New walking trail to cover S’pore’s water locations

SINGAPORE — Residents of Hong Kah North can look forward to a new trail next month which explores Singapore’s water locations.

The ABC (Active Beautiful Clean) Waters Project Walk was launched today (May 17) by Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor after the completion of a park connector walk programme which encouraged residents to adopt brisk walking.

The “GO!GO!GO! Park Connector Walk” was first launched by the Hong Kah North Active Aging Committee in 2013 to encourage residents to adopt brisk walking as a regular exercise by bringing them to the rustic parts of Singapore.

64-year-old Monsiah Mansor has been participating in the park connector walk programme since 2013.

Every month, she and her friends walk to different parts of Singapore to re-discover the island’s heritage sites. It also improves her overall health.

Residents participated in a total of 18 sessions and covered areas such as Woodlands, Sengkang, Bedok Reservoir and East Coast Park. Nearly 4,000 people have taken part in the initiative.

Each participant walked at least 6,250 steps per session and accumulated over 112,500 steps through the whole park connector walk programme. They walked more than 100km over the course of two years, and collectively have burned over one million calories.

But as the GO!GO!GO! Park Connector Walk by the Hong Kah North Active Ageing Committee comes to a close, a new trail is on the horizon.

The ABC Waters Project Walk will see residents exploring 14 water locations in Singapore on the fourth Sunday of each month. The walk begins at the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park on Jun 28 and will take participants to places such as Yishun Pond, Sungei Whampoa and the Rochor River. It will end at Jurong Lake in March 2017.

Dr Amy Khor, who is also Hong Kah North’s Grassroots Advisor, said: “Programmes like this help to motivate them, create some interest, because it is not just about exercising ... but also about going to some fun places.”

Dr Khor hopes the initiative can be extended to other constituencies to promote the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. CHANNEL NEWSASIA