You might have remembered reading in your history books that Malaya was the centre and major exporter of natural rubber at the turn of the 20th century – ground zero for the rubber boom was in our very own Singapore Botanic Gardens, which turns 150 years old this year. The gardens was first conceptualised as an ornamental garden for leisure use by an Agri-Horticultural Society in 1859, but responsibility for the gardens was handed to the colonial government in 1874 where the focus of the gardens shifted from merely ornamental to scientific.

CC image by edwin.11

One of the more striking scientific results from the Botanic Gardens was made by Henry Ridley, the Gardens’ first director, who not only invented a way of harvesting large amounts of latex from rubber trees without killing them, but spent large amounts of his time promoting the cultivation of rubber throughout Singapore and Malaya. When the demand for rubber boomed in the early 1900s, the Singapore Botanic Gardens was a ready source for seeds.

To commemorate this momentous year, the Singapore Botanic Gardens have lined up a series of activities and events to celebrate 150 years of greenery – check out for instance, The Seeds that Changed the World exhibition happening from now until the end of the month at the Botany Centre; in June, look forward to the launch of the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ 150th Anniversary Stamp series; while in July the Gardens host an exhibition on Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, who simultaneously developed the theory of evolution. The latter, Wallace, has a special place in Singapore because his ideas were developed while exploring Southeast Asia!

Visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens today and find out about the 150th anniversary celebrations here.