On one of the rare days when
hubs was on leave, I brought him to Kent Ridge Park to enjoy my favorite view
of Singapore in the west. There by the lookout point, we saw Singapore growing
inch by inch at Pasir Panjang as truckloads and truckloads of sands were dumped
to reclaim the sea. The sun in the east beat down on the stretch of sand, man
and machine. A veil of yellow dust hung over the reclaimed stretch and made the
western waters beyond it a dusty blue.
I showed hubs my favorite
treetop walk that looks over the Normanton Park valley. Not far at the start of
a footpath, a tree has just recently been struck by lightning, its blackened
downward scar revealed. Plants at the end of the black welt were burnt to a dry
cinder.
It was another idyllic
morning until we saw a group of Nparks contractor getting ready for work.
One end of the treetop walk
was out of bounds to the public as the walk was undergoing maintenance. The guys were preparing harnesses so that they
could rappel down the 20m high walkway to paint the supporting structures. One
of the workers was kind enough to allow us to see them at work and even
included a little narrative so that we could understand their work better.
The guys are specialists who
had gone through special training. They had with them a paint roller and ½ a
pail of rust resistant paint , all hung from clamps attached to their waist.
The rope that could take a load of 700 kg was just one of the 2 ropes holding
them in midair so that they can do their job safely. Hopefully the safety rope
need never be used.
To lean backward to paint the
undersides of the walk, one of the feet will step on a looped end of a rope
extend from their waist to provide leverage. While this was going on, the rest
of the co-workers were securing ropes for themselves, looping the thick ropes
through the board slates. To retrieve the end of the rope hanging under the
walkway, they used the hooked end of an umbrella , a most innovative tool.
Each man did his own harness
and safety ropes. Minimal conversation was exchanged while the men very
systematically went through the setup. Hubs and I did not dare utter a word
less we distract them in the process. But seriously, I thought these cool dudes
should be in movies as stunt men in their spare time!
No doubt these guys were
doing a job, but pride in their work showed. I could see that they loved what
they were doing and they knew they were a special bunch. The men looked out for
each other and took their work and safety seriously.
What could I say? They, the silent
heroes , were there to make our recreation area safe. As for me, they were the
coolest guys I have met that day.