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From Liveable City to Lovable City - What will it take for us to marry Singapore?
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W hat wil l i t take f or us to mar r y Singapor e?
LiveabLe city
PLUS Do your part to save the Earth: Eat insects | Why saying ‘Sorr y ’ is so tough
NOveMbeR/DeceMbeR 2011
Sorry
Ma’af
Doleo
Jag är ledsen
Lo sientoJe suis désolé
ごめんなさい
对不起
Cover STorY08 From LiveabLe to LovabLe City Ingredients for a “Love Singapore” potion
FeATUreS05 what dinosaurs and kiam-chye Looking reeFs have in Common Prof Peter Ng of the Raffles Museum explains
14 sentosa: growing wiLd The party island has other kinds of wildlife worth noting
32 how to CoPy right Rules to remember when using non- original or copyrighted content
34 sPiCe For LiFe Part 4 of a series on Unsung Heroes: Rahmat bin Adban of the National Parks Board
HIGHLIGHTS04 news From the serviCe
vIeWPoINTS02 inbox Your views on the Sep/Oct issue of Challenge
03 Your SaY wouLd you take a 20% Pay Cut For a 4-day work week? Readers share their views
18 Thinking aLouD “OiShii Nei!” sLudge burger, anyone? There are better ways to use sludge than eat it, says NTU Prof Wang Jing-Yuan
27 LeTTerS To a Young PubLic officer on Finding haPPiness SPRING Singapore Chairman Philip Yeo shares three life lessons
28 a cuPPa WiTh… “sometimes PubLiC oFFiCers take themseLves too seriousLy.” Dean and CEO (CSC) and Deputy Secretary (Development) of PSD Lionel Yeo offers his takes on life and work
30 WorD on The STreeT why is it so hard to say sorry? Management consultant Wendy Tan makes no apologies about losing face
oN THe JoB16 The big iDea bugged about the environment? Try eating insects
LIFeSTYLe
19 The chaLLenge PuLLouT the how-to issue 8 pages of tips to get smarter in life
38 Life.STYLe waLk on the green side Challenge picks five ways you can travel to connect with nature
44 The irreverenT LaST Page green irony Good intentions don’t always reap great results
Challenge compiles a handy guide for al l the things you have always wished you knew how to do, but have never gotten round to learning. From getting rid of hangovers to being a geek,
we’ve got you covered.
19 -26 pages of tips to get smarter in life
November/December 2011
TheHOW-TO
issue
HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELFInspired by the movie Miss Congeniality, we encourage everyone to remember to S-I-N-G: solar plexus, instep, nose and groin. This will def initely leave your assailant singing like a soprano. Ow.
HOW TO ASK SOMEONE’S NAME...Avoid the awkward mo-ment of failing to recall names with these tips.
The “introduce a friend” trick. Get a friend who doesn’t know the person to introduce themselves. Make sure you perk up your ears at the cru-cial moment.
Start the conversation with-out using any names. Then hope desperately that you will remember their names during the conversation itself.
HOW TO SAVE A WET HANDPHONEFor those times when your phone goes for an unexpected swim.
Remove the batter y and ev-erything else that can be easily dismantled.
Dr y your phone with a cloth and use a vacuum cleaner to suck all the moisture out of it.
Give it a few hours and say a quick prayer before attempt-ing to switch on your phone again. Good luck.
Um... what's your name?
HOW TO BREAK IN NEW SHOESSave yourself the price and pain of beauty by breaking them in.
Wear them in the house for a few hours daily with a pair of thick cotton socks until they ’re stretched to the right fit. You can also try using sandpaper on the soles to make them less slippery and easier to walk in.
MAKE THOSE SHOES LASTAvoid wearing the same pair of shoes two days in a row. Allow at least a day for the insides to air out.
TIP
Groin!
Solar
plexus!
Nose!
Instep!
Uh... do I know you?
PuLLout
30
05
14
19
28
I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown by, and we’re at that time of the year again. This issue of Challenge is broadly themed “sustainable” and is our attempt to spark some thought in this area as we start to wind down (hopefully!) for the year. It ’s no secret that our Earth is aching from abuse but I suppose the real question is what we’re doing about it. In my travels to the UK (I have a soft spot for it since I studied there), I’ve noticed a trend towards “green” and “sustainable” – supermarkets and food producers alike are branding their products and services as being “sourced with integrity”, natural, local and pledged towards contributing to the community and envi-ronment. Obviously, there is a demand for this too – consumers are willing to pay more for “Fairtrade” labelled products and are drawn to the proclamations of freshness and fairness.
With “sustainability” becoming an industry in itself, I wonder if Sin-gapore will catch on to this wave. If there is a happy marriage between sustainability and profitability, what ’s stopping us? Besides, it is all about a lifestyle these days, and not just about putting our trash in the recycle bins. That ’s prob-ably the only “sustainable” thing I faithfully do, though I wonder why most of my neighbours’ re-cycle bins are empty when we don’t even need to separate pa-per from plastics or wash labels off food containers. Speaking of marriage, our cover story uncovers what it might take for us to say “I do” to Singapore and really cher-ish it as our own. And we bring you surprising pictures of Sentosa’s biodiversity and its efforts to preserve its sustainability DNA.
If you’re looking to travel, check out our eco-destina-tions under Life.Style. Or try a new trick or tip from our ultimate “How-To” Pullout. Challenge launches our latest readers’ survey – tell us what you like and what you don’t, so that we can continue to bring you more great issues. And now, let me settle down to enjoying my favourite season of the year – and per-haps buy a few goats and chicks from World Vision for a few of my lucky urban friends for Christmas. ;) Happy holidays from all of us at Challenge!
Goats for Christmas, Anyone?
HELLO
If there is a happy marriage between sustainability and profitability, what’s stopping us?
inboxinboxPublisherPS21 office, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s office100 High Street, #07-01 The TreasurySingapore 179434 Email : [email protected] : www.challenge.gov.sg
For enquiries or feedback on Challenge, please write to the Challenge Editorial Team at [email protected].
Editorial Advisor Agnes Kwek Editor Tay Li Shing Assistant Editor Shaun KhiuEditorial Assistant Eric Loy
Tuber Productions Pte Ltd298 River Valley Road Level 2Singapore 238339Tel : 6836-4030Fax : 6836-4029Email : [email protected] Web : www.tuberproductions.com
ManagementDirector Lee Han ShihManaging Director Weiling WongProject Director Liew Wei PingProject ManagerLeong May Yin
EditorialContributing Editor Bridgette See Editorial ConsultantKoh Buck SongStaff Writer Chen JingtingIntern Abigail Kang & Ng Swan YeeContributors Ryandall Lim, Siti Maziah Masramli, Debby Ng, Sheralyn Tay & Wong Sher Maine
CreativeCreative Director AshikArt DirectorYip Siew FeiGraphic Designer Ng Shi WeiProduction Manager Nurul MalikStaff Photog rapher Farhan Darma
Contributing Photog raphers John Heng (www.daphotographer.com)Lumina Studio (www.animulstudio.com)
Challenge is published bimonthly by Tuber Productions Pte Ltd (Registration No: 200703697K) for PS21 Office, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office. Copyright of the materials contained in this magazine belongs to PS21 Office. Nothing in here shall be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written consent of PS21 Office. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of PS21 Office or Tuber Productions Pte Ltd and no liabilities shall be attached there to. All rights reserved. All information correct at time of printing.
Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd (Registration No: 197801823M) 57 Loyang Drive Singapore 508968
SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2011
PLUS FILL YOUR STOMACH FOR JUST
$2 Pg 39
WHAT DO WE NEED IN A
MORE COMPLEX WORLD?
GET A CLEARER PICTURE INSIDE
Here’s your chance to let us know how we’re doing and how we can improve. Go to www.challenge.gov.sg/survey2011, complete the short
10-minute survey, and you will stand a chance to win $700 in takashimaya vouchers!
You have until december 16, 2011 to participate in the survey.
Do note that only online submissions will be considered and you are allowed to participate only once. Multiple submissions may disqualify
you from the lucky draw.
Take the
Readership Survey
i have to say, this month’s challenge magazine looks really good!
keep up the good work.Asanthi MendisMCYS
the one-der map and $2 food pages were very interesting but... I spotted a mistake in the “The Art of Cool” pullout. The most expensive painting in the world is Jackson Pollock’s No.5, 1948, which sold for US$140m in 2006. According to Wikipedia, Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust ranks 7th on the list.
Jonathan NgPSD
(Ed: Sorry for the mistake. We should have specified that Picasso’s piece was the world’s most expensive artwork sold at an auction sale.)
The approach for the article
‘making them a cut above the rest’ where you trail former hairstylist Luke Arthur Lim for a day
is a great way to celebrate public sector heroes. It makes great stories because it is grounded in the everyday instead of the abstract.
George NgDesignSingapore Council
Stand a chance to win
$700 in takashimaya vouchers
Stand a chance to win
$700 in takashimaya vouchers Involving the public will deliver more effective policies and services, but may also
require us to put in more time and resources. Is it worth it? Tell us what you think!
email us: [email protected]
The best entry will win an attractive prize worth up to $100! All other published entries will win shopping vouchers worth $30 each. Please include your name, agency email
address, agency and contact number.
All entries should reach us by november 27, 2011.
If we work like we’re going on holiday on Fridays, we could get all our work done in four days. It takes concentration, dedication and zero tolerance to distractions. The reward is an extra 52 days off a year. To do this, I would make a reasonable list daily and work through it methodically. I would go for a movie, visit the park with my kids or take up a new hobby.
Lynna Tan BCA
Both money and time are v a luab l e means to a more comfortable and fulfilled life. But as a middle-aged mother, my perspective has changed over the years. I don’t remember much of my childhood as my parents were busy but I remember the times my mom spent a rare evening with me. Our family will always remember the experiences shared with us. Would I sacrifice 20% of my pay for a day off ? Yes. Will I be poorer for it? Financially yes but it will be worth it.
eunice SuiMCYS
As enticing as it sounds, our pay just isn’t enough to keep up with inflation to cope with a 20% cut. Parents: Scrap the overseas trip. Kids: We’re going to East Coast Park for the holidays. Married couples: You’re moving back to your parents’. To spend the day out, we would incur extra spending. A teaspoon of pay cut and a ladle of expenditure makes an age-old recipe for disaster.
