London visitor says Singapore’s trees are ‘polite’—and there’s an engineering reason why

SINGAPORE: A video of a woman visiting from London praising the trees in Singapore for their “manners” has gone viral on TikTok.

The woman, who goes by @Shucamina on TikTok, filmed herself while on a walk by Bedok Reservoir. 

She wrote jokingly that “Singapore roots got manners.  London roots got beef with concrete.”

“Even in Singapore, the tree roots are polite. In London, they are just all over the pavement. And then they crack the pavement. In Singapore, they’re so neatly done along the pavement,” she said in the clip, adding that she finds this fascinating.

Ms Shucamina, whose bio says she is a freelance walk leader, clarified further what she meant in the caption.

After wondering aloud why the tree roots in one city stay underground while those in another destroy sidewalks, she explained that the National Parks Board (Parks) “plants trees in engineered structural soil cells, underground frameworks that let roots spread deep before they ever reach the surface. After 5 years, trees in these systems grew deep roots, while trees in regular soil stayed shallow.”

And because the trees have deep roots, it means there are no cracked pavements.

In London, meanwhile, she added that it’s another story, since many trees growing along its streets have been around for as long as 150 years, which makes it a historical issue.

These trees were “planted in narrow streets never built for mature root systems, long before root barriers existed.”

This meant that the roots went up instead of down.

Ms Shucamina added that “older Londoners have flagged root-lifted pavements as a real walking hazard, and many uneven spots go unrepaired for years since UK law only treats a trip as actionable past a certain height difference.”

To clarify her video, she wrote that the trees in Singapore are not “better behaved,” but are the product of better engineering.

Her post has since been viewed over 250,000 times, and some users on the platform thanked her, as they learned something new about how trees grow in cities.

One thanked her for “highlighting something that we all take for granted.”

Another TikTok user quipped that “even the trees are afraid of fines.”

A third noted that in Singapore’s older areas, there are also cases of roots popping from pavements

Yet another pointed out that authorities carry out constant repairs and trimming to keep pavements safe. /TISG

Read also: Indian woman in Singapore warns of $5000 fine for picking up fallen mangoes