Midnight Monkey Monitor

Picnic for the Planet

2011-04-13T16:08:00.004+08:00

For Earth Day this year, the Nature Conservancy has started their 2011 Earth Day campaign, called Picnic for the Planet (See more at nature.org/earthday)

The campaign is asking people to celebrate the planet by rounding up some friends and taking the planet out to lunch. They already have a number of meetups going on around the globe. You can just visit their map to find a picnic near you or see how you can start your own. There are currently 2 picnics happening in Singapore. Do you want to organise a walk + picnic to celebrate Earth Day? Post it on the Nature Conservancy Meetup.com Singapore page.

Want to do more? Read on!

Visit Nature Conservancy's top 5 Earth Day action list below. If you like the list, feel free to link or blog about their Earth Day campaign on your blog; and any social media outlets :)

Top 5 Earth Day Actions

1. Eat Smart http://earthday.nature.org/smart/
Eat Smart. Learn what’s in your food! #picnic11

2. Eat Local http://earthday.nature.org/local/
See where @Nature_org conservation work & food production intersect. #picnic11

3. Eat Sustainably http://earthday.nature.org/sustain/

4. Eat Green http://earthday.nature.org/green/

5. Eat Out http://earthday.nature.org/picnic/
Get ready for #EarthDay! Find a local Picnic for the Planet! #picnic11

Workshop on Cruel "Animal Liberation"

2010-04-25T12:28:00.005+08:00

Birds caught for mercy release outside a temple in Bangkok. Many of the released birds are then caught again for the next round of release. Photo taken in 2006.

After the last workshop on Wiping out the trade in Wildlife with Louis of ACRES, we now continue on the flip side of the coin by examining the issue of releasing invasive and exotic animals into our ecosystems. We are most grateful to have Ms Karen Teo from NParks to join us at our upcoming workshop to talk about the subject.

Many of the animals released into the wild also do not survive long. Find out why at the workshop.

In 2006, I wrote about NPark's Operation No Release which tries to reach out to those practising "mercy release" or "animal liberation". However, over the years, we've begun to hear more about animal release into our nature areas throughout the year, and not just on specific religious holidays such as Vesak Day alone. Mercy release has been said not to be so merciful in reality. Find out more about this issue and how it affects the animals and our natural habitats in Singapore. For the 40th anniversary of Earth Day or perhaps even for Vesak Day, find out how you can really help the animals!

Please do join us if you would like to find out more about what we as nature volunteers can do on this issue!

Operation No Release
Date: 30 Apr 2010, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983
Register now at: http://tr.im/register2010

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
This workshop focuses on the impact of exotic and invasive animals on our natural ecosystems in Singapore. Topics covered include:
(1) What is animal release? mercy release versus pet abandonment
(2) What are the impacts of animal release?
(3) How can you help?

This workshop is likely to be useful for anyone interested to do more about the release of animals into our natural habitats. It would be especially useful for anyone interested to volunteer for or would like to find out more about NPark's efforts on tackling this issue. The workshop requires active participation and includes role playing activities and is not to be mistaken for a public talk.

SPEAKER
Karen Teo, NParks
Karen Teo is a Senior Outreach Officer of the Central Nature Reserve Branch (National Parks Board). An ex-teacher by training, Karen is passionate about conserving Singapore's natural heritage. She did her Master thesis on Bukit Timah Nature Reserve at the Australian National University. Currently, she develops, facilitates and organises outreach and educational activities/programmes at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve. In addition, she gives talks on nature conservation issues of Singapore to schools, organisations and the universities and conducts training workshops for teachers on fieldwork activities in the nature reserves and nature parks.

For more details, visit
http://leafmonkeyworkshop.blogspot.com/2010/04/operation-no-release.html

Animal Welfare 2.0

2010-02-28T15:36:00.005+08:00

Animal Welfare 2 0

View more presentations from November Tan.

Last Thursday, I was invited to talk about using social media for advocacy at "I am Cat. Hear me Roar.", a advocacy and mediation workshop by the Cat Welfare Society as part of their Tiger Show @ Post Museum on 25 Feb 2010. In case you missed the talk, here are the slides that I presented.

The panel that followed the presentations included ex-NMP Mr Siew Kum Hong and this monkey was celebrity-stricken. Well that happens when it's somebody I admire. Unfortunately I didnt get a chance to chat with him afterwards. I was also most pleasantly surprised when I had a few folks come up to chat with me after a presentation. That's very heartening. Thanks folks! That's the best encouragement a speaker can get - interest in the topic!

I look like I'm being inundated by questions! But I swear that's just a camera trick (grin) All photos by Marcus Ng

Butt Watcher's Workshop - A New Perspective

2010-02-23T19:40:00.003+08:00

Join the Leafmonkey Workshop in gaining new perspectives to watching butts... butterflies that is... with Khew of Butterfly Circle. We are most grateful to have Khew to share with us on the local butterflies in Singapore despite his very busy schedule!

Date: 5 March 2010, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

Register now at: http://tr.im/register2010

For more details, visit The Leafmonkey Workshop website.

Have a say in shaping our home

2010-01-27T15:13:00.006+08:00

I always lament to my parents that when I was young I was never given an opportunity to have a say in shaping my home. As I got older, I fought for every chance to have a say in what goes in (and out) my living environment. If that sounds familiar to you, you'll probably be happy to hear that we now get a chance to have a say in shaping our island home!

The Urban Redevelopment Authority, the national planning agency in Singapore, is seeking feedback for its next Concept Plan 2011 which determines Singapore's development plans for the next 30-50 years.

URA wants to know what you, fellow Singaporeans, want for our island city state. Here is your chance to speak up for our sea shores and other nature areas! And our heritage areas too!

Do the URA survey for its Concept Plan 2011.
http://spring.ura.gov.sg/conceptplan2011/

To quote Ria Tan of WildSingapore, "the survey is simple to do, with lots of free-text options for you to leave comments about your favourite places in Singapore. Speak up for our shores (and other nature areas)! Every voice counts! You can be sure lots of people will speak up for shopping centres so please speak up for our wild places! Get your like-minded friends to also speak up for our wild places and shores. "

For more on about the survey, see:
Wild shores of singapore blog
Habitatnews

Crabby Tales: No Chili Required, Fri 15 Jan 2010, 7pm

2010-01-15T12:35:00.001+08:00

The Leafmonkey Workshop is celebrating its 1st anniversary with its 13th workshop on Crabby Tales. But not to worry, no chili will be required! All you need to do is sign up and brace yourself for crabby tales accompanied with our birthday cake, good company and plenty of fun.

Thank you for supporting the Leafmonkey Workshop over its past year. We'll love to see familiar (and new faces) at our birthday celebration. Hope to see you there!

Date: 15 January 2010, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

Register now at: http://tr.im/register2010

For more details, visit The Leafmonkey Workshop website.

Impacts of Marine Aquaculture & Possible Solutions

2010-01-05T11:37:00.006+08:00

It has hit the news of late that algal bloom over the Straits of Johor have deeply impacted the fish farms clustered in the straits off Pasir Ris, Changi and Pulau Ubin. A reporter from TODAY contacted me yesterday asking for comments on the impacts of fish farms and some possible solutions to allay these possible environmental impacts. This was probably after reading my blog post on Pulau Ubin Stories on Red Tide affecting Pulau Ubin. Interestingly, in September 2009, I also commented about the need to manage our aquaculture farms carefully in a Straits Times article about vanishing Kelongs in Singapore.

Knowing the limitations of a news article, I decided to share my long reply on this blog with all my readers as well. I must confess that I am no expert in aquaculture or marine systems, but here are my two cents worth based on some research I did doing my blog post as well as projects done on aquaculture in university.

Fish farms, if done sustainably, are important for supplementing our seafood supply and prevent overfishing. However, fish farms if not managed well, could result in major environmental pollution and further harm the wild population of fish in our seas. The sea is not an enclosed farm with concrete walls and any food, antibiotics fed to the fish, as well as the fish waste would eventually dispersed into the sea.

Also the household waste and sewage of the farm also needs to be managed properly. In a deep sea system with good water circulation, perhaps the concentration of nutrients and chemicals would be naturally diluted by the ocean currents. However, in the straits of johor, there is very poor circulation of water due to the causeway blocking circulations. Furthermore, locating large number of fish farms in clusters with poor circulation is potentially problematic as the sea is unable to naturally dilute the nutrients.

When nutrient level is very high, massive algal bloom will occur which may deplete oxygen supply in the waters. This not only kills the fish in the farms but all wild fish population. If the species of algae blooming contains toxin, then when humans consume the seafood affected by this algal bloom, they too will become sick.

For fish farms located near river mouths like those at Changi and Pasir Ris, they are affected by the monsoon flood discharges from both Singapore and Malaysia. The freshwater will float above the salt water and prevent oxygen from circulating and resulting in fish death as well. But these flood discharges may also carry with them more nutrients from agriculture or sewage discharges from the land into the sea. Combined with existing nutrients from fish farm, these could easily exacerbate the problem.

For solutions, we can do several things:

1) Understand well the geographical environment and ecological system of our waters before we locate our fish farms. For example, the fish farms off Semakau were not affected by the mass death because they are not near the coast or river mouths,and they have good circulation. Make sure that fish farms are not located too near existing coral reefs as well to minimise impact to our wild fish population. Changi, Ubin and Pasir Ris are all very near existing reefs such as Chek Jawa, Changi and Pasir Ris. Monsoon flood discharges will happen every year so perhaps locating far from river mouths and coastal areas will be helpful.

2) Do not cluster too many fish farms together in close vicinity to one another. This reduces the environment's natural ability to dilute pollutants and nutrients in the water. Overcrowding is a known problem in aquaculture. Both overcrowding of fish in each cell of a farm, and in this case, overcrowding of farms in one area with poor water circulation. [On hindsight: It's important to have scientific studies done on the treshold and carrying capacity of our waters and the number of fish farms it can support without resulting in future calamities]

3) Strong regulation and monitoring of fish farm practices are most critical. The amount of antibiotics and fish feed given, how the farms deal with fish waste, as well as, the sewage and household waste from the farm should be strongly regulated and monitored. Farmers should also be educated on proper practices. Good practitioners should be rewarded and best practises shared.

4) Consumers can also play a part in encouraging good practises if fish farms can be awarded sustainability labels for good practises by the government. These sustainable fish farms should be rewarded by consumers by buying only these sustainably-reared fish, identified by these labels. Most of the time, the problem in Singapore lies with ambivalent conusmers who do not question where their fish comes from. Also, there is a lack of information in our markets and supermarkets where there are no labels indicating origin of fish or how they are reared, especially those from local fish farms.

Please feel free to share your ideas and comments. Have you spot any factual errors? Please let me know!

Related Reads:
Marine Aquaculture, David Suzuki Foundation

Nature in the Heartlands: Toa Payoh Town Park

2010-01-03T09:23:00.011+08:00

Located beside the Pan Island Expressway and the Toa Payoh Swimming Pool, the Toa Payoh Town Park is one of the oldest neighborhood parks in Singapore developed in the 70s with Singapore's first satellite town. Despite being located beside the highway, the green belt acts as a buffer to the noise. It offers a relaxing sanctuary from the bustle of the mall that is just across the road. New plantings could be sighted amongst the old angsana trees heavy with staghorn ferns. These grand dames have probably seen the park change over the last 40 years.

Neighborhood parks like Toa Payoh Park are like a green oasis in the concrete landscapes that we are familiar with in our housing estates these days. One minute I could be walking past crowds at the HDB Hub and the next minute I feel like I have entered a secret garden, lined with trees that form a wall separating the garden and the madding crowd. It almost feels like they don't design parks the way they used to. New generation parks designed today seems to adopt an open concept which I suppose is inclusive but the concept of an enclosed lush green hideaway in the middle of the madding crowd appeals to me. Another of such a green oasis is the Istana Park located in the middle of orchard road.

View Toa Payoh Town Garden in a larger map

What more, wildlife appears to be teeming at the park as well! In fact, we were pleasantly greeted by these information boards about the dragonfly species which you can find at the park. And just as we were reading the signboard, a damselfly flew and settled on the blade of grass right in front of us. An excited monkey exclaimed immediately, "quick! quick! see which dragonfly is it!" but confronted with a choice of 6 different species on the board, we concluded that it must be "the red one", for obvious reasons.

For those who are unsure about the difference between dragonflies and damselflies, the next informative signboard down the path answered just that question! The table below from the about.com insect page gives you some clue.

Characteristic	Dragonfly	Damselfly
Eyes	most have eyes that touch, or nearly touch, at the top of the head	eyes are clearly separated, usually appearing to each side of the head
Body	usually stocky	usually long and slender
Wing Shape	dissimilar wing pairs, with hind wings broader at the base	all wings similar in shape
Position at Rest	wings held open, horizontally or downwards	wings held closed, usually over abdomen
Discal Cell	divided into triangles	undivided, quadrilateral
Male Appendages	pair of superior anal appendages, single inferior appendage	two pairs of anal appendages
Female Appendages	most have vestigial ovipositors	functional ovipositors
Larvae	breathe through rectal tracheal gills; stocky bodies	breathe through caudal gills; slender bodies

If you noticed the google map satellite image of the park, a series of freshwater habitats make up part of the park. The information board also pointed out how damselflies and dragonflies are important keystone species as they prefer clean clear unpolluted waters. In fact, in environmental assessment studies, the presence of eggs laid by mayflies, a relative of dragonflies and damselflies, are used as indicators of lake ecosystem health in the US. Perhaps likewise, dragonflies and damselflies play similar roles in our freshwater habitats. In Singapore, there are now about 117 species of dragonflies and damselflies, including some new records from last year. According to the signboard, a few species have gone extinct due to habitat loss.

If you're an enthusiast of our fragile winged friends, here's a guide from the Butterfly Circle blog which tells you more about butterfly photography at the Toa Payoh Town Park. It even includes a map of the place. In 2009, NParks held a workshop on creating dragonfly friendly habitats at the Toa Payoh Town Park! Personally I only happen to go there because dinner is in the middle of the park!

NEA reaching out to new migrants

2010-01-02T12:14:00.017+08:00

Spotted at 2 consecutive bus stops along boon lay way - the indian one at lakeside mrt and the chinese version one bus stop later. It's very interesting and creative for NEA to adopt targeted marketing outreach at our new migrant populations, using cultural design styles which they may be familiar with. It may also be the population in this residential area which sees large number of new transient migrants. Before you think it's discrimination, we must acknowledge that it is important to educate those who may not be familiar with our many 'fine' laws. These are purely information posters from what I can see. Anyone know which language is the indian one in? Hindi? Tamil? Urdu? Bengali?

Just as we need to understand more about natural systems when we design our developmental infrastructure, we also need to take into account cultural systems when we design our outreach efforts. Props to NEA for their creative effort!

On hindsight: @struthious on twitter commented that the ads are targeted at "foreign workers" and not "new migrants". I think that the issue here is their "newness" so let's not dispute whether the ads are for transient workers or new citizens. And we definitely cannot stereotype the demographics of what constitute "new migrants" - whether citizens, permanent residents or transients. Cultural habits, and baggage(!), may also transcend education background. For all its worth, I'm sure it'll serve its purpose for all new to Singapore. And perhaps some Singaporeans too!

Blog Action Day: Acting for Climate Change

2009-10-15T16:37:00.004+08:00

A lil late for Blog Action Day but nonetheless! This year's theme is on climate change and for this whole week, the topic has been high on my attention. Mostly because I was attending a launch of the video "High Stakes" at British High Commission on Tuesday and attending a talk by lecture by James Leape, Director General of WWF on COP15 on Wednesday.

The video "high stakes" is a visual summary of the ADB report on the "Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review". I suppose it's really handy when people could not sit through reading a dry report on the topic. Instead, the short film explained using visuals, graphics, dialogues and interviews.

After the film screening is a talk by Mr James Hardy who founded the Green School in Bali. The school is built entirely of bamboo and engages local artisan craftsman to help build just about everything in the school! To add to that, the curriculum of the school involves both conventional English Math Science syllabus as well as an ecological environmental science component and learning creative arts! Sounds like my dream school. After the presentation, I cannot stop thinking about moving to Bali to teach in the school and be part of this wonderful project. To learn more about the school, visit their website. Interestingly, Mr John Hardy was interviewed in this Reuters article today.

Being involved full time in a wonderful project like that, living and working in an effort to make this world more sustainable, for and with our future generation, now that's action!

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

2009-10-09T11:16:00.004+08:00

It's time for taking action through your blog again!

Every year on 15 October is Blog Action Day where the bloggosphere aligns its conversation for a day towards a particular cause by talking about the same thing on the same day. This year's cause is "Climate Change". Very timely since the treaty succeeding the Kyoto Protocol will likely be adopted at this year's COP15.

For the last 2 years, Midnight Monkey Monitor has been taking part in Blog Action Day. 2009 will be no different. I have registered my blog. So far 31 blogs from Singapore are listed. Are you one of them? Will you be joining in the action? Register your blogs now!

"Saving forests five times better than carbon capture for climate action"
7 Oct 2009, WWF Sweden

WWF Sweden is urging its government — holding the current EU Presidency - to get behind an effective international agreement on halting forest loss as a key and highly cost effective measure on climate change.

"Sweden should follow the examples set by its northern neighbors in developing systems to halt deforestation," said WWF CEO General Lasse Gustavsson.. "One Swedish krona to stem deforestation results in the same emissions reductions as five kronor for the controversial carbon capture and storage technique."

Gold in Green Forests, a report issued today by WWF-Sweden, says that next to energy efficiency halting forest loss and degradation is the most cost-effective method for mitigating climate change.

The annual loss of natural forests in developing countries is equivalent to one third of Sweden’s surface area. Forest fires, the conversion of forests to agricultural land and the cultivation of energy crops are responsible for the high rate of forest loss.

A program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is currently being discussed in the negotiations for a global climate deal. REDD aims to make it worthwhile for developing countries to maintain their forests, as opposed to cutting them down.

In order for REDD to succeed it needs a suitable framework and international finance, including aid to developing countries will be required. Potential investors recently surveyed by WWF said they would be ready to support a forest carbon market if certainty and support were forthcoming from the international community and key national

"prioritise solutions that are best for both the environment and our wallets"

In Indonesia, where large areas of forests are cut down and prepared for palm oil plantations, 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation. Halting deforestation would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but would also secure the livelihoods of people living in these forests.

”We should always prioritize solutions that are best for both the environment and our wallets, especially during the ongoing financial crisis. Sweden’s cautious attitude in this area is therefore very surprising,” said Gustavsson, who calls for the government to take action during the ongoing climate change conference in Bangkok and secure a system to finance the protection of the world’s forests.

”Norway, Finland, Denmark and Germany have already guaranteed financing for REDD between 2010 and 2012. It's time for the Swedish government to take action - both domestic and as EU President,” he said.

If parties are able to come to an agreement on a new climate deal in Copenhagen, it will not enter into force until 2013. Meanwhile deforestation will continue to accelerate in large parts of the tropics.

“Time is passing and the possibility of reaping the positive climate effects that a stop in the loss of forests entails is decreasing rapidly. Complex social, economic and ecological are involved which is why a global cooperation for REDD must be carefully prepared,” says Stefan Henningsson, Climate Director, WWF Sweden.

WWF negotiators in Bangkok are urging a an insitutional structure for REDD which guarantees transparency, effectiveness and longterm financing from developed countries in support of measures in developing countries. In financing, WWF is seeking the equivalent of $US 42 billion per year after 2013, a key element of an estimated financing requirement of $US 160 billion annually for climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.

The scheme would aim for a goal of zero net deforestation by 2020, with WWF also emphasising that forestry and climate projects must also contribute to the conservation of biological diversity and respect the rights of local and native populations.

Wet and Wild in Sep-Oct 2009!

2009-10-08T15:21:00.004+08:00

As some of you may know, this monkey is no longer a full time graduate student but is now a gainfully employed member of the workforce since August 2009. Still, that is no excuse for my silence on the blog front. Just some updates on what I have been up to since my last post!

4 Oct 2009: Really Really Free Market
Been waiting 2 months to give away clothes at the Really Really Free Market, held monthly at Post-Museum, Rowell Road. Everything at RRFM is free and people can freely take and give. There are also a lot of indian workers in the vicinity who takes the clothes to give their family and partners. I brought down 4 big bags of clothes and items which were all taken by the end of 4 hours! There were about 10 pieces of leftovers which were collected by one kind soul who sent them to a disaster relief collection point. I hope all the clothes went to good use and good homes.

3 Oct 2009: Guided GE2221 Nature & Society Students at Chek Jawa
Had a wet and wild afternoon with students from the NUS geography module "Nature & Society" at Chek Jawa, talking about conservation and development in the pouring rain. Despite being drenched, I had a thoroughly good time and I hope they did too! More photos here.

2 Oct 2009: The Naked Truth and other Sluggish Affairs
After a 2 months hiatus, we kick started activities at The Leafmonkey Workshop with Chay Hoon's naked workshop on slugs and other naked molluscs. Read more about what happened on the newly revamped The Leafmonkey Workshop website! Photos can be found here.

Revamp of The Leafmonkey Workshop Website
To celebrate our upcoming 1st year anniversary of The Leafmonkey Workshop, I recently revamped the website to a user-friendly version with a new logo to commemorate our first milestone. One young, tender leaf to mark our first year.

