more trees across Singapore by 2030.

To date, more than 338,800 trees have been planted under the movement spearheaded by the NParks.

On Saturday, Mr Masagos, Mr Lee and a few families planted saplings of the Sindora × changiensis - a newly described hybrid tree currently found only in Singapore and known to naturally exist only in Changi.

It was spotted by scientists during field observations in Changi a couple years ago.

The 27m-tall tree, which has slightly spiny seed pods, was later identified as a Sindora × changiensis tree hybrid in 2020.

Mr Masagos said that it is apt that the symbol of the Year of Celebrating SG Families happens to be a tree.

"The tree signifies the values of strength, stability, rootedness, and the generations that comprise within a family. Just as a strong tree needs good soil and good weather to flourish, we as employers and as a community must create a supportive and nurturing environment for families to thrive," he added.

Mr Lee said that tree planting has become part of the Singapore DNA.

"Many generations down, the families and grandchildren can come back to find the same trees they planted. It gives Singaporeans a deeper rootedness and stake in our community," he added.

As part of the Year of Celebrating SG Families campaign, the inaugural National Family Week will be held in June, and a new family zone at Gardens by the Bay will open later this year.

By the end of this year, MSF will also increase the number of centres offering the Strengthening Families Programme @ Family Service Centre to 10, up from five today.

These centres provide a safe and confidential space for families facing relationship problems to reach out for professional help.

Mr Masagos said: "We know there are families that may go through more complex problems like family violence, and we will support them too. At the end of the day, I will say that Singapore families are strong and we should celebrate this."

Mr Bryan Tan, chief executive of the Centre for Fathering and Dads for Life, also planted a tree with his wife and four children aged between one and 12 on Saturday.

The 46-year-old said he will encourage fathers in his network to sign up for the FamilyTrees programme.

Families can register at NParks' TreesSG website.

One or both parents must be a Singapore citizen and the child must be under the age of three at the point of registration.

Each family will receive a commemorative e-certificate after planting a tree.

To locate their tree again later to track its growth, they can also plot their tree on the TreesSG map.