WHEN you walk into Shuqun Secondary School, you may think the place was professionaly landscaped.

Well, you'd be wrong.

The elaborate and elegant gardens in this school are all created by students.

How did this all start?

In late 2003, a few students brought the idea of landscaping the school foyer to their principal Chua Yen Ching, who agreed.

They got help from the school's parents association and later from professional landscapers.

This group of students graduated but they influenced their juniors to continue landscaping.

The student-initiated landscaping group revamped the foyer and turned the bare flagpole area into a cactus garden.

They also created the 'Healing Garden', a space next to the canteen where students could come to rest and relax.

The students also started an organic farming program.

They didn't used any artificial fertilisers.

Instead, they made their fertilisers from dry grass and fruit fibers from the school's fruit stall.

'We needed alot of patience as the process of making the fertilisers needs 3 months' said Muhammad Hanafi Bin Noorbin, a Sec 2 student involved in the program.

'I feel the entire thing was successful and that our hard work really paid off,' Hanafi added.

Five kilograms of vegetables were harvested and a portion of this was donated to the hospice care centre and the rest was sold to the community at Bedok Reservoir.

'What is really special about these projects is that they were initiated by the students themselves,' said Mrs Chua.

They said that they want to learn more about landscape gardening so that they can make the school more warm and inviting.

In fact, they learnt so well that their landscaping of the school won the nationwide 'Community in Bloom' competition organised by NParks.

'I feel proud because I did something good for the school' said Sec 2 student Zaid Harithsah Abdul Majid.

Many of the students themselves come from low income backgrounds, which shows that you don't have to have alot to make something beautiful.

The students also repainted the school with the help of the teachers in red and orange colours depicting a theme of the sunrise and the hope and fulfilment of dreams.

The group has just finished working on the school's canteen. The project is called 'Ohana Heaven'.

''Ohana' means family in hawaian, we chose it as we wanted to be a family in the school,' said Zaid.

The school is considering lending help other schools in their landscaping efforts.

The group is also training the fellow students in their school in the art of landscaping.

Hopefully we will see more beautiful works from them.For more information on Shuqun Sec go to www.sqss.org

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