28 Sep 2009: "Kelongs Vanishing fast in Singapore"
I was recently contacted and quoted in a ST article on "Kelongs Vanishing Fast in Singapore" (28 September 2009)

Ms November Tan, who runs environmental workshops islandwide, acknowledges that aquaculture is a popular solution for food sustainability: 'Food security will be easier met with fish farming,' she said, but added that there are environmental problems with aquaculture.

'There are issues with water pollution due to faecal waste and risk of disease due to fish overcrowding.'

The best solution, she said, is to cut down on consumption so the natural population in the sea can replenish itself.

'It boils down to consumer choice,' she said. 'Singaporeans almost never ask where our fish come from. We seem to think there is a never-ending supply. That is not the case.'

Haze is back

2009-08-06T23:03:00.002+08:00

This morning I took this picture from my office building. Seems like the haze is back indeed. Although I saw the haze at home this morning, a visit to NEA website this morning stated PSI was still good. I wonder if it got worse in the next update. Oh well. This Channel NewsAsia article shows that it did.

Haze in Singapore as 50 hot spots detected in Sumatra
By Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia
06 August 2009

SINGAPORE: The haze is back in Singapore and you can expect more hazy days ahead.

Smoke haze shrouded Singapore on Thursday morning, with an acrid burning smell hanging in the air.

And the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which measures the air quality in Singapore, was around 60 on Thursday.

Though this is still in the moderate range, it is however slightly higher than Wednesday's reading of 52.

Smoke haze has been blowing into Singapore and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that over the past few days, its satellite pictures detected significant hot spots with moderate to dense smoke.

The hot spots are mainly in the Sumatran provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra.

On Thursday alone, 50 hot spots were detected in Sumatra.

NEA added that with prevailing dry weather in the region and the wind direction expected to remain the same in the next few days, hazy conditions can be expected in Singapore over the next few days.

Doctors have cautioned against outdoor activities if the situation worsens, especially for those with respiratory illnesses.

Dr Chuah Li Li, a general practitioner from My Family Doctor, said: "Usually the discomfort is felt in the eyes, where people will feel there is a little bit of the smarting discomfort or a dry sensation. The other thing that you might feel is the throat discomfort.

"For people who have lung problems, chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma, there might be a sensation if there's a little bit of difficulty in breathing and a chest tightness or cough.

"Elderly people with pre-existing lung condition or children with asthma should actually cut down on outdoor activities, especially strenuous activities like playing basketball and football."

But members of the public are not too concerned about the situation now.

"At the moment, still not so serious, maybe if it gets serious, we will do some precautionary measures," said a member of the public.

Singapore has expected the haze to return this year as the El Nino weather phenomenon develops, bringing with it hotter and drier weather.

The situation is expected to worsen in the coming months, especially when the dry weather peaks in September.

The haze is the result of smoke from slash and burn activities in Indonesia, when farmers clear their lands to make way for new crops.

Hot and dry weather can also cause dry twigs and leaves to burst into flames spontaneously.

Just recently, Singapore handed over three air and weather monitoring stations to Jambi Province in Sumatra to help calculate the risk of fires starting and spreading in the surrounding areas during dry weather.

Thinking about Bio Walls

2009-07-02T15:13:00.006+08:00

"Living Wall" by Intrepidacious

Today on Twitter, Debby (@torvaanser) of Pulau Hantu Blog posted a question: "What do u think abt biowalls (aka living/greenwalls)? Are they all they claim to be? Wld u like to see more of them? http://is.gd/1l7qO"

So, what are BioWalls? What do I think of them? Monkey was put to task to think about these biowalls as I sought to answer these questions for Debby's article about the increasing installations of BioWalls in Singapore.

Biowalls are usually a wall with plants growing on it, and a big hype in green building designs of late. They are supposed to serve wonderful purposes such as insulation from heat (as building facades) or air and water purification (as walls inside buildings).

Biowall Diagram by The Robertson Building
Ideally, a Biowall should serve these functions as illustrated in this diagram. This was installed in the robertson building in Canada.

So what do I think?
Active biowalls are a wonderful ways to combine technology with natural ecosystem services such as air or water purification by plants in our buildings for example. However, if these biowalls are not fully integrated into building systems design, it defeats the purpose of installing the "so-called" biowalls. They become merely aesthetic horticultural features, making them no different from existing floral features.

We all know Singapore love to sell ourselves to be clean and green. But having just a wall made up of plants without proper integration into the building to allow it to provide environmental services to us, then that does NOT make it a "biowall". They would just be another piece of indoor plant decor "art". If building developers still went ahead and label them as "biowalls" then i definitely smell greenwash in the air.

So the next time you see a "biowall", let's be critical and ask about the natural services these plants provide for the building, if any. But if building developers do make a concerted effort to fully harness the potential of these walls then we should definitely applaud them for it! Kudos.

Pulau Ubin Stories Workshop, 3 Jul 2009, 7pm

2009-06-21T13:13:00.002+08:00

I will be conducting a workshop suitable for nature guides and those of us who frequent Pulau Ubin and would like to share more of the island's history and geography with friends and family. This is not a talk but a workshop with activities that would help to enhance public communication. I am still hoping to invite some special guest speakers who are veterans on the island who would hopefully be able to share stories that even I don't know about!

Vacancies are limited. Only 10 spots left! Do register early to avoid being disappointed.

Date: 3 July 2009, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College
31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983

PLEASE REGISTER AT
http://is.gd/16XCb

SPEAKER
November Tan
November is a graduate student in the Department of Geography at NUS as well as an active nature guide on Pulau Ubin amongst others. 3 generations of her family traces their roots back to Pulau Ubin and she traces hers on Pulau Ubin Stories, a blog which archives the stories old and new on Pulau Ubin. She did her undergraduate honors thesis on "Saving Chek Jawa: Social Capital and Networks in Nature Conservation". She has also authored several heritage trails publications for the National Heritage Board. She currently coordinate workshops for nature guides at The Leafmonkey Workshop and writes at the Midnight Monkey Monitor.

Cat's Night Out at Jurong Point!

2009-06-13T12:11:00.004+08:00

The Cat Welfare Society is organizing an opportunity for Singapore to showcase our lovely domestic breeds! Unfortunately I don't have the honor of caring for any lovely feline of my own so I have instead been asked to be a judge at the Cat's Night Out!

They are looking for "Most Beautiful Domestic Cat" and "Most Popular Domestic Cat". Prizes include $300 worth of Jurong Point Shopping Vouchers, cat supplies from Pets Station and Fancy Feast products.

But I think the real prize is giving our "longkang" cats an opportunity to show Singaporeans how beautiful they are and what wonderful temperaments they have. Usually cat shows are for purebreds only and is more of a show of what better breeders and groomers or trainers the owners are. But often, these attitudes of "purebreds are the best" result in things like puppy mills, irresponsible breeders and more abandonment!

How about adopting a stray cat and giving him or her a home? Neutering your cats instead of breeding them. No "paper" or certifications does not make them any less beautiful or loveable. Especially once neutered, many of them are wonderful companions with great temperament.

Personally I just can't wait to get to meet everybody's cats! So bring your cats down to the Cat's Night Out!

Date: 20 June 2009
Venue: JP1 Centrestage
Time: 9 - 11pm

Click Here To Download The Application Form (Right-Click and Save As)

Fill up the form and email to info@catwelfare.org with a good picture of your cat!

See you there!

Why is the Leafmonkey one of the judges?
The Rambling Leafmonkey is the founder of an online cat photography connoisseur club on deviantart.com called Pussy Patrol. And mainly because she's crazy about cats and it's an open secret that she hopes to be a cat lady when she grows up. She claimed that she offered to be the emcee for the event but ended up being asked to be a judge as consolation. Unable to believe why she got asked, she bugged CWS day and night asking for them to confirm it and they probably figured they're stuck with a monkey for good. *grin* We think she bribed somebody with a lot of catnip.

Cat Welfare Society at the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium

2009-06-08T11:01:00.002+08:00

Last month, I attended the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium and reported from the venue LIVE via twitter. Today, friends at Cat Welfare Society got me to write a short 150-word report on the event for the CWS newsletter. Not the final draft as the editor will do some addition but thought I'll share it with everyone. If you're interested in reports of the proceedings, you can find them on twitter. Alas, the search tag that we have been using for SAWS has been removed. I will eventually get around to archiving them on the blog. Apologies for my tardiness.

Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium 2009
First Draft By November Tan

Co-organized and hosted by NUS Student’s Animal Welfare Group and ACRES, the second Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium was held on 16th May 2009 at NUS. The symposium was open to public and had 2 lively panel discussions on Wild Animals in Entertainment and Domestic Animal Welfare.

Cat Welfare Society (CWS) President Ang Li Tin was panelist on the Domestic Animal Welfare session along with Dr Leow Su Hua from Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), Letitia Chang (Action for Singapore Dogs) and Deirdre Moss (SPCA) with N. Sivasothi as moderator. CWS also took the opportunity to share our Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage (TNRM) program through a surprise presentation by Veron Lau. Despite calls to “make the cat auntie’s dream come true”, AVA plead helplessness. However they reveal that funds for TNRM are readily available as long as town councils are willing to participate. On the subject of cats in HDB flats, there was unfortunately a lack of representation by HDB at the symposium. The organizers promise that HDB will be invited for dialogue at next year’s symposium.

Raffles Community Leaders Forum

2009-06-08T01:53:00.003+08:00

You(th) Matter

View more OpenOffice presentations from November Tan.

Giving a short 10 minutes talk at the Raffles Community Leaders Forum along with Howard Shaw (SEC) and Wilson Ang (ECO) tomorrow at RI(JC). The organizers have invited me to just share a bit about what I do which was a tad vague. Since the talk is meant for youths wanting to make a difference, I thought I'll throw in some free lessons I picked up from 6 years of trial and error. Hopefully it'll help them get a nice firm head start. But at the end of the day, this is just a sharing of ideas and experiences.

Get Web with Singapore Spiders, 5 Jun, Fri, 7pm

2009-05-25T12:19:00.004+08:00

A webslinging workshop next Friday on the spiders of Singapore by the Leafmonkey Workshop. Our guest speaker is The Annotated Budak who has wowed many with his photos on spiders. In addition to the ecology, web, food and sex of spider, he will also be talking about how to photograph spiders. Personally am rather excited about this workshop since I know nothing about spiders except that it has 8 legs. I stop at being able to differentiate a St Andrew Cross from a Golden Orb spider! Of course this is also an opportunity for experienced guides and photographers to exchange ideas, tips and stories.

Date: 5 June 2009, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College, 31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983 (Map)
Workshop Fees: By Donation
Read our FAQ

Click here for more information about the workshop

Register NOW!
Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs!

The workshop is limited to 30 participants so please register early.
Closing date: Sunday, 1 June 2009.

Want to find Treasures in our "Wastelands"?

2009-04-28T12:08:00.002+08:00

This is the last week to register for the upcoming workshop by Bian Tan on the Treasures of our "Wastelands". If you are interested to learn more about the pioneer plants in Singapore, their ecological roles and how to share more information about them with others, sign up for the workshop now at http://snipr.com/gtijk.

Experienced guides are most welcome to attend as well to share your stories about these treasures with other workshop participants.

TREASURES OF OUR "WASTELANDS": PIONEER PLANTS WORKSHOP
Date: 8 May 2009, Friday
Time: 7.00pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Civil Service College, 31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983 Map
Workshop Fees: By Donation
Read our FAQ

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
This workshop is an introduction to pioneer plants and the basic principles of succession ecology. Learn about some common species, and how our “wastelands” are actually important pioneering plant species.

SPEAKER
Bian Tan
Bian graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Master’s in Plant Taxonomy. He is the SEA Programme Coordinator for the Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), and assists botanical institutions with plant conservation, environmental education and the SEABG network. Prior to this, he spent almost 20 years in the USA studying and working at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, where he pioneered the establishment of their South East Asian Cloud Forest.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WORKSHOP:
http://leafmonkeyworkshop.blogspot.com/2009/04/pioneer-plants-workshop.html

PLEASE REGISTER AT
http://snipr.com/gtijk
Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs!

The workshop is limited to 30 participants so please register early.
Closing date: Sunday, 3 May 2009.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
The Leafmonkey Workshop hopes to provide a platform for new and experienced guides to come together to Learn, Share and Do. Our workshops comprise of a short presentation on the topic of the month by our Guest Speakers, followed by activities that aim to facilitate sharing and participation. Activities provide a platform to learn how to communicate scientific facts with everyday language and stories to share with our friends, families and visitors we guide. Also, participants gain opportunities to share guiding techniques, tips and experiences with others. Our workshops are non-denominational and open to all nature groups in Singapore. This is an opportunity to get to know other volunteers, make new friends and share your experiences with one another.

Doing something "special" for Earth Day

2009-04-22T09:41:00.009+08:00

This morning, a certain duck asked me, "what are you doing for Earth Day?"

To be honest, I hadn't planned on doing anything "special" since I honestly feel that every day should be Earth Day. "Special" actions shouldn't be reserved for just one day in a year.

However, if you are too busy on the other 364 days of the year and are looking for something really meaningful to do on Earth Day, then here's the monkey's recommendation for you this Earth Day!

International Year of the Reef 2008 Singapore is seeking public feedback for its Draft Blue Plan. This blue plan is for Singapore by Singapore. They are now calling upon the public to contribute their comments and feedback - an opportunity for all of us to make the blue plan "our own". At the end of May 2009, the final compiled version of the blue plan will then be submitted as a proposal to the Singapore government. So do your part for the Earth today, start by caring for the environment in our very own "backyard". Download the draft Blue Plan and send in your feedback today! Read on to hear what the IYOR08Singapore Blue Plan team has to say.

"The Draft Blue Plan is a proposal to the Government and people of Singapore from the members and organizations that form “International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008 Singapore” – interested members of civil society concerned about the conservation and management of Singapore’s coral reef heritage. Contributions and advice from the leading marine biologists in Singapore have been incorporated. It was released on 23 April 2009. Members of the Public can download a copy of the Draft Blue Plan here.

Comments and suggestions from members of public are invited. You may email us at blueplan.singapore@gmail.com before the closing date, 14 May 2009. The Blue Plan will presented to the Government with the collated and edited comments in late May 2009.

Please note that blueplan.singapore@gmail.com is designed to receive emails only. While we will give every opinion/comment due consideration, due to human resource constraints, we are unable to respond to queries and may not be able to include every comment into the final Blue Plan due to editorial considerations. Please contact the Marine Conservation Organisations Listed in Annexes B & C of the Draft Blue Plan if you are keen to find out more about the wide range of activites and programmes that are being organised. We apologize for this inconvenience."

Upcoming seminars by ISEAS

2009-04-21T15:22:00.004+08:00

There are two upcoming seminars at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies that may be of interest to some of you. The first is for those of you interested in the impact of climate change on food production. The second is more immediate to home - a tour and seminar on the marina barrage.

1) Rice in Southeast Asia: What Future with Climate Change?
Speaker: Duncan I. Macintosh, Development Director, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
Date: Monday 27 April 2009
Time: 2:30 TO 4:00 PM
Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room 2
Free Seminar, First Come First Served.
Organised by the Environment and Climate Change Programme, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Seminar Flyer: http://www.iseas.edu.sg/iframes/27apr09a.pdf
RSVP Response Form: http://www.iseas.edu.sg/iframes/form27apr09a.htm
Contact Person: Ms May Wong, may@iseas.edu.sg

2) The Marina Barrage: Seminar and Tour
Date: Wednesday 29 April 2009
Time: 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Venue: Marina Barrage
Organised by PUB; the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies; the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore.
Mr Yap Kheng Guan, Director, 3P Network, PUB, Singapore's Water Management Strategy and the Marina Barrage
Seminar:
"Appreciating Science Behind Water Quality of Marina Lake"
Professor Vladan Babovic, Director, Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore
Free Seminar; First Come, First Served
Seminar Flyer: http://www.iseas.edu.sg/iframes/29apr09a.pdf
RSVP Response Form: http://www.iseas.edu.sg/iframes/form29apr09a.htm
Contact Person: Ms May Wong, may@iseas.edu.sg

Meeting with Resorts World

2009-04-19T09:54:00.008+08:00

A continuation of my engagement encounters with Resorts World.

Yesterday, a group of people who were interested in developments at Resorts World was invited for a closed-door meeting at RWS headquarters on Sentosa. Naturally, the first thing I had to do was make sure that I could at the very least blog the above statement.

In the event that I would make any further faux pas, I checked with Krist Boo (Vice-President, Head of Communications, Resorts World at Sentosa) who called the meeting, if I could at the very least mention that such a meeting occurred. Alas she paused for a while but monkey eventually got the green light to let it be known that this meeting took place. I hope that writing this doesn't get anybody in trouble! *fingers crossed*

To quote Krist at the beginning of the meeting, "We believe in doing what is right" and "we are committed to engage you". And that's why were all sitting there at 10am on a Saturday morning (18 Apr 2009).

At the end of the meeting, we were also asked to actively engage RWS instead of waiting for them to engage us. Moral of the story is, don't hesitate, start emailing RWS if you have questions and don't wait till information falls on your lap.

I truly hope to believe that RWS is really sincere in engaging stakeholders and are trying to do so, to the best of their limited abilities. So kudos for trying. I want to believe it when they say that they have to do it first in order to prove to us that they are doing it right. Hopefully it would not be too late by the time things are cast in stone.

Again, I must say that my intentions of blogging this is purely, and somewhat optimistically or naively, to share the fact that RWS is doing some form of engagement. In the field of environmental management and in my personal opinion, engagement is an important and wonderful thing. I like sharing wonderful things with my readers.

I can only hope that this is the beginning of more engagement and collaboration with Resorts World and other corporate entities in the future. If so, that would be a good progressive step in Singapore's business environment and civil society.

Why is engagement a wonderful thing?
Here's a document by The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management that explains briefly why "public, private and voluntary organisations preparing policies, plans, programmes, and projects relating to the environment should develop and implement policies for stakeholder engagement". [Read the document here]

Previous posts on Resorts World:
I signed the No Whaleshark petition, have you?, 12 Mar 2009
A chat with Resorts World, 2 Apr 2008
EIA of Sentosa Integrated Resort, 30 Jan 2008

Desperate for Nature

2009-04-17T11:22:00.004+08:00

It seems that a neighbor of mine is so desperate for nature that they are attempting to grow cow grass on the concrete stairs landing. I hope they know that soil is needed to retain water which will then be absorbed by the plant roots. But then again, a lot of the grass patches in Singapore are grown on equally thin layer of soil. A quick probe by the soil auger will hit concrete without much effort. I'll be really curious to see how long this grass patch survive in its concrete home.

Eating "Trash"

2009-04-14T19:54:00.006+08:00

A few days ago, a friend sent me this video. It reminds me of slumdog millionaire except more poignant without the hollywood ending. I was reminded again of this video when my colleague and I were talking about how we don't blink an eye at how much food is wasted in affluent societies. Singapore being one of them. But while there are those scavenging the trash for food, there are also those who purposefully dive into dumpsters looking for food and not because they cannot afford buying! But they were doing it because they are "freegans"

Although dumpster diving is often associated with the poor, a new movement (freeganism) concerned with environment, anti-consumerism and all the conspicuous consumption (and waste) as well as urban poverty issues have begin to emerge in recent times. There is also an anti-hunger organization called Food Not Bombs gets a significant amount of its food from dumpster diving from the dumpsters at small markets and corporate grocery stores in the US and UK. Food Not Bombs have also taken off in Singapore and there have been attempts to collect some of the food that are regularly being drawn out by wholesalers and supermarkets in Singapore. Even though these food are being throw away, they are not always inedible. They then use these materials to provide food for the homeless in Singapore. Yes, we have homeless people!

The first time I heard of dumpster diving is from 2 young Australians who were part of a team going to Poznan, Poland for UNFCCC-COP14 by land last year (2008). They were well educated university students who were definitely capable of paying for their food. But one of them told me that he is a "freegan". I was simply amazed that he would eat food picked out from dumpsters and he told me that it is amazing how much good stuff you can find in the dumpsters of supermarkets. Surely the singaporeans amongst us who loves a good deal will know of how bakeries offer food for cheap at the end of the day before they close. Those food if not sold, will have to be dumped. And as long as they are not dumped, they are perfectly good to it! And if dumped, they can still be eaten if you pick them up straight away! Apparently the usual practice is to negotiate with the owners so that they will give the freegans these food that's meant for the bin. Likewise, a lot of vegetables are thrown away if they have blemishes or do not meet certain aesthetic demand from hotel restaurants or fast food chains or even supermarkets consumers who wouldn't buy vegetables with holes or fruits that are bruised.

Speaking for myself, I find that being an urban Singaporean living in an affluent country, I find such affront at considering the possibility of eating food from the dumpster.
Honestly, freeganism is pretty extreme even to me and my mind is still reeling from it now as I write.

Yet at the same time, there are people like those children in the video who have no choice but eat food from the dumpster, if there's even scraps left. Look at the face of the little boy who cheered at the sight of spaghetti served from the rubbish bin. It wrenched my heart.

Somebody mistakenly thought the video is about globalization and poverty but I think showing the fast food restaurants is merely commenting about how much food we usually waste in our daily meals. Fast food restaurants are pretty much frequented only by the middle class and above in many developing countries, such as Manila which was featured in the video. Do you think about the food that you can't finish at lunch or dinner? We try to console ourselves that there is now food recycling where food waste is used to generate fuel and energy. But how about going one step back? Buy what you need and finish everything you can. What is trash to you is food to many. As long as we don't get food poisoning from eating it, why are we not eating it?