Anwar Bin Asger AliSPF
I want more pay so I’ve more money to shop with. I enjoy the challenge and can use my vacation leave if I need a break. As Prince Henry said in Henry IV (Part I): “If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work.” And yes, this applies even if three days of every week were “playing holidays” too.
Nazeera ebrahimICA
I’m a recent graduate bursting with energy and wanting to channel it to doing something
worthwhile. A four-day week is unacceptable as I’ve so much
to contribute to. Enjoyment is often tied to indulgence, which requires money. I can’t afford to be indulgent two days a week let alone three. Anyone happy to accept a shorter work week must be rich, self-indulgent and probably not too dedicated to the job. If they believed in their job’s value to society, they wouldn’t dare work any less hard than the people whose activity they are regulating or than those they’re protecting. My work is important to me. It ’s not a form of entertainment.
Sudhanshu AhujaMAS
editor: Wow, this was a question close to readers’ hearts as more than 200 of you responded. Please go to www.challenge.gov.sg for more views.
“Sometimes you h a v e t o t a k e a s t e p b a c k t o move forward,” s a y s w r i t e r John Colanzi. W o r k i n g a d u l t s o f t e n miss the beauty of this statement, los ing s ight that time does not nec-e s s a r i l y equa t e to efficiency. A person working seven days a week might not produce better qual i t y work than someone focused on the task for four days. Take the time to smell the roses. One should strive to have work-life balance, working on yourself first before having the energy to work on other aspects of your life. So, take 20% of my pay if you may! Who knows, with the renewed energy, I might soon be slated for promotion! Congratulations Melissa for sharing your views with us. Here’s $100 in Kinokuniya vouchers so you can kick back and relax with a novel, some magazines, or even a DVD. No need for a pay cut to enjoy life, in this case!
We asked readers for their views.
engaging the public – overrated or necessary?
YAY NAY
Leong Wai Kheng Melissa
People’s Association
03Your Say
Coming up...
V i t a l , a sha red s e r v i c e s department of the Ministry of Finance, edged out some 450 Asia Pacific entries to win the Excellence in People & Communications category at the 14th Shared Services & Outsourcing 2011, beating three other contenders from Proc to r & Gamb le , P T. Bank Mandiri, Indonesia, and Genpact. V ital came in second to Microsoft in the Excellence in Customer Service category, and was awarded an Honourab l e M e n t i o n . I t e d g e d o u t Citibank, Accenture, Maersk
This year’s Public Service Staff Con-ference “Being Ex-ceptional: The Jour-ney Ahead” took place on October 10, 2011. Head of Civil Service, Mr Peter Ong shared with 1,200 senior public officers that while Singapore and the Public Service have been exceptional in many areas thus far, the Service needs to actively transform in order to remain distinctive. Mr Ong identified two areas for the Public Service to focus on: policy-making with a heart and public engagement. Mr Loh Khum Yean, Perm Sec (Man-power), and Mr Chew Hock Yong, Chief Executive of the Land Transport Authority also spoke at the conference, sharing their agencies’ experiences in these areas. www.flickevents.com/pssc2011
nEWSfrom theSERViCEVITAL CLINCHES AWARD AT 14TH ASIA PACIFIC SHARED SERVICE & OUTSOURCING 2011
PUBLIC SERVICE STAFF CONFERENCE 2011
Vital Chief Executive Clarence Ti (left) receiving the award for Excellence in People & Communications from Mr G V Prasad, Executive Vice President of AXA Business Services.
T h e C h a n g i C o t t a g e and Fairy Point Chalet 7 (part of Aloha Resorts in Changi) have been newly refurbished. Now you can host a party or have a quiet b e a c h s i d e s t a y c a t i o n i n g r e a t e r c o m f o r t . www.aloharesorts.com.sg.
new book on behaviouraL eConomiCsThe Civil Service College launches i t s n e w b o o k B e h a v i o u r a l E c o n o m i c s a n d Po l i c y D e s i g n : E x a m p l e s f r o m S i n g a p o r e o n November 9 , 2011. The book shows how successful policies in Singapore integrated conventional economic principles with insights from the emerging field of behavioural economics even before the latter became popular. www.flickevents.com/BESymposium
20th worLd orChid show in singaPoreA must-see event for orchid lovers, the 20th edition of the World Orchid Show will have the finest and rarest orchids on display at Marina Bay Sands Singapore from November 13-20, 2011. Visitors can also catch a sneak preview of the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay, ahead of its opening in 2012. www.20woc.com.sg
dinosaurs – Live!This dramatic exhibition reflects current scientific evidence of these colossal creatures and their environments and opens a window on a world lost to history. On display are dinosaurs from all prehistoric periods. Don’t miss the towering animatronic creatures in action! Now till February 26, 2012 at the Science Centre Singapore. Tickets at bit.ly/dinosaurslive.
Credit: Science Centre Singapore
Global Shared Services and National Healthcare Group in this category. Vital’s Chief Executive Clarence Ti said: “For long-term sustainability, there must be a social compact between employees and the organisation. It is our belief that we must never treat our people as economic digits in a transaction processing centre but as a family community at work.”
fairy Point chalet 7
Closing plenary session chaired by Mr Peter Ong, Head of Civil Service (third from left) at the Public Service Staff Conference 2011.
Highlights04
and kiam chye-looking reefs have in common
To Professor Peter Ng, the Director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity and Research, they help us understand biodiversity a little more.
Text by Bridgette See Photos by Lumina Studio
What
some genuine dinosaur fossils: “The President asked, ‘Is this real?’ That sense of wonderment can’t be hid-den – not even in adults. The reaction was fantastic.” Hard-sellBut while the natural history museum had unanimous support, some donors were not convinced that dinosaurs were relevant to Southeast Asian biodiversity.They weren’t found here. They’re a waste of space and money. You don’t need to spend millions on gimmicky dinos, critics said.
But the Museum was undeterred, saying it had good scientific and educational reasons for wanting dinosaurs. It will set up a History of Life gallery to explain evolution, with the sauropods as key exhibits. A donor appeal letter read: “When dinosaurs walked the Earth over 100 million years ago, Singapore was part of a mega continent that had such giants… Dinosaurs will help (us) understand the biodiversity, climate change and extinction challenges now facing mankind and the planet.”
Centre some years ago. Tickets sold like hot cakes, and costs were recovered in six months, with profits to boot. “And the visitors knew they were just seeing replica bones,” he adds, with a grin. So when the Museum was offered a chance to buy genuine ones in April – at a price they felt reasonable – they grabbed it.
Dinosaurs are a draw Six years ago, Prof Ng began to look into museum planning intensively after the then National Heritage Board Chairman Tommy Koh suggested setting up a national natural history museum. He arrived at two conclusions after visiting the most successful ones in the US and Europe.
One: Museums with private endow-ments have a more sustainable busi-ness model as they can survive tough economic times – this is how future museums will be run.
Two: If “you have dinosaurs, you’re in business” as they are crowd-pullers. Prof Ng recounts how former President S R Nathan was awed when he held
PROFESSOR PETER NG LEANS in and, in a hushed conspiratorial tone, goes: “To be a successful museum, other than having a good endowment, it must have… dinosaurs.” He pauses dramatically, then intones: “Dinosaurs attract people like nothing else can.”
When Challenge first met the Director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity and Research in August, his team was scrambling to raise money to buy a family of dinosaurs from the USA. He was convinced they would be the perfect centrepiece for the new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum when it opens in 2014. (See “Coming Full Circle”.) After missing a July deadline, the Mu-seum bought time and raised enough funds in September to buy three au-thentic skeletons of giant diplodocid sauropod (long-necked) dinosaurs.
Why the doggedness? Is he obsessed about dinosaurs? No, he replies flatly, it is a sound investment.
Prof Ng recalls a $1m dinosaur exhibit the Museum organised with the Science
i’m a hyPoCrite too“We’re all guilty of something,” says Prof Ng, who recently co-authored the first Encyclopaedia of Singapore’s Biodiversity. “I don’t drive but I still call myself a hypocrite because I enjoy sitting in an air-conditioned room and using my computer.”
Prof Ng, a firm believer in public edu-cation and outreach, wants to have a supervised corner where children can handle real fossil fragments (not from the three dinosaurs but from nearby excavation sites in Wyoming, USA).
“Is there a risk they’ll destroy them? Yes. But is the risk worth it? Yes! We live in a very video- and IT-centric world, so touching something real helps kids to identify with the real thing and hopefully gets them excited enough to want to do Science!”
With the dinosaurs funded by private money, the Government will give a matching grant. This endowment will provide scholarships to study Southeast Asian biodiversity, the raison d’être of the Museum currently located within the National University of Singapore.
Find out how the Raffles Museum narrowly escaped the junkyard at Challenge Online www.challenge.gov.sg.
Coming FuLL CirCLeThe Raffles Museum was started in 1849. From 1970 to 1987, it was a semi-nomadic collection
until it found a permanent home in NUS. The impetus to have a full-fledged museum came after 3000 visitors thronged the little-known gallery on
Museum Open House Day 2009. News of how it failed to cope with the crowd led a donor to put
down $10m towards the construction of a new facility. In 2010, another $36m was raised, with the museum to be renamed the Lee Kong Chian Natural
History Museum when it opens, in NUS, in 2014.
Natural heritage in our cultural DNAOver the years, the Raffles Museum evolved from being a “reference collec-tion” for scientists, to having a public gallery with an education outreach arm. Its staff have studied and catalogued specimens from the region, including Singapore’s coastal areas such as Chek Jawa, and have contributed to the discovery of new species from all over Southeast Asia.
“(Our local reefs) are so kiam chye (ugly like salted vegetables) so why do we keep them? So I can boast about our biodiversity… Because no matter how sad our reefs are, they are ours,” says Prof Ng with indignation and pride, “especially since if we conserve and manage them well, the reefs can only get better over time.”
The biologist is adamant that natural heritage contributes to a nation’s iden-tity but is frustrated that it has been overlooked. “People say it’s just science, but it ’s... linked to our (collective) memory and culture.” The changi and tampines trees that estates have been named after are nearly extinct; flying foxes are long gone.
muCh more to seeCurrently there are thousands more specimens (left) that are not exhibited in the Raffles Museum gallery due to a lack of space. When the new museum is ready, more of them will be seen by visitors.
But even the feisty professor has learnt to “give and take” in the struggle to preserve natural heritage: “You can’t conserve all, but you can do your best.” But he expects Singapore, as a first world economy, to walk the sustain-ability talk better than before.
