If you’ve ever observed the landscape around Changi Airport, you may have noticed the familiar vibrant pink bougainvilleas around the carpark at Terminal 2, the tall palms lining the road leading to the departure halls, the bright heliconias along Changi Jurassic Mile.
Behind all that lush greenery is horticulturist Ling Hua Choo. The 66-year-old lives the dream of every nature lover: She plans, nurtures, and maintains the outdoor gardens and landscaping of an area.
Ling has worked at the airport – when it was first at Paya Lebar and later, Changi – for 47 years. Fresh out of junior college, she started work at 19. The third of six siblings, she wanted to earn an income as soon as she could, to support herself and her family
A photo of the old airport at Paya Lebar, dated December 1973. (Photo: Changi Airport Group)
“At that point, I was willing to do anything, as long as I could earn an honest wage,” she said.
While studying for her A-Levels, she found herself drawn to the topic of plants in Biology. That interest led her to look for jobs related to nature after her examinations.
“I saw a newspaper ad for a job taking care of plants at the airport. So I just went ahead and applied,” she recalled.
It was the 1970s, and Singapore’s international airport was then at Paya Lebar. Ling landed the job and joined the then-Parks and Recreation Department, which had been formed to turn Singapore into a garden city.
There, she quickly grew to love her work, which involved maintaining the landscaping around the airport, and planning which plants to bring in to enhance the surrounding greenery.
“There were only a few of us, but we were one team, and we were all part of the airport. We didn’t need external vendors because the space was so much smaller,” she said.
Ling goes around the different areas outside the airport every day to check that all the plants are in order. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
“Believe it or not, our whole team managed to ‘jaga’ (take care of) every single plant and tree on our own.”
At Paya Lebar, Ling and her colleagues would cut the plants themselves or prune the trees that needed maintenance. They could also identify and locate every plant, tree, and flower there.
Even though she had initially taken the job for financial stability, Ling found herself deeply invested in the work – the job was a perfect fit for her.
In 1981, when the airport moved to Changi, Ling had to choose: Stay with the airport or find another job. It was an easy decision – she was excited about planning the greenery for this new plot of land, which was many times larger.
When the airport was corporatised in 2009, Ling became a manager in Changi Airport Group’s Horticulture team. Hers is the only team overseeing the airport’s outdoor landscaping and she said she doesn’t take her role for granted.
“To me, it was always about being there for the plants,” she said. “As long as I can manage the greenery outside the airport, I’m happy.”
Her work, she told CNA Women, can be broken down into two categories: Routine and non-routine tasks.
Tall Bismarckia palms from Australia on the road dividers leading to the airport. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Routine work includes overseeing the 370,000 square metres of land under her team’s care – that’s roughly the size of 60 football fields.
The area starts from the moment you see the sign welcoming you to Changi Airport, to the end of Changi Airport Park Connector. It covers all the greenery around each terminal, including the private JetQuay CIP terminal, used by celebrities or large business owners for its security and privacy.
Every day, Ling’s team, which consists of five people, works with contractors and vendors to run regular maintenance checks on the trees.
Each person is in charge of an area, and they check if any trees need trimming or pruning. Due to the sheer size, with thousands of trees and plants to care for, the team drives around in a car.
Ling drives around the airport to conduct regular checks of the outdoor greenery. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
They look out for fallen branches caused by storms or animal activity. If anything needs attention, Ling immediately contacts her team of contractors to get it sorted.
“It’s a huge area,” Ling said. “We definitely can’t do what we do without our contractors and vendors.”
The team also works in the airport nursery located near Changi Beach, home to roughly 50 species of plants across a 3-hectare area (about the size of six football fields). New plants that arrive from overseas usually need to be further nurtured before being planted on-site.
Huge pandanus trees, with their large aerial prop roots, outside the JetQuay CIP Terminal at Changi Airport. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Ling’s team selected the plant for its unique roots that symbolise resilience. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Meanwhile, non-routine tasks can stretch for months, years, or even decades, and involve planning the greenery for upcoming spaces or landmarks at the airport, Ling said.
These projects include the greenery around Jewel Changi Airport, the Hub & Spoke Cafe near Terminal 2, the Jurassic Mile along Changi Airport’s park connector – a one-kilometre outdoor display featuring over 20 life-sized dinosaurs – and the terminals themselves.
“I’ll receive design proposals from different vendors on what plants to use, then with my team and other departments, we’ll approve and decide on them together.”
Ling’s team then sources for the plants, which mostly come from Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
“Some of my favourite plants to order are the Bismarckia palm tree and the willow trees,” Ling said. “I feel happy when I get to order it, and they look special to me.”
Before Terminal 3 opened in 2008, Ling was given the directive to use a red-themed landscape. She then sourced for red plants and flowers, and ordered them.
