As I arrived in Singapore, I was wondering what starting mindset participants would/should bring along. Were we there to see what was wrong and how American perspective and ideas could help Singapore or was Singapore a shining example of innovation that had lessons to teach that we should take home and utilize. Of course, Dr. Rittshof said we had no starting mindset—the trip was experiential. (He knew the answer we brought home was a mixture of the two opposite poles). It became clear to me before I left that the people of Singapore should decide their own goals by their own priorities. Additionally, even without outside permission, they Would decide their own path. Recognizing the positive qualities of Singapore’s citizens—education, work ethic, tolerance for difference in religion and cultural backgrounds, desires for sustainability and self-sufficiency, emerging interest in nature and natural resources, and the simple but profound statement by a representative citizen my first day (“We just live together”)—I believe they are sufficient for the task of deciding their own fate.
Starting with my own perspectives of concern for nature and natural resources and frustration with lack of /insufficient action on global warming issues in my homeland, I want to disagree with the possible destruction of their remaining niches of nature. However, I am heartened by the common citizen’s knowledge and interest in environmental issues.
I am hopeful the new wave of growing interest in the environment will save these niches for future Singaporeans. It is clear that Singapore can preserve nature spots like Sungei Buloh and the Botanical Gardens in ways the US should emulate. It is striking to see the success on Semakau of mangrove restoration and a thriving mudflat teeming with life. Hopefully, areas such as Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin, Mandai mangroves, and the remaining coral reefs can be preserved in such an exemplary way for the growing population of citizens who will seek out nature in the future.
I left Singapore with admiration of the people I met and wish them success with this effort to preserve Singapore’s nature.
(did miss seeing the shorebirds that would have lived in Singapore if habitat had been less disrupted –no shores for the shorebirds)
Monday, April 14, 2008
Flight out of Changi Airport--a new friend
Boarding the plane at Changi Airport to start home, I thought my Singapore experience was completed but was pleasantly surprised to sit alongside a new friend, Lawrence, who helped me put my experience into summary/into perspective as we flew toward Tokyo. Lawrence epitomized the positive tone I met in Singapore—intelligent, thoughtful, well educated, interesting and enjoyable. Describing himself a member of a “new age” group of thought, he embodied many similarities to the other exceptional people I had met in Singapore. He clearly was proud of his country and its accomplishments—even willingly supporting many current specific initiatives (water, recycling, growth)—but all pointing to the same goal of self-sufficiency and sustainability in an island nation with no natural resources except geography and the resourcefulness of its people. However, the “new age” component seemed to reflect a balance in accepting many positive government and societal goals but at the same time being willing to think for ones self—not always agreeing. His perspective rejected the culture of a “herd mentality”—going along non-questioning regarding everything the P.A.P./government proposed—but instead seeing the need to be “self thinking”.
For instance, Lawrence acknowledged the goal of having citizens work extended careers—to and beyond 70—to support government economic goals but his personal goal was to retire at 55—having worked regular 9 hour days or more for 5 and a half days per week with additional non-routine work time. He acknowledged his desire to have a time for himself—“what would I be working for?” if able to retire and enjoy life and time more on his schedule.
The goal of 6 and a half million citizens was mentioned and I had heard that Lee Kwon Yew may have stated that his earlier goal should be lowered. Lawrence felt the number should be higher than 6 and ½ million—maybe 7 and ½. Self thinking didn’t mean like minded with me but certainly a thought out statement.
Lawrence pointed out a recurrent theme once again—that individuals and government could now turn attention to the environment and nature as issues of survival, sustenance, and self-sufficiency were being/had been achieved. He voiced looking forward to having a time and health that would allow him to enjoy nature—i.e. when he reached retirement or a less hectic schedule. I see little nature left in Singapore and less may be there when Lawrence is ready to retire. He had an interesting viewpoint on this as well—since nature must be sacrificed in Singapore to meet the goals of the people, Singapore could find and protect some other area of coral reef or nature in return for what had to be sacrifice—even if out of the country. Lawrence was openly environmentally and socially conscious in his spirit and clearly willing to be inventive. He felt business has a responsibility to care for the environment and for its employees. He was strongly against companies that have highly paid CEOs receiving outrageous buy-outs—saying he refuses to invest in US companies for this reason.