“Thirty years ago, you couldn’t stop the destruction of Chek Jawa. People would have laughed at you (for try-ing)” as bread-and-butter issues were critical then.
Happily, he observes, environmental education has increased vastly with schools improving their curricula, civil society becoming more active and young people taking keener interest. The secluded Raffles Museum, currently displaying a fraction of its 500,000 specimens, has become a popular school visit destination.
The Lee Kong Chian Museum is set to take biodiversity awareness to a new level. Visitors can step back in time to see Singapore’s lost flora and fauna.
“What was here during (Sir Stamford) Raffles’ time? The (new) museum will unlock that,” promises Prof Ng.
Is there a risk they’ll destroy (the dinosaurs)? Yes. But is the risk worth it? Yes!
07Feature
What will it take to love and “marry” Singapore, as if it were a person? Debby Ng looks at some ingredients for a love
potion for Singaporeans.
1Open up communication
channels – Every date begins with a phone call. Open up a channel and make it known!
2Research and scout – Browse
around and find out who’s interested in the same
things you are! It’s easier to communicate with someone
who has a shared interest!
3Make contact – Set up a date
to meet and have a chat.
4Make more contact! Keep
checking that you still share the same ideas and interest. If
not, what’s changed?
5Commit to the process
– staying in love is a work in progress. Make
regular contact, sound out ideas, discuss and resolve
disagreements. Return to step one to make new contacts
and share the love!
i do!
stepsto Fall in Lovewith your City
ON MARCH 19, 2011, SOME 1,600 people gathered in a parking lot in downtown Durham to shout out the words, “I do”. The people of the American city had simply got enough of f l irting around and decided to make a commitment to a shared and sustaina-ble Durham, capital of North Carolina state.
They vowed to keep their streets clean and safe, protect natural re-sources, shop local ly, support the arts and local non-prof it organisa-tions, cherish diversity, and elect responsible leaders.
So what is it that ignites this sort of passion between people and their cities?
“The mutual love affair between people and their place is one of the most powerful inf luences in our l ives, yet we rarely think of it in terms of a relationship,” writes Pe-ter Kageyama in his book For the Love of Cities: The love af fair be-tween people and their places.
“We al l recognise that when chil-dren, pets, plants or even objects are loved, they thrive (yes, objects – just look at the car of someone who loves it). So this emotional di-mension to infrastructure should not be seen as superf luous,” writes Mr Kageyama.
The importance of city design – how its physical spaces and archi-tecture can bring people together to create memories, communities and positive aff i l iation – has been in-creasingly emphasised by pundits. (Read Suzanne Lennard ’s Cities for Kids in Challenge Sep/Oct 2010).
But there are other factors beyond the built environment. A three-year Gallup study of 26 American cities (Knight Soul of the Communi-ty) focusing on residents’ emotional attachment to their communities found three main qualities: social
offerings (entertainment venues and places to meet), openness (how
welcoming a place is, how diverse it is), and
the area’s aesthetics (phys-ical beauty and green spac-es). The study also found that cities with the highest levels of attachment had the highest GDP growth.
So what of Singapore? Is it as lova-ble as it is l iveable? There is in-creasing evidence that residents are fal l ing in love and becoming more passionate about the city, particu-larly relating to the environment and sustainability. Through this lens, Challenge examines some fac-tors contributing to this love – es-pecial ly the actions of civil society, individuals and government agen-cies – and whether more can be done to make sparks f ly.
Speak up, loveIn her 2008 book Government, Poli-tics and the Environment – A Singa-pore Study, Hong Kong University social sciences professor Maria Francesch-Huidobro argues that, with Singapore’s “highly central-ised power structure and the gov-ernment ’s good management records, the scenario is set for rath-er unequal power distribution be-tween the government and NGOs, and litt le room for power sharing or even participation of civil society groups in the running of public af-fairs.”
But the nature of this relationship has changed as the political space given for NGOs has grown. In 2004, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated in a landmark speech to the Harvard Club that he had “no doubt our society must open up further.”
As recently as September this year, hundreds of people concerned about
the welfare of dolphins bought by Resorts World Singapore gathered at Hong Lim Park to make a stand for their release back into the wild.
In October, the Nature Society (Singapore) submitted a proposal, The Green Corridor: A Proposal to Keep the Railway Lands as a Con-tinuous Green Corridor, to the gov-ernment; the f irst time a col lective of interest groups led by civil soci-ety has taken initiative so actively. Such movements would not have happened this way in the 90s.
09Cover Story
the ground-up initiative (gui), is a growing community of people that is taking the initiative to create the world we all want from the ground up. Through the power of community from all walks of life – local and foreign – they are realising the dream of building a centre, called Sustainable
Living Kampung, to foster social and environmental consciousness through programmes and activities that emphasise living in harmony with the earth and how to get in touch with ourselves.
“Policy-makers need to have an understanding of ground situations
to remain relevant and people on the ground need the agencies’ support to get around blind spots that policies, being administrative tools, overlook,” said Chia Chia, a full-time volunteer with GUI.
Learn more: www.groundupinitiative.org
get in touCh with yourseLF
Walks in the parkIn the past decade, public educa-tion helped foster greater apprecia-tion of the environment, especial ly among young Singaporeans. Private initiatives have sprung up to en-courage learning and ref lection through interaction with the natu-ral environment.
For instance, Kampung Temasek (www.kampungtemasek.org) in Jo-hor Bahru was founded by architect Tay Kheng Soon to be an “outdoor laboratory” for Singapore schools to run their curricula.
The Ground-Up Initiative (see sidebar), based at the Bottle Tree Park, is working to nurture envi-ronmental ly-conscious l ife practic-es. Volunteers, educators, or anyone with something to share can realise their personal capacity to contrib-ute to their community through projects in the park, and they can immediately ref lect on the outcome of their participation.
In these spaces, diversity is em-braced so anyone can be an educa-tor, because everyone has some-thing to teach. Interests are not conf ined to l iv ing green but to l iv-ing on the whole, so people f ind many ways to resonate with their communities. Collectives l ike these can nurture a sense of shared goals and an inspired community.
Shared ownershipFor decades, Singaporeans have known the Public Util ities Board (PUB) as a util ity agency you pay bil ls to. These days, PUB is trying hard to change its image to that of
Times have changed and people today are educated. Institutions should be open to listening to, and receiving, effective criticism.
in 2005, volunteer groups The Hantu Bloggers and Blue Water Volunteers wrote a letter to the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) and Shell Petrochemicals expressing concern that a reclamation project on Pulau Ular were threatening the coral reefs of Pulau Hantu, an island teeming with marine life.
Online awareness campaigns educated the public about the plans and its potential damage, which led JTC and Shell to work together with the groups to mitigate the environmental impact of the reclamation and remain in communication with the groups during the process.
A blog that followed the dialogue process helped bolster Shell’s image of working together with, instead of against, the community. It was the first time in Shell’s 50-year history of operations in Singapore that they had engaged with NGOs.
Learn more: www.pulauhantu.org, www.bluewatervolunteers.org
PULAU
Pulau hantu
work out your diFFerenCes
an organisation that wants to inter-act with Singaporeans to discuss the issue of water.
The “3P Partnership for Envi-ronmental Sustainability” was launched in 2001 to gather public views on the Singapore Green Plan 2012, and to promote closer coordi-nation among government agencies and greater public consultation.
Ms Lau Ying Shan, Senior Off icer at the PUB’s People, Public and Private (3P) Network Department, meets with community members at People’s Association (PA) Centres regularly after off ice hours, to gain a better understanding of how grassroots leaders are trying to en-gage their communities to become more involved with the spaces they share with water, such as at the Ac-tive, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) sites.
She believes that the more a project is built (l iteral ly) by a community , the better assurance of success, as the participants are passionate and have a sense of ownership. “We have become used to letting [gov-ernment agencies] make decisions for us because they were deemed the experts. Perhaps this was the case when the PUB was set up in the 60s and citizens had litt le, if any, understanding of these issues, but times have changed and people today are educated. Institutions should be open to l istening to, and receiving, effective criticism.”
Ms Sharon Chan, Assistant Direc-tor at the National Parks Board (NParks), shares Ms Lau’s senti-ments. “People must believe in what they’re doing before we can see change. If we don’t believe in it, and it was just a top-down ap-proach, things wil l sti l l happen but the product wil l be different, and the ownership too.”
Nature Society President Shawn Lum observes that civil society groups are now being routinely consulted or engaged informally by government agencies. “This would have been unthinkable 20 or even
cessful ly managed to stop the project ti l l today. Prof Francesch-Huidobro observes that successful outcomes such as these are a “con-f irmation that governments do not hold al l the answers to today’s com-plex governance questions,” and that the government is changing its way of taking criticism.
Little actions can mean a lotBeing part of a group is one way to get ideas going, but every now and then there are highly motivated in-dividuals who are not afraid to stand out on their own.
Mei Lin, a marine biologist cur-rently pursuing a doctorate, be
10 years ago. Statutory boards have begun to realise that it is actual ly benef icial to l isten to interest groups.”
“NGOs complement government agencies by addressing issues out-side the jurisdiction of these agen-cies,” adds Dr Lum. “NParks is fo-cused on parks and reserves and the PUB on water, NGOs have the abil ity to lobby for areas outside of these zones.”
In 1992, the Society undertook an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study against a government proposal to build a golf course at Lower Peirce Reservoir and suc-
11Cover Story
From this...
... to this.
The Community greens initiative empowers residents to create new commons and shared green spaces, where there are none. These commons can be created when neighbours take down their fences and create shared gardens in the middle of their blocks or when they take over under-utilised city property, like alleys.
In Baltimore, USA, a project by Community Greens enabled the transformation of Baltimore’s rat-infested, drug-ridden, garbage-polluted alleys into a shared green space, after residents were given the legal right to do so. Through a new Alley Gating and Greening ordinance, residents can now legally create new commons and green spaces at their backdoor.
Learn more: www.ashoka.org/communitygreens
Create shared sPaCes
l ieves that parks and nature re-serves wil l become more important as Singapore progresses: “Green spaces help to maintain a quality of l ife in a fast-paced society.” People are driven to protect things or plac-es they have formed a sentimental attachment to, she adds, therefore knowing that nature contributes to their wel l-being can foster the “ in-terest, sincerity and virtues” need-ed to become proactive in protect-ing the environment. Keen to introduce more people to the beauty of Singapore’s water sys-tems, Mei Lin gives free guided walks along PUB trails in the MacRitchie water catchment re-serve. She also trains other volun-teers to do the same. “These trails were designed to teach students about the history of the natural res-ervoir, understand its biodiversity and the human impact. I hope stu-dents wil l better appreciate our wa-ter sources and learn the impor-tance of maintaining green spaces.”