Giving a Guest Lecture on Environmental Groups

2009-04-08T19:46:00.007+08:00

I have been invited to give a guest lecture in the GE3239 Environmental Sustainability class in NUS Geography Department on "Community Groups and Environmental Leadership". The lecturers would like me to share my personal experiences and so for the first half, I share my own journey. Along the way, I introduce to the students the various environmental leaders I met along the way. As I have to rush off for an interview, the second half will be presented by one of the lecturers. The latter half will be an overview of all the interest, types and actions of the groups in Singapore. This may be of interest to some as it provides a brief introduction to the community.

Encountering Environmentalism

View more presentations from November Tan.

There is a mistake on the date of the lecture. Oops!

Environmental NGOs, Civil Society, Volunteer Groups and Local Action

View more presentations from November Tan.

I'm somewhat hesitant in putting these slides online and sharing it on the blog originally as I felt that this is not totally comprehensive. However, I do not profess to know it all! Far from it. Always hoping to learn more. If I missed out anything or made any mistake, please feel free to leave a comment!

I signed the No Whaleshark petition, have you?

2009-03-12T17:35:00.008+08:00

Today I signed a "no whaleshark in Singapore" petition that is supported by many major organizations locally and internationally such as PETA, Sea Shepherds, ACRES, Cicada Tree Eco-Place and the Green Volunteers.

The good thing about this petition is that once I put my name down to the form, it will email the pre-written letter (which you can also edit to customize) to the 1) Minister of National Development, 2) the Singapore Tourism Board and 3) Resorts World at Sentosa.

Shortly after I click sign, I got an automated reply from Resorts World with the following:Corporate Social Responsibility "csr@rwsentosa.com" to "leafmonkey@gmail.com" 5:23pm

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

We will be compiling your comments and addressing the points raised. Do visit our website (www.rwsentosa.com) for updates.

We look forward to welcoming you at the Marine Life Park.

The Marine Life Park Team
All I can say is, I will not be visiting the Marine Life Park.

And that is precisely why I signed the petition isn't it? How could they be asking me to visit the marine life park? I will not use my consumer dollars to support the captivity of large marine mammals. It's interesting that the whaleshark petition website quotes Jacques Cousteau. When I was in US, I was the news intern for Jacques' son, Jean Michael Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society who actually led the campaign to free the star of Free Willy, Keiko. Since then, I have never visited a single "marine life park" or "sea world".

Whale flute sighted in the wild. Photo taken in 2005.

Definitely not after I had the pleasure of going on a whale kayaking trip and seeing these large animals free in the wild. A whale shark is not a whale but there is no difference. Besides, first a whale shark, next a whale? No animal of that size should be kept in a tank. No fish tank would ever be big enough to replace the ocean. This is not a gold fish we can flush down the toilet bowl after it dies. Are we willing to take responsibility for that?

Have you signed the petition yet?

Horseshoe Crab Survey needs your help!

2009-03-11T20:29:00.006+08:00

The NSS Horseshoe Crab survey team is hoping to engage the help of nature guides and volunteers who visits our shores and mangroves regularly. Have you seen horseshoe crabs on our shores, beaches and mangroves? If yes, please help the NSS HSC team by filling in their survey questionaire.

You can either print out the questionnaire and post to: Nature Society (Singapore), 510 Geylang Road #02-05 The Sunflower, S 389466, Attention: HSC P&D Survey, or save the questionnaire as a word document and e-mail the completed questionnaire to: hsu_chia_chi@hotmail.com by Wed. 18 March.

"In conjunction with Nature Society (Singapore) Horseshoe Crab Population & Distribution Survey today, 8 March, besides our teams searching the shores and surveying professional and recreational fisherman, we would like to survey our local network of Guides/Nature lovers regarding the 2 types of Horseshoe Crabs found on our shores.

Attached is a Questionnaire and photos of the 2 types of Horseshoe Crabs [above].

We would be very greatful for your help in spending a few minutes of your time to answer a few questions.

Our thanks to all respondents, in advance, for the help."

Volunteers needed to promote Earth Hour at IT Fair

2009-03-11T11:51:00.008+08:00

Earth Hour was started in Sydney in 2006. 'One Hour, No Power' was the original tagline. For one hour, the Sydney Opera House turned off its lights to show its commitment and spread awareness for climate change. It was an event to reduce their carbon footprint, in bid to reduce global warming. Today, it is no longer a Sydney event, but a global movement. This year 2009, Singapore has made a stand and will be officially committed to Earth Hour. Even the DPM's office made a pledge to do so! This year, it will be lights out Esplanade!

In Singapore, Earth Hour is organized and managed by the Singapore office of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and recently they were informed that they would be able to promote Earth Hour at the upcoming IT Fair at Suntec this week. Knowing the turn out at these IT fairs, this will reach out to a huge number of people. Thus they are urgently looking for volunteers. Below is the email request from them.

Dear Volunteers,

I have received last minute information that we WWF can promote Earth Hour during the IT fair at Suntec this Thursday till Sunday (12-15th March).

We will be sharing a booth with SingTel (an Earth Hour sponsor!), to promote e-billing as well as Earth Hour! It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet people and raise awareness of Earth Hour as, we all know the crowd during the IT fair will be humongous!

I understand that it is extremely last minute, but if you are able to make it and would like to volunteer, please let me know.

12th (Thurs): 12pm - 4:30pm / 4:30pm - 9pm
13th (Friday): 12pm - 4:30pm / 4:30pm - 9pm
14th (Saturday): 12pm - 4:30pm / 4:30pm - 9pm
15th (Sunday): 12pm - 4:30pm / 4:30pm - 9pm

As usual, please let me know which time slots you are available. If you are able to volunteer for the whole day, you're more than welcomed!

Thank you very much once again for all your support. 17 days to Earth Hour!
Warmest regards,
Jane
63230100
GJLam@wwf.sg

If you are not free this weekend, they are also looking for volunteers for the following:

* roadshows/exhibition (21st to 27th March)
o to coordinate with WWF Singapore
o you need not commit everyday - even a single shift or two (two shifts a day) will be great.

* on site for CBD area on 28th March.
o to coordinate the 'Black-out' of the buildings

* on ground at Esplanade Park on 28th March.
o to faciliate and manage the crowd and event at the park.

To help out with these activities, contact Tan Sijie Ivan (ivantsj@gmail.com)
There will be a training session this Sat, 14th March, 2pm at Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens with WWF (Map attached). It will be a simple training session lasting no longer than 2 hours.

Who cut off my crown?

2009-03-09T20:02:00.004+08:00

One could not help but wonder the intention behind the almost complete trim. Short of actually cutting down the tree, the arborist has done a good job of eliminating all the plant's photosynthesis capacity. Is this death?

Interestingly, the many resident epiphytes have been left intact. I wonder if this reveal a certain understanding of how important these plants are, not just in terms of providing shade for humans but also home for other plants and animals.

Still it's a sad and curious sight to see these extreme trimmings. I am often reminded by Angie of NSS who laments these extreme "haircuts" by the arborists employed in Singapore. Was there an infestation in this tree? Is it half dead? Was it about to fall and hurt someone?

These big trees can sometime also serve as homes for predatory raptors. For one, there is a couple of owls that lives in the area that have been observed to stand watch on these big raintrees on campus. I wonder where will they go now if all the raintrees are decapitated.

One World One Moment

2009-02-28T23:44:00.002+08:00

The MSc librarian and PhD biologist music duo is back with a new album! The band known as StarfishStories has a new album for the new year titled One World One Moment.

The entire album is free for download, licensed under the creative commons license! Nothing less to be expected from the social media friendly rambling librarian. After their first album that was inspired by our wonderful marine life, the duo is back with a second album. This time, they have developed more complex musicality with many more guitar solos, displaying their skills. Definitely enjoyed listening to this album very much! Great soothing songs, free for download at the StarfishStories band blog (starfishstories.wordpress.com). The blog also offers behind the scenes insights, great for other musicians to exchange experiences as well.

The band also has a facebook group - join now to show your support for our local talent.

Help needed for Horseshoe Crab Population & Distribution Survey

2009-02-28T11:38:00.004+08:00

The Nature Society (Singapore) Horseshoe Crab Rescue team is looking for help for a Population & Distribution Survey on 8 March 2009 from 2 pm to 6.30 pm. If interested, please contact Dr Hsu Chia Chi.

This island-wide survey aims to establish an estimate of the population and distribution of the two species of Horseshoe Crabs (HSCs) found in Singapore, namely the Mangrove Horseshoe Crab (Carcinscorpius rotundicauda) and Coastal Horseshoe Crab (Tachypleus gigas).

Sectors & Teams
Singapore will be divided into four sectors namely: 1. North-West, 2. North-East, 3. South-East and 4. South-West. Each sector will have a Sector Leader. Survey areas within each sector have been identified and each will have an Area Leader. Depending on the size of the survey area, one or more teams might be assigned. Each survey team comprises four to six volunteers led by a Qualified HSC R&Rer (Team Leader), with an assigned recorder while participants become searchers-cum-measurers.

Survey Areas
The areas we will like to conduct HSC P&D Survey are:

1. Mandai mudflats
2. Lim Chu Kang Jetty- mudflat east of jetty.
3. Sarimbun- beach/mudflat near MOE Jln. Bahtera Adventure Centre.
4. Sembawang Park
5. Lower Seletar Reservoir Dam- mudflat eastern side of estuary.
6. Pasir Ris Park- mudflat east of S. Tampines.
7. Changi Point Ferry terminal- estuary.
8. S. Pandan- estuary beyond dam.

Please state your preference, if any, in your response.

Survey Methods & Search Techniques
Two methods will be employed 1) Transect search to depletion in areas where HSC density is expected to be high and/or 2) Exploratory search in all possible HSC habitats. Search technique is based on HSC sighting and the gentle probing (NOT ploughing) of substrate with gardening forks as well as the careful digging up of buried HSC. Area/Team Leaders will conduct on-site briefing on details such as the exact protocol, instructions and data recording.

Survey of Fishermen
In addition, there will be a survey-cum-conservation education of fishermen by younger members/primary school students. Using a survey-cum-conservation education questionnaire as well as photos of both HSC species, free and entrapped, they will approach local and recreational fishermen at boat mooring sites and popular fishing areas around Singapore.

Attire & Equipment
Recommended: Comfortable outdoor clothes (short or long sleeved tops; shorts or trousers), hat, sun block, old sports shoes/boots/booties that can get wet (NO exposed footwear such as sandals, crocs or slippers), drinking water, plastic bag (for collecting litter from survey sites), small gardening fork/rake (to probe for buried HSC) and 12-inch ruler.

Optional: Insect repellent, gloves or plastic bread wrappers to protect your hands, poncho (survey will be adjourned if there is bad weather), a change of clothes and extra foot wear (washing facilities may not be available at all sites), gardening cutters (to rescue Horseshoe Crabs entrapped in nets), binoculars, camera, note book and pen.

Directions
Meet at 2 pm at your assigned meeting point. You may have to walk some distance to your actual survey area. The search proper will be from 4 pm to 6 pm, with the lowest tide at 5 pm.

Job Vacancy for Director, NUS Office of Environmental Sustainability

2009-02-27T09:17:00.001+08:00

Reporting to the Deputy President (Administration), the Director will lead the Office of Environmental Sustainability (OES) to relating to campus sustainability strategies and initiatives, with a view to broadening its role to include environmental performance auditing. The incumbent will be responsible in the following:

- Strategize the integration of sustainability in all aspects possible,
establish NUS sustainability goals and develop a campus sustainability
roadmap.
- Identification and facilitate adoption of applicable best practices in
campus development and operations.
- Establish communications strategies with campus stakeholders to
promote awareness of initiatives as well as to educate them.
- Lead, guide and monitor sustainability initiatives and performance to
achieve sustainability targets.
- Build partnerships and collaborate with other organizations and leading
universities with matters related to campus sustainability.
- Build partnerships and collaborate with other organizations and leading
universities with matters related to campus sustainability.
- Management reporting

Requirements:
* Bachelor’s Degree in architecture, urban or environmental planning, environmental science, environmental engineering or equivalent in an appropriate field, with an advanced degree preferred
* Minimum of 5 years experience in leadership position, implementing sustainability programs, or programs in a related field such as planning, environmental or environmental technology or resource management, facilities, or architecture.
* Good understanding of sustainability theories as well as local, national and global sustainability initiatives and best practices. Ability to apply theories and initiatives in practical setting.
* Good EQ, excellent oral and written communications skills

Download Application Form (.doc).
For application or enquiries NUScareers_executive@nus.edu.sg

More information here

Facebook and Beyond

2009-02-22T01:15:00.003+08:00

On Day 3 of the National Sustainability Conference, I will be involved in the youth declaration as well as giving a short 10 minute presentation on environmental "cyber-advocacy" in Singapore. I've included the synopsis and slides here for those of you who will not be there on the day. Enjoy! Comments are most welcome. I do not profess to be entirely comprehensive. It's more a sharing of my own experience. I'm hardly an expert on the subject and there are definitely better ways to do this. Feel free to share your own experiences!

Facebook And Beyond: Environmental Cyber-Advocacy in Singapore

View more presentations from November Tan. (tags: nscsingapore facebook)

ABSTRACT
The popularization of the Internet has changed the face and form of environmental outreach and activism in Singapore. The compression of time and space has led to fast dissemination of information and the rapid rallying of grassroot support became increasingly effortless. In the last 5 years, with the rise of popular social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Flickr, etc., it has further changed the dimension of environmental activism. Social media tools such as blogs and wikis allow for user-generated content which allow greater dissemination of information, reaching out to people who may otherwise not have the opportunity to do so. The current challenge is now to come up with more creative ways of using the social media platform, to maximize its network and potential. Just as traditional media practitioners have tried to come up with the latest attention grabbing ad campaign, social media practitioners are constantly thinking of ways to creatively and effectively reach out to a greater network, to gather support, fund raise, encourage action or simply to spread the word. This presentation hopes to highlight some of the environmental social media projects that have been done in Singapore and some of the lessons learnt through the process.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
November Tan is a research scholar in the NUS Department of Geography as well as an active nature volunteer with various volunteer groups. She is the author of the Midnight Monkey Monitor blog (http://leafmonkey.blogspot.com) which was listed as Blogger’s Blog of Note in 2007. A self-confessed social media addict, she spends her off days testing new social media platforms and cooking up new projects. She currently coordinates workshops for nature volunteers under the initiative known as The Leafmonkey Workshop.

Day 2 of National Sustainability Conference

2009-02-21T20:50:00.005+08:00

The day started off with the Ambassador Chew Tai Soo informing the audience of Singapore's official international position on climate change. A reuters reporter present was rather efficient and an article on the morning's speech is already published and picked up by Straits Times by 2pm!

If you were following my twitter updates, you'd have gotten a frenzy of live reporting (140 char at a time!). Hurray for social media *grin* But I must acknowledged my admiration for the traditional media efficiency too! But they were using online medium (posting on ST Online) for the purpose too. Interestingly, I was tipped off by @sgnews on twitter who picks up RSS feed from major news agencies in Singapore.

Below is a compilation of day 2 happenings as updated on twitter.

Ambassador chew tai soo who is the chief negotiator on climate change at copehagen this year is speaking now on singapore's position about 12 hours ago

The chief negotiator states that singapore has negligible impact on climate change, and alt energy disadvantged, can't move away from fossil about 11 hours ago

He considers singapore a small island DEVELOPING state. An alternative energy disadvantaged country. Sigh about 11 hours ago

'we will contribute what we can' means you can't force them to do what they refuse to acknowledge, much less do about 11 hours ago

One of the ways to offset our emission is apparently to have singapore 'covered in greenery' but gardening is not the same as forests! about 11 hours ago

When asked why we present ourselves as a developing country, he says coz we are member of G77 developing states. 'matter of history' about 11 hours ago

When do we move from 'history' to the present or the future? Where is the progress we speak of in our national pledge? about 11 hours ago

The ambassador seems to hint at the audience in the room that they can't speak of reductions when they sit comf in brightly kit aircon room about 11 hours ago

The gist of singapore's stand it seems is that the world needs to reduce emissions but it's other people's responsibility about 11 hours ago

The director of climate change, mewr highlights clean energy as one of the strategy but what about the potential coal plant in sg? about 10 hours ago

Energy efficiency seems like the key or only strategy in addressing climate change. How disappointing about 10 hours ago

The deputy director of strategic policy appears to be merely reading off the standard pr propaganda. I feel like i'm at an info centre about 10 hours ago

Are the mewr ppl not allowed to present anything apart from official content that i can just read from the website? about 10 hours ago

Wildsingapore poster of semakau is used to highlight the success of the landfill in conserving biodiversity about 10 hours ago

Dr michael quah is really a good speaker, talking about electronic versus liquid diet. More dimension to alternative energies about 9 hours ago

Dr quah talks about including food in the equation along with water and energy! I can't agree more! about 9 hours ago

'through internal discussion, they probably tink 6.5 million population is probably sustainable' orly? about 9 hours ago

Upon monkey asking about news of coal power plant in singapore, mewr informed that the plan is off due to financial crisis about 9 hours ago

But coal is still acceptable as a form of 'clean energy' in singapore! *grimace* about 9 hours ago
**note: they totally missed the point about carbon emission of coal and only focused on it being made non-pollutive

Reuters is really efficient. Just 4 hours after the ambassador's speech this morn, they alr put up an article & straits times picked it up! about 7 hours ago

Prof wong poh poh is talking about sea level rise in singapore. about 6 hours ago

IPCC predicts a 59cm sea level rise but they didn't consider data after 2005. Since then, theres dramatic increase about 6 hours ago

Singapores coastal areas were reclaimed and raised by 1.25m above the highest recorded tide of 3.9m. Sea level rise must consider tides too! about 6 hours ago
**note: if sea level rise is 2m which is a possibility, the 1.25m elevation will not suffice.

How long term is our planning? IPCC is planning for 300 years. about 6 hours ago

Prof natasha hamilton nicely sum up that sg cc strategy is aimed at making sg look good in the 'fiction of being a developing country' about 6 hours ago

Sg reports that they emit 41522 kilo tonnes of co2 in 2006 but the usa dept of energy reports it as 141,100kilo tonnes about 6 hours ago

48% of singapore's emissions is from electricity generation. Air transport is one of the controversial footprint that's not addressed. about 6 hours ago

Live from Day 1 of National Sustainability Conference

2009-02-20T11:54:00.007+08:00

Will be reporting from the National Sustainability Conference held at the NUSS Guild House from 20 to 22 Feb. I will be putting up my observations via twitter. Unfortunately I will not be able to provide indepth reports via the blog but will be reposting my twitter updates on this blog.

Interesting attendance at the national sustainability conference. Lily kong is giving the opening speech now about 3 hours ago
It's quite bizarre that there is a tea break after 30minute of welcome about 2 hours ago
Andrew Tan, the Ceo of nea is speaking now about the interconnectedness of the different global crises. They are 1 crises, not separate about 2 hours ago
The british high commissioner paul madden is speaking about climate change now. Shobie the dir of climate change is of cos here about 2 hours ago
Spoke with amy of wwf about earth hour singapore. This year a major singapore icon will be switching off during prime time! Awesome about 1 hour ago
How do we encourage businesses to be carbon neutral if our consumers are not interested or concerned if they are? about 1 hour ago
Prof jeff obbard is talking about the anthropocene and the 'other' (climate) credit crunch. about 1 hour ago
IPCC predicts 7.4% reduction in glacial cover but in reality it's 23% eek about 1 hour ago
The other credit crunch he's talking about turns out to be the global ecological footprint exceeding planet capacity and carbon budget about 1 hour ago
Einstein and the stern review gets quoted very often at this conference. 41 minutes ago
Jeff is talking about his research on using fast growing marine algae as a carbon neutral biofuel. Is this possible for mass production? 38 minutes ago
Dr geh is the first to the mic again during the q&a asking andrew Tan about the centre for livable cities 35 minutes ago
At every environmental conference, people must always ask why are we sitting in an aircon room freezing our butt off 29 minutes ago
There's a lady from india from the office of environmental education that asked all the questions i wanted to ask. 12 minutes ago
I'm glad Lena chan from nparks is highlighting the fact that all tis talk of sustainability is lacking mention of biod conservation 5 minutes ago
Stern review drew attention to climate change thru dollars. But no such report for biod? But both related! Why pit against each other? 2 minutes ago

National Sustainability Conference

2009-02-11T21:02:00.004+08:00

The National University of Singapore (NUS) would be organizing the National Sustainability Conference on the 20-22 February 2009 which would be held in the NUS Kent Ridge Guild House.

This conference will discuss critical global sustainability crises in the Singaporean context and our response to these challenges. This conference would also achieve to be the first net zero carbon emissions conference in Singapore. The end-product of this conference would be a Singapore Youth Declaration on Sustainable Development.

In addition to chairing one of the subcommittees in the Youth Declaration, this leafmonkey will also be speaking on 22 Feb, the 3rd day of the conference. The topic will be on "Facebook and Beyond: Environmental Cyber-Advocacy in Singapore".

Around 250 renowned experts, academicians, administrations, business, civil society and youths are expected to participate in this 3-day conference.