Red bougainvilleas near Terminal 3. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
The trees selected need to be able to accommodate seasonal decorations, such as these lanterns for Chinese New Year outside Hub & Spoke Cafe. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
“That’s why most of the plants surrounding Terminal 3’s roads have red hues, like the peacock flower or the West Indian jasmine,” she said. “All the trees, bushes, and flowers in these areas were planned.”
Aside from aesthetics, other factors also need to be considered. For instance, trees that grow too tall cannot be near the runway, as they affect the wind, which in turn affects the way planes take off or land.
“Trees near the runway can be a safety hazard, so we make sure that the soil near it doesn’t encourage growth,” Ling said. “We also can’t have trees or plants that bear fruit near it because that would attract birds and animals.”
When Jurassic Mile and Hub & Spoke Cafe were being developed, Ling and her team had to ensure that the surrounding greenery could survive during construction. They made regular trips to the site to check that the trees were thriving and unharmed.
To do this, Ling is involved in meetings where she pores over-excavation and construction blueprints with other departments and external stakeholders.
Ling’s job includes studying construction blueprints to make sure that they won’t cause damage to existing trees and plants around the airport. (Photo: Changi Airport Group)
“To make sure we do a good job, we need to know and care a lot about trees and plants,” Ling said. “Most of the time, like in my case, being a good horticulturist needs a lot of on-the-job training.
“What looks good, what will do the job, what will keep everyone safe – all these factors affect the plants we choose for the airport.”
Even after decades of being a horticulturist, each day still feels fresh and meaningful to Ling.
While she works regular office hours, no day looks the same: “Every day has a surprise, every day there’s some new tree that needs caring for, every day has another project to plan for – the airport is always growing.
“In this job, I don’t stay in the office or sit around for hours, I know that’s not good for me. I get to drive around, walk around, and look at nature – all that makes me feel good and at ease.”
Ling’s love for plants spills over to her home, too, where she lives with her husband. She exercises her green thumb in her own garden, growing mostly edible vegetables or fruits, such as chillies, curry leaves, and limes.
Part of the joy of staying in the same job for decades means that Ling can witness how the plants grow.
“I love that I get to see the plants grow,” Ling said. “A lot of the Bismarckia palm trees that line the roads started as a small bismarck palm from Australia that’s barely one metre tall, and now they’re six to 12 metres tall. It just warms my heart knowing I saw these plants grow.”
Is she planning to retire any time soon? Ling chuckled: “Of course, I want to retire when the time’s right – but before that, I want to make sure I’ve given the plants around the airport my all.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
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Behind all that lush greenery is horticulturist Ling Hua Choo. The 66-year-old lives the dream of every nature lover: She plans, nurtures, and maintains the outdoor gardens and landscaping of an area.
Ling has worked at the airport – when it was first at Paya Lebar and later, Changi – for 47 years. Fresh out of junior college, she started work at 19. The third of six siblings, she wanted to earn an income as soon as she could, to support herself and her family
A photo of the old airport at Paya Lebar, dated December 1973. (Photo: Changi Airport Group)
“At that point, I was willing to do anything, as long as I could earn an honest wage,” she said.
While studying for her A-Levels, she found herself drawn to the topic of plants in Biology. That interest led her to look for jobs related to nature after her examinations.
“I saw a newspaper ad for a job taking care of plants at the airport. So I just went ahead and applied,” she recalled.
It was the 1970s, and Singapore’s international airport was then at Paya Lebar. Ling landed the job and joined the then-Parks and Recreation Department, which had been formed to turn Singapore into a garden city.
There, she quickly grew to love her work, which involved maintaining the landscaping around the airport, and planning which plants to bring in to enhance the surrounding greenery.
“There were only a few of us, but we were one team, and we were all part of the airport. We didn’t need external vendors because the space was so much smaller,” she said.
Ling goes around the different areas outside the airport every day to check that all the plants are in order. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
“Believe it or not, our whole team managed to ‘jaga’ (take care of) every single plant and tree on our own.”
At Paya Lebar, Ling and her colleagues would cut the plants themselves or prune the trees that needed maintenance. They could also identify and locate every plant, tree, and flower there.
Even though she had initially taken the job for financial stability, Ling found herself deeply invested in the work – the job was a perfect fit for her.
In 1981, when the airport moved to Changi, Ling had to choose: Stay with the airport or find another job. It was an easy decision – she was excited about planning the greenery for this new plot of land, which was many times larger.
When the airport was corporatised in 2009, Ling became a manager in Changi Airport Group’s Horticulture team. Hers is the only team overseeing the airport’s outdoor landscaping and she said she doesn’t take her role for granted.
“To me, it was always about being there for the plants,” she said. “As long as I can manage the greenery outside the airport, I’m happy.”
Her work, she told CNA Women, can be broken down into two categories: Routine and non-routine tasks.