Play matchmakerTo make sparks f ly, the role of the authorities cannot be underesti-mated. You could cal l the govern-ment the matchmaker – making the introductions and paving the way for love to blossom.
This couldn’t be more apparent in the example of the Semakau Land-f il l, where thousands of tonnes of ash and non-incinerable waste are shipped to daily for disposal. In-stead of being cordoned off by the authorities, the landf il l was made open to the public in 2005 as an “eco-landf il l ” for educational and recreational activities.
Mr Ong Chong Peng, General Manager of the Landf il l, operated by the National Environmental Agency (NEA), explains that “be-cause Semakau Landf il l is an oper-ational landf il l, opening it to the public could not have happened without a top-down initiative.”
Like the PUB, NEA is trying to re-brand itself from the agency that combats littering and dengue to one that cares about the environment.
“Semakau showcases our efforts to manage our impact on the environ-ment and make the urban environ-ment l iveable. We want people to
When we love someone, we are willing to do more for them... Cities that have emotionally-connected citizens will see those same citizens do extraordinary things for their cities.
adopt-a-highway was a campaign that started in the US that encourages volunteers to keep a section of a highway free from litter. Some communities have also included in their activities the planting of trees and wildflowers, and controlling vegetation growth along roads.
It also provides organisations opportunities to brand their company name and logo while supporting the community where their customers live and work. By installing Adopt-A-Highway signs along busy highways, businesses are offered positive exposure in exchange
for maintaining the condition and cleanliness of a section of highway.
The campaign was so successful that similar campaigns spread throughout the lower 49 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adopt_a_Highway
Find Common interest
Thanks to this ‘matchmaking’, people who have had a chance to fal l in ‘ love’ with Semakau’s thriv-ing biodiversity have tripled: from more than 4,000 in 2005 to 13,000 in 2010.
In fact, two couples went as far as to have their wedding portraits taken at Semakau, against a backdrop of “sweeping azure skies, wind-swept tal l grass, green plains starred with white f lowers, and serene tree-lined paths” according to the TODAY newspaper in January 2011.
Love means sacrif ice and stewardshipClearly, environmental issues have moved from a fringe to a central issue. The initiative to “open up further”, an increasingly educated and aware population and civil so-ciety, coupled with the provision of physical spaces for expression and action like Hong Lim Park, and access to online social media
make conscious efforts to minimise their impact, and to take their own lead. People need to treat public areas as their own. Once they have ownership, they wil l treasure our environment.”
When the initiative to open up Se-makau Landf il l k icked off, NEA cal led in the experts from NGOs and got in touch with prominent individuals such as Ms Ria Tan, an established local naturalist who has done extensive work for Singapore’s shores, to run programmes. Part-nerships fol lowed with groups such as the Raff les Museum of Biodiver-sity and Research, Sport Fishing Association (Singapore), The As-tronomical Society of Singapore and the Nature Society.
Mr Ong says: “Our job is to facil i-tate and create a suitable environ-ment so that NGOs and civil groups can do what they are good at. They are the experts.”
platforms that reach out to mass audiences have enabled interest groups and government agencies to hear and communicate with each other at a level that was previously impossible.
Ms Chan, who has worked with NParks since 1993, has taken ad-vantage of online forums, physical discussion groups, and traditional feedback channels to tune in to public concerns. Through the years, she observes that citizens who have conviction and ownership are in-creasingly becoming involved in helping NParks spread its messages.
What Ms Chan describes is stew-ardship which arises when individ-uals are given the opportunity to actively participate in the deci-sion-making process; they believe they have a stake in, and a respon-sibil ity toward, their community.
Dr Lum believes that “where you live is where you contribute and in-vest your time and energy.” The American citizen says: “The expa-triate community is a huge un-tapped potential of motivated and energised people who interact with the environment and society the same way everyone else does.”
Apart from education in schools and working with local civil groups, there needs to be opportunities, through groups such as GUI, for people from any group to become stewards.
And for Singaporeans to truly tie the knot to the city, stewardship cannot be limited to issues only of the envi-ronment, but also of heritage, arts and culture, and even politics.
As Peter Kageyama puts it: “When we love someone, we are willing to do more for them, to make sacrif ices – we forgive shortcomings and f ight for them… Cities that have emotionally-connected citizens will see those same citizens do ex-traordinary things for their cities.”
It makes a lot of sense, then, to se-riously examine how to grow the love so that more would want to take the plunge and say, “I do.”
13Cover Story
underwater gLamourThe Red Feather Star (Class Crinoidea) is one of the many living reefs at the Serapong shore in Sentosa that will captivate visitors who venture to the island’s wilder parts.
15Feature
Text by Sheralyn Tay
IT IS THE USUAL BEACH PARTY IN SENTOSA – volleyballs sail across the hot sand accompanied by thumping music from a nearby bar, while a tram ferries visitors along a paved road. But amid the hu-man commotion, a squirrel scurries lithely in the tree branches and a peacock ‘poses’ for an intrigued crowd of Japanese tourists.
Even as tourism flourishes on Sentosa – it welcomed 9.2 million visitors in the first six months of 2011, up 18 per cent from the same period last year – so too do many of the island’s plant and animal spe-cies. This is partly thanks to a Sentosa Green Plan launched in late-2009. The plan is part of the Sentosa Leisure Group’s (SLG’s) sustainability efforts, says Mr Chan Mun Wei, Divisional Director of the Corporate Planning Division.
As land managers and administrators of the island, the Group has had to keep environmental concerns in mind as Sentosa’s charm lies in its greenery and nature reserves. “We want to make sure we don’t over-develop the island. If we do so, then we destroy what Sentosa stands for,” says Mr Chan.
Sentosa gRoWingWild
It may be a haven for all-night beach parties, but Sentosa also supports other wild life of the
plant and animal variety.
Phot
o: R
ia T
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RWS site includes “a relatively large and very beautiful stand of mature coastal forest… One could argue that this… should never have been included in the Integrated Resort site in the first place, but it unfortunately was.”
Fortunately, plans to build a water theme park within the secondary coastal forest were shelved by RWS after consultation with nature enthu-siasts. “The construction of the RWS complex may have disturbed birds or other animals that lived in the forest,” notes Dr Lum, “but the really amazing part was that the forest was essentially left as it had been.”
Hidden gemsThe island’s leafy residents – more than 55,000 trees and some 45 hectares of secondary forest – are cared for by an arborist and landscape department. In 2004, 31 trees were given protected heritage status, including three tower-ing mahoganies at the Imbiah Lookout. These were painstakingly transplanted there to save them from being cut down.
The dilemma of developmentThis has not been without challenges. Tourism upgrading has had its impact on the natural habitat. During the construction of the Sentosa Luge, for instance, a section of secondary forest had to be cleared to allow construc-tion vehicles access, while the closure of the iconic monorail left the tracks and stations disused.
Mr Chan acknowledges the chal-lenges. “From the economic perspec-tive, increased visitorship is not a bad thing… but there is the dilemma that more people on the island increases environmental impact and our carbon footprint.” This underscores the impor-tance of the Green Plan as it sets the framework to mitigate these pressures, he adds. It focuses on maintaining greenery and conserving biodiversity, testbedding green technologies, resource efficiency and recycling.
As an organisation, SLG makes the effort to cultivate environmental con-sciousness. “Our operations are spread out across more than 20 buildings, making it very hard to find econo-mies of scale to install more efficient technologies,” Mr Chan says. “But we are trying to ensure that future larger buildings can attain a level of Green Mark certification.” Meanwhile, the different SLG units do their bit. The transport department has converted vehicles to use more efficient diesel engines and the golf club offices have installed LED lights.
Island reserveSLG is committed to maintaining at least 60 per cent ‘green and open’ areas on the island. This means island partners such as hotels and RWS must follow certain guidelines. At the Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort, the driveway was designed around an existing Angsana tree – believed to be Singapore’s old-est. The Siloso Beach Resort was built to incorporate trees and terrain into its structure.
The development of Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) raised concerns among nature enthusiasts. While most of its complex was built on reclaimed land, Dr Shawn Lum, President of the Nature Society (Singapore), points out that the
where the wiLd things areWho would have guessed that so much wildlife exists on Sentosa? They include a giant Ficus tree (pictured) as well as living reefs (below) spotted at the Serapong shore by nature enthusiast Ria Tan of wildsingapore.com.
Phot
os: R
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Disk hard coral (Turbinaria sp.)
Lumpy pink sponge (haliclona cf. baeri)
common cerianthid (order ceriantharia)
17Feature
A majestic Ficus tree – the subject of many a wedding photo and video – graces a corner of Sentosa golf course.
A 2010 Nature Society Biodiversity Study revealed that the island’s forests are propagating naturally as a self-sustaining, balanced ecosystem.
It also revealed other hidden gems: of the 120 tree species on Sentosa, 46 are listed as threatened in the Singapore Red Data. One of these, the Aquilaria malaccensis is listed as globally and locally vulnerable. More amazing is that in two separate remote areas lie the last living specimens of Syzygium griff ithii (a native flowering tree related to the jambu) and Fagraea ridleyi (a fig tree) – both listed as extinct on the Singapore mainland. Surprisingly, the reclamation of a portion of the
Serapong golf course to include part of the sea for water features led to a healthy cluster of Bakau pasir – a rare species of mangrove tree – taking root in one of the golf ponds.
Sustainability drivesOther efforts include testbedding green technologies such as LED streetlamps and solar-powered LED cat’s eye road markers. According to Ms Lieow Shao Wei, Environmental Sustainability manager, the plan is to roll out more LED streetlamps in the future. SLG has installed solar panels on eight ob-servation towers along various beaches.
Hiccups during trials are not unusual. A trial to test retrofitted electric vehicles saw the van break down at least twice but the data collected during the three-month period showed an average of 20 per cent savings in energy use.
Resource efficiency also means making compost and recycling wood scraps and logs for fences, decorative displays and benches. Areas cleared during develop-ment such as a section of the Dragon Trail have been reforested, while old
Sentosa fixtures such as the once iconic monorail have been retrofitted as restaurants and shelters. On the Sentosa Nature Discovery tour, the monorail station serves as a starting point and part of the track forms the aerial boardwalk.