He did say that one negative of life in Singapore is the decreased ability to speak out freely and to be heard. We discussed many areas of life—healthcare, retirement, development and more. Lawrence leaves me wishing our US population were more like him—educated, thoughtful, broad in perspective. I remember reading Thomas Jefferson’s statement that the greatest safeguard of our society and government is an educated citizenry.
The six hours to Tokyo went more quickly than expected—and pleasantly as well.
For instance, Lawrence acknowledged the goal of having citizens work extended careers—to and beyond 70—to support government economic goals but his personal goal was to retire at 55—having worked regular 9 hour days or more for 5 and a half days per week with additional non-routine work time. He acknowledged his desire to have a time for himself—“what would I be working for?” if able to retire and enjoy life and time more on his schedule.
The goal of 6 and a half million citizens was mentioned and I had heard that Lee Kwon Yew may have stated that his earlier goal should be lowered. Lawrence felt the number should be higher than 6 and ½ million—maybe 7 and ½. Self thinking didn’t mean like minded with me but certainly a thought out statement.
Lawrence pointed out a recurrent theme once again—that individuals and government could now turn attention to the environment and nature as issues of survival, sustenance, and self-sufficiency were being/had been achieved. He voiced looking forward to having a time and health that would allow him to enjoy nature—i.e. when he reached retirement or a less hectic schedule. I see little nature left in Singapore and less may be there when Lawrence is ready to retire. He had an interesting viewpoint on this as well—since nature must be sacrificed in Singapore to meet the goals of the people, Singapore could find and protect some other area of coral reef or nature in return for what had to be sacrifice—even if out of the country. Lawrence was openly environmentally and socially conscious in his spirit and clearly willing to be inventive. He felt business has a responsibility to care for the environment and for its employees. He was strongly against companies that have highly paid CEOs receiving outrageous buy-outs—saying he refuses to invest in US companies for this reason.
He did say that one negative of life in Singapore is the decreased ability to speak out freely and to be heard. We discussed many areas of life—healthcare, retirement, development and more. Lawrence leaves me wishing our US population were more like him—educated, thoughtful, broad in perspective. I remember reading Thomas Jefferson’s statement that the greatest safeguard of our society and government is an educated citizenry.
The six hours to Tokyo went more quickly than expected—and pleasantly as well.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Last Day--Botanical Gardens & U.S. Embassy
We Closed out our adventures with a trip to the botanical gardens where we saw a patch of rainforest-likehabitat that is the only rainforest most Singaporeans ever experience. The trees ore representativebut the atmosphere, dripping humidity and diversity of plants and animals is far from the real rainforest we experienced (and we saw the area dedicated to recreation and not the wild, more untouched area of rainforest in Malaysia).
The botanical gardens are apparently present in all the areas of British colonization--one of the first amenities they established and now a legacy they have left behind. The Singapore Bot. Gardens are beautiful and pleasant. Some wildlife freely resides in the large open space--as seen above.
After the gardens , we visited the US Embassy where we received a briefing from Ms. Elizabeth Crosson and Mr. Paul Horowitz presenting the official US view of Singapore--a strong and significant partner with the US. They presented Sg as consistently looking for sustainability and self-sufficiency (which we have observed thru our trip). U. S. investment in Singapore is 60.4 billion compared to 22.2 in China and 91.8 in Japan. Ten million tourists visit yearly staying an average of 2-3 days. When asked what one thing of Singapore he'd want to take home to America, Mr. Horowitz said the running comment/joke is that "we wish we could take the P.A.P. (governing political party in Sg) to Washington"--meaning a non-corrupt group of educated leaders with a long view of needs who take action and get things done. (my interpretation).