Some of the highlights of our conference would be:

Copenhagen Global Deal on Climate Change, What it Means for Singapore
Ambassador Chew Tai Soo, Chief Negotiator on Climate Change for Singapore

The Promise of Technological Solutions to the Climate Crisis
Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore

Singapore's Coastal Vulnerability to Climate Change Impacts
Associate Professor Wong Poh Poh, Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS, and Coordinating Lead Author in IPCC Fourth Assessment Report

National Identity, Sustainability and Nature
Dr Geh Min, Past President, Nature Society, and winner of prestigious inaugural President's Award for Environment 2006

To register, please visit: http://www.nscsingapore.com/registration.html. Currently there are limited seats left, so please register soon to reserve your tickets.

Virgin adventures at the great reef

2009-02-10T12:14:00.005+08:00

Terembu Raya means the Great Reef in bahasa melayu and great it was! Not so much in land area but the coral diversity and life there is quite amazing. It's no seagrass wonderland like cyrene reef but around the perimeter where Eric and I were exploring, the corals, fish and other animals were just keeping us excited with every step we take! I admit I don't go out as often as many others but I've never seen so many different type of corals in one place before so it's an exciting time for me!

One of my favourite moments was definitely stalking this squid (amongst the many encountered). It tried its different strategy at me, from pretending to be invisible to becoming angry and wagging its "horns" at me! Its use of tentacles fascinates me. When it wants to speed away, it puts them together to form a torpedo like bodyshape but when it wants to intimidate, it keeps the tentacles together like horns and sometimes it forms a sucker like shape. It's so fascinating!

I've also seen things I've only seen before on photos like this sponge. Could this be the famous neptune's cup? I have no idea! Could somebody enlighten this ignorant monkey?

Giant corals like this are also rather common! In fact this one is about 1.5m across!

Tis also the first time I spotted a nudi all on my own! Eric says this is a T-bar nudibranch which is a hard nudibranch. Not sure what that means. Have to read up!

It was quite a hairy crab haven at Terumbu Raya as I probably saw at least a few dozen of them in just the small corner I covered. I even found this one which was dragging along a piece of seagrass back to its home to savour before I waylaid it for a moment. Luckily it didn't abandon its food for cover.

This fascinating lil snapping shrimp also held my attention for a while when I saw it actually cut off a piece of tape seagrass and proceeded to drag it back into its hole!

Eric also found this seahorse. In fact he found 2 but I didn't backtrack to find the yellow one he saw. It still amazes me that seahorses are actually fish with modified scales! Interesting that he didn't see any seahorse on semakau but here we were, stones throw from pulau semakau, divided only by a channel, facing the island, we found 2. hurray!

At the end of the day, you know its an adventure when you hesitate jumping off the lil dingy into the water despite assurance of "no problem" because you couldn't tell if your next step is land or 13m below on the reef crest! But a chair on board comes in handy. Doubles up as steps and anchor! Comes in a pretty shade of brown. While stock last!

More photos of the trip can be found on my flickr photos.

Job opening at the new NUS Office of Environmental Sustainability

2009-01-11T11:52:00.003+08:00

The Office of Environmental Sustainability was recently set up to help NUS monitor and improve its environmental performance. The office is now looking for a resourceful Sustainability Executive with a passion and relevant skill sets to join the young dynamic team.

The position shall maintain close liaison with NUS stakeholders to achieve NUS sustainability goals. Reporting to the department head, the Sustainability Executive is responsible for developing physical implementation programs related to energy management and sustainable development. This includes monitoring and evaluating program effectiveness, documenting environmental performance trends, and recommending/implementing modifications to improve program effectiveness. Through interactions with the NUS community, the position shall foster and coordinate new ideas and concepts for sustainability programming themes and identify materials and resources to supplement, expand or replace existing sustainability programming. Part of the work scope requires coordinating and implementing activities including, but not limited to, seminars, workshops, and campaigns at NUS.

The manner in which these programs and activities are organized and the nature of their content should be geared towards achieving buy-in and habit transformation from student, faculty and staff community members. The Sustainability Executive shall also be responsible for representing NUS’ sustainability programs to the public; attend professional meetings as appropriate; and interface with external organizations to ensure cooperative efforts are enhanced and available resources are utilized.

Requirements

Bachelor degree, preferably in environmental, facilities management or related discipline
Highly motivated, adaptable, flexible and resourceful
Cheerful disposition
Team player
Excellent spoken and written English
Excellent CCA record

Monkey says, "The position is available immediately as they are looking for people to start work urgently. Interested applicants can contact Mr Loo Deliang at oesld at nus dot edu dot sg, Tel: 6516 1983"

Food for All 2008 Report

2009-01-03T12:13:00.002+08:00

The local food activist group, Food for All, has released with 2008 Report on "Critical Food Issues in Singapore" [pdf].The pdf version is now available for download and distribution.

The report covers issues on local hunger, local agriculture, food security, food safety, nutrition, overseas food program and other food related environmental issues. They even cover issues like eating disorders. Quite a myraid of topics. Do check it out.

Welcoming 2009 at Sisters Island

2009-01-02T13:05:00.005+08:00

There is no better way to welcome in the new year than to spend it with friends, in the middle of the dark, with water up to your knees, enjoying the sea breeze, playing "finding nemo" and listening to pulsating beats from the nearby resort island. And this you can only get by spending new years eve on sisters island with a group of dedicated beachfleas. Personally it was from missing the opportunity to spend the last few new years eve in Singapore that I was really looking forward to performing the traditional new years eve toast on the shores with friends! This year, we also made a new friend who joined us for the first time at Sisters.

I also saw many animal friends that I have not seen in the flesh before!
My favourite has got to be this land hermit crab. This is the first time I saw them for myself. The last time I tried to find them was at the NHC sentosa recce in November 08 but unfortunately I left too early and didn't see the one hairen found amongst the rubbish on the backshore. This time at sisters, when we ended our trip as the tide came in, we encountered an army of them on land, climbing on coconut trees and checking out the benches that litter the island. They were quite cute and I even found one that refused to come out.

Also a first for me is the ghost crab, or more accurately, the horn-eyed ghost crab. (check out the horny eyes!) I always thought that ghost crabs were very small but I was pleasantly surprised to find them almost the size of my feet! Here's a photo of the ghost crab with a coconut husk and bits of trash for scale! But I must admit, my feet is not very big!

Perhaps it's the time of the year but out on the shores, very many things are seasonal. For one, it seems to be sargassum season as half the lagoon was covered with them. Many of the corals, anemones and what not were covered with these large masses of floating macro-algae. Macro-algae just means really large seaweed. Even in the dark, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the obstacles ahead.

You can see the huge boulder corals covered beneath sargassum and those corals are by no means small! Trapped amongst the cover of sargassum were also drift nets. It was bad enough to be tangled up with the sargassum but throw in drift nets and it's a deathtrap formula for many of the marine animals.

This is a real hazard to our marine life, especially since Sisters Island is one of the only areas designated as a potential marine protected area in the last Singapore Green Plan. The rest of the other areas were dropped in this second revision.

Sisters Island is really special to me as in my first visit in January 2007, I saw my first sea krait, a venomous but generally docile snake. The juvenile pictured below even swam over to Jun's leg and rested there for a while, probably thinking it was a rock. But of course we made sure to pretend to be a rock! There's no such thing as being too cautious after all :) This banded sea krait actually lives in the sea but lays its eggs on land! This means that not only must its marine home be healthy but it also requires a good terrestrial habitat to reproduce. In this visit again, I not only saw 1 but 2 banded sea kraits!

This first sighting is a juvenile but the second I saw further out, near the sea wall, was an adult. Unfortunately it was well disguised by the sargassum and I didn't get a good photo of it.

The sargassum also resulted in a little hide and seek with a pair of nemos (false clown fish) and their "anemone that was stuck to a piece of rock". But fortunately, Andy, who spotted the clown fish took a video of them! Meanwhile, Jun and I who had liken the search to an imaginary computer game we aptly named "finding nemo", had to give up our search amongst the sargassum as we could just imagine the words "game over, you failed, try again?" appearing on our imaginary computer game screen. Even Andy couldn't relocate the elusive but charismatic creatures hiding amongst the algal bloom a second time!

As my torchlight wasn't working well I had to content myself with spotting any little creature that swims past me, including this little sotong that tried to sneak pass me inconspicuously.

I am also happy that my first find of the day was a flatworm that met me when the day light was still ample.

The crabs and cnidarians were also aplenty at every step of the way. Ria also saw plenty of amazing creatures that I wasn't able to spot out on the shore.

But at the end of the day, nothing beats spending new years eve with friends on the shores we love.

Here's wishing a wonderful 2009 for our shores! May it prosper in health and love!

Holiday Greetings

2008-12-22T11:47:00.006+08:00

Send Midnight Monkey Monitor Holiday E-Cards to your friends and family

Dear Monkey Readers,

Here's wishing everybody a happy yuletide season and a great 2009 ahead. What a year 2008 has been. Do read on if you're interested in my little holiday update for all of you.

Thank you for supporting the leafmonkey's inconsistent rambling over the year(s). Many apologies for not working hard at creating regular content on this blog. If you're wondering what I've been up to, I've been somewhat regularly updating my research blog. So for now, I'm contemplating my career upon graduation, publication and writing my thesis, in that (somewhat warped) order of priority. Nonetheless, I've been collecting an arsenal of things to share on this blog, just waiting for a moment of inspiration to unleash it!

Of course, as usual, to save unnecessary paper use, I've designed my own christmas ecards to share the holiday season with friends and family. Feel free to use them to send to your own friends and family. Last year's series is also available for use and is tied in with Buy Nothing Christmas.

2008 has been a very eventful year but yet time flies and already it's December and soon, 2009. I do hope that the coming year will be one that is fruitful, peaceful and with more positive action around the world and in our own backyard. In 2009, I will be finishing my last semester in my Masters at NUS. Time has slipped out of my hands before I know it, it's time to graduate! Guess it's my new year resolution to work harder in 2009 to be the change I want to see in the world. I will work harder with my research, with the leafmonkey workshop and of course in my own daily green actions.

Thank you all who have taught me, shared their wisdom with me, helped me, worked with me, collaborated on projects, learned with me, laughed with me and just given me friendship and support in 2008. Here's wishing 2009 to be a great year ahead for all of us, for the environment, for the other 99% of the planet and for the world. Thank you again. What would I do without all of you? :)

Lots of love, laughter, hugs and kisses; always,
Monkey

Singapore Waters

2008-11-28T13:16:00.009+08:00

Nature Society (Singapore) Marine Conservation Group recently produced a 11minute slideshow video on youtube that includes historical photos as well as current images of our shores and its marine life. Quite an enlightening overview from past to present. And as stated in the video, all photographs were shot in Singapore so if you haven't got a chance to visit our many offshore islands yet, this is a good opportunity. There are also colorful images of flora and fauna from our corals, mangroves and shores! Of course, we definitely can't travel back in time so even for monkeys like me, it was refreshing and enlightening. The video is based on the 2003 NSS publications of the same title, "Singapore Waters: Unveiling our seas". I'd say it's definitely worth the 10 minutes 39 seconds of your time.

We could definitely do with more of these videos of our local marine (and terrestrial) life! Last year, WildFilms also produced a 10 minute video sampler. We need more, more, more!

Related Reads:
"Singapore Waters now on YouTube", Wild Shores Blog, 28 Nov 08

Climate change events

2008-11-27T18:23:00.004+08:00

Nothing to do with the events but I always wanted to post this photo for what I think of when I hear the words "climate change" - coast, energy and activism.

Within the short span of a day, received notifications about two events with regards to climate change. The first is a climate change essay competition and another is a lecture on climate change issues that almost sounds like a reference for the essay competition! What a coincidence *beam*

1) Climate Change Essay Competition

Theme: Climate Change: Implications for Singapore

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that anthropogenic climate change is now unequivocal, citing evidence from rising global average sea levels, global average air and ocean temperatures and widespread melting of snow and ice. In response to the IPCC scientific consensus on climate change, Singapore released its National Climate Change Strategy in late Feb 2008 to address various aspects of climate change from vulnerability, adaptation, mitigation and competency building to international participation. At the same time, the government announced the formation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development to formulate a clear, national framework and strategy for Singapore’s sustainable development in the context of emerging global and domestic challenges, especially if the current international negotiations on climate change culminate in a post-2012 agreement that results in a carbon constrained world.

As a small island state, Singapore faces several domestic constraints including limited natural resources, geographical constraints which prevent the effective deployment of renewable energy, and an open economy that relies heavily on fossil fuels. Given these domestic challenges and that international negotiations on climate change are still evolving, what are the implications for Singapore’s economy, governance and society?

NUS Office of Environmental Sustainability and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy cordially invite you to take part in our climate change essay competition. We are seeking essays that:

a. Critically assess and provide insights to Singapore’s climate change policy.

b. Provide innovative solutions that address both the global climate challenge and the country’s domestic concerns.

Eligibility
All students studying at Singapore’s tertiary institutions (universities and polytechnics) are eligible to apply for the competition.

Requirements
All essays should not exceed 2000 words (excluding tables, charts and references) and should be accompanied by a 200 word abstract (included in word count). Each essay can have up to 3 authors. Essays should observe 1.5 spacing and Times New Roman font size 12. Normal academic standards regarding footnotes, references, etc. apply.

Awards
1st prize: cash prize of S$1000 and certificate
2nd prize: cash prize of S$500 and certificate
3RD prize: cash prize of $300 and certificate

The top 3 winners of the competition will present at the National Sustainability Conference 2009 on 20, 21 and 22 February, which is hosted by NUS President (Designate), Professor Tan Chorh Chuan. Essays will be judged by two professors from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Submission
The deadline for submission is 16 January 2009. Send a softcopy addressed to Mr Loo Deliang at oesld@nus.edu.sg. Please provide authors’ names, institution of study, email addresses and contact details.

2) British High Commission : Distinguished Visitors Lecture
Date: 10 December 2008, Wednesday
Time: 4.30-6.30pm
Venue: Eden Hall, 28 Nassim Road, Singapore

RSVP by return of email (evelyn dot gui at fco dot gov dot uk) by 4 December 2008

Dr Kala Vairavamoorthy, University of Birmingham
on "Global Climate Change & Its Impact on Urban Water Management"

Dr Kalanithi Vairavamoorthy has a PhD in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering and an MSc in Environmental Engineering, both from Imperial College, University of London. His first degree is in Civil Engineering, from King's College London. He is also a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK). He is currently Chair of Water Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK and also holds a Chair appointment at UNESCO-IHE, and at the Technical University of Delft in the Water Management Group. In addition, Professor Vairavamoorthy is the Scientific Director of SWITCH, an EU Integrated Project for Sustainable Urban Water Management, worth €25 million. SWITCH is one of the largest EU research projects in the area of water, involving a consortium of 32 international partners with 40 PhD studies, 10 study sites and 9 demonstration cities.

Dr Martin Todd, University College London
on "Predicting the Impacts of Climate Change: What are the Uncertainties?"

Dr Martin Todd has been a Lecturer in the Department of Geography at University College London (UCL) since 2000. Prior to this, he lectured at St John's College, Oxford after a 4-year stint as Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at Bristol University, where he obtained his PhD in 1993. Recent research activities include QUEST (Quantifying the Earth System) project - a collaboration between several UK institutions on climate change and its impacts, as well as the EU WERRD (Water & Ecosystem Resources in Regional Development) programme, studying impacts on several river basins of the world. Dr Todd has also participated in a UK biodiversity conservation project 'Darwin Initiative', and a climate modelling research which looked at major dust storms over Chad, Africa.

Upcoming The Leafmonkey Workshop Events

2008-11-21T15:01:00.012+08:00

After the success of the last workshop on echinoderms, there are now 3 more workshops planned for the coming months. What more, now you can sign up for all 3 workshops via 1 easy form. All interested are welcome to join us! Remember, pre-registration is a must :) Read Workshops FAQ.

5 Dec 2008 . 7pm - 10pm
The Easy (Not Hard) Cnidarians Workshop

9 Jan 2009 . 7pm - 10pm
The Hard (Not Soft) Cnidarians Workshop

6 Feb 2009 . 7pm - 10pm
The Fishy Workshop

REGISTER NOW!

We now also have our very own mailing list where you can sign up to receive updates and announcements via email. Originally I intended it to be for the midnight monkey monitor but there really isn't much I can share. Now, I really have things to share with every one and hopefully every one remotely interested would subscribe to the mailing list. TLW is expanding. We are not just going to be doing workshops but there is more in the works. Stay informed, subscribe to the list! To do so, you can either visit our google group or simply enter your email in the sign up box on the right sidebar of this blog.

You can still join our Facebook Page as a fan to receive updates on upcoming workshops and events!

Toddycats at NUS Animal Welfare Exhibition

2008-11-03T11:42:00.002+08:00

The toddycats are hard at work at the NUS central library. Not exactly the best time to grab the attention of exam-focused undergrads but the toddycats are not deterred! Soon we started getting people's attention with our famous dugong baby and pangy the pangolin, Hamsa's baby. Even the contract cleaner uncle wasn't spared! *grin*

Upcoming Workshops by The Leafmonkey Workshop

2008-10-30T19:47:00.013+08:00

The Leafmonkey Workshop (TLW), my latest "job" and project is essentially an effort at filling in the gap in the local nature community by providing "capacity building" for nature guides and volunteers. As such, we have organized an series of upcoming monthly workshops that hope to provide further content training as well as how to effectively share these information with ordinary people. All interested are welcome to join us! Remember, pre-registration is a must :) Read Workshops FAQ

7 Nov 2008 . 7pm - 9.30pm
The "Star-Studded" Echinoderm Workshop

5 Dec 2008 . 7pm - 9.30pm
The Easy (Not Hard) Cnidarians Workshop

Best of all, remember to join our Facebook Page as a fan to receive updates on upcoming workshops and events!

Lake Titicaca

2008-10-02T19:33:00.006+08:00

A little animaniac video to give you an idea where I am. Thanks to Ivan for the link!

I would like to blog more but internet connection is sketchy in my hotel room at Lake Titicaca so I have to sit at my room door which is superbly embarrassing. That's actually where I am right now, writing this. To add to it, I suffered from pretty bad altitude sickness yesterday and missed the first day of introductions. Lake titicaca is at 3,800m above sea level and this monkey is still a tropical equatorial lowland monkey after all. It wasn't so bad at the Himalayas but I got a jab from the medics to stop the nausea after I puked. Having sinusitis blocked nose doesn't help since I have difficulty drawing in the already thin air into my lungs. Nonetheless, this morning the possibly jetlagged monkey woke up at 5am, caught the sunrise and feel a lot better. Birds singing, fishes swarming the surface of the lake and lil boats on the lake with fishermen waiting for catch really made my day! I was so inspired I even wrote the speech that Singapore delegates supposed to give on Sunday. Can't wait for the day to really start.

View of sunrise over lake titicaca from my hotel room.

View of lake titicaca from my room in the day time

En route Peru

2008-09-29T16:29:00.003+08:00

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

The holiday is over and work is starting. I will try to blog daily about the APEC Youth Camp in Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru. Representing Singapore is Deliang and myself. Deliang is from the NUS Campus Sustainability Committee. First met him while working on the Green Carnival. He was with the NUSSU SAVE and now he's a staff working full time on environmental education and other climate change projects on campus. What a great job! :)

Singapore will be hosting APEC in 2009 and this is indeed a good time to be representing Singapore. I'm honored to be part of this process. Until then... Hasta la vista en Peru!

Update @ 9:06am +8GMT 30 Sep
I am currently at New York JFK Airport waiting for my flight to Peru.

Going to Peru 1-6 Oct

2008-09-17T13:48:00.005+08:00

Reed boats Harboured at Floating Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru by Pet_r

Last friday I got a phone call out of the blue from the National Youth Council. They would like to nominate me to go to Peru to attend an APEC Youth Camp from 1 to 6 October and asked if I was interested. Despite the logistical nightmare of managing going to Japan and then Peru, I decided to agree because as so many has said, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The camp is on sustainable development and water issues, attended by youths from various APEC economies. What more, next year, Singapore is hosting APEC and I will get a chance to organize an equivalent event i Singapore which r0x0r mah b0x0rs!

In order to attend, I had to write a 1500 words essay on water issues and so I wrote about where Singapore can take its next step in water management and building a "water culture". If you're interested, you can read my essay here.

So on 29 September, I will be flying direct from Narita Airport to Lima, Peru. Less connections, less fuel consumed or so I console myself. The camp venue is at lake titicaca in Peru which borders Bolivia. It is supposed to be an example of well managed water resource in the country. Pictures of it reminds me of a surreal version of a "coastal" indo-china up in the mountains 4000m above sea level. If I have internet connection in Puno, Lima, I will update the blogs with happenings at the camp.

Help needed to identify the sea monster

2008-09-10T10:15:00.004+08:00

Could somebody familiar with these maritime industrial monstrosities out at sea please help to identify what this might be? So what is this yellow monster used for? We know it's not a dredger. And it seems to be transported somewhere (to Sembawang or Pasir Gudang perhaps)? Or was it something you use at sea? So many questions, hardly any answers at all. Would some wise maritime guru please advice?

This photo was taken from Pulau Ubin on Saturday 6 Sep 2008.

For scale, we have a tiny (in comparison) container ship on the left of the monster.

And for further scale comparison, this is how a human (that speck of dust over there) compares to a container ship!

Monkey on ST Digital Life

2008-08-20T23:45:00.007+08:00

"Enjoy Tech the Eco Way"
Be a techie and still save the earth; THAM YUEN-C gets tips from two greenies
Straits Times Digital Life
20 Aug 08

Read the full article here.

