List of talks and speakers
The Fascination of the Wet and Wild
by Dr Chua Ee Kiam
Walk on the wild side: Marine conservation in Singapore
by Jeffrey Low
Southern Haunt
by Debby Ng
Sustainable Seafood for Singapore: How can seafood be not enough?
by Tan Hang Chong
Our Splendid Shores: and How You Can Help to Preserve Them
by Ron Yeo
Secret Shores of Singapore
by Ria Tan
SPEAKERS
The Fascination of the Wet and Wild
by Dr Chua Ee Kiam
Duration of talk: 1 hour
Target audience: anyone
Talk content: Dr Chua has always been concerned about the constant degradation and devastation of the rainforests and coral reefs in the region. He shares his vision of a better tomorrow by highlighting the beauty of the natural heritage with his photography and writing.
About the speaker: Winner of 2 Book Awards - National Book Development Council Award,1994 and “Honorable Mention” (Independent Publisher’s Book Award, New York, 2005, Dr Chua has written five nature books: Nature in Singapore – Ours To Protect; Pulau Ubin – Ours To Treasure; Chek Jawa – Discovering Singapore’s Biodiversity; Borneo’s Tropical Eden – Sabah and Singapore’s Splendour – Life on the Edge. Proceeds from the sales of his books have been donated for nature–related activities. He has contributed articles to NatureWatch and takes an active role in promoting his love for nature with his lectures to schools and to the public. He was also the main photographer for the book on Dentistry, "Dentistry - 1915 to 1996". Dr Chua is a Senior Consultant with the National Dental Centre and Clinical Associate Professor with NUH.
Walk on the wild side: Marine conservation in Singapore
by Jeffrey Low
Duration of talk: 1 hour
Target audience: anyone
Talk content: Singapore is well known as a "Garden City", and many people do not know the natural wonders that exist just off shore. As much of the country has been reclaimed, many of the marine environments have been impacted. However, marine life still has a tenuous hold in many of the islands off the coast of mainland Singapore.
A small, but growing, number of conservationists have endeavoured over the past 20 years to promote the conservation of our least known natural heritage. The speaker will give a brief insight into the history of the marine conservation movement in Singapore, focusing mainly on the southern islands and coral reefs. Individual efforts and group activities will also be discussed to highlight the actions Singaporeans can take to help conserve the wonderful underwater world.
About the speaker: Jeffrey graduated from NUS in with a Bachelors of Science degree in 1988, and obtaining his Masters degree in 1999. He has worked on many coral reef and marine-related projects as a Research Assistant with NUS, first at the Reef Ecology Laboratory and then at the Tropical Marine Science Institute. He joined NParks in 2003 as a Senior Biodiversity Officer, overseeing development and marine conservation issues in the southern islands of Singapore.
An experienced scuba diver with over 2000 dives, he has dived not only in many parts of Asia, but also on many of the reefs in Singapore. He is an active guide and trainer with the Blue Water Volunteers, a local marine conservation NGO, in their Reef Walk, Reef Friends and Reef Xplore! programmes.
He has also co-authored a Singapore Science Centre guidebook Common Marine Fishes of Singapore, was a research writer for the ASEANAREAN Expedition series The Marine Parks of Thailand (1997), as well as the for the Marine Parks of Indonesia (1999), in which he was also the principal underwater photographer.
Southern Hauntby Debby Ng
Duration of talk: 1 hour
Target audience: Secondary 1 and above
Talk content: Pulau Hantu is one of Singapore's most renowned Southern Islands. Despite its prominence, it is constantly left to cope with a relentlessly changing coastline and marine environment. For a long time, the threats to Pulau Hantu have avoided the scrutiny of the public and the brilliance of its marine habitat gone unheralded. Debby Ng will bring clarity to the usually murky waters of Pulau Hantu with her underwater photos and videos.
