Photos by Joel Boh

Many of the National Parks Board and Singapore Botanic Gardens staff - from senior to junior - worked flat out throughout the 10 days from Dec 16 to 25, attending to a myriad details to make sure the inaugural Singapore Garden Festival got off to a flying start, and ended on a successful note. And it sure did, attracting almost 200,000 visitors, many from overseas.

To thank the staff for their unstinting contribution and hard work, NParks held a reception on Jan 16 at the Singapore Botanic Gardens for about 200 staff members and guests who helped in one way or another.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, Permanent Secretary of the National Development Ministry Tan Tee How, National Parks Board chairman Prof Leo Tan, NParks CEO Ng Lang, Director of the Botanic Gardens Dr Chin See Chung and other senior NMD officials spent the evening mingling with the staff and guests, who were treated to a sumptuous spread of local delights like satay, laksa, kueh paiti and chendol.