A few days ago, Ria emailed me saying that Digital Life is interested in doing an article about how to be "green" with tech-related lifestyle. I thought that apart from talking about the usual "save electricity, reduce carbon footprint" spiel, I can talk more about what we have been using technology for in terms of "eco social media". I just want to clarify that my quote was edited and "advocating conservation and environmentalism" can be fun too! Here are some fun things that didn't manage to get fitted into the tiny newspaper column!

1. Reduce your carbon footprint
Well the most basic of being "green" is to reduce your carbon footprint. That's the buzzword in this globalized world these days. How can we do that? Switch off your gadgets, blah blah blah. But how about less gadget upgrading? It just wasn't possible to include this in press as all their advertisers would be quite upset. Honestly I've resisted upgrading my phone for the last 5 years. And trust me, it takes a lot of effort! Resist resist. resist the iphone. resist a pda phone. resisted the nokia n-series with GPS! It's not easy but it's healthier. When they say I have a long list of gadgets, I meant I travel with all of those (except PC) perpetually. Not forgetting peripherals! How do I make sure I don't die from overexposure to electromagnetic frequencies?

2. Get away from your computer more often!
Go out and be with nature more. If you have followed my "lights out" project, I really tried doing that. Lights out is not just about switching things off but reacquainting yourself with life away from gadgets. I don't sit in the dark. I go out and be with nature, be with family, friends and people instead of sitting in the dark! Savor the sweet scent of tembusu as it blooms in the dark. Listen to the hooting of the resident owl beside my office. Chat with friends! Read a book at a library. You get the idea! Very fun one. Confirm, guarantee plus chop!

3. Offset your carbon footprint.
If you cannot reduce your carbon footprint, offset with something more meaningful! I've mentioned this in the article but the idea is that since you are using the gadgets already, use it for something meaningful that will help to do something that will offset the gadget's consumption footprint! There are of course so many ways to do it. :) But please don't just try to buy your way out of this. I think there are many more meaningful and actual tangible ways we can do it. Sometimes we do it without even knowing. For example, by clicking or passing on a message in facebook re: environment, like telling your friend about the I want to go Cyrene Reef facebook group, you are doing something indirectly for the environment!

4. Be self-reflexive!
Interestingly, in a recent AAG Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group mailing list, an academic pointed out to the group that if all of us are studying about environmental issues, what are we doing ourselves to offset or reduce the carbon footprint of our own research's travel? We jet around the world to do fieldwork but think of the fuel consumption! It's really important to be reflexive and it was just great to hear that from professors :)

5. Make the most of what you have!
If you read the full article, Hang Chong said something really true too. With gadgets comprising of more tools these days, you can have a universal machine that does everything. But as long as something works, it's good enough too! I constantly catch myself saying to others, "can use can liao lah!". For example, I have a very old nokia phone that doesn't even have a built in camera! But it has GPRS and I can surf twitter on it! I bring my laptop almost everywhere and can use it to skype and call people even when I forgot to bring my phone! Yes it's heavy but one laptop means less gadgets!

6. Embrace the concept of Sharing.
Recently I am in need of a 3G phone to use in Japan when I visit in September. But instead of succumbing to the temptation of buying a new iphone, I decided to crowdsource for a phone to borrow. I posted on twitter and facebook asking if anybody has a spare 3G phone to lend me and voila! Reply within the day. This is great! Playing with gadgets without increasing the footprint. Sharing also includes ride-sharing, carpooling, etc. And the good part? You get to make more friends and appreciate your existing friends more :)

7. Engage your friends!
I must say that I really have a lot of friend "advocating conservation and environmentalism. The so-called "spending a lot of my time online is for spreading the message" include, for example, writing this blog post! Or posting a link on facebook, or chatting with people about it! Actually devising ways to "harness" social media for environment is challenging and fun. But the best is really engaging people. Starting conversations and getting discussions going on twitter when I saw otters was more fun than just the satisfaction of knowing the "message was passed". I enjoy reading the replies from twitter followers whenever I talk about what green things I have (or have not!) been doing.

Remember, it's not just about the environment. It's really about the people.

Geographers and their (cyber)space

2008-08-16T21:58:00.004+08:00

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

A new blog is born! Geographers and their (cyber)space (http://blog.nus.edu.sg/geography/) is a product of persistence and a tad of prodding from Kenneth Pinto and his wonderful efforts at CIT with the new NUS Blogs. Yes, if you are from NUS, you can actually get your own blog (academic related of course) hosted on http://blog.nus.edu.sg

To quote the blog's about page:

"This site aims to feature the research, publication, presentations, seminars, modules, fieldwork and other news of, on and by the postgraduates in the NUS Department of Geography. Hopefully in the near and eventual future, the site will be able to include the work by other researchers and faculty in the department as well."

So far I have managed to "recruit" 2 other contributors. Looking forward to a productive time on this blog.

Meanwhile, this leafmonkey has been listed on the links for GE2221, Nature and Society IVLE page! So if any students are reading this, Hello!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Speaking of new blogs, Ria of WildSingapore has a new blog (http://wildshores.blogspot.com/)! Looking very snazzy and elegant a the same time. From HTML to RSS and XML all in the span of one year. Congrags to Ria for moving on the a new level of expertise in blog/web designing in our ever evolving technoworld! She's definitely surpassed mediocre me. Kudos!

Media Socialists at the Social Media Breakfast

2008-08-16T11:25:00.008+08:00

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

[blogging LIVE!] The media socialists are here! This is the 3rd social media breakfast hosted at the ACM!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

They even serve pink drinks for the green monkey.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

And of course animal friends are here too! Lest animals feel that I forget them.

[Afterthoughts] There was supposed to be an agenda regarding bloggers and marketing but somehow that didn't come to pass. We managed to get a free tour of the vietnam exhibition at ACM and the little red books on display from Chairman Mao's post-cultural revolution era fervor. At points I wonder if I'm no different from the propaganda which calls for "learned youths to be one with the proletariat farmers". Isn't that what I advocate too? haha oops.

Back to the breakfast. I definitely don't recommend it for the unsociable monkeys out there. We were too busy just socializing with ourselves. Going as far as to skype with kevin (theoryisthereason) and giving him a spin of the venue before my battery died. I met a very interesting girl, emily and a TODAY reporter, alicia who turns out to be a recent CNM graduate with mutual friends. On top of that, I finally met uniquefrequency in person and saw some other twitter followers of mine. Somehow, I'm often greeted with "ohhh you the environmentalist". Well I definitely show more diversity than that on twitter! It was interesting none the less. Lots of cam-whoring going on as you can see. Well I did talk a lil bit about social media and its use for the environment, after all that is my specialty. Seriously milling about a journal article on that but currently constipated.

It was kind of sad that the agenda didn't take off. I was getting a little obnoxious with my constant asking of "so what happened to the agenda". Alas, ignored. As should be of course. As kenneth (acroamatic) mentioned, I'm not too good with PR :P There is only so far a monkey will go to be polite and politically correct. But one of the reason why I went was to check out this local social media scene and also to support NHB's valiant effort at hosting the event! It was a big move from a government stat board. In fact, Walter (coolinsights) announced that there will be a new position open in his department called social media marketer! That would be most awesome. In his word, probably the first of its kind in Singapore.

Starry Starry National Day

2008-08-09T23:43:00.007+08:00

I saw stars all weekend. Knobbly sea stars that is!

Blythe adopted a star and named it Star! Photo by Budak

For IYOR 2008 Singapore's launch at the Botany Center this friday and saturday, I was coordinating the booth for Be a Star: Adopt a Star. 100 stars from Cyrene Reef were up for adoption! No, you don't get to bring the star home but the star trackers will keep you updated every time they spot your star on Cyrene Reef! In fact, they will even email you the updates on your star and there will be individual blog posts up on their site - one for each named star! There's a patrick (as in spongebob's friend), dutchie, little strange and lots more! 25 in total were adopted and named :) The money goes to funding the Reef Celebration event as well the as the publishing of a Blue Plan by the International Year of the Reef committee. The money does not go to NHC or Star Trackers or me(!) but to the IYOR and Marine Rountable. We were lucky to collect a total of $1267 in donations for these stars.

Sijie [right] of Star Trackers with a young adopter, Nurul, naming her star! Photo by Chee Kong. Thanks for all your hard work Sijie and Chee Kong!

Really special thanks to the star trackers for doing so much for the event as well as for the studies of the stars! Although the money donated does not go to the star tracker but they pledge to do all the hard work to ensure that all adopters continue to have a relationship with their adopted star. It is such a great program. They should most definitely consider making this a permanent part of their program.

Hantu Bloggers adopted Bibi! Photo by Budak

Did you know that each of these knobblies are actually unique? You can tell them apart by the configuration of their chocolate chips (the knobs on their surface)! It's kind of like our fingerprints and the markings on whale sharks and tail flutes for whales. It's all really cool!

The irony about having a seastar as a best friend for a sponge is that, sea stars eat sponges! *grin* These are just some trivia I learnt while having to "sell" these sea stars. I didn't know anything before but after explaining for 2 days how baby sea stars come into being and all other sea star trivia, I now know that there is no such thing as a starfish! A starfish is not a fish. It's a star! Thus we call them sea stars.

Staff from Surbana (the development company!) adopted a star too! Photo by Budak

It was also very exciting that I got my niece and nephew to visit me at the IYOR event! It was the first time they got to see me at work. They also love the nudibranch and coloring all kinds of rainbow colors on the nudis. Of course my niece's strong resemblance to her aunt also caused certain commotion. It was good to share one's work with family.

If you are interested in adopting a sea star as well, we are considering offering the possibility of adoption even after this event. Originally it was for this event only but because of requests from public, we may consider extending it. Please leave a comment if you would consider adopting and support the idea of us offering adoption online. If you want to know more about the adoption, where the money goes to and what you receive, read the full article.

To explain a little more about what the adoption is about, I'm reproducing the little "speech" I gave during the launch to introduce the program. After hearing the "speech", we got a queue at the booth to adopt! The next 15 minutes, we got 8 stars adopted! It was amazing. I must have said something right... so here goes!

"One of the special activities at IYOR 2008 Singapore’s launch is the “Be a star: adopt a Star” program. 100 unique stars living on Singapore’s Cyrene Reef off our southern shores are up for adoption. Each knobbly sea star is a uniquely Singapore star. Every individual has a unique number and arrangement of knobs on it which works like our finger print. While you may not be able to bring these sea stars home, you could be helping to conserve its home through supporting the marine conservation efforts here at our home.

The Knobbly Sea Star is listed as a locally endangered animal in Singapore’s Red Data Book as many of its habitats here are rapidly disappearing. Cyrene Reef is one of the last remaining marine habitats for the Knobbly Sea Star. This habitat may be the only sustainable population of knobbly sea stars left in Singapore today.

We hope that through adopting and naming these Knobbly sea stars, more Singaporeans will come to care for our shores. Hopefully these sea stars will no longer be mere statistics in our books. This is also an excellent opportunity for Singaporeans like you and me to share our hopes and wishes for these stars as well as Singapore’s reefs.

Thus to help us kick off this activity as well as to launch International Year of the Reef 2008, we would like to invite Professor ~~Tommy Koh~~Chou Loke Ming, up on stage again, to name the first star for Singapore. Professor ~~Koh~~Chou please."

Unfortunately Prof Tommy Koh couldn't make it. But it's ok, one prof for another prof!

Cyrene Star Adopters also receive a Star Kit containing:
- A limited video CD by ASEAN waters (while stocks last)
- A NatureWatch magazine featuring IYOR (while stocks last)
- An eco-friendly bag (while stocks last)
- A Reef Celebration badge (while stock last)
- A Reef Celebration sticker
- A Southern Shores guidesheet
- A Singapore Shores information sheet
- An electronic (paper free!) adoption pack which includes
(1) an adoption certificate with biodata of your adopted star,
(2) a photo of you and the star you named as well as,
(3) information on Cyrene Reef and Knobbly Sea Stars (Protoreaster nodosus) sent to your designated email. Whenever the star is spotted in the wild again, updates will also be emailed to them as well as updated on the Star Trackers blog.

Sharing session with science teachers

2008-08-01T09:45:00.007+08:00

Living together with Nature

view presentation (tags: biomimicry food environment nature)

About a month or so ago, a very nice rep from the publishers Marshall Cavendish contacted the leafmonkey via this blog. They asked if I would talk to a group of science teachers about how science is applicable in our daily lives. The publisher gave me a list of science textbook content that I may be able to apply to my presentation since my talk is suppose to correspond and complement the syllabus. The talk's objective is to help science teachers, give them ideas on how to make class more interesting. I think. The talk before mine is by a forensic pathologist! How cool. I've been overdosing myself on CSI in Cameron since one of the only channels we get is AXN.

Anywho, I got ideas from various friends (mainly Ria, thanks! the whole first section is courtesy of Ria's creative juices) and finally decided to try to do everything - as greedy as I usually am.

I organized my talk in 3 parts - learning about nature (using interesting analogies from daily lives), learning from nature (how we can find nature in daily life - ripped from the talk I give the biomimicry class) and finally, living together with nature. The last part is so huge but I've decided to talk about how our daily life affects the environment and specifically, a debut of my freshly experienced research data. Seeing as how I just arrived back from the ~~field~~ highlands less than 12 hours ago, this is really fresh off the oven.

Right after finishing my slides a few minutes ago, I suddenly got gripped with fear. After all, these are science teachers that I will be speaking with. What more, there will be ONE HUNDRED (100) of them! *gulp* I will be talking about biological functions when I've never ever taken biology (except for a general biology module) and last time I studied science was at 16! I will be sure to disclaim in the beginning that what I speak is from field experience, from guiding... and of course, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. We're all about sharing and exchanging right?

Having said that, do share and comment on my slides. Let me know what you think and if you can think of more interesting analogies, do share. If you're wondering at the lack of text from the 3rd section of my talk, it's because no time to really flesh it out. I've included it in the notes but I doubt slideshare allows people to access that. Sorry, download not available. Apologies and thanks to the people (and animal friends) whose photos I ~~ripped~~used.

And yes, I recycled slide template. ack. Meanwhile, I shall try to make an attempt to take photos and blog my experience after the talk. Hopefully I'm not too smashed by the end of the day from lack of sleep!

Away for the crunch

2008-07-31T19:18:00.001+08:00

Dear Readers,

As many of you may know, I am in the midst of my Master Candidature and I am desperately in need of time off to focus on my research. I may still post as and when but for now, it's off to work hard on my vegetables. If you want to know more, you can read my research blog. Meantime, I will be writing less here for the next 4 months till mid August when I return from my field work.

Until then, keep an eye and ear out and be that voice for nature :)

Update on 31 Jul 08: I'm back! For good. For now... I miss Cameron Highlands already :(

New target for the next Earth Hour?

2008-07-21T22:42:00.002+08:00

I finally visited the KLCC-Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur for the first time yesterday. The brightly lit building lights up the entire skyline of KL. Then it suddenly hit me that the twins will probably be the best target for the next Earth Hour. Wonder if anybody in Malaysia would try to achieve that?

Greetings from Cameron Highlands

2008-06-28T11:26:00.005+08:00

2 weeks into my research in Cameron Highlands on food production amidst rising fuel prices and concern about food shortage. This is really a very critical time when fertilizer cost are rising and food production costs are rising. At the same time, there are also lots of reports in the Malaysian media about illegal clearing of forests for farms and landslides resulting from leaking pipes that farmers use to source for water from the forests to their farms, kilometers away. The leaking pipes led to the weakening of slopes, resulting in landslides and the further polluting of drinking water sources for whole towns.

Meanwhile, I'm learning more than ever in the field on how our food is produced, farmers' concerns and the reality of our consumption. But how real is consumer sovereignty and how do we see our ecological footprint in actual spaces? Why is there such a dearth of information on the consumer side of the equation? I continue my search for answers here for the next 32 days.

Errata in Straits Times, 21 Jun 08

2008-06-21T13:54:00.009+08:00

On 18 June 2008, I published on this blog the email interview I had with a reporter from Straits Times who wanted to feature some "green champions". Today, the article appeared and I am sad to say that there are some ~~serious~~ errata in the small section about me. The writer actually emailed me the draft on Thursday night but I was on my way at 2am to Kuala Lumpur to do vegetable delivery with a farmer. Thus, I did not see the draft nor had the opportunity to send in corrections until it was already published in today's newspaper.

Here's what was published on 21 June 2008 in Life!

Ms November Tan, 26, winner of the Bayer Young Environmentalist Award and HSBC National Youth Achievement Award

Ms November Tan began her love affair with nature when she was a child. She went for hikes with her parents and learnt about the environment she lives in.

Now 26, she is a nature guide on Pulau Ubin, taking groups around the island and teaching them about environmental conservation. She also trains new guides, and authors a blog about the island and its history.

The environmental warrior in her also initiated Toddycats Engage, a group of over 100 volunteers from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, which provides feedback to various government agencies and organisations on environmental issues.

'Every time I hear somebody come up to me saying that they felt inspired to do something for the environment, even if it's as simple as to stop using straws, I feel a sense of fulfilment.'

Errata:

First of all, Toddycats Engage only has about 10-20 members and was defunct after 4 meetings. ~~Yes, Toddycats had over 100 volunteers~~Toddycats has only 35 volunteers and 20 alumni today. Toddycats Engage was just a small project within the entire volunteer group! Apologies to all Toddycats for this. ~~I am deeply embarrassed by this.~~

If you read my original interview, I by no means implied this at all! I do not know where he got his information from. Furthermore, Toddycats Engage was a project from 2005 - 3 years ago! There is no mention of anything I do after 2005 which is even more disappointing! Thus, I also have to apologize to the Naked Hermit Crabs for this.

Finally, the Bayer award was called "Bayer Young Environmental Envoy" and not "Bayer Young Environmentalist". Again, sorry to the BYEE Alumni as well. Furthermore it's the HSBC / NYAA Youth Environment (Merit) Award.

~~I seem to have done no right to any of my groups. I'm sorry. :(~~ Sorry for the melodrama. I was rather upset when I wrote this. Thanks for all the comments!

See my original email interview responses.

Interview with Straits Times

2008-06-18T20:44:00.003+08:00

Few days ago, an email came by the mountain express to the monkey in the highlands. A reporter from straits times wanted to do a feature on "Green Champions" to appear possibly this Saturday.

Here is our email interview after the break. Warning: Pardon my long windedness at times!

(1) What do you to to conserve the environment?

I started volunteering actively for the NUS Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research volunteers (Toddycats!). Then I started as a Pedal Ubin (http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/activities/pedalubin/) guide and because of that I got in touch with my personal family heritage and history on Pulau Ubin and started a blog Pulau Ubin Stories (http://pulauubinstories.blogspot.com) that documents that stories and history of the island. I also was the project manager for the Hopea Sangal Education Program (http://changi.rafflesmuseum.net/). I was awarded the Bayer Youth Environmental Envoy 2004 for these works. Then in 2005 I got selected to represent Singapore in the Bayer Eco-Minds Awards. I am also a member of the NEA Young Environmental Envoy and I started working on exhibitions and public outreach with Toddycats. I started an initiative called Toddycats Engage which tried to generate constructive feedback and comments to various agencies and organizations about various environmental issues. In 2006 I was doing my thesis on Chek Jawa and I got to know many of the other key members of the conservation community and started working very closely with them. I volunteered as a Ubin Npark volunteer and joined the Naked Hermit Crabs in 2007. I became a shore guide on top of an Ubin guide. In 2008 I started The Leafmonkey Workshop (http://leafmonkeyworkshop.blogspot.com) to conduct training sessions for nature guides as well as to introduce various technology for more effective environmental awareness. I am also an active blogger and try to do environmental outreach through my blog and was highlighted by Blogger.com as being a Blog of Note last year. (http://leafmonkey.blogspot.com/) You can read more about this on my blog.

I focus mainly on outreach and awareness projects as well as "capacity building". I also give talks to share my personal experience in volunteering and greening personal lifestyles. I work very closely with most of the environmental groups in Singapore. I also work with the student environmental groups in NUS as well as the campus sustainability committee. I believe in networking resources for more effective conservation efforts.

(2) Why are you doing this (motivation)?

"A passion for the environment". When I was in my first year of university, I saw a poster that asked "Do you have a passion for the environment?" and I thought, yeah I did! And that's how I ended up joining the Toddycats.

(3) When did you start doing this, and how did it all start?

Prior to the Toddycats, I already started being very interested in JC (1998-1999) during a talk by the vice president of Nature Society (Singapore), Shawn Lum. Back then I was inspired to try to initiate mangrove restoration projects and I also joined NSS as a volunteer but nothing really took root until 2003 when I entered NUS. How? When I saw the poster.

But the love for nature began as a child as my parents brought us for hikes in the forest and romp at botanic gardens on weekends. My love for plants and animals had long manifested since I was young.

(4) How long have you been doing this, and have you won any awards thus far?

I would say that I have been doing this since December 2003 and never stopped. awards mentioned above.

After the Bayer Eco Mind, I got the HSBC NYAA Award and several NUS Student Achivement Awards

(5) What would you say are your key achievements in this area of environmental work (anything you're particularly proud of)?

it's a work in progress. I'm a perfectionist, I constantly feel that I haven't done enough. But key achievements are generally highlighted above. I do a lot of miscellaneous stuff that I haven't mentioned. I am quite proud of the fact I got highlighted by blogger.com as a sort of pseudo international recognition. It helped spread the word more and that made me very encouraged to continue my work.