About the speaker: Debby Ng is a full-time environmental journalist. She began her work in film and moved on to television, but eventually realised that she gained the most satisfaction from communicating her concerns on the environment through her photography and writing. Her work has been published in several regional and international magazines, including the award-winning Lebanese magazine, Environment & Development. She has also worked with numerous Asian and international non-government organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). In 2005 she assisted the Indonesian government in their assessment of fisheries, a project funded by The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the only conservation organisation with official observer status at the United Nations. Debby Ng is founder of the Hantu Blog, an education and awareness project powered entirely by volunteers and utilising free electronic media. She is also a volunteer dive guide and a freelance nature guide with Creative Kids.
This talk was given to 50 students at Marris Stella High School and at the Biodiversity Talk Series by the Conservation Division, NParks.
Sustainable Seafood for Singapore
How can seafood be not enough?
by Tan Hang Chong
Duration of talk: 30-45 mins (adjustable to your audience and time slot)
Target audience: anyone
Talk content: The world's fisheries and marine ecosystems are threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, warming waters, invasive species and industrial-scale overfishing. These growing threats can put the precious food resources we get from the sea in grave danger. But whether you're holding a restaurant menu or wheeling your shopping cart through the supermarket, some of the simplest solutions to keeping our oceans healthy are at your fingertips. Find out how your personal choices *can* make a real and positive difference to our blue planet.
About the speaker: Tan Hang Chong has been a volunteer with various environmental and nature organisations in Singapore for the last 15 years. A desire to learn more about sustainable seafood and its local implications has provided him with the impetus share his findings through this talk. He also volunteers as a nature guide at Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve and Central Nature Reserve and with the Blue Water Volunteers.
Our Splendid ShoresAnd How You Can Help to Preserve Them
by Ron Yeo
Duration of talk: 45min - 1 hour (adjustable to your audience and time slot)
Target audience: Youths, but can be adjusted for all ages
Talk content: From cute starfishes, colourful sea slugs, and beautiful corals to spiky sea urchins, ugly stonefishes, and venomous sea snakes, the audience will be treated to a photographic introduction to the various marine life that can be found on Singapore shores. The speaker will also elaborate on how everyone can play a part in marine conservation. Subject to availability, two other nature volunteers will also be invited as part of the talk to share their experiences.
About the speaker: Ron is an active nature volunteer with the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR), Naked Hermit Crabs, Wildfilms, TeamSeagrass and Pulau Ubin. He also runs the tiDE CHAsER blog and contributes to the Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs blog. His photos have been published in several RMBR publications, including Private Lives: An Exposé of Singapore's Shores.
This talk was given to 80 school children at Woodlands Ring Primary School and North Vista Secondary School.
Secret Shores of Singaporeby Ria Tan of wildsingapore
Duration of talk: 30 mins - 1 hour (adjustable to your audience and time slot)
Target audience: anyone
Talk content: 300-600 recent photos and stories of adventures and discoveries on our living shores. From Changi to Tuas, Sentosa to the Sisters Islands and beyond. Nemos, sea snakes, living corals and more. Ria will also share about some of the threats to our shores, and the many ways ordinary people CAN make a difference about our little-known shores. For a sample of the photos in the talk, see the wildsingapore flickr site
About the speaker: Ria is not a scientist and is just an ordinary person who has been photographing the shores for the last 7 years. She is co-author of the Chek Jawa Guidebook and Southern Shores guidesheet and had recently launched an online guide to Singapore's common marine life. She has been involved in setting up the guiding system at Chek Jawa and Pulau Semakau, currently volunteers in guide training with the Leafmonkey workshops and also volunteers with the Naked Hermit Crabs and TeamSeagrass. She contributes to several blogs including the wild shores of singapore, wildsingapore news, wildsingapore happenings and the Singapore celebrates our reefs blog.
This talk was conducted for 450 people at NUS and 40 people at the NIE Green Club and 60 people at NUS and about 40 people at the Biodiversity Talk Series by the Conservation Division, NParks. and 40 people at MUIS and about 40 people at the Transitions Optical event the and about 40 people at Reel Revolution.
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