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Free Day--day off
I used our free day to relax a little longer and listened to the NCAA basketball play-offs on the internet—the local internet speed was too slow to watch the video. Then off to shop and ramble. The bus and subway (MRT) systems make it easy to get around the city and even the countryside—a taxi can be used when in a rush. My favorite places to go are Little India and Chinatown. In each setting, I found Indian temples in the midst of the districts. Historically, when the British brought in workers from India to join workers brought in from China, they all lived initially in the same area of Singapore (probably intentionally clustered to allow better surveillance and control by the British). Later, the Indian population settled another area of their own—hence active Indian temples in both settings. One of the photos shows the contrast of old—older cultural/religious heritage against a backdrop of moderninity and secular development.
Singapore holds a wide range of religious heritage and active practice. That reflects centuries of melting together of many cultures. There are frequently encountered places of worship scattered thru the city including on area of worship and prayer alongside our local bus stop. Here people of Buddhist faith burned money—“Hell notes” that were sent by burning to ancestors for use in the afterlife. There are many Christian churches reflecting strong missionary presences thru past centuries.
I searched for items to bring home to family—Singapore has everything you could want to buy and probably always cheaper. I find it hard to find items that reflect the region without being touristy—because Singapore’s identity is really a mixed identity of cultures. The citizens seem proud to be Singaporeans but there is no craft or item that reflects Sg that doesn’t more strongly reflect some subculture of Singapore.
I found the equivalent of a “flea mall” or grouped individual salesmen at tables set up within a mall. The items were enticing just like a visit to such a sale back home. I limited myself to the purchase for Dr. Dan of what the salesman said was a “new species” and included a rubber rat stuffed into a tortoise shell as a jest. I thought that Dr. Rittshof deserved the right to discover a new species and become famous. (The shell was held in the cupped hands while praying in the Chinese faith—coins were rattled inside during the prayer and then tossed to the floor where they were “read” to foretell your future.
A dinner in an upscale Chinese restaurant closed the evening and early to bed.
Singapore holds a wide range of religious heritage and active practice. That reflects centuries of melting together of many cultures. There are frequently encountered places of worship scattered thru the city including on area of worship and prayer alongside our local bus stop. Here people of Buddhist faith burned money—“Hell notes” that were sent by burning to ancestors for use in the afterlife. There are many Christian churches reflecting strong missionary presences thru past centuries.
I searched for items to bring home to family—Singapore has everything you could want to buy and probably always cheaper. I find it hard to find items that reflect the region without being touristy—because Singapore’s identity is really a mixed identity of cultures. The citizens seem proud to be Singaporeans but there is no craft or item that reflects Sg that doesn’t more strongly reflect some subculture of Singapore.
I found the equivalent of a “flea mall” or grouped individual salesmen at tables set up within a mall. The items were enticing just like a visit to such a sale back home. I limited myself to the purchase for Dr. Dan of what the salesman said was a “new species” and included a rubber rat stuffed into a tortoise shell as a jest. I thought that Dr. Rittshof deserved the right to discover a new species and become famous. (The shell was held in the cupped hands while praying in the Chinese faith—coins were rattled inside during the prayer and then tossed to the floor where they were “read” to foretell your future.
A dinner in an upscale Chinese restaurant closed the evening and early to bed.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Trip to Malaysian Rainforest
Yasmin and water snake
Prof. Dan lets a leech hang out for a photo--he thinks they are the neatest creature in the rainforest--the rest of us were less joyful to meet them. In reality, they itch/sting like a local mosquitoe.
Dan and Gary chat at a rest stop.
Days eleven to thirteen—off to the Malaysian rainforest at Endau-Rompin Selai named for the indigenous village near its entrance. To get there was an adventure in itself. The train station, trains and tracks are still owned by