Not Bitten by Mosquitoes this Time!

"Aunty, what happened to the mosquitoes in Singapore?" asked Ning. "The last time when I was here, I was bitten by some mosquitoes, but this time, not a single bite! Have the mosquitoes been wiped out?"

I was very pleased when I heard that. Ning had stayed with my relatives at Queen's Condominium during her visit last year, and this time, Ning had been staying with me for a week at my little hdb flat in Little India. My neighbours and I have green fingers, and we have many pots of lovely plants and herbs along the corridor of our two apartments.

Ever so often, the Ministry of Environment officers would come to our block to check for mosquitoes. Once there was only a slight collection of water in the plate holding my rose cactus, and the alert officer spotted it and emptied the plate of water into my plants. They are stern yet amiable and I enjoyed sharing with them the inherent qualities of each herbal plant I have grown. I even told them that anytime they need the herbs to help someone, they could help themselves to the plants even if I were not around. I taught them how to cut the stems and store with a wet piece of tissue paper wrapped with a huge piece of newspaper so as to keep the leaves and stems fresh.

Considering that an outbreak of Chikuniyia Fever had taken place at Clive Street area only sometime last year, I was happy when I heard that Ning had been spared of any mosquito bite. I told Ning I am never afraid of mosquitoes; I am more afraid of the high humidity which makes me look like a water tank sometimes with beads of perspiration on my face!

Kudos to everyone. I hope we will all continue to play our part in helping the government officers to wipe out breeding grounds for the blood-thirsty insects.We will not rest on our laurels and will always be on the lookout for water collected in upturned containers, bamboo poles, cracks in the walls , etc. Then Singapore will not only be clean and green, it will be disease-free as well.!

Cheers to better health!


Gan Chau