Toddycats at NUS Animal Welfare Exhibition 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 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 FAQ7 Nov 2008 . 7pm - 9.30pmThe "Star-Studded" Echinoderm Workshop5 Dec 2008 . 7pm - 9.30pmThe Easy (Not Hard) Cnidarians WorkshopBest of all, remember to join our Facebook Page as a fan to receive updates on upcoming workshops and events! Lake Titicaca 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 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 SepI am currently at New York JFK Airport waiting for my flight to Peru. Going to Peru 1-6 Oct Reed boats Harboured at Floating Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru by Pet_rLast 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 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 "Enjoy Tech the Eco Way"Be a techie and still save the earth; THAM YUEN-C gets tips from two greeniesStraits Times Digital Life 20 Aug 08Read 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 footprintWell 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 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.sgTo 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 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 I saw stars all weekend. Knobbly sea stars that is!Blythe adopted a star and named it Star! Photo by BudakFor 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 BudakDid 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 BudakIt 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 KohChou Loke Ming, up on stage again, to name the first star for Singapore. Professor KohChou 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 Living together with Natureview 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 rippedused. 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 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? 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 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 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 AwardMs 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 volunteersToddycats 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 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.htmlNot 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.comwww.wildsingapore.com/riablog/people/ria.htmN. Sivasothihabitatnews.nus.edu.sgwww.wildsingapore.com/riablog/people/siva.htmThey 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 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 SingaporeUpdate @ 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, MalaysiaNo 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 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: 0700-1000Now 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 "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 online3) SUBMIT your entry to us at 4) Remember to include in your email:a. Nameb. Emailc. Contact Numberd. Website URL of where we can view your submissione. Whether you available on 23 May 2008, 6amf. 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) Creativity2) Persuasiveness3) Contribution to Cyrene Reef4) Audience size5) 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, 2359hrsWinners will be announced on 19 May 2008, Monday, 1500hrs TICE Eco Camp and May Day Dugong Ambassador 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 | View | Upload your ownGiving 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 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 stingrayBoth 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 SUBMISSIONSCyrene Carnival: Edition 3This 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 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 2007A 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 2008Sharkfin Scoop, 24 Mar 08Sharks: Going, Going…..Soon to be Gone, ViceZilla, 18 Feb 08Do you know this man? He profits from Shark Finning on a global level, ViceZilla, 29 Jun 07Yahoo Buying 10% of Alibaba IPO, Expanding its Role in China, Search Engine Journal, 9 Oct 07Of Yahoo and shark finning, Global by Design, 20 Nov 07Sharks Circle China's Alibaba.com, BusinessWeek, 20 Jul 07Alibaba and Yahoo, StopSharkFinning.Net Cyrene: Desert Oasis in the Sea 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 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 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 bondingBy Lin Yanqin, TODAY 21 April 2008For 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 View Larger MapI'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 CyreneI 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 CyreneOne 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 CyreneCyrene 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 #1 Apr 18, 2008 Host: Midnight Monkey MonitorTheme: Introducing Cyrene Reef#2 Apr 22, 2008 Host: Midnight Monkey MonitorTheme: Earth Day Special - I wish to see Cyrene Reef#3 Apr 27, 2008 Host: Annotated BudakTheme: I saw Cyrene Reef Join the Cyrene Blogging Carnival 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 MonitorI 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 here4) 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 GuidelinesNot 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 CyreneTalk 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 CyreneYou 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 Cyrene3. Threats at Cyrenethe 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! Daily Green Actions: 16 Dec 2007 I'm leaving Singapore in a few hours on a 20 hours flight. Will not be updating for while. See you all in USA! about 11 hours ago Sharon Au was just on tv saying that she wants to be an environment ambassador. how nice. about 11 hours ago went to return projector at ECO just now and found that they've kept the electricity use to minimal. kudos! about 11 hours ago i refused sharks fin soup at the wedding dinner. still innocent sharks have died. got others to eat so it wldnt die to be flushed down drain about 18 hours ago unfortunately family coming over to my house tonight so no lights out but it'll be worthwhile. we try to minimize lights if we can. hard tho about 18 hours ago have been away from computer all day yesterday and spent lights out with family at my cousin's wedding is good way to celebrate lightsout about 18 hours ago