Month: April 2015

Earthlink NTU had its second edition of Greening NTU this year on 9th and 10th of March. Continuing from 2014, the theme for this year s campaign is Ditch Da Disposables. It is to encourage the students of NTU to reduce the usage of plastic bags, takeaway containers, paper cups and other non-biodegradable materials.

Held at Concourse, South Spine, the main highlight of the campaign is a story tunnel depicting the life and journey of Frankie the disposable fork. The team of organisers meticulously planned and set up the tunnel. Student ambassadors led the participants through the tunnel while playing the role as Frankie. The images in the tunnel showed the life cycle of a disposable fork, particularly from the production factory to places such as canteen, dining table or dustbin, and finally into a landfill. In progressing through the tunnel, participants realized that the life of Frankie is brief, but requires a considerable amount of energy and economic resources to produce. Furthermore, it induced the participants to think whether is it necessary to pour so much effort into manufacturing a product that only can be use once. After passing through the tunnel, the participants completed a short survey and many had intention to reduce the use of disposable products in their daily life.

Besides that, a photo competition was also held. To participate in the competition, participants were asked to talk about the green acts they had done, for instance bringing their own container for takeaway or not using air-conditioner. The pictures were taken and uploaded to Earthlink s Facebook page. By utilizing the power of social media, Earthlink was able to highlight that small actions by individuals can lead to significant positive impacts on the environment collectively.

The event organisers also conducted a mini game booth, which also entitled the participants to enter the lucky draw. The game was simple and easily understandable. It aim is to educate the participants about the wasteful nature of disposables and the durable trait of reusable items. Participants were given a handful of recyclable and non-recyclable items. Their main target was to place them in the correct places. Besides that, the team of organisers were able to gain support from on-campus retailers to carry out a two-week stamp collection programme. Whenever the cardholder refuses a plastic bag upon purchase, one can obtain a stamp. If one collected five stamps, Earthlink will present a mystery gift to the respective cardholder.

Overall, the event garnered positive reviews from the public, especially the story tunnel. It was very interactive and much more engaging compared to past campaigns that used conventional information boards. Student ambassadors also played an important role by actively engaging the 140 people participating in the campaign. For example, they guided the participants through the tunnel while interactively narrating the life cycle of Frankie. Other than that, they were also tasked to convey the main message of the campaign and explain the stamp collection programme.

Special thanks to the event sponsors, namely PUB, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Lakerol, Honsei Coffee and iGave for their generosity and support towards this campaign.

8:30am to 4:30pm
Venue: TR+ 49 & TR+ 50 (Business Library Block) and HDB Jurong East

Climate change is a global concern. One of the more pressing issues is global warming. An event that brings together individuals from over a hundred nations (170 this year) to combat this issue is Earth Hour. Earthlink NTU pioneered its own Earth Hour campaign alongside a workshop with the objective to raise awareness on climate change and educate individuals on actions that we would all undertake everyday to do our part in combatting it.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement that encourages individuals to reduce energy consumption. It asks of individuals to reduce their carbon emission by turning off lights from 8:30pm to 9:30pm on the last Saturday of March as a symbol of commitment to the planet. It was first held in 2007 in Sydney, Australia and over the years has grown in scale  more than 170 countries showed their commitment this year. This year, the tagline for the global campaign was  Change Climate Change , as World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recognized the worsening situation despite the ongoing efforts in recent years.

As a highly developed economy, Singapore contributes its share in carbon emission. In fact, carbon emission per person in Singapore is amongst one of the highest in the world according to a study in 2011, surpassing even the likes of UK and China. To make matters worse, Singapore, as an island city is extremely vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change such as floods. Thus in conjunction with the global movement, Earthlink had organized its very own Earth Hour campaign which included a workshop to enlighten the participants on environmental issues, more specifically, climate change, as well as an outreach session during which the members and some volunteers were engaged in encouraging Singapore residents in HDB flats to follow the act of switching off unnecessary lights. The residents were briefly elaborated on the consequences of climate change in Singapore s context, and what can they do to return the nature a favor. For instance, replacing the types of electrical appliances with their energy saving counterparts. As an appreciation token, the residents were also handed out cactus.

On the 23rd of March, Earthlink NTU held its flagship event, Greenfest. The theme this year is  Synergy – emphasizing the importance of individuals taking action and these actions developing synergy, leading to a significant overall impact. Greenfest Synergy 2015 was originally scheduled to run on the 23rd and 24th of March, from 9:30am to 5:30pm on both days. However, out of respect for Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, who had passed away that very morning, Greenfest Synergy 2015 was only held on the 23rd of March, from 9:30am to 3pm.

Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources attended the opening ceremony of Greenfest. He began his speech by telling the audience a few stories about Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, and his selfless devotion to the nation. Dr. Balakrishnan then talked about how Mr. Lee Kuan Yew always stressed the importance of sustainability to Singapore, as well as the importance of young people, as these two things will ensure that Singapore will continue to thrive for decades to come. He concluded that Mr. Lee Kuan Yew would have wanted him to attend the event, and encouraged everyone present to continue their efforts in making Singapore a greener place.

After the speech, Dr. Balakrishnan was invited to launch the Powerz mobile app, which was jointly developed by Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N), GDF Suez and Earthlink NTU. The app aims to develop NTU to a more energy efficient place while making it enjoyable for staffs and students alike to play. With the launch of the Powerz app, the opening ceremony ended.

This year, a large variety of organizations were invited to set up booths at Greenfest. These include environmental organizations like Nature Society Singapore, The Dorsal Effect, and The Pangolin Story, as well as companies like Toshiba and Tetra Pak. Earthlink NTU s various portfolios also hosted booths of their own, which detail the activities and events they have organized. Each booth hosted mini-games of their own, which were interactive and informative. When participants complete a mini-game, they received a stamp. Participants could exchange 7 stamps for a goodie bag and a small plant at the registration counter.

The event proved to be very informative, with many environmental organizations educating the participants on various things, from butterfly species in the forests of Singapore to the presence of pangolins in NTU. It is also very encouraging to see companies like Toshiba promote environmentally friendly practices such as refilling the used toner cartridges from their printers, as well as recycling the cartridges when they get too worn out. In future, Greenfest encourages more participants and organizers alike to participate, to promote sustainability and environmental awareness to the NTU community.

Following the subcommittee outing to Pasir Ris Park in the first semester, Earthlink organized yet another outing to a popular nature spot in Singapore  MacRitchie Reservoir, the country s first reservoir. Bordering it is the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, the largest nature reserve in Singapore which acts as a catchment area for the surrounding reservoirs. Home to over 500 animal species and 1600 species of flora, some endangered species are also found exclusively in the forest.

As part of the activities, the participants hiked along the designated walking trails through the forest. They were first divided into groups and led by experienced nature guides. Along the way, the participants were exposed to exotic plant and animal species, and a few significant trees as well, for example, the Singapore 5-dollar Tembusu tree. During the walk, some of the fortunate participants also came across some bizarre animals such as monitor lizards and skinks, not forgetting the commonly seen squirrels and monkeys. It was an unforgettable walk filled with nature wonders indeed.

And of course, the main attraction of MacRitchie is the reservoir itself. Apart from the trails through the forest, there are boardwalks skirting around the perimeter of the MacRitchie Reservoir. It allows nature lovers to enjoy the serenity of the reservoir while strolling along the water s edge. From these activities, the participants have learnt a few facts about the reservoir, and how it basically works. They also had the chance to walk on the bridge spanning the reservoir s floodgate. In a nutshell, the whole activity provided an opportunity for the participants to embrace the wonders of nature, and discovered new things about nature while doing so. The participants ended the journey sated, pleased and excited by the sights and education of the day.

On 21st March 2015, Earthlink NTU organized Singapore World Water Day 2015 at Jurong Lake, adopted by Earthlink NTU in 2012. This was the first time Earthlink had taken the responsibility of organizing the entire event. This year, the event worked on three themes  Water and Sustainable Development, Water Conservation and Water Problems Locally and Globally. The event was held in support of World Water Day, a globally celebrated movement pioneered by the UN in 1993.

World Water Day is especially meaningful to Singapore as Singapore has historically faced struggle with ensuring self-sufficiency of water supplies. Rolling out measures such as the construction of multiple reservoirs, desalination water plants and NEWater plant were implemented to improve its capabilities in this area.

Our Guest of Honor was Ms. Grace Fu, the Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources graced the opening ceremony of the event. Ms. Fu delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of water conservation in Singapore. She tied in the views of then critically ill Mr. Lee Kuan Yew into the speech, noting that Mr. Lee had always placed a huge emphasis on water policy, even stating it to be paramount and that all other policies would  bow before water policy.

At the event, booths were set up at Pavilion Area at Jurong Lake. One of highlighted display was the mural done by River Valley High School which made up of 50000 water bottle caps. The mural brought across the message of conserving water, in order to sustain sufficient water supply. Moreover, the booth of Engineers Without Borders (EwB) Asia showcased a few sustainable engineering solutions which provide clean water to disadvantaged communities in developing countries. These include the LifeStraw, which allows one to suck up clean water from a water source, as well as Ceramic Pot Filter and Biosand Filter, both relatively small-scale and designed for use in household.