Tall Bismarckia palms from Australia on the road dividers leading to the airport. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Routine work includes overseeing the 370,000 square metres of land under her team’s care – that’s roughly the size of 60 football fields.
The area starts from the moment you see the sign welcoming you to Changi Airport, to the end of Changi Airport Park Connector. It covers all the greenery around each terminal, including the private JetQuay CIP terminal, used by celebrities or large business owners for its security and privacy.
Every day, Ling’s team, which consists of five people, works with contractors and vendors to run regular maintenance checks on the trees.
Each person is in charge of an area, and they check if any trees need trimming or pruning. Due to the sheer size, with thousands of trees and plants to care for, the team drives around in a car.
Ling drives around the airport to conduct regular checks of the outdoor greenery. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
They look out for fallen branches caused by storms or animal activity. If anything needs attention, Ling immediately contacts her team of contractors to get it sorted.
“It’s a huge area,” Ling said. “We definitely can’t do what we do without our contractors and vendors.”
The team also works in the airport nursery located near Changi Beach, home to roughly 50 species of plants across a 3-hectare area (about the size of six football fields). New plants that arrive from overseas usually need to be further nurtured before being planted on-site.
Huge pandanus trees, with their large aerial prop roots, outside the JetQuay CIP Terminal at Changi Airport. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Ling’s team selected the plant for its unique roots that symbolise resilience. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Meanwhile, non-routine tasks can stretch for months, years, or even decades, and involve planning the greenery for upcoming spaces or landmarks at the airport, Ling said.
These projects include the greenery around Jewel Changi Airport, the Hub & Spoke Cafe near Terminal 2, the Jurassic Mile along Changi Airport’s park connector – a one-kilometre outdoor display featuring over 20 life-sized dinosaurs – and the terminals themselves.
“I’ll receive design proposals from different vendors on what plants to use, then with my team and other departments, we’ll approve and decide on them together.”
Ling’s team then sources for the plants, which mostly come from Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
“Some of my favourite plants to order are the Bismarckia palm tree and the willow trees,” Ling said. “I feel happy when I get to order it, and they look special to me.”
Before Terminal 3 opened in 2008, Ling was given the directive to use a red-themed landscape. She then sourced for red plants and flowers, and ordered them.
Red bougainvilleas near Terminal 3. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
The trees selected need to be able to accommodate seasonal decorations, such as these lanterns for Chinese New Year outside Hub & Spoke Cafe. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
“That’s why most of the plants surrounding Terminal 3’s roads have red hues, like the peacock flower or the West Indian jasmine,” she said. “All the trees, bushes, and flowers in these areas were planned.”
Aside from aesthetics, other factors also need to be considered. For instance, trees that grow too tall cannot be near the runway, as they affect the wind, which in turn affects the way planes take off or land.
“Trees near the runway can be a safety hazard, so we make sure that the soil near it doesn’t encourage growth,” Ling said. “We also can’t have trees or plants that bear fruit near it because that would attract birds and animals.”
When Jurassic Mile and Hub & Spoke Cafe were being developed, Ling and her team had to ensure that the surrounding greenery could survive during construction. They made regular trips to the site to check that the trees were thriving and unharmed.
To do this, Ling is involved in meetings where she pores over-excavation and construction blueprints with other departments and external stakeholders.
Ling’s job includes studying construction blueprints to make sure that they won’t cause damage to existing trees and plants around the airport. (Photo: Changi Airport Group)
“To make sure we do a good job, we need to know and care a lot about trees and plants,” Ling said. “Most of the time, like in my case, being a good horticulturist needs a lot of on-the-job training.
“What looks good, what will do the job, what will keep everyone safe – all these factors affect the plants we choose for the airport.”
A CAREER WORTH WAKING UP EVERY MORNING FOR DECADES
Even after decades of being a horticulturist, each day still feels fresh and meaningful to Ling.
While she works regular office hours, no day looks the same: “Every day has a surprise, every day there’s some new tree that needs caring for, every day has another project to plan for – the airport is always growing.
“In this job, I don’t stay in the office or sit around for hours, I know that’s not good for me. I get to drive around, walk around, and look at nature – all that makes me feel good and at ease.”
Ling’s love for plants spills over to her home, too, where she lives with her husband. She exercises her green thumb in her own garden, growing mostly edible vegetables or fruits, such as chillies, curry leaves, and limes.
Part of the joy of staying in the same job for decades means that Ling can witness how the plants grow.
“I love that I get to see the plants grow,” Ling said. “A lot of the Bismarckia palm trees that line the roads started as a small bismarck palm from Australia that’s barely one metre tall, and now they’re six to 12 metres tall. It just warms my heart knowing I saw these plants grow.”
Is she planning to retire any time soon? Ling chuckled: “Of course, I want to retire when the time’s right – but before that, I want to make sure I’ve given the plants around the airport my all.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...