(6) Do you find this cause fulfilling? Why?

Absolutely. Every time I hear somebody come up to me saying that they felt inspired to do something for the environment, even if it's as simple as to stop using straws, I feel a sense of fulfillment.

(7) Are there any difficulties which you've faced along the road (eg sacrifices, juggling pursuit of work/education and env cause, ridicule from others)?

http://leafmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/03/its-not-easy-being-green.html

(8) How did you surmount these difficulties?

http://leafmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/03/its-not-easy-being-green.html
Not giving up. Talking to others, exchanging notes, encouraging each other, knowing that we made a different, hearing little encouragements from people we guide or people who felt inspired by us always always helps gives me enough burst of energy to last quite a while. Discouraging comments dampens the spirit but small lil encouragements go a long long way. This is why we try to advocate giving constructive feedback and positive comments whenever possible. Too little good news out there that people forget that there are actually a lot of positive things out there. And people doing good work need a lil pat on the back to affirm their work and to give them motivations to continue on with their work. A deserving compliment goes a long way. People tend to only complain about negative things and forget to give praise to the things they like about the things around them. Only when it's gone then they complain. To preempt that, we need to remind people of the positive things there to show that they are very much appreciated.

(9) Is there any person/people who has/have been a constant source of support, or perhaps someone who has inspired you?

Ria Tan.
www.wildsingapore.com
www.wildsingapore.com/riablog/people/ria.htm

N. Sivasothi
habitatnews.nus.edu.sg
www.wildsingapore.com/riablog/people/siva.htm

They are my mentor and friend. Definitely inspired me countless time. I work closely with both of them.

(10) Do you have any message you'd like to send to readers/the general public?

Everyone makes a difference. Every little action counts. Each thing you do goes a long way. Remember to appreciate the good thing around you. Explore - get to know your backyard, get to know Singapore and all the wildplaces you never thought exist in Singapore. Express - be a voice for nature, share with others what you saw. Act - volunteer, go one step further and put words to action.

Volunteer Opportunities

2008-06-14T23:57:00.000+08:00

Monkey says: "Dear Readers, This is a call for volunteers for my ongoing Masters research project. Cheers, November"

Volunteers are needed to help out in an ongoing academic research project on the impact of Singapore’s food consumption on the environment in Malaysia. This is done through understanding why and how farmers decide whether or not to adopt sustainable agricultural practices – whether through government legislation, consumer demand or other environmental factors.

There are two different components of the research that requires volunteers:

1) Consumer Survey in Singapore
Update @ 8 May: Still urgently in need of volunteers!
A maximum of 50 volunteers are needed to conduct surveys with consumers in Singapore at supermarkets and wet markets. Each volunteer needs to survey a minimum of 20 respondents at their own time and schedule. The survey can be conducted anytime between May to October 2008. Briefing and training will be conducted for all volunteers. Volunteers are most welcomed in assisting with the compiling of these data. Please indicate when signing up!

2) Field assistants in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
No more vacancies. Thank you for all your interests.
Farm observations and interviews with farmers in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia will be conducted from June to August 2008. Volunteers get the opportunity to be involved with a university-level research project and get first hand experience doing fieldwork as well as getting to know more about how farms operate. Get to know where your food comes from. Volunteers are required to conduct farm observations and conduct rapid environmental assessment of the farms. Training will be provided. Volunteers do not have to stay for the full duration of the fieldwork. Preferably, you are able to stay for a minimum of 1 to 2 weeks at any time. Schedules are negotiable. Accommodation will be provided.

If you are interested or would like more details, please feel free to email

No Winners for May 08 Cyrene Contest

2008-05-19T18:16:00.002+08:00

Dear Cyrene Fans,

The deadlines for the "Let's go to Cyrene Reef" Blogging Contest is now closed. Unfortunately, not a single one of you mad-about-cyrene folks submitted an entry. There are only limited trips each month and only on certain months of the year. If you miss your chance now, you may not get another chance!

Many of you have written asking if you really must write something. Well, it's hard for us to decide who to give the seats to if we do not have something to gauge by. If you cannot afford the cost of the boat ride then perhaps you should just mention this to us. No time to write something or don't have a blog? Well there is always Facebook Notes or even just take a video of yourself on a webcam and tell us in person why you want to go to Cyrene. The possibilities and endless.

Perhaps the amount of time was too short or the dates not suitable for you? Well, not to worry. There is yet another chance in June.

Date: 23 Jun (Mon)
Time: 0700-1000

Now you have one month to prepare for your submission. The earlier you do it the better chance you have! In fact, if you're the only submission to the contest, the chances of you winning is even higher.

So what are you waiting for? Apply for leave, write your post, and email it to !

For contest details, read the rules here.

“Let’s go to Cyrene Reef” blogging contest

2008-05-14T11:43:00.003+08:00

"Want to go to Cyrene Reef? Now is your chance!

In conjunction with the "I want to go Cyrene Reef" Facebook Group, the Naked Hermit Crabs (http://nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com) will be organizing several working trips to Cyrene Reef in the coming months and 2 lucky persons will get a chance to join us on these trips.

All you need to do is to write a blog post on why you want to go to Cyrene Reef and the 2 best essays each month will be given the opportunity to join the trips to Cyrene.

Be warned that going to Cyrene Reef is no easy feat. There is no jetty and amphibious landing is required. That means that you will actually get your feet (and legs!) wet. The walk is long and may be strenuous to some. The boat to Cyrene cost $800 per trip and can only take up to 14 persons each time. Space is precious and highly coveted. The subsidized cost for each passenger is $46/pax. If you think you deserve to visit Cyrene free of charge, convince us! Let us know how you would like to contribute to Cyrene and we might just sponsor your trip for free.

But first of all, convince us that you deserve one of the coveted spots on the boat to Cyrene. This is what you need to do:

1) WRITE (or any other forms of creative expression) about Cyrene Reef and/or why you want to go to Cyrene Reef. If you wish to have your trip fully subsidized, remember to convince us in your submission.
2) PUBLISH your masterpiece on any means of publication online
3) SUBMIT your entry to us at
4) Remember to include in your email:
a. Name
b. Email
c. Contact Number
d. Website URL of where we can view your submission
e. Whether you available on 23 May 2008, 6am
f. Please indicate if you are above 21 years of age, are able bodied, fit and used to being outdoors, e.g., you have hiked, biked, done long nature walks.

Winners will be decided loosely based on the following criteria:
1) Creativity
2) Persuasiveness
3) Contribution to Cyrene Reef
4) Audience size
5) Ability to actually attend the trip!

For those who worry that they cannot write well, feel free to convince us by how you can contribute / help / act for Cyrene Reef.

Submissions are now open for the trip to Cyrene on 23 May 2008. If you think you can wake up at the wee hours of the morning at 6am, join us! Write in now!

Closing date: 18 May 2008, Sunday, 2359hrs
Winners will be announced on 19 May 2008, Monday, 1500hrs

TICE Eco Camp and May Day Dugong Ambassador

2008-05-12T23:26:00.007+08:00

Monkey has been busy. Despite having to grade papers, complete my independent study module essay, organize a end of semester grad party and coordinating a million things, I found time to give a talk at the TICE Eco Camp last Saturday, 10 May 2008.

It was a busy day for me. I finished the slides at 5am, arrive at the presentation at 9.30am, finished the talk at 11am, walked to the National Youth Environment Forum at 11.30am, left at 2.15pm for the talk on History of Singapore at National Museum of Singapore then back to NYEF at 4.30pm for the round up. Finally rounded the day with a nice wholesome dinner at Food for Thought, my absolute favourite restaurant for now. Nothing beats supporting a social enterprise.

On Sunday, mother surprised me with a sighting of this rambling leafmonkey on Lianhe Zaobao. Apparently the news article of the May Day Dugong Ambassador outreach at Chek Jawa finally came out!

Excerpt on Naked Hermit Crab and me.

The full article. Click for full size.

Well today has been full of surprises. When I went to interview somebody for the religion project today, turned out that the person attended the TICE eco camp and I realized that I forgot to talk more about the groups I am involved in (NHC and Toddycats). Ah well, we had a nice chat about that. In fact I saw many familiar faces at the talk - Gaytri from NHC and Yi Han from SAVE. I heard many SAVE members were there that day. Hope I managed to actually share some new ideas with everybody. I know how tiring it is to hear the same thing all the time.

A few hours ago, I returned home to find several comments on my blog from participants who attended my talk. Thank you all so much for the encouraging comments! I really appreciate it. One of the participants blogged about the camp and was very insightful. That is something we all need to be - being critical. Do ask me any question you want and give me any and all brutal feedback to help me improve. Thank you!

Greening our lives

2008-05-10T05:41:00.002+08:00

| View | Upload your own

Giving a talk at the TICE eco camp later today and just finished the slides! It's been a hectic week but I'm glad I completed all my work. I'm no good to anyone if I can't finish my work.

The theme of the camp is recycling but I thought I'll offer a more holistic overview to recycling and "greening" out lifestyles in general. It sounds cliche to be talking about the 3Rs but I guess it has certain value in it. At least for beginners, it's a start!

Magical Wonderland Cyrene

2008-05-08T19:22:00.009+08:00

Truth be told, I'm a shore newbie. But after today's Cyrene baptism, I am proud to say that I've seen all manners of marine organism now.

As the sun rose over Cyrene, a new chapter of my life dawned. If my life was a book, the chapter would probably read "happy and exciting days". I've never seen so much, experienced so much, done so much all in 3 hours. Wearing my knees out was a mere pittance of a price to pay for such rich an experience.

I was tasked to walk around the perimeter of Cyrene today to map the outline of the patch reef. Along the way, I saw a stingray, possibly an eel and a dozen octopi that did not hesitate squirting in the water to warn the blind monkey that's about to step on their toes. I saw mushroom corals, giant boulder corals and all manner of color and size of soft corals bigger than my entirety. Meanwhile, a monkey was heard squealing and squeaking all the way from Bukom to Jurong Island.

I would never forget my first encounter with the stingray.

Monkey walk walk walk walk walk walk listening to the tiny beeps of her GPS receiver.

Suddenly, a flash of blue on the corner of her left eye.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK" squealed the Monkey

"EEEEEEEEEEEK" squeaked the stingray

Both ran off in opposite direction like headless chicken only to bump into yet more scarily big animals on the edge of the sea.

Sneaky reef crabs with threatening red eyes snapped away at my feet as Monkey leapt from rock to coral rubble. Eels and fishes dart away from the impending monkey foot of death. Nonetheless...

Perhaps it's because I had so many firsts on Cyrene in one morning that it's forever going down as the magical wonderland in my book.

Photos of Cyrene can be seen here.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Cyrene Carnival: Edition 3

This is yet another call for submission for Cyrene Blogging Carnival. The 3rd edition was supposed to be due last week but due to lack of submission, I was unable to find the time to hunt for blog posts floating out there.

Please do write about Cyrene and leave the link in my blog post or visit our Facebook Group "I want to go Cyrene Reef" and leave your blog post in the discussion boards.

Even if you have never been to Cyrene, do write about why you would like to go and you never know when you might get an invite from us to join us on our working trips!

Next time you eat Sharks Fin, think of Sherman

2008-05-06T19:59:00.008+08:00

Courtesy of the Sherman's Lagoon comics strip, thanks to Otterman for the alert!

If you do a search for dried sharks fin on alibaba.com you will find tons of listing from peru, mexico, united kingdom, sri lanka and even, yes, Singapore.

There is even an ongoing petition to alibaba.com to stop the distribution of sharks fin.

Related news:

Alibaba.com and Yahoo! Back Shark Fin Traders, Celsias, 28 Oct 2007
A Shark Conservation Message from the Cartoonist, Jim Toomey, Creator of Sherman's Lagoon, 2008
Sherman does NOT make for good Shark Fin Soup!! D:<, HeatHer LeacH, 22 Apr 2008
Sharkfin Scoop, 24 Mar 08
Sharks: Going, Going…..Soon to be Gone, ViceZilla, 18 Feb 08
Do you know this man? He profits from Shark Finning on a global level, ViceZilla, 29 Jun 07
Yahoo Buying 10% of Alibaba IPO, Expanding its Role in China, Search Engine Journal, 9 Oct 07
Of Yahoo and shark finning, Global by Design, 20 Nov 07
Sharks Circle China's Alibaba.com, BusinessWeek, 20 Jul 07
Alibaba and Yahoo, StopSharkFinning.Net

Cyrene: Desert Oasis in the Sea

2008-04-25T14:56:00.010+08:00

Cyrene Reef, 25 April 2008. More photos at flickr

I skipped on Sand

and I stomped through Seagrass

As I searched for Stars

Video: Monkey on Rouge TV

2008-04-21T21:34:00.002+08:00

For those who missed the screening on TV or who do not own a TV set at home (I know a few people), here's a very low quality recording of the program. Yes, it's low quality for a reason ;) So you cannot scrutinize our complexion on the close up shots of course! *grin*

Dialects spark new bonding

2008-04-21T13:23:00.004+08:00

Article in TODAY "Dialects spark new bonding" (21 Apr 2008) highlighted the debate regarding teaching dialect versus mandarin chinese in schools. Personally, I would have greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn dialect in school! I actually had to go all the way downtown, pay a school fee to learn Teochew last year! Even still, it was only once a week. Now I learnt that there are lessons for Hokkien too.

For people like me who are from mixed dialect families, and not having constant exposure to any one dialect, lessons are perfect. It really helps me become closer to my family, my heritage and my culture. I actually have to practice Teochew with my Teochew PhD colleagues from China. We spent the days exploring how the dialect has evolved and comparing notes between Hokkien and Teochew. I never realized how much the dialect groups in Singapore has truly integrated until I talk to them and find out the isolation amongst the different areas in China, even within a dialect group itself.

I lament the fact that I do not know my dialects better so I can better communicate with my grandparents' generation. When I went with Jen Lee to interview Mr Tan Hai Liang, I felt frustrated that I could understand but could not communicate my thoughts and questions with him. So frustrating! What more, with each passing day, these elderly treasures trove of knowledge and information is slipping away from us. Without the right communication tool, how can we possibly connect with them?

I wish more Singaporeans would learn dialects and stay in touch with their heritage. We have such a full and interesting history and heritage that really gives a boost to our identity. Likewise, for any other ethnic group, getting to know our roots and dialects of our people (and mind you, not only Chinese have dialects!) would really spark new bonding.

Dialects spark new bonding
By Lin Yanqin, TODAY
21 April 2008

For years, English and officially-termed "Mother Tongues" ruled the classrooms, while dialects — such as Hokkien or Hakka — languished at home, in private conversations, perhaps used occasionally when communicating with one's elderly grandparents and neighbours.

Such was the result of Singapore's decades-old policy of bilingualism — launched in 1966 — where dialects were banned from use on radio and television programmes, and the "Speak Mandarin" campaign was born to create a new generation of Singaporean-Chinese who speak a common second language: Mandarin.

But with dialects in danger of becoming a lost art and a younger generation unable to communicate with their grandparents, it looks like the time has come to break the long-time taboo against dialects and start introducing it in schools.

In fact, dialects are no longer being kept away from schools when once upon a time, it was felt that they impeded the learning of Mandarin — and are showing up in the form of enrichment modules and electives.

It was Member of Parliament (MP) Baey Yam Keng who floated the idea of teaching dialects as a third language during the Budget debates in March.

Schools, he said then, could play a bigger role in educating the youth about cultures he feared would someday "become an artefact in a museum".

Yesterday, he told Today: "I just think it's a waste if we don't make some effort to preserve dialects. They are a big part of Chinese culture, so to understand our own culture and roots and to promote it to other racial groups, you have to bring in dialects."

According to the Chinese Learning Lab chief executive Chua Chee Lay, who is writing a book on the impact of Singapore's language policy, dialects were "a big problem" for the Government in the '50s and '60s.

"There was no common language, so communication was a problem. And there were also gangs — people were divided because of language ideology," said Dr Chua.

To "clean up the mess", the "Speak Mandarin" campaign was introduced in 1979. "You can say it has been successful, because dialects are a dying language in Singapore," he said. "But with the creation of a common language, dialects are no longer a threat."

Agreeing, Mr Baey said: "A lot of youths nowadays might not even know what dialect groups they are from. I don't see a danger of baggage from the past reappearing."

Some schools have started introducing aspects of traditional Chinese culture, including dialects, as electives and enrichment modules for their students.

Such modules could be one-off, special activities for students, or yearly modules conducted over a week.

At SAP school Dunman High, third-year students take a module called "Pop Song Culture", where students are introduced to dialect pop songs in the 70s and 80s to learn about pop culture in different dialect groups. They also take an elective to the different flavours and food cultures from various dialect groups.

Even so, vice-principal Low Joo Hong was cautious about departing from the long-time emphasis on bilingualism. "I think it is a sensitive issue, because on one hand you want students to keep their roots, but you don't want to overplay dialects because in our history, it has become an issue when people become over-assertive about their own identity," he said.

And even as some argue that there is value in introducing dialects in schools as an enrichment activity, others question the value of doing so and whether it will interfere with learning Mandarin.

"Culturally, I see its importance, but in the overall scheme of things, is it useful," asked MP Chan Soo Sen. "I would leave it the student – if a student wants to take, then he should not be denied the opportunity," he added.

Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan secretary Baey Teng Mong, lamenting the low level of interest in dialects, said: "People see no economic value in it."

The Education Ministry's official line reiterates: "Mandarin is the unifying spoken language for Singaporean Chinese".

But Nanyang Girls' High School's (NYGH) dean of pupil development Teo Yong Hong had this take. "I personally see no conflict in teaching dialects and Chinese; it could even enliven their interest in Mandarin," she said, adding that students might find dialects useful when doing community service, as many elderly people have problems understanding Mandarin.

In that aspect, dialects would bond rather than divide, said Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan's Tan Kian Choo, chairman of the association's education committee.

"It helps the younger generation and the educated communicate with the older generation and the less educated. Among peers, it is a natural bond," he said. - TODAY/ra

Cyrene Carnival: Edition 1

2008-04-18T20:42:00.003+08:00

View Larger Map

I've always wanted to go to Cyrene. No, not the Cyrene in African Libya. No, this Cyrene is one of the largest patch reef in Singapore. Because it is a patch reef, it is usually underwater and unlike an island, which has a permanently exposed landmass, cyrene reef only revealed to us at super low tide when the reef becomes exposed. If you look at the map above, you might just be able to make out Cyrene Reef from satellite images. Do you see the color near the placemarker seems a bit murkier than the sea? It's not sedimentation! It's Cyrene!

As it has no land mass, it is difficult to access Cyrene Reef as there is no jetty for easy boat landing. Thus, every time any adventurous reef-loving soul wish to visit the reef, you either have to dive or wait for low tide and wade across water (or swim!) over to the reef! Boats are generally afraid of reefs as you never know when you might miss and collide with the reef when you try to land. Boats are known to shipwreck when they collide against hidden reefs like Cyrene. They are the icebergs in tropical seas except icebergs warn you in advance with its massive tips. As such, many reefs have been blasted away to make way for the safety of ships.

But I've heard so much about Cyrene. It's mysterious organisms like the deep sea creatures in thermal vents, Cyrene has its reputation for having a wonderful array of colours and life. It has a great diversity of seagrass species on top of the weird and wild of the marine world.

For this first edition of Cyrene Carnival on 18 April 2008, I'll leave it to the wonderful photos and words of others to spell out the beauty of Cyrene to you. Here are some of my favourites.

Talking about Cyrene
I often have to live vivaciously through the words and experience of others like the following lucky souls who have experienced the beauty of Cyrene and live to tell the tale!

IYOR08Singapore presents Cyrene Reef: a special reef in Singapore's port with a nice overview of the different biodiversity and habitats found at Cyrene with even connections of our Cyrene with the Cyrene in Libya, a Greek colony with nymph of a character just like ours!

Kok Sheng shares the spectacular sunrise from Cyrene! Hopefully I would get a chance to experience one of those for myself soon!

Chay Hoon presents an ode to Cyrene, a poem serenading the wonderful diversity of life teeming between a rock and a hard place.

Biodiversity of Cyrene
One of the things that have made Cyrene the Holy Grail of reefs for me (apart from Beting Bronok which I managed to visit!) is all the tales that great voyagers bring back from the reefs. Tales of wonderful and exotic creatures big and small.

Kok Sheng presents a run down on all the stars of cyrene! These aren't the starlets of Hollywood but the bright and colourful 5 armed stars of the seas. Sometimes they grow a few additional arms just for prosperity sake!

Budak spots a never before seen sea urchin in Singapore waters at Cyrene in En Pointe. Normally recorded in Malaysian waters, this is the first time this pointy little fella was recorded in Singapore waters!

Chay Hoon and the lucky team seagrass spots the "holy grail" of nudibranch that Wild Films have been searching for on our shores - the Melibe at Cyrene!!!! She even captured it swimming on video!

Threats at Cyrene

Cyrene is located between a rock and a hard place - between Jurong Island, our industrial island and Pulau Bukom, our oil refineries. It is also right below our shipping lane.

Wild Films presents Rock filling near Cyrene with holding area off Labrador Nature Reserve from an MPA notice with maps that highlights the precarious situation which Cyrene finds itself!