Next year, as Sentosa celebrates its 40th anniversary, it will embark on a new 10-year Sentosa Masterplan. This plan will integrate a strong environmental push to help Sentosa maintain its “60-40” green and open spaces versus develop-ment ratio, protect the two nature areas at Mt Serapong and Mt Imbiah, and cope with increased visitor numbers.
After all, adds Mr Chan, sustainability is part of the Sentosa DNA: “It is the unique selling proposition that sets it apart from other destinations.”
23% of singapore’s bird species, including rare birds
such as the Oriental Magpie Robin. This distinctive black-
and-white bird became virtually extinct in Singapore by the late 1970s. Sentosa is one of the last three offshore islands to see the bird. Sentosa Nature Discovery has adopted the Magpie Robin
as its mascot.
a bevy of some 80 free-roaming peafowl – thought to have originated from a pair of birds given to the island in the 1970s by a
distinguished guest.
is home to:Sentosa
30% of singapore’s butterfly species
We want to make sure we don’t over-develop the island. If we do so, then we destroy what Sentosa stands for.
There are better ways to use sludge than eat it, says NTU professor
Wang Jing-Yuan.
In most cities, human waste are flushed down into centralised waste-water treat-ment plants that use copious amounts of water and energy to process waste into sludge cakes that are then buried or incinerated.
At R3C, we’re developing a new gen-eration of toilets that will require less water to flush waste away and also separate yellow water (liquids) from brown water (solids). If installed in new housing blocks, the brown water collected can be mixed with food waste (collected via dedicated disposal chutes), and converted on-site into biogas and
then to electricity. Each cluster of housing blocks would be trans-formed into renewable resource recovery centres, ensuring that waste is fully harnessed.
Apart from cracking our heads over waste management, it seems
natural to look upstream and examine why we are generating so much waste daily. Of course, there is nothing we can do about human waste, but each day, we throw away tonnes of food and other materials that could have been recycled, reused or were unnecessary purchases in the first place.
“All-you-can-eat” buffets, for example, are culpr its of unnecessar y waste generation. Some years ago, I saw a teenager pile on a big plate of food at a buffet line. She had a change of heart even before tasting the food. Even the waitress found this unacceptable and refused to take away the plate of “food waste”. This happens every day in
M I N I M I S I N G WA S T E H A S become a pressing issue for munici-palities globally, as they are faced with rapid urbanisation and a severe lack of space for building waste disposal facilities. Tokyo Sewage (the equivalent of Singapore’s PUB) recently asked a Japanese scientist to find a solution to its rising amount of sewage mud.
The result? The world’s first kind of ‘meat’ made from protein extracted from sewage sludge that was described to be as tasty as chicken. This is interesting from a scientific viewpoint, but I’m not sure if Japanese gourmands would still
say “oishii nei” ( Japanese for “tasty”) to it. Even if it seems like a sustainable solution to the global food crisis (by recycling and eating our waste), it does sound yucky, doesn’t it?
Instead of going down that route, here in Singapore, we’re trying to find other innovative solutions. I’ve been a ‘garbage man’ working on waste man-agement research for 20 years. At the Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre (R3C) of Nanyang Techno-logical University, we are developing environmental technologies to convert waste into useful materials and energy. To us, waste is not waste; they are simply misplaced resources.
different parts of the world but it can be stopped or minimised with proper education or discipline.
Consumers have also been brainwashed to keep up with the latest technology fads; to “buy and throw away”. But where would these used products, for example the iPhone 4, go when newer models are available? According to a US study, millions of used personal comput-ers now lie buried in landfills and will never be degraded. Is this sustainable? Definitely not. The Semakau landfill for example, will be filled up by 2045, going by the current rate of disposal.
Recently I visited a landfill in Taiwan and was shocked to see how most of the waste remained in good shape even after 30 years. The Taiwanese now want to “mine” their landfills to see what can be recycled and what can be incinerated – something Singapore can consider for the Lorong Halus landfill which has been inactive for 12 years.
To have a sustainable future, we have to seriously reflect on our choices. Shall we consume less, throw away less, and hence minimise waste? Remember that what we want is usually much more than what we really need.
To us, waste is not waste; they are simply misplaced resources.
Dr Wang Jing-Yuan is Director of the Resi-dues and Resource Reclamation Centre at Nanyang Technological University. He has over 20 years’ experience in environmental consulting, research and teaching in the US, Taiwan and Singapore.
Thinking Aloud18
“Oishii nei!”Sludge
Burger,Anyone?
DeAr YoUNG oFFICer,
I like to tell young people that if they do what they love, create opportuni-ties for others and boldly make new friends, they’ll surely succeed and be happy. These are lessons I’ve distilled after nearly 40 years of public service.
Follow your passionChoose a career path that fits what you already like to do and have passion for. If you’re going to spend eight to 10 hours a day at work – do something you enjoy!
In primary school, I had a neighbour who retrofitted used car engines in his makeshift garage. Curious, I would pop over and get my hands dirty helping him clean out the greasy parts. Then, at St Joseph’s Institution, I headed the aero-modelling club; making, flying and crashing model planes. Taking up engineering in university was a natural pursuit for me.
When I returned in 1970 after graduat-ing from the University of Toronto on the Colombo Scholarship, the Public Service Commission posted me – an engineer – to the Ministry of Finance’s Budget Division.
After a month of bean-counting, I begged for a transfer to an engineer-ing job – anywhere! That landed me in the Ministry of Defence for 15 years. It was followed by 25 years at the Economic Development Board and A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technol-ogy and Research). As an engineer, I love building and creating systems and have been fortunate to have had jobs and opportunities I truly enjoyed.
Create opportunities for othersIn 1970, the British Far East Forces, the largest employer in Singapore, had begun its withdrawal. At the ripe “old” age of 24, I was given the responsibility to find jobs for the 70,000 retrenched.
From then on, it ’s been my personal mission to identify and build new in-dustries to create jobs. To spot emerg-ing trends, I read avidly, discuss with officers involved, and talk to local and international industry leaders. I never stop learning. When genetics was an emerging technology, I asked NUS
Science staff to create a week’s crash course on “Genetics for Dummies” for me and 14 others.
Creating opportunities includes invest-ing in people. So I set up scholarship programmes in all the organisations that I have been involved with.
It’s satisfying to see the young people I interviewed and selected, grow and develop. It ’s even more satisfying to see them contribute in their career, in their community and to Singapore’s development.
Make new friendsThe final lesson is to make new friends. Don’t be afraid to look up amazing people and befriend them. In this Facebook and LinkedIn generation, it is even easier to get to know people you respect and can learn from.
In every organisation, I try to build relationships. Many investors and tal-
ents I helped attract to Singapore have become personal friends.
Years ago, after learning of the strong Chemistry Department of The Scripps Research Institute and reading up on the work of its department head, Pro-fessor K C Nicolaou, I visited him in San Diego in 2001.
His office had artefacts from ancient Greece, including a replica of the sword Alex-ander the Great used in his world conquests. I broke the ice by discussing the conspiracy theory of how Al-exander was killed. K C then followed on with stories of Alexander’s conquests. This
“connection” subsequently led to him coming to Singapore to help set up the Synthetic Chemistry Lab at Biopolis.
Looking back on my career, what ’s memorable are not so much achieve-ments, it was the fun in all these jobs. It’s fulfilling to see new opportunities generated for others. Finally, the friend-ships built along the way made it an enjoyable journey! That is what lasts.
If you’re going to spend eight to 10 hours a day at work – do something you enjoy!
27Letters to a Young Public Officer
by Philip YeoSPRING Singapore
Chairman since 2007
LIONEL YEO IS THE KIND OF affable chap you could happily shoot the breeze with on first meeting.
The trim, youthful Dean and CEO of the Civil Service College – the training arm for Singapore’s pub-lic officers – and Deputy Secretary (Development) of the Public Serv-ice Division regales with delightful, revealing anecdotes about life, his wife, art, trekking and work.
The accidental public officerAs a teenager, he harboured dreams of becoming an ad agency creative director or lawyer. But his biggest wish was to study overseas and a government scholarship was what reeled him into public service.
“The PSC (Public Service Com-mission) was first to make me an offer and I accepted. Otherwise, I didn’t know very much about public
service,” says the London School of Economics alumnus.
Fifteen years later, Mr Yeo, 38 – who served in the Ministries of Trade and Industry (MTI), Finance, Information and the Arts (MITA), and Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) – is still around, earning “psychic income” (non-monetary income that grati-fies psychological and emotional needs) by working with great peo-ple. “Also, I do get a kick out of do-ing good for Singapore.”
Trekking diplomacyAt MTI, he led the Singapore del-egation in negotiating a free trade agreement with New Zealand, Chile and Brunei.
Chief Chilean negotiator Ricardo Lagos Jr, son of the then Chilean President, found out that Mr Yeo is
Dean and CEO of the Civil Service College and Deputy Secretary (Development) of the Public Service Division, Lionel Yeo offers refreshing personal takes on life, art
and trekking.
Text by Wong Sher Maine Photos by John Heng
an avid trekker who has hit the trails in Nepal and Mount Kilimanjaro.
The two went for a walk in the foot-hills of Santiago. Taking a break by a stream, they talked business, with Mr Lagos giving Mr Yeo greater in-sight on the issues that Chile was concerned about and the ones they had more room to negotiate. “Ne-gotiation is not always what takes place in formal meetings. In this case, my trekking came in useful!”
Investing in relationshipsMr Yeo’s father – a public officer with secondary school education who served in the customs and ex-cise department for over 30 years – was recently hospitalised and was visited by customs officers, despite having retired 20 years ago.
Says Mr Yeo, whose mother was a housewife: “How many of us can
“Sometimespublic officers
take themselvestoo seriously.”
leave the Service for 20 years and still be well-regarded by currently serving officers? The measure of a man is not based on the titles he holds. To me, it ’s a personal remind-er that we have to treat people with respect, that investing in human re-lationships is important.”
This, he feels, can make a difference in engaging staff. “Internal staff engagement is patchy across pub-lic sector organisations and it really boils down to how to relate to each other on a personal basis. If we don’t practise empathy with our own peo-ple, there is no chance of practising empathy with the public.”