There was also the The Dorsal Effect s booth. They explained their aim of helping fishermen in Lombok, Indonesia in securing alternative livelihood that is promoting tourism industry in the area instead of hunting sharks for their fins which contributed to shark fins trade. Earthlink NTU, the event organizer, also set up our own booth showcasing the events we have held throughout the year. NTU Green and Sustainable Technologies and Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI) were there with informative posters about water technologies and research.

Activities were also held during the event such as mass walk, mass qigong and a fishing  clinic , hosted by the NTU Anglers Club. The intent of the mass walk in particular was to symbolize how far people in developing countries often have to walk to obtain clean water. This was to encourage the particpants to be grateful for having clean water out from the tabs.

All in all, the event combined a myriad of activities and information booths which serve the best information and habits to promote and inculcate efficient water use.

Do you know what a pangolin is? Are you aware that Singapore still has pangolins?

In order to answer those two questions, and just to introduce this adorable mammal ( yes, they are mammals! ) to the people at NTU, Earthlink NTU s Nature Guiding committee held the Pangolins Rise Symposium on the 9th of March. The symposium featured 5 speakers from various organisations, with each of them talking about a different aspect of pangolins.

The first speaker- Ms. Natalia from The Pangolin Story, gave an introduction on what is a pangolin. Pangolins are insectivorous mammals, and usually prefers to dine on ants and termites with their long tongues. The most notable things about them are the scales covering most of their body- much like a suit of armour- and their tendency to curl up into a ball when threatened. Those two defensive adaptations combine to make pangolins nearly impervious to most predators; with the exception of one predator, of course. The strategy adopted by the pangolins obviously backfire when faced with poachers, who could just pick the pangolins up and go on their merry way. Pangolins are indeed found in Singapore; however, they are threatened by extinction. Pangolins have been sighted in several places such as Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin, and the Western Water Catchment Area. Pangolins would often wander into urban areas from the Western Water Catchment, which explains the numerous pangolin sightings at NTU, and the need to raise awareness among NTU students.

Next to speak was Mr. Ade from Wildlife Reserves Singapore, who works as a pangolin handler at the Singapore Zoo and is familiar with the captive management of pangolins. Pangolins are rarely found in zoos as they do not handle captivity well, and also because we lack information about them. Mr. Ade showed the audience various aspects of managing captive pangolins, like enclosure conditions, food, and enrichment activities. The Pangolins at Singapore Zoo are fed a mixture of raw beef, chicken eggs, mealworms, ant eggs, and various supplement powders (Do you feel hungry yet?). They are also brought for walks, and are allowed to forage in the forested areas nearby. Mr. Ade also talked briefly about their pangolin breeding program, which was a small success. However, they only managed 3 pangolin births over several years due to the difficulty in breeding pangolins.

The third speaker was Ms. Anbu from ACRES, which rescue wildlife trapped in urban settings. Ms. Anbu shared several cases of pangolin rescue with the audience. Pangolins have a tendency to get trapped in weird places when stressed by people, as evidenced by the time where they rescued a pangolin from a boat in Lim Chu Kang. Ms. Anbu also encouraged the audience to report to ACRES when they spot trapped wildlife.

The fourth speaker was Professor Stephan from NTU s very own SCELSE. Professor Stephan talked about the links between mitochondrial diversity and the risk of extinction faced by animals, and why it is important to sequence the mitochondrial genome. Basically, the less diverse the mitochondrial genome of a species, the more likely it is for that particular species to get wiped out by disease and changes in the environment. Therefore, it is very important to genomic sequencing on pangolins to find out the risk of them being extinct. This highlights the need for more research work on pangolins.

Last but not least, Dr. Chris from TRAFFIC talked about pangolins in wildlife trade. Due to the demand for pangolin scales as an ingredient in traditional medicine, and pangolin meat as a sort of luxury meat, pangolins have become the most poached wild animal in South East Asia. The low risks and high profits involved, as well as rampant corruption in the countries involved, caused a steep increase in wildlife poaching in the South East Asian region. As mentioned earlier, pangolins breed very slowly and is nearly impossible to farm, hence all of the pangolins being traded illegally are almost certainly poached from the wild. Dr. Chris also stresses the importance of research, as they need more facts to convince governments to implement measures against wildlife poaching.