Upcoming Cyrene Carnival Editions

2008-04-16T02:16:00.005+08:00

#1 Apr 18, 2008
Host: Midnight Monkey Monitor
Theme: Introducing Cyrene Reef

#2 Apr 22, 2008
Host: Midnight Monkey Monitor
Theme: Earth Day Special - I wish to see Cyrene Reef

#3 Apr 27, 2008
Host: Annotated Budak
Theme: I saw Cyrene Reef

Join the Cyrene Blogging Carnival

2008-04-16T01:59:00.006+08:00

Cyrene Reef is an elusive nymph in our seas. A mysterious submerged reef in Singapore that only appears semi-diurnally, and only if you are lucky! Only at those moment do we get a rare glimpse of its amazing beauty.

What is rare is often also unknown, forgotten, forsaken. To ensure we do not forsake our secret beauties, a blogging carnival has been started to celebrate the beauty of Cyrene in this weekly carnival.

This carnival hopes to get more people writing, knowing and exploring Cyrene. If you have never been to Cyrene, and wish to be on Cyrene, join in the carnival! If you have no idea what a blogging carnival is or have never even visited Cyrene, do not fear. Read on.

Essentially the blog carnival works like this:

1) Organizer = Midnight Monkey Monitor
I will mainly be doing the running the carnival and once in a while, I will host as well. WildSingapore will also put up a special Cyrene Carnival section. The Organizer will indicate the upcoming hosts. Each edition will be weekly with the exception of the first 2 editions.

2) Host = each week, anybody can volunteer to be a host where people will email you their blog posts submission and you post the submissions up with your own comments. For now, I'll host and any interested person can feel free to email me to be a host!

3) Submissions = that's everybody!
This is what you have to do:
1) Blog a short piece about Cyrene [read submission guidelines below]
2) Submit the link here

4) Readers = that's you and your friends, family and everybody in Singapore and the world! Show your support by putting this banner on your blogs.

Submission Guidelines
Not many of us have been to Cyrene. Personally, I haven't. But I can still write about Cyrene. Here are 3 types of cyrene related posts:

1. Talking about Cyrene
Talk about what you saw, did and felt at Cyrene. This could also be general things about Cyrene, history and what not. Never been to cyrene? write about how you wish you can go!

2. Biodiversity of Cyrene
You know those rare gems are found at Cyrene so blog about the specific plants and animals!
These are some things that can be found at Cyrene

3. Threats at Cyrene
the shipping lane is in the way of Cyrene... or more like Cyrene is in the way of those massive container ships.
Bukom and Jurong Island is just next door so who knows the next coal plant might be on a reclaimed Cyrene?
Any and everything. Oil Slicks, Reclamation, whatever you can think of!

Sometimes, different editions will have a different theme. Look out for them!

Start blogging today! Submit your posts here! Cyrene needs you!

On Ubin with Crabs and OBS

2008-04-15T00:54:00.003+08:00

Taken at House No 1, Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin on Sunday 13 Apr 2008.

More about the day's trip at:
"Chek Jawa boardwalk with Outward Bound Singapore: Part 3" Adventures with Naked Hermit Crabs
"Chek Jawa boardwalk with Outward Bound Singapore: Part 3" WildFilms

Looking for Interview Respondents

2008-04-11T19:32:00.004+08:00

招募启示

您好：

现有一项由新加坡国立大学地理系主持开展的，关于移民社区、宗教与网络的学术研究，假如您是满足以下条件的人士，我们诚意邀请您接受我们的访问。要求如下：

（1）：佛教徒或基督教徒；
（2）：来自中国大陆、台湾或香港；
（3）：来新加坡时间不超过十年（至少一年以上）；

我们的访谈时间大约持续一个小时，您可以使用英语或中文。有需要的话，我们可以将访谈的主要内容提前寄送给您。为了感谢您对我们研究工作的支持，我们为每位参与访谈者提供了一份十元礼券。诚挚邀请您的参与，谢谢！

联系人：陈冰婷小姐，Ms November Tan
Email：tan[at]nus[dot]edu[dot]sg
电话：8278 1851

新加坡国立大学地理学
National University of Singapore
Department of Geography

RECRUITMENT NOTICE
Interview Respondents Wanted

We are looking for interested participants for a research project funded by the National University of Singapore, Department of Geography. The research project hopes to understand the potential role of media (particularly the Internet) in building communication and community ties among Buddhists and Christians who have moved to Singapore from Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China or Taiwan.

If you are:
1) Christian or Buddhist
2) From Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China or Taiwan
3) Moved to Singapore in the last 1-10 years

We would like to invite you to participate in a face-to-face interview with us. The interview will take about one hour and will be conducted in English or Mandarin (according to your preference). If you require a list of questions that will be asked in the interview, we will be happy to send this to you. A small token of appreciation ($10 shopping voucher) will be provided in appreciation.

If interested, please contact Ms. November Tan tan[at]nus[dot]edu[dot]sg or call 82781851. An interview will be arranged to the time and venue of your convenience. The study will be ongoing till enough participants are recruited.

GE3239 Guest Lecture

2008-04-11T14:15:00.006+08:00

Yesterday gave a talk at the GE3239 class to about 40 students. I guess most are away mugging or busy rushing assignments. I did record my talk but it was too long and full of factual errors I realized (sorry! Hopea Sangal fines were more than $30,000 - it was fined $8000 and $76000 in compensation!) so I decided not to upload it. Too embarrassing!

Here's how big the crowd was. Not very big really. Ignore the audio. This was after my talk and the lecturer was addressing the class

I got feedback from friends who attended the class that it was too overwhelming (too much to say!) and too long (1 hour 6 minutes!). I was a tad distracted during question and answer and yes, the slides are a tad repetitive because new additions were made last minute. It wasn't well structured because the talk is supposed to be on environmental groups but I'm not really sure what's my message. Sigh. Ok, poorly done. Sorry.

On the brighter side, I've a friend and junior who was in the class and told me afterwards that she's stopped using straws after what I said during the lecture. Cool :) And of course I got a very encouraging comment on this blog from a student who attended the class. Thanks! I also found a student joined the sgnatureblogger network on ning wanting to find out more! Kudos! Do post and say more about your interest on the network and see if any of the wise yodas will show you the force :P

I also had an interesting question from a student who asked if there is too much attention on shores now and not enough on terrestrial because more blogs on shore than terrestrial. Well that just mean we need more terrestrial bloggers!

TheRamblingLibrarian sums up neatly my fatal error. "I tended to ramble on when I get too enthused. End up overemphasising some examples and the audience gets bored." But he also nicely added that "each presentation is a learning experience" and I agree! Well, one never stops learning. I will definitely work towards improving. Just means I have to give more talks! :)

Video of Tanjong Rimau, Sentosa on Flickr

2008-04-09T12:10:00.009+08:00

Yes you heard me right and no your eyes are not deceiving you. You can now upload videos on flickr! Only short clips of 90 seconds are allowable and limited to Pro users (paying customers). Nonetheless, I feel less pressure putting short unedited clips on flickr than on youtube. So here's a good way to start my collection of videos on flickr! I've uploaded a video of Tanjong Rimau, Sentosa during the first NHC recce at Sentosa a year ago! It was also before the beacon got broken into two. A future classic in the making?

During tomorrow's guest lecture, I will try to use all my new toys and web services. Recording my talk with my new digital voice recorder, podcasting it and uploading some videos on flickr video! Not forgetting putting up my slides on slideshare! Maybe I can now make a slidecast

Update @ 1.34pm 9 Apr
For the buffaloes out there, here is what you are looking at.

View Larger Map

I could not resist using more webapps but here's google map showing an aerial view of the surrounding places that may have been spotted on the video. The placemarker (the blue tear drop) indicates where the video was taken. You can see labrador park and the port beyond. The green beacon you see is situated at the tip of Sentosa, which is also known as Tanjung Rimau. Tanjung is malay for the coastal feature of a "cape", defined as a "strip of land projecting into a body of water". To further orientate yourself around the map, Sentosa is the piece of green at the bottom of the map.

This photo is taken a few meters down from where the video was taken. Ignore the marine trash but you can see some of the coastal platform near the bottom left of the picture

Tanjung Rimau is a wonderful rocky shore and cliff habitat, totally natural and one of the last remaining ones. Of course, looking at labrador, there you have actually the last mainland cliff in Singapore. It would look similar to what you see here. What I'm standing on is actually a coastal platform which means the waves has cut it flat very beautifully. The grooves just means that some minerals within the rock is more soluble than others and thus formed the feature which you see here.

This photo is taken on the other side of the cape (tanjung), facing Indonesia and the rest of the southern islands. The video was taken on the side of the cape facing Singapore [refer to placemarker]. Yes this is Sentosa, hard to believe isn't it?

For more photos of the area, see my flickr photos.

Giving Guest Lectures at NUS

2008-04-08T10:08:00.006+08:00

Last Thursday, Ria of WildSingapore and Karen of NParks CCNR were at NUS giving a talk on the importance of environmental awareness. It was supposed to be a panel of three, together with Arti Mulchand of the Straits Times. Unfortunately Arti was ill and unable to attend. Still, we had a blast of a time with Karen covering the terrestrial and Ria bringing us for a walk in the inter-tidals. Read Ria's account of the talk here.

This is a module from Geography on Environmental Sustainability (GE3239). Originally I was hoping to help out in the module but instead I've been asked to do a guest lecture for the students on Community Groups in Singapore. Being the last lecture of the semester, I hope it'll be a blast. The talk will pretty much cover similar content to my previous SEC Going Beyond Green article on community groups. I hope to also give the students a few peeks at behind the scenes activities. If anybody is interested, my presentation will be this Thursday, 10am, LT13 at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

A chat with Resorts World

2008-04-02T09:36:00.017+08:00

Last Friday, 28 March 2008, this monkey was invited to Resorts World for tea by Lynn Lee, the communications and corporate social responsibility (CSR) manager at Resorts World. Lynn emailed me about 2 weeks before that, saying that she's seen my previous post on the EIA of Resorts World, liked what I wrote, saying it's a balanced view and would like to invite me to tea. Unsure what she was really asking of me, I decided to go anyways.

To cut the long story short, when I arrived, Lynn greeted me together with Robin Goh, the Assistant Director of Communications. First they showed me the model of Resorts World and I felt like I've wasted $10 just to get to Resorts World (RW) only to hear a PR introduction to the "awesome" features of the integrated resort. Nonetheless, it was good to find out what is at RW.

Phase 1: Universal Studios

What you see in the above image is the future Universal Studio. This is the first phase of development and will also be the first to open. The road that used to run across this area has been rediverted. Previously the mention of transplanted trees were mainly from this road diversion and this area of development. They were moved to a nursery on Sentosa and will be replanted. Sounds more symbolic than anything else.

Logically, knowing our highly effective country, I am sure that there would be a tireless team in charge of ensuring that tax payers money are well spent; making sure that we get what we paid for. I'm sure when you order a big mac, you expect a big mac. If you get a hamburger, you would feel cheated. As such, I think this would mean to me that the chances of whale sharks and oceanarium making their way to Singapore is highly probable.

Phase 2

Nonetheless this is the second phase of development and according to Lynn and Robin, they are currently working with Louis Ng of ACRES to discuss various animal welfare and animal rights issue. I did not know enough to get any point across surely but I trust that Louis will do his best. One thing this monkey does know is that, I have hated Sea World after visiting it once when I was 13, seeing a killer whale stuck in a bathtub, I would never visit that oceanarium even if I know I'll never get to see a whale shark any other way. All I know is that whale sharks are nomadic and far-ranging as they follow plankton blooms over large areas of the eastern Indian Ocean.

What I did complain about, albeit redundant since it's already been reclaimed, is the fact that they reclaimed the coastline at the Phase 2 site, only to then dig it up to make into waterways for the Maritime Xperiential Museum and Oceanarium. What they did offer in consolation is that they will be giving lots of money away to support research in coral reefs. Considering that we only have 1 marine lab in Singapore, the chances of the money going to non-Singaporeans are oh-so-high.

However, optimistic monkey, having observed this phenomenon many times in Singapore's reclamation history, suggested that perhaps there is a chance that the reclamation may miss a few spots of corals in its reclamation. I see this as extremely improbable but the area right beneath the cable car tower has historically been left untouched. In fact, it used to be an islet, can you imagine? It has been joint to the main island of Sentosa over countless reclamation and yet there are corals there. A concern is that the area there is too steep for public walks. Nonetheless, I suggested to RW that marine groups in Singapore be allowed access to recce the area once the reclamation has been completed. That way we will be able to document and assess if walks are possible. If such, I suggested to Lynn and Robin's excitement that we can conduct free guided walks. Of course, all this is pending RW management approval. Access to various places in RW such as the promenade is free you see so people will then be given access as a collaborative move on RW's part.

Phase 3: on the right of the cable car tower

The cable car tower acts as the dividing line for Phase 3 of the development. This is the area closest to Joe Lai's heart as this is the development near the forest. Unfortunately, reclamation just started here and I could not emphasize to Robin and Lynn more about how if it's only a "small patch that will be reclaimed" as they claimed, then they better make sure they go out of their way to make sure most of the corals don't get crushed by the barge coming in and out, etc. They claim that they are now making all their contractors adhere to certain stipulations of environmentality and they apparently have a department to enforce. Ok, still, what is the guideline for environmentality is another thing altogether.

Sentosa is one of the last few rocky shores we have

But if they want to make it into a white sand beach which Sentosa is really a rocky shore habitat, then good bye corals. We'll see you in the next world. However, they claim that since this is Phase 3, there is still time for negotiation and renegotiation before work actually has to start. It would appear that this is still a grey zone.

Nonetheless, this monkey suggested that if the water slide in the forest still goes through, then at least allow the nature path to go right beneath these slides. Let me explain. There is a nature path that allows you access to these forest. You can find the entrance near Siloso Beach, beside Underwater World. However, at the moment, the path has been blocked at the point where Resorts World begins. Thus I suggested to Robin and Lynn that the path should not be blocked once the development completes so that it's an "open concept" and there is still free public access to the forest. And if we want to see (mostly) naked people swinging around down the water slide, that's what we got to "suffer" to enjoy the trees.

Phase 3: can you see the slides in the back sticking out of the trees?

Robin claims that the design of the water slide was originally meant to take out as little trees as possible anyways. I think they should contact Joe Lai to make sure each tree that's being "taken out" passes Joe's mark of standard. Ok, even I find that thought rather unimaginable. [I'm sorry I dare even let that thought crossed my mind, Joe!]

I do find it rather hard to believe when they said other than the water slide, all the other development, hotel and spa is taking place where the land was previously already developed. I had this feeling that the spa is cutting into the forest but then I don't have proof. Still, if you see the giant hole that is the RW now, we can only hope that they speak the truth. This kind of clear-everything-then-plant-back-later type of development, in academia, we called it the "scorched earth policy". Speaks for itself.

Meanwhile, RW strives to be uber green in their development even working at various "green" innovations. Whatever it is, my stand is that since the development is going to happen anyways, we have to stop wishing it'll go away miraculously. I prefer to make sure that it can only be as "green" as possible. Green not only in how much water or electricity it use but in its content and function. How it eats into the environment. Whether it allows people to access the forests and shores. Although all hope looks bleak, I remain somewhat optimistic. I like to give all a benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Or am I just too naive?

RW claims that they intend to have panels where they will consult stakeholders for their views and I can only hope that comes true. I will probably try my best to attend since it'll only serve me to know what they are planning and try my best to think of ways which will benefit both the natural environment and the development. That's what sustainable development actually means unfortunately. Development is still in the equation. Depressing as that is, we can't run away from that living in a small city state like ours. Am I too fatalistic or should I be more radical?

Update @ 4.36pm 2 April:
I got a call and decided to edit a small bit of my post and deleted my comments even though my comments were positive. *shrugs* Either way, I don't want to cause anybody to lose their jobs.

While I don't want anybody to lose their jobs, I believe in transparency. What I absolutely cannot understand is WHY I cannot even make positive statements about certain elements. This only tells me that the company is yet to be willing to adhere to those statements.

At the same time, understand my positionality. What about my "job"? Assuming I would even write a nice supportive post detailing only the positive things RW is doing, I would lose all the trust and respect from everybody in the community. In adherance to transparency, I write a critical piece. But if that results in me never being engaged or contacted ever again then, I guess, that's just too bad. If a positive reporting of efforts are needed, write a press release. ~~If you would like a dog, please go to the pet shop.~~ Can't blame me for being upset, can you? [Related Reads: It's not easy being green]

Person found drowned in driftnet

2008-04-01T14:21:00.013+08:00

This morning a little bird told this monkey that while out on the shore, a group of police and ambulance was spotted along certain shores. It was quite a commotion as a person was found drowned in a drift net by a diver during an expedition to document harm caused by the 35-mile-long nets used to catch fish.

The drift net victim was found entangled along with other animals such as horseshoe crabs, dolphins and also a water monitor lizard. Drift nets more than 1.5 miles long were banned by the UN in international waters in the early 1990s and drift nets of any length in 2002 because of global concerns about the bycatch of dolphins, turtles and sharks. According to conservation groups, at least 12,000 turtles were killed from November 2007 till date by drift nets.

Apparently after autopsy, it was found that the victim has also ingested large amount of plastic. Plastic items including toothbrushes, children's toys, bottle caps, cigarette lighters, pipes, fishing line, and gloves were found in the stomach of the drowned victim.

Happy April Fool

It's not easy being green

2008-03-31T20:19:00.012+08:00

My friend Kermit the Frog has a message for all of you, from the bottom of my heart.

"It's not that easy being green
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that

It's not easy being green
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky

But green's the color of Spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like
And green can be big like an ocean, or important
Like a mountain, or tall like a tree

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
And I think it's what I want to be"

Recently I've been invited to share with a group of students on how being "green" and environmental is easy and convenient. Something that wouldn't infringe of our lifestyles and easy to do.

That is the message that many environmental proselytizers are trying to sell to every one of us because we would love to think that without changing out lifestyles, without inconveniencing ourselves, we would still be able to be green. Unfortunately, no change is ever easy. Kermit got it right when he said it's not easy being green. There is no shortcut and there's never an easy way out. There is no easy way being green. There will be moral dilemmas and battles with yourself over little conveniences that we are oh-so-used to. But at the end of the day, "when green is all there is to be", it'll do fine and it's all you'll want to be.

When I first started Daily Green Actions, all I wanted to do was inspire every one with how little things we do each day makes a difference. There are green actions we can adopt in our daily lives that everyone can do. It can be as simple as taking a minute to look up in the sky at the brilliant sunrise on your way to work and school and appreciate the natural environment around you. Listen to the birds sing and smell the dew in the morning air. Nothing extreme like suffering in the heat or sitting in the dark. I still eat meat and take taxis.

But why do I make it sound like it's such a torture?

Well many times, it's a battle of conscience and the lure of modern conveniences and temptations are just too much to bear. Yesterday, I was torn between eating MOS Burger or Thai Express. Cheap or expensive? My favourite ice tea with milk or should I have find ethically produced food instead? Should I be taking taxis because I'm late or should I simply stop being late and never have to worry about taking taxis. While agonizing over these, I said those classic words, "it's not easy being green". Thanks to Ivan the music guru, here's Kermit, singing my secret confessions to you.

I admit, I am no saint. I am just like you and everybody else, I enjoy air conditioning, fast cars and good food. I consume large amounts of electricity with all my gadgets just like every other tech geek out there. However, I made the decision to audit my lifestyle. I wanted to show that it's not that difficult being green. But I was wrong. It's not easy being green. I had to fight with my parents because I want to turn off the TV instead of putting it on standby because it's the "right thing to do". Instead, it became a war over the TV. Because of my wanting to green my own actions, I imposed on others. As such, I came under even greater scrutiny. My hitching a ride home with my parents became unacceptable. Not green enough. People I knew, people who were nature lovers, called me extreme when they found out I practiced "lights out" everyday from 7-9pm. But that only came about because I thought of the Lights Out movement in USA which was akin to Earth Hour but what's the point of switching off for just one day a year. I thought to do it for 365 days so it'll be as good as 365 people doing it. Again, I couldn't bear being called "extreme" just as Kermit couldn't bear being "green".

People get asked why people are not allowed to fish or bring shells home or catch crabs or keep hermit crabs as pets. It's just the same as why people "shouldn't" drive fossil fuel vehicles, use styrofoam or use plastic bags. Why should being green be limited to halting climate change or conserving nature? Should we then forget about the poor and underprivileged? The list never end. But if we can do it all, we'll all be saints by now. There is no right or wrong, only if it matters to you or not. Like Kermit, why would I want to be green when I can be a star?

In the course of "being green", you may or may not encounter what I encountered. But at the end of the day, there is no shortcut and there is no easy way to answer that dilemma. It's doing whatever that you can live with for the rest of your lives. Momentary convenience or a moment of agony before the rainbow over the horizon. Your decisions will always be questioned by others and your determination will falter every so often.

Yes, it is easy being green but no (hu)man is an island. As we green our lifestyles, we'll have to green the lifestyle and choices of our parents, our spouses, our friends, our household decision-makers, our children, our families, our government, our neighbors, our drivers, our teachers, our bosses, our coworkers and even our pets. You will be questioned and no one will make it easy for you. It's easy to change yourself but what happens when your change affects others as well?

Choosing to take on a green lifestyle is easy. But the rest of the world will not make it easy for you.

If you are one of those lucky ones who find complete support from all those around you, congratulate yourself and give thanks and support to those who support you.

Yes you, that's right, you, thank you.

