Memory contributed by Salbiah Binte Osman, 66, Woodlands Zone 2 RC Committee. From gardening in her school’s Nature/Science Club and planting in her house, Salbiah has progressed to doing gardening in her community garden. As the leader of the entire community garden, she ensures that the plants and gardeners are well-cared for. She has even reached out of her garden, and spread her influence to other gardening enthusiasts. She is now a Community In Bloom (CIB) ambassador and sows seeds of gardening by conducting workshops for enthusiasts and assists them in setting up their own community garden. So strong is her passion for her Woodlands community garden, is she willing to travel for 4 hours per day, just to get from her home in Tampines to her garden. She attributes her joy in her garden to the fact that “Gardening = making things happen around you”. “Gardening makes me 10 years younger!”, she exclaimed. When she was still holding an office job, Salbiah was unable to stand up straight away from a sitting position without feeling giddy; after merely 1 year of gardening, she was able to stand up straight away even from lying position. Not only does gardening fill Salbiah’s life with joy, it injects exciting moments too. Laughter filled the air as she recalled an attempted fruit theft case. One day, gardeners hard at work heard a loud thump from their resting shed. They hurried forward only to spot a middle-aged man limping and being helped away by several others. They walked forward only to spot a huge hole in the ceiling of their perspex-covered shed! It turned out that the man was climbing the mango tree beside the shed in an attempt to pluck the tempting mangoes. Unfortunately, not only did he fail to pluck the mangoes, he fell right through the shed’s roof and hurt himself! The garden’s shed was hence left with a gasping hole for a few months, until recently, when the RC decided to install a zinc roof in place of the broken perspex one. Gardening and plants has become a lifestyle for Salbiah. Plants have even became her friends as she talks to them frequently and cares for them as she would care for her family. She loves gardening, love plants and loves the people and opportunities gardening brings her. Interview was done by Joelyn from the Community in Bloom (CIB) program of the National Parks Board (NParks). Launched in 2005 by NParks, the CIB program aims to foster a gardening culture among the people in Singapore.