A supportive workplaceTo that end, one key project on his radar is building up Cube, an in-tranet portal for public officers. “The aspiration is to create an on-line community of public officers who can collaborate, share ideas, discuss, connect, find each other.”*
Having empathy and a keen eye can help to get the best out of people. Mr Yeo has seen how some pub-lic officers clam up at meetings (if they notice that their bosses are not speaking up) as if in fear of upstag-ing their superiors.
“If you have something to contrib-ute, let ’s hear it. It doesn’t matter what your title is… If you’re living in constant fear of losing your job, you can’t be a good public officer. We have to be able to serve without fear or favour.”
Hence, as a boss, he believes in “seeking first to understand before you make yourself understood”. At meetings, he tries to “make people feel a bit more secure (and that they can) suggest alternative ideas with-out fear of reprisal.”
The under-valued spouseMr Yeo’s wife is award-winning ac-tress Janice Koh, who was a National Arts Council officer for about four years. The two, introduced by mu-tual friends, worked on the Renais-sance City project together – he was at the then Ministry of Information
and the Arts – before she became a full-fledged actress.
“My wife is better at what she does, than I am at what I do,” says Mr Yeo, who most enjoyed his wife’s acting in the play One Flea Spare, in which she played a 12-year-old girl. “Not many people are prepared to invest their careers in the arts.”
Mr Yeo earns more than his wife – something he questions. “Our soci-ety has decided to pay officials more than artists. It ’s not absolutely clear to me that this is a good thing. In 100 years, who will know the names of today ’s permanent secretaries? But people will still be appreciating the paintings of Chua Ek Kay and reading the works of Alfian Sa’at.”
“There’s a risk sometimes that those of us in public service take ourselves a bit too seriously. Public offic-ers must know our place in history and pay sufficient respect to other professions that play a vital part in nation-building” – not only artists, but also entrepreneurs, civil society groups, “any other person or group whose heart is in the right place”.
Empathy is vitalRespect goes right down to the ground, when a public officer is, say, evaluating appeals from entre-preneurs. “Today we may say we’re not going to give you a licence. Are we prepared to contemplate that this entrepreneur may have an idea which could transform the world?
what’s usually in your cuppa?American ginseng tea.
where do you get your favourite drink?
The shop at Funan IT mall next to my PSD office.
“It may seem obvious to take the public sector position as the correct one. But sometimes we should pause and ask ourselves: Could we be wrong? We shouldn’t be too quick to assume we know best. We need to listen, engage and understand.”
Which is why the CSC aims for public officers to see multiple view-points in any issue. “Empathy in policy-making is about being able to wear different stakeholders’ shoes,” says Mr Yeo, who uses the word “empathy” numerous times in the interview.
“It ’s still work in progress, but we want people to see that the government perspective is but one perspective.”
* You can follow Lionel Yeo on Cube (www.cube.gov.sg) from Dec 2011 onwards.
If you have something to contribute, let’s hear it. It doesn’t matter what your title is.
29 A Cuppa With...
Sorry
Ma’af
Doleo
Jag är ledsen
λυπάμαι
Lo sientoJe suis désolé
ごめんなさい
对不起
미안합니다
Why is it
so hard to say Sorry?
Management consultant Wendy Tan of The Flame Centre makes no apologies for sometimes losing face.
by ryandall Lim
TO SOME, SAYING SORRY IS THE HARDEST thing in the world – uttering that loaded word implies you have failed in some capacity.
In businesses, apologising could lead to lawsuits, monetary losses and negative publicity. In society, admitting mistakes could mean public shaming, loss of power and fall from grace. In politics, proclaiming this dreaded word could be the precursor to resignation. And in relationships, saying sorry may be akin to having an ego-bashing – and swallow-ing humble pie with a bruised ego is too bitter for some.
So, it all boils down to one reason – face value.
However, Wendy Tan, founding partner of The Flame Cen-tre, a management consultancy that helps organisations and individuals create results through partnership, feels that, under the right circumstances and despite loss of face, there is much value in coming clean and saying sorry.
“To err is human, and saying sor-ry makes you more real and con-nects you more deeply with others,” she says.
Apologies, she explains, are gate-ways to open dialogue and mark the beginning of events that allow the receiver to determine the apologis-er’s sincerity.
So, while apologising has merits, motive is of utmost importance. Thus, she warns against becoming serial apologisers, who flippantly go through the act just to shut the other party up. What type of apologiser are you?According to Ms Tan, there are three types:
1. Passives – also regarded as serial apologisers but with a different un-derlying motive – are “softer” peo-ple who lack power and fear dishar-mony. In relationships, these may be the submissive other-halves. How-ever, Ms Tan warns that, with time, some Passives may turn into Pas-sive-Aggressives who, with pent-up frustration, may take their anger out on family members with even lesser power, like children.
2. Aggressives – on the other end of the spectrum – typically have Type-A personality traits, are leaders by nature, or others in power who would never apologise under normal circumstances. To them, ego consti-tutes a strong part of their driving force, and they need to appear infal-lible – thus, apologising only comes as a last resort when all other means of covering up have failed.
3. Assertives respect others and seek agreement with those they have wronged. In a sense, their apologies are pre-meditated with the motive of settling cognitive dissonance: to free themselves of feelings of guilt and be at peace.
Are women more likely to apologise?According to Ms Tan, a former psy-chologist with the Singapore Police Force, the more caring and sensitive a person, the more aware he or she will be of circumstances and peo-ple around. Women are generally tuned to emotions and more willing to say sorry.
Indeed, according to American psychologist Sam Margulies in his book Divorce for Grownups, women apologise as a routine aspect of re-lationships to reconnect with those they may have hurt. For men, apolo-gies are humiliating.
This is apparent especially in fathers of Asian households, says Ms Tan. So, instead of a verbal “sorry”, you get acts of remorse as substitutes – like bringing back one’s favourite food – which, in this context, can have the same value as an apology.
Whatever the circumstances, the results of an apology, if done right, can be very positive. After all, human beings, according to a 2009 study by the Nottingham School of Economics (NSE), are generally forgiving in nature provided they get an apology. So is there a tech-nique in delivering a success-ful apology?
Not how, but when to say sorr y“The right time to say sorry is when you have realised that you have actually made a mistake, reflected, and are ready to face consequences. It is when you are ready to seek forgiveness, and forgive yourself,” explains Ms Tan.
But as the success of an apol-ogy relies on both parties, the correct timing also depends on when the receiver is ready to lis-ten, and cannot be forced.
If all goes well, apologies could lift more than heavy burdens for both sides and are very rehabilita-tive in nature.
Research by the NSE shows that people are twice more likely to for-give a company that says sorry than one that instead offers them cash for a mistake made. Other research has proven that apologies from doc-tors have saved hospitals millions of dollars in malpractice claims by pa-tients and costly lawsuits.
Thus, while saying sorry may not let you off 100 per cent, it may cut your losses. So, go ahead and give that apology if you owe one – just make sure you are really sorry.
if i’m truly at fault, and by saying sorry i can save the relationship, i will
say sorry.Harendren S/O Vinukupal, 20,
student
yes, it is a little hard. it is my ego
that is holding me back.
Tan Jun Hong, 20, student
I feel that it takes two hands
to clap; two hands to make a mistake. [So] it ’s
hard for me to admit that I am
wrong first.Irwan Bin Mazlan, 23,
technician
Most probably, when they were young, they
weren’t taught to apologise when they did something
wrong. Thus, when they grow up, it ’s worse.
Noraini Binte Jantan, 48, corporate support officer
challenge asks singaporeans if they
find it hard to say sorry.
sorry is an awful word because saying sorry means you are wrong and the other party is
automatically right.Zainuddin Bin Sajat, 50,
self-employed
31Word on the Street
Pre
sen
tati
on
s ca
n g
et
dre
ary
wit
ho
ut
som
e m
usi
c. W
e n
ee
d
som
e t
un
es.
..
Eg
. Pla
y a
vid
eo
of
Face
bo
ok
staf
f g
oin
g
to m
ee
tin
gs
on
sk
ate
bo
ard
s.
Do
we
bsi
tes
hav
e
‘re
aso
na
ble
po
rtio
n l
imit
s’?
for
rese
arch
or
stu
dy
like
bo
oks
?
Do
es
the
we
bsi
te
con
tain
art
icle
s (i
.e. l
ite
rary
wo
rks)
?
Pu
bli
she
d
bo
oks
, pla
ys o
r m
usi
cals
can
be
co
pie
d t
o a
ce
rtai
n e
xte
nt.
Th
e r
eas
on
able
p
ort
ion
lim
it
wil
l ap
ply
to
th
e
arti
cle
s.
RE
AD
th
e
Ter
ms
&
Conditions
Eg
. Sh
ow
Zap
po
s.co
mst
aff
sitt
ing
on
exe
rcis
e
bal
ls i
n t
he
off
ice
.
sto
ck i
mag
es,
m
usi
c an
d v
ide
os.
Buy
TR
YT
AK
E o
r C
OP
Y
May
be
Ale
rt!
Singa
pore
Law
says...
Wh
y w
ork
so
ha
rd?
Hir
e a
pro
du
ctio
n c
rew
to
mak
e
all
the
ori
gin
al
pic
ture
s,
mu
sic
and
vid
eo
s yo
u w
ant.
SO
ME
Rig
hts
Re
serv
ed
WH
AT
IS
IT
?A
CC
lic
en
ce
• H
elp
s cr
eat
ors
re
tain
co
pyr
igh
t an
d
ge
t cr
ed
it
• A
llo
ws
oth
ers
to
co
py,
dis
trib
ute
an
d
bu
ild
up
on
th
e o
rig
inal
wo
rk
Ho
w t
o u
se:
Wh
en
so
urc
ing
fo
r im
age
s an
d v
ide
os,
ch
ang
e s
ear
ch e
ng
ine
op
tio
ns
to s
ear
ch
on
ly f
or
tho
se w
ith
CC
lic
en
ces.
Try
:G
oo
gle
, Yah
oo
!,Fl
ickr
, Yo
uT
ub
e
Fo
r v
ide
os,
yo
u m
ay
:
Eg
. Qu
oti
ng
an
art
icle
fro
m
Psy
cho
log
y T
od
ay
that
say
s sl
ee
pin
g a
t w
ork
mak
es
em
plo
yee
s h
app
ier,
he
alth
ier,
an
d m
ore
pro
du
ctiv
e.
Ho
w a
bo
ut
som
e m
ore
o
ffic
ial
sou
nd
ing
st
ate
me
nts
?
Bu
t yo
u
ca
nn
ot
do
wn
loa
d c
lip
se
.g. Y
ou
Tu
be
is
a st
ream
ing
-on
ly
serv
ice
.
ille
ga
l fi
le s
ha
rin
go
n o
ffic
e c
om
pu
ters
Do
n’t
do
wn
loa
d o
r sh
are
co
py
rig
hte
d
ma
teri
als
li
ke m
ovi
es,
mu
sic,
so
ftw
are
, or
gam
es.
Mo
re i
nfo
rma
tio
n a
t:cr
eat
ive
com
mo
ns.
org
Fo
r m
usi
c, t
ry:
fre
em
usi
carc
hiv
e.o
rg
HOW TO COPY RIG
HT
Putt
ing
toge
ther
an
Osc
ar-w
orth
y sli
de sh
ow is
onl
y ha
lf th
e equ
atio
n; h
ere a
re so
me r
ules
abo
ut
inte
llect
ual p
rope
rty
(IP)
to o
bser
ve w
hen
usin
g no
n-or
igin
al o
r cop
yrig
hted
cont
ent i
n yo
ur p
rese
ntat
ions
.
YesQ
uestion
?
As
a p
ub
lic
off
ice
r,
can
I c
op
y fr
om
an
oth
er
pu
bli
c ag
en
cy s
ite
w
ith
ou
t as
kin
g
for
pe
rmis
sio
n?
Go
vern
me
nt
age
nci
es
are
se
par
ate
le
gal
b
od
ies
that
can
cr
eat
e i
nte
lle
ctu
al
pro
pe
rty
(IP
) an
d
ow
n I
P r
igh
ts.
Que
stion
?
Th
e c
op
yrig
ht
ow
ne
r ca
n s
till
cl
aim
ag
ain
st a
pe
rso
n c
op
yin
g
mat
eri
al e
ven
if
cre
dit
is
giv
en
fo
r th
at s
ub
stan
tial
po
rtio
n c
op
ied
.
Do
n’t
de
ep
-lin
k (p
rovi
de
a l
ink
oth
er
than
th
e h
om
e p
age
) u
nle
ss t
he
w
eb
site
’s t
erm
s &
co
nd
itio
ns
allo
w i
t.
Tha
nks to:
Do
n’t
lin
k to
in
frin
gin
g o
r u
nau
tho
rise
d m
ate
rial
.
Th
is f
low
char
t is
bas
ed
on
qu
est
ion
s as
ked
by
pu
bli
c o
ffic
ers
du
rin
g a
Civ
il S
erv
ice
Co
lle
ge
fo
rum
on
IP
in
Jan
uar
y 2
01
1.
Yo
u c
an c
op
y a
po
rtio
n o
f w
ork
fo
r:
• C
riti
cism
an
d r
evi
ew
• R
ep
ort
ing
cu
rre
nt
eve
nts
un
de
r fa
ir d
ea
lin
g e
xce
pti
on
s
At
leas
t yo
u l
ear
n a
bit
ab
ou
t IP
. T
ry a
ga
in?
NO
hooray
!
Aft
er y
ou
hav
e so
ug
ht
per
mis
sio
n, b
e su
re to
giv
e cr
edit
.
Pict
ures
INFO
RM
AT
ION
SEEK
PER
MISSION
FIR
ST
fro
m c
on
ten
t o
wn
er.
Is t
he
bo
ss c
on
vin
ced
?
“Th
e M
inis
try
of
Man
po
we
r W
ork
pla
ce
Saf
ety
an
d H
eal
th
(WS
H)
Act
wil
l co
ver
all
wo
rkp
lace
s fr
om
S
ep
tem
be
r 2
01
1.”
Fro
m
ww
w.w
shc.
sg
NO
• E
mb
ed
vid
eo
in
th
e s
lid
es
if p
erm
itte
d
by
con
ten
t o
wn
er
video
No
w to
co
nvin
ce t
he
Bo
ss! M
ake
a p
rese
nta
tio
n:
DO
NO
T P
AS
S G
OG
et
fin
ed
up
to
$2
0,0
00
or
go
str
aig
ht
to j
ail
.
Tha
t’s
Pira
cy!
by S
iti M
azia
h M
asra
mli
May
be
you
wan
t to
sel
l
an id
ea
to y
ou
r b
oss
.
Like
...
ww
w.i
po
s.g
ov.
sgw
ww
.ip
acad
em
y.co
m.s
g
Pre
sen
tati
on
s ca
n g
et
dre
ary
wit
ho
ut
som
e m
usi
c. W
e n
ee
d
som
e t
un
es.
..
Eg
. Pla
y a
vid
eo
of
Face
bo
ok
staf
f g
oin
g
to m
ee
tin
gs
on
sk
ate
bo
ard
s.
Do
we
bsi
tes
hav
e
‘re
aso
na
ble
po
rtio
n l
imit
s’?
for
rese
arch
or
stu
dy
like
bo
oks
?
Do
es
the
we
bsi
te
con
tain
art
icle
s (i
.e. l
ite
rary
wo
rks)
?
Pu
bli
she
d
bo
oks
, pla
ys o
r m
usi
cals
can
be
co
pie
d t
o a
ce
rtai
n e
xte
nt.
Th
e r
eas
on
able
p
ort
ion
lim
it
wil
l ap
ply
to
th
e
arti
cle
s.
RE
AD
th
e
Ter
ms
&
Conditions
Eg
. Sh
ow
Zap
po
s.co
mst
aff
sitt
ing
on
exe
rcis
e
bal
ls i
n t
he
off
ice
.
sto
ck i
mag
es,
m
usi
c an
d v
ide
os.
Buy
TR
YT
AK
E o
r C
OP
Y
May
be
Ale
rt!
Singa
pore
Law
says...
Wh
y w
ork
so
ha
rd?
Hir
e a
pro
du
ctio
n c
rew
to
mak
e
all
the
ori
gin
al
pic
ture
s,
mu
sic
and
vid
eo
s yo
u w
ant.
SO
ME
Rig
hts
Re
serv
ed
WH
AT
IS
IT
?A
CC
lic
en
ce
• H
elp
s cr
eat
ors
re
tain
co
pyr
igh
t an
d
ge
t cr
ed
it
• A
llo
ws
oth
ers
to
co
py,
dis
trib
ute
an
d
bu
ild
up
on
th
e o
rig
inal
wo
rk
Ho
w t
o u
se:
Wh
en
so
urc
ing
fo
r im
age
s an
d v
ide
os,
ch
ang
e s
ear
ch e
ng
ine
op
tio
ns
to s
ear
ch
on
ly f
or
tho
se w
ith
CC
lic
en
ces.
Try
:G
oo
gle
, Yah
oo
!,Fl
ickr
, Yo
uT
ub
e
Fo
r v
ide
os,
yo
u m
ay
:
Eg
. Qu
oti
ng
an
art
icle
fro
m
Psy
cho
log
y T
od
ay
that
say
s sl
ee
pin
g a
t w
ork
mak
es
em
plo
yee
s h
app
ier,
he
alth
ier,
an
d m
ore
pro
du
ctiv
e.
Ho
w a
bo
ut
som
e m
ore
o
ffic
ial
sou
nd
ing
st
ate
me
nts
?
Bu
t yo
u
ca
nn
ot
do
wn
loa
d c
lip
se
.g. Y
ou
Tu
be
is
a st
ream
ing
-on
ly
serv
ice
.
ille
ga
l fi
le s
ha
rin
go
n o
ffic
e c
om
pu
ters
Do
n’t
do
wn
loa
d o
r sh
are
co
py
rig
hte
d
ma
teri
als
li
ke m
ovi
es,
mu
sic,
so
ftw
are
, or
gam
es.
Mo
re i
nfo
rma
tio
n a
t:cr
eat
ive
com
mo
ns.
org
Fo
r m
usi
c, t
ry:
fre
em
usi
carc
hiv
e.o
rg
HOW TO COPY RIG
HT
Putt
ing
toge
ther
an
Osc
ar-w
orth
y sli
de sh
ow is
onl
y ha
lf th
e equ
atio
n; h
ere a
re so
me r
ules
abo
ut
inte
llect
ual p
rope
rty
(IP)
to o
bser
ve w
hen
usin
g no
n-or
igin
al o
r cop
yrig
hted
cont
ent i
n yo
ur p
rese
ntat
ions
.
YesQ
uestion
?
As
a p
ub
lic
off
ice
r,
can
I c
op
y fr
om
an
oth
er
pu
bli
c ag
en
cy s
ite
w
ith
ou
t as
kin
g
for
pe
rmis
sio
n?
Go
vern
me
nt
age
nci
es
are
se
par
ate
le
gal
b
od
ies
that
can
cr
eat
e i
nte
lle
ctu
al
pro
pe
rty
(IP
) an
d
ow
n I
P r
igh
ts.
Que
stion
?
Th
e c
op
yrig
ht
ow
ne
r ca
n s
till
cl
aim
ag
ain
st a
pe
rso
n c
op
yin
g
mat
eri
al e
ven
if
cre
dit
is
giv
en
fo
r th
at s
ub
stan
tial
po
rtio
n c
op
ied
.
Do
n’t
de
ep
-lin
k (p
rovi
de
a l
ink
oth
er
than
th
e h
om
e p
age
) u
nle
ss t
he
w
eb
site
’s t
erm
s &
co
nd
itio
ns
allo
w i
t.
Tha
nks to:
Do
n’t
lin
k to
in
frin
gin
g o
r u
nau
tho
rise
d m
ate
rial
.
Th
is f
low
char
t is
bas
ed
on
qu
est
ion
s as
ked
by
pu
bli
c o
ffic
ers
du
rin
g a
Civ
il S
erv
ice
Co
lle
ge
fo
rum
on
IP
in
Jan
uar
y 2
01
1.
Yo
u c
an c
op
y a
po
rtio
n o
f w
ork
fo
r:
• C
riti
cism
an
d r
evi
ew
• R
ep
ort
ing
cu
rre
nt
eve
nts
un
de
r fa
ir d
ea
lin
g e
xce
pti
on
s
At
leas
t yo
u l
ear
n a
bit
ab
ou
t IP
. T
ry a
ga
in?
NO
hooray
!
Aft
er y
ou
hav
e so
ug
ht
per
mis
sio
n, b
e su
re to
giv
e cr
edit
.
Pict
ures
INFO
RM
AT
ION
SEEK
PER
MISSION
FIR
ST
fro
m c
on
ten
t o
wn
er.
Is t
he
bo
ss c
on
vin
ced
?
“Th
e M
inis
try
of
Man
po
we
r W
ork
pla
ce
Saf
ety
an
d H
eal
th
(WS
H)
Act
wil
l co
ver
all
wo
rkp
lace
s fr
om
S
ep
tem
be
r 2
01
1.”
Fro
m
ww
w.w
shc.
sg
NO
• E
mb
ed
vid
eo
in
th
e s
lid
es
if p
erm
itte
d
by
con
ten
t o
wn
er
video
No
w to
co
nvin
ce t
he
Bo
ss! M
ake
a p
rese
nta
tio
n:
DO
NO
T P
AS
S G
OG
et
fin
ed
up
to
$2
0,0
00
or
go
str
aig
ht
to j
ail
.
Tha
t’s
Pira
cy!
by S
iti M
azia
h M
asra
mli
May
be
you
wan
t to
sel
l
an id
ea
to y
ou
r b
oss
.
Like
...
ww
w.i
po
s.g
ov.
sgw
ww
.ip
acad
em
y.co
m.s
g
Unsung Heroes 34
Meet one of the pioneers who helped cultivate Fort Canning Park into the lush green haven it is today.
by Siti Maziah Masramli
LIKE THE SMALL BUT POTENT CHILLI PADI, Mr Rahmat bin Adban gets fired up with passion for his job with a wealth of training and self-taught knowledge.
He had “zero knowledge about plants” when he applied for a job with the National Parks Board (then Parks and Recreation Department) more than 34 years ago. Asked to name three plants during the job interview, he said: “‘Ixora, hibiscus, uh, balsam’ – the standard plants you learn in school”.
But, determined to find better prospects, he bought books, memorised the names and properties of plants within a month, and got the job.
The 50-year-old Assistant Parks Officer has come a long way from having his schooling cut short due to poverty. Over the years, he has taken many courses to improve himself and uses every opportunity to learn.
Once, he even “hid in a corner” to observe Balinese artists invited to carve a mural wall. The artists guarded their craft so jealously that they stopped working if they noticed anyone standing around.
“I like to watch and learn... if there is any major damage on this mural wall, I can fix it,” says Mr Rahmat.
Zipping around the park in his buggy, he points out landmarks he is proud of. With a team of workers, he has transformed an empty pocket of land into a Spice Garden and a natural clay pond into a landscaped pond that attracts diverse insect species.
As a boy, he fancied carpentry and worked as a carpenter’s helper. Now, he uses his skills to make crafts from reusable materials found around the park. Look out for interactive learning stations about spices made from tree stumps.
The chatty, genial man is also a guide for walks and workshops, and enjoys sharing his knowledge with people he meets. He says: “If you don’t have a positive attitude, you won’t be happy.”
This is the fourth in a series to celebrate those working behind the scenes to keep daily operations running smoothly. For more Unsung Heroes stories, go to www.challenge.gov.sg
SpICeforLIFe
Eat insects; do your part to save the Earth.
IN 2006, A UNITED NATIONS REPORT CITED the livestock industry as one of the top three biggest contributors to today ’s most serious environmental problems. What to do, then? Well, eat insects, as people have done for thousands of years. From the Roman aristocrats who loved their beetle larvae fatted on flour and wine, to the deep fried Thai zebra tarantulas (so reminiscent of hairy crabs) that are a regional specialty of the town of Skuon in Cambodia now, the eating of insects is a practice not limited by time nor space. The logic behind it is quite simple, really. Insects convert feed more efficiently, and rearing them requires far less space and water than livestock. Just look at these nutritional values, do the math, and go on a new food adventure!
Native to Southeast Asia and commonly eaten in the Northeast of Thailand, these beetles apparently taste like scallops. Deep fry them and eat them shell and all.
by Abigail Kang
Southern Africa has a thriving multi-million rand Mopane worm industry, which looks set to grow even further. These caterpillars make a great addition to curries or tomato-based stews, or a nutritious snack on their own when freeze-dried.
For the same amount of feed, you’d harvest three times as much cricket as beef, making it the obviously greener choice. When microwaved, crickets taste like shrimp chips. Alternatively, try your crickets as a chocolate covered treat.
disCLaimer: Nutritional values were calculated based on information from Internet sources. Excessive consumption of Iron (> 20mg) may cause stomach upset, constipation and blackened stools. Too much calcium intake (> 1500mg) can lead to stomach problems for some individuals. Gorge at your own risk.
37Big Idea
Challenge picks f ive ways you can travel to connect with nature.
Walkonthe gREEnSide
by Abigail Kang
IF YOU TOTALLY WANT TO CUT your carbon footprint, never ever step on a plane again. But if you can’t do that, dismay not: you can still travel with a clear conscience by going to places that promote sustainable development and tourism. While the concept of eco-travel has taken off in a big way since the United Nations named 2002 as the Year of Ecotourism, beware of companies’ “greenwashed” tours that are eco-friendly in name and little else. Here are some places and programmes we think you might like.
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return to eden An intriguing mix of tourist attraction, educational charity and social enterprise, the Eden Project in Cornwall, United Kingdom, was built out of a 160-year-old disused clay pit, and then transformed into a garden paradise. All year, landscapes across the globe from Mediterranean to rainforest are displayed, complementing the natural beauty of Cornwall just beyond the Eden Project ’s walls. Over a million plants from different climates have been planted in the biggest conservatory on Earth to show visitors how plants are part of a wider ecosystem that benefits humans. Music events, workshops and kid-friendly activities are regularly held at the Eden Project, ensuring something for everyone.
Entrance fee to the Eden Project £19.80 (approx. S$39) for a single adult when booked online, £18 (approx. S$35) at the door if you walk, cycle or take public transport. www.edenproject.com.
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LeaP into the deeP Adventure holidays for the family can be green too. Away from the bustle of Japan’s major cities are hidden gems just waiting to be explored, and what better way to navigate the rivers than through canyoning, where you get the chance to abseil or jump down waterfalls, float down natural chutes and swim through crystal clear pools. Participants of Responsible Travel’s canyoning tours in the town of Minakami in Gunma prefecture are all briefed on the importance of the ecosystem, the environment the tour is set in, and how they can make a difference. Visitors are also highly encouraged to enjoy meals and accommodation locally. As far as possible, the entire organisation process is carbon-efficient, including offset practices like the operator planting three trees for every vehicle ride that takes you to the canyoning site.
Prices per person for half a day at Fox Canyon are 8,000 yen (approx. S$130) and more for full-day or other circuits. www.responsibletravel.com.
see nature’s bestWith larger populations of European brown bears, moose, wolves, wolverines, lynxes and Arctic foxes than most of Europe, Sweden is a treasure trove of wildlife. It also possesses some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, no matter which season you go. Visitors are spoilt for choice to get close to nature – you can drive reindeer sleighs with indigenous Sami herdsmen through the snow, or go on horse riding expeditions through the mountains. Sweden’s quality label for ecotourism, Nature’s Best, has a stringent qualifying process that assures travellers of their tour operator’s green credentials.
For a list of approved operators, go to www.naturesbestsweden.com.
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Find your shangri-La Long considered a trekker ’s paradise, Shangri-La in Yunnan, China, boasts outs tanding v iews and surpr i s ing l y diverse micro-ecosystems. As part of the community-based nature of the trekking programme by Singapore-based operator X-Trekkers, local villagers are engaged as guides along well-maintained hiking paths used by the indigenous Naxi people for decades. The route will bring you from the city of Lijiang to sights such as the Tiger Leaping Gorge, as well as a nomadic cattle settlement in the high plains of Shangri-La. Visitors will also visit local families for an intimate glimpse into the lives of people in this frontier region.
From S$1,180 per person for an 11-day tour, airfare not included. www.x-trekkers.com.
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oh shoot! Support low impact travel with Singapore-based operator Adventure Quests’s Take Only Pictures travel photography workshop in Bhutan. Each year, endangered black-necked cranes flock to the Phobjikha Valley during the winter migration season. With only 3,900 black-necked cranes left in the wild, serious efforts have been made to ensure their numbers do not dwindle any further. The local community has implemented measures such as having no telephones, so no telecommunication lines can injure the cranes that are revered as heavenly birds (Ihab-bja). Contribute to conservation efforts by taking part in this workshop – some of the pictures that you capture of these elegant birds will be donated to Bhutan’s Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN) and the International Crane Foundation (ICF). A photography session with local schoolchildren (pictured) will also be held as part of the trip so these children will have one more keepsake of their childhood as cameras are a luxury item in Bhutan.
S$4,500 per adult for a 9-day tour on twin-sharing basis, airfare not included. www.adventure-quests.com.
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TRIVIA QUIZ
need we say more?
Here’s where we let the humour loose, and learn to laugh at ourselves a little more.
Have ideas or jokes about the Public Service? Email us: [email protected]
The Irreverent Last page44
Submit your answers by
DECEMBER 3, 2011 at:
Challenge Online
www.challenge.gov.sg
Please include your name, email ad-
dress, agency and contact number.
All winners will be notified
by email.
Pairs of
Movie
VouchersTo Be Won
CONGRATULATIONSto the winners of the
September/October 2011 Trivia Quiz
Lim Sin YeeMICA
Zaharahtunnisaq Mohd RamliMOE
Ong Ming JieSPF
Tracey JoePA
Lim Soo HoongURA
TRIVIA QUIZ
1. The serve to recognise innovative and impactful sustainable business practices and green solutions of Singapore companies.
a. Sustainable Business Awardsb. Go Green Awardsc. Best Practice Award - Sustainabilityd. Most Sustainable Business Awards
2. according to statistics on the website of the national environment agency (nea), Singapore disposed of tonnes of waste in 2010.a. 2,759,500b. 3,759,500c. 4,759,500d. 5,759,500
3. To encourage and enable like-minded individuals and organisations to be involved in the greening of our garden city – Singapore; the was established in 2003.
a. Garden City Fundb. Green Singapore Fundc. Sustainable Singapore Fundd. Green City Fund
4. World environment Day (WeD) began in and happens June 5 every year.
1970197219741976
5. according to the united nations environment Programme website, approximately acres of natural forest are lost annually.
a. 36 millionb. 38 millionc. 40 milliond. 42 million
W hat wil l i t take f or us to mar r y Singapor e?
LiveabLe city
PLUS Do your part to save the Earth: Eat insects | Why saying ‘Sorr y ’ is so tough
NOveMbeR/DeceMbeR 2011