Remember, nobody can live a perfect, 100% "green" lifestyle. As long as we continue to be urban folks living in a city, we are making an impact on our environment. Nobody needs to deprive themselves but do you live a life of mindless conveniences or do you try to be "green"? Once you know the answer, it's not so difficult at all.

It's may not always be quite so easy being green, but remember, as Kermit says, sometimes being green can be small like a leaf or big like a tree but it's really all you want to be.

Rouge Monkey

2008-03-30T22:56:00.008+08:00

Michael Switow (co-founder, One Singapore), Lois Ng (Studio You), Eunice Olsen, Monkey, Ivan, Vernetta Lopez (President, One Singapore)

Wanna know how this photo came about?

Here are your 5 options:
1) Watch Eunice Olsen's talk show, Rouge, on Channel 5, 20 April 2008, 10pm
2) Read the Naked Hermit Crab's blog entry by Ivan (in green)
3) See my photos and Leykun's photos from today
4) Read my adventure with the film crew at Semakau last week!
4) Wait for my review of the episode a week before the episode airs.

Filmed at Semakau

2008-03-27T09:15:00.006+08:00

Pardon me for my prolonged silence on this blog. As many of you may know, I am currently up to my neck in juggling graduate research, paperwork, teaching, 2 new paid jobs, classes and all my many blogs. While I've been silent on this one, I have been writing here, here, here, here and here where I recently gave some tips of things to do on Earth Hour 2008.

On top of that, together with Ivan, I will be appearing in all my glorious nakedhermitcrabbiness on Eunice Olsen's new talk show, Rouge, that airs every Sunday at 10pm on Mediacorp Channel 5. The studio filming will be this Sunday and the episode will air on April 20, 2008 as part of an Earth Day special.

Yesterday, together with a group of other crabbies, this monkey had a glorious morning at Pulau Semakau with a group of Commonwealth Youths and a group of students from Duke University led by Dr Dan and Dr Stan. On top of that, I had the film crew from Rouge following my group around while we explore the shores. It was my first time at Semakau but it was fun anyways. We saw lots of fan worms, jellyfish, nudibranch (Jorunna funebris), anemones (no nemos!), and lots of sponges, corals and what nots. Unfortunately I didn't have the good fortune to see the shark, stingray or knobby sea star.

Images taken from the Naked Hermit Crabs.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to use my camera much while I was trying to juggle the group, the crew and trying to enjoy my first time at Semakau. I am also pleased to say that I only got 1 sandfly bite out of the whole adventure! woohoo!

At the end of the day, as mentioned in my Daily Green Actions, "my favorite green action today was addressing 30 people at once, asking them to share their thoughts for the shore with us on paper". And of course getting the opportunity to confer upon Dr Dan, the first honorary crab membership ever! I felt I could have done it better since the gesture was kinda lost on most people. Ah, must improve my public speaking abilities. *sheepish*

If you have been wondering why there are no more Daily Green Actions update on this blog or if you are following the blog only via RSS reader, you may have not realized I've added the Daily Green Actions as a feed on the top of this blog. Alternative, for RSS subscribers, you can subscribe to this feed instead for Daily Green Actions update. You can also add Leafmonkey as a friend on Twitter. I am still looking for a better way to integrate the two instead of spamming my own blog. Please bear with me and know that I have not given up... yet!

History & Heritage Talks

2008-03-11T15:17:00.005+08:00

For those interested in the history and heritage of Singapore, there are a series of upcoming talks which you may find interesting.

The National Museum of Singapore is organizing a series of talks over 6 saturdays which will provide an introduction to the history of Singapore.

Click on image for full size

On 24 March 2008, a Master candidate from the Department of History will be talking about the management of Kusu Island, focusing primarily on the temple and visitorship to the island. More information in the full article.

Managing The Tortoise Island:
Tua Pek Kong Temple, Pilgrimage, and Social Change in Pulau Kusu, 1965-2007

Speaker:
Chia Meng Tat Jack,
Department of History,
National University of Singapore

Chair:
Tan Shiling Cheryl,
Department of Sociology,
National University of Singapore

Date:
Monday, 24 March 2008

Venue:
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Blk AS7, Level 6
Research Clusters Meeting Room A
Time: 3.00 – 4.30pm

Abstract:
This essay examines the Guiyu Fushangong Tua Pek Kong Temple龟屿福善宫大伯公庙and religious activities in Pulau Kusu as they intersect with the larger forces of social change, state management, and development of the Southern Islands since the independence of Singapore for the period from 1965 to the present. It contends that the state’s interest in the economic potential of the Tua Pek Kong Temple, and the attempt to seek profit from its religious activities in particular over the last two decades, has very much affected the temple and contributed to the commercialization and “touristization” of the island. The state authorities have tried to reduce the autonomy of Pulau Kusu, exerting more control over the temple, and management of the island. They also sought to profit from the religious activities, as seen from their monopoly of goods and services, promotion of commercial activities, and their attempt to transform the island into a tourist site.

About the Speaker:
Chia Meng Tat Jack is a MA Candidate in history at the National University of Singapore. His research interests include Buddhism, Chinese popular religions, and the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia and Singapore. He is currently researching on the transnational temple-association networks connecting the Nanan community in Singapore with China and Malaysia

Light refreshments will be provided!

We gratefully request that you RSVP with your name, affiliation, contact details, to Jack Chia at: mengtat@nus.edu.sg.

Video from the Singapore Flyer capsule

2008-03-04T22:31:00.005+08:00

Because I have nothing better to do, here's the video I took on the night of 1st March 2008, the first day the singapore flyer was open to public.

On the Singapore Flyer

2008-03-03T00:38:00.004+08:00

1 March 2008 was the first day of public rides for the observatory wheel, Singapore Flyer. What more, the birthdate of the singapore flyer also coincided with my mom's birthday. As such, the whole family celebrated her birthday on the flyer. Unfortunately, it was only till later that we realized that others did the same but even got cake and fanfare from the media. Alas my mother has to make do with a "signature cocktail" and a souvenir which we paid dearly for.

While I'm not a fan of its mere existence, I must say the singapore flyer does provide a spectacular vantage view of the city. You are able to keep track of quite a bit of things on the top of the world. Although I was corrected by my equally excited nephew that this is hardly the top of the world *grin*

For one, I definitely appreciate the fact that I managed to get one last glimpse of the Kallang Stadium before it gives way to the new "sports hub". I will miss those overpowering stadium lights.

The experience dealing with the Singapore Flyer has been painful to say to least for me. I blame it on birthing hiccups but the line at the flyer was painful for those waiting for a chance on the flyer. We were just glad we paid through our teeth to get the express line. I did take a video which I will blog about once I get over the fatigue of the weekend's activities.

Photos on flickr

2008 Year of the Frog

2008-02-28T12:58:00.014+08:00

2008 is the Year of the Frog and today seems to be the day of the amphibian for me. Budak sent me this video which he asked people to "watch and cringe" but all I could think about was - that was probably shot in a tank. While the video doesn't quite suit the message, the message itself is fantastic.

Amphibians are important because they serve as an indicator for the health of our ecosystems. They are like canaries in the coal mine, warning us of danger ahead of us. That also means that they are the first to die. Unfortunately, it would seem that humans are oblivious to the warning signs of frogs going extinct! 50% of 6,000 described amphibian species are threatened with extinction and 165 species have possibly already gone extinct. But knowing humans and our socially preconditioned instincts to favour mega faunas, please don't let these poor amphibians sacrificed for naught. In case we forget the story of the boiling frogs, here's a reminder:

They may be slimy and have ~~cute pink~~ long swirly tongues but they may be just as important or more important than your panda or polar bears! They might even be the next cure for HIV! They may just be your natural solution to putting an end to mosquito infestations. In India, there were reports of pesticides meant to kill mosquitoes resultantly killing the mosquitoes natural predator - frogs - instead!

This monkey doesn't knows a lot about amphibians but there is a new ~~amphibian~~ addition to the NUS Department of Biological Science heading up a new lab on Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation who specializes precisely on amphibians (and reptiles)! If you want to know more about the endangerment of frogs and other amphibians, do attend David Bickford's talk on "Where are all the frogs". The talk will be held on 9 March 2008, 12pm at the Singapore zoo. More details at Habitatnews.

Related reads:
Amphibian Ark
"Where are all the frogs?", Talk by David Bickford
"Frog Peptides Block HIV in Lab Study", ScienceDaily, 30 Sept 2005
"Army of frogs to combat killer mosquitoes", The Times, 22 June 2007

Reflections of California 2005

2008-02-26T11:05:00.011+08:00

3 years ago in 2005, I embarked on a learning journey to Santa Barbara, California for a 6 months stint of student exchange program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

It changed my life.

Learning about biogeography on the santa barbara mission hills

Yes yes, all exchange students say that but my time at one of the birthplace of environmentalism really spurred me towards environmental action. It taught me a lot about grassroots action, environmental politics of one of the hothouse of global decision making and most of all, the amazing and foreign ecosystem and biodiversity of California. This tropical monkey was involved with comparatively radical groups whom I would gladly call activist. (I would be hard-pressed to be able to truly call anybody in Singapore an activist.) There, I learnt from peers of Garrett Hardin, amazing anthropologists, environmental planners, retirees, ground practitioners and more. I worked with people passionate about transport, learned about chaparral habitats at nature reserves, camped at national parks, swam in a natural lake at freezing conditions and climbed a tree for the first time in my life. I saw my first deer, my first bear, my first cougar, my first whale, my first raccoon, my first possum, my first turkey vulture, my first oreo cookie cow and more! I hugged my first redwood giant. I felt like John Muir when he wrote about the sequoias.

"...Sequoias, kings of their race, growing close together like grass in a meadow, poised their brave domes and spires in the sky, three hundred feet above the ferns and lilies that enameled the ground; towering serene through the long centuries, preaching God's forestry fresh from heaven." - John Muir

Images of Sedgwick

I learnt about sustainable agriculture, organic foods and met Dr Lai Chiu Nan who told me I would be of no help to the cause since I am no farmer. I met Vandana Shiva who scoffed at the fact that I am from Singapore, land of importers and with little care of farmers with none of our own to bring the message closer to home. These and many other reasons led to my current Masters research on the factors influencing environmental behaviour of farmers.

Images from zaca lake retreat

When I first returned from UCSB, I wrote a piece for my NUS Department's website on my reflection of SEP experience. Today, as I was going through my defunct photoblog, I came across the images of these wonderful memories. Inspired, I decide to bring these photos to light again. Perhaps as a reminder to myself of my energy and inspiration I got. I was so driven when I returned, idealistic. Perhaps jaded now and some recharging is needed. This is why people to go retreat! I have thought of doing a similar retreat in Singapore as I had in US but somehow I find the community here not too keen on getting in touch with the airy fairy side of conservation. We had world class speakers and on topics so wide-ranging it was out of this world. Vegan food throughout the whole weekend and camping under the starlight and late winter cold. What wonder. We sang we danced and had fun. I haven't felt so much creative energy in years. Perhaps that's what others would called airy fairy hippie like behaviour but that's what I called recharging!

Alas tis the wonders of blogging. Helps to record down images and memories that may have been otherwise forgotten.

Starwars inspired

2008-02-19T09:33:00.005+08:00

The reddotbeachbum found the above along the shore at Pulau Ubin during a little exploration session with this monkey and a duck.

While the beach bum lets his imagination run wild imagining it to be starwar's battleships or darth vader's personal jet, the duck and monkey tries to figure out what animal it might be. Since this is part of an animal's vertebrate, it couldn't be an invertebrate! Some guesses include:

a) a very (very very) big fish
b) a dog
c) a wild boar
d) a humongous civet cat
e) a tapir! (we wish)

Any zoologist or naturalist would like to hazard a guess or deduce an answer for us?

Saga seed on a beach

2008-02-18T15:36:00.007+08:00

Found saga seeds on a rocky beach at Pulau Ubin last Saturday. The little red hearts caught me by surprise. Looking around, we finally found the tree 2 meters from the shore. Its crown just above us on the beach. Couldn't resist taking a photo. After some color edits, makes a superb wallpaper. I didn't do a very good job of capturing the heart which eats away at me every so often.

In mandarin, saga seeds are referred to as xiang si dou (相思豆) which means to mutually think or miss each other. Often used as a momento of love between couples. Childhood past time includes collecting these seeds during weekend trips to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. A few still sits on my dresser at home. A large specimen stands tall in the grounds of the St Andrew Cathedral downtown.

An insurmountable divide between the lovelorn hearts

According to this seemingly lovesick monkey's handy guide to wayside trees of Singapore by Prof Wee YC, Saga (Adenanthera pavonina) is native to Singapore and "the region".

"The fruits attract attention as the red seeds, littering the ground below are collected by children and made into beads or as playthings. the fruits are green pods, swollen along regular intervals where the seeds are. With maturity the pods turn brown, becoming coiled then black as the pods split open to liberate the red seeds."

EcoFriends Award 2008

2008-02-13T11:11:00.004+08:00

Today I got a call asking me to nominate someone for the NEA EcoFriends Award 2008. I thought I could do a better job by helping to spread the word.

Recognition often equates appreciation. Know someone who's been working hard for the environment? Nominate them today!

Daily Green Actions: 30-31 Jan

2008-02-01T14:23:00.000+08:00

I'm beginning to be tired of the multitudes of reproductions of daily green actions from my twitter to the blog. This prevents me from writing original essays so I will try to compile the Daily Green Actions from now on.

first i stop doing lights out last night and then i slept with my aircon on. i am this close to giving up. i want to yell i give up. angst!! 01:08 AM January 31, 2008
im this close to never ever doing a single green action in my life again. apparently it offends people that im environmental. RAWR! 01:08 AM January 31, 2008
im fed up with people making sarcastic comments about about me being environmental. "oh you're so environmental so you should do this" 01:06 AM January 31, 2008
i skipped school today and im skipping lights out as well. no will power whatsoever. sorry for being a disappointment 07:31 PM January 30, 2008
reading the feedbacks from the seashore blogging workshop and eating leftover pizzas from NHC meeting. let nothing to waste! hehe 01:08 PM January 30, 2008
Looking at the slides from the Sustainable Food Lab would give you a better understanding of my research http://tinyurl.com/2hh4t6 11:47 AM January 30, 2008

EIA of Sentosa Integrated Resort

2008-01-30T22:30:00.002+08:00

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Last year, as part of an assignment for an Environmental Management and Assessment class I was taking, my group and I did an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the integrated resort at Sentosa.

The future Integrated Resort at Sentosa

It is important to note that this is in many ways a hypothetical EIA. There were assumptions made and we did NOT do any baseline surveys or studies. Information were all taken from other sources and projected for this site.

Reclamation of Sentosa to expand the land area for the Integrated Resort

As our environmental impact assessment was done after development has already started, we had to work on several imaginary assumption as to the conditions to which we were given the "project". While we were not able to provide data as to the amount of rare or endangered species lost, do realize that the emphasis in an EIA is on analyzing the impacts and coming up with mitigations.

"Scorched earth" styled approach to development

Having done a rather detailed background understanding of the area which is detailed in the presentation slides, we realized that essentially natural coral reefs were being buried just to create marine park, aquarium and artificial coral reef! The marine areas were being filled in with sand and then dug up again to have a venice-like setting with waterways and promenades.

Reclaiming the coastline of northern Sentosa only to turn it later into a water-themed resort

On top of that, the areas that are nearest to the encroached forest inland is going to become a spa area. As such we propose a building design that minimizes the cutting of the trees. The scorched earth, raze to the ground then build up again type of developmental approach is definitely more destructive than necessary. Architectural and building sensitivity to the existing landscape can mitigate the impact of the development greatly. On top of that it would also increase the value and reputation of the property and business.

You can see the existing sediment screens (marked by the orange line bouy) used as a form of mitigation to the impact of the reclamation but how effective is it compared to not reclaiming at all?

Additionally, EIA are supposed to have a very comprehensive public participation component as well. The actual EIA done of the development both had a very skewered term of reference (the question or issue of concerned that is examined by the EIA) as well as a poor excuse of public engagement. In fact, we had to lock away our phones, cameras and computers when we went to view it. Pen and paper only!

Either way, we can only hope that as the development is still in varying stages of construction, there is still opportunity for changes to be made to the design, such as incorporating more ecologically friendly features.

More photos of the reclamation and development works can be seen here.

Daily Green Actions: 29 Jan 2008

2008-01-30T11:47:00.000+08:00

trying to find organic cotton baby products for my sister. Everything is so expensive! And not much of it around! grrr about 12 hours ago
spent lights out in bahasa indonesia class. about 12 hours ago
sadly i had to take cab to the session but think im pushing it by running back to my office to grab my utensils for lunch. :| over the top? about 21 hours ago
spent the morning at a discussion session with some US journalists visiting Singapore. Shared about environment issues in singapore about 21 hours ago

Daily Green Actions: 28 Jan 2008

2008-01-29T14:55:00.000+08:00

We ate, we met, we discussed!

Lights Out will be spent at a Naked Hermit Crab meeting. Hopefully we won't be all crabby wondering if anybody will turn up about 21 hours ago
Find out your own personal Happy Planet Index and other indicators like ecofootprint, carbon footprint at http://www.itint.co.uk/hpisurvey 11:47 AM January 28, 2008
My carbon footprint is even lower mainly I suspect because I don't drive. My carbon footprint is 2.16 global hectares, or 1.2 planets. 11:46 AM January 28, 2008
The survey also says my ecological footprint is 4.64 global hectares, or 2.58 planets but this is apparently below Singapore's average! EEK! 11:45 AM January 28, 2008
I just calculated my personal Happy Planet Index. I scored super low at 27.8. Singapore average is 40.8. Think I'm just grumpy today :P 11:44 AM January 28, 2008

Daily Green Actions: 27 Jan 2008

2008-01-28T11:50:00.000+08:00

was doing a bit of spring cleaning just now and realize i saved lots of water using a bucket to wash cloth rather than use running water! about 14 hours ago
lights out is difficult to do without leaving the house. im almost tempted to flout it. sigh will try my best. about 16 hours ago
was sitting in the toilet contemplating sheryl crow's calls for limit on loo paper. its honestly scary when ppl use half a roll used at once about 22 hours ago

Daily Green Actions: 26 Jan 2008

2008-01-27T12:40:00.000+08:00

Spent lights out enjoying the birds, the stars, really good western food and good conversation about enviro-education with friend in NUS about 17 hours ago
Theres a pair of woodpeckers on the rain tree in front of me at arts link! Oh my god. This is even better than owl hunting! about 17 hours ago
I have found my mission for tonight's lights out! To go explore the new Aston's grill at PGP residences. w00t! about 19 hours ago
lights out just round the corner. i don't know what to do! it's catching up on me *gulp* maybe I'll go for dinner and then library to read about 19 hours ago
started a social network for nature bloggers in singapore on ning.com! It is really a good platform for W@W, my big secret project about 21 hours ago
i am resolved to never take taxi again unless i am late for school. yes, I had to take a cab today, again! how do i stop myself? about 21 hours ago
spent the morning at a meeting for naked hermit crabs discussing visions and operationalizing our visions in action about 21 hours ago

Daily Green Actions: 25 Jan 2008

2008-01-26T16:26:00.000+08:00

I am so encouraged by all the young nature bloggers in the making. Hopefully the older participants will take to it too! about 18 hours ago
spent lights out conducting a seashore blogging workshop for young people with NIE green club and Joe Lai. It was exhilarating! about 18 hours ago

See my post on the IYOR 2008 Singapore website.
Others have also blogged about the workshop:

More about the workshop on the nie green club blog
More photos of the workshop on Jun's flickr
"Homeschoolers Celebrated LIFE in IYOR 2008" on Flying Fish Friends

Do leave some encouraging comments for these budding nature bloggers!

Daily Green Actions: 24 Jan 2008

2008-01-25T23:22:00.000+08:00

My electricity bill decreased by 500% since I started Lights out! Now even my mom is convinced and she will turn off power at source! 09:53 PM January 24, 2008
I had an organic beer during dinner! 09:52 PM January 24, 2008
Spending lights out with friends on a rainy day in colbar at portsdown road near NUS 04:31 PM January 24, 2008
Brought my own lunch to school using a lunch box today. will reuse. 04:31 PM January 24, 2008
lights out was spent at changi with kids and their families exploring our shores in preparation for a workshop. how exciting 12:01 AM January 24, 2008

As mentioned in my Daily Green Actions...

Organic beer from UK at the Colbar off Portsdown Road near NUS. The colonial remnant used to serve the British officers living in the area and the legacy continues in the beer served there. However, my personal devil's advocate and in-house Homer Simpson challenged me, asking:

"Aren't all beer are organic anyways?"

Well the smart aleck was playing with the fact that beers are generally "organic" as long as it is not made of artificial chemical. However, at the same time, "environmentally", it is definitely difficult to determine if this beer is 100% organic. The resident capitalist also challenged if we can actually tell if this is more than mere marketing as it would probably sell more beers, appealing to the health and environmentally conscientious.

Yes, being organic could possibly mean superficially meeting criteria for the "organic" certification process. Or it could really ensure that every bit of its ingredients were produced organically without chemical input in its growth at all. Somehow, I have my doubts.

So did I really contribute my consumer dollars righteously by merely going for the first brand I see with an "organic" label slapped on it? Or am I just a sucker that the marketing executives were hoping to target and perhaps I am actually no better than people who doesn't even care how their food is produced?

This much I can tell you, the beer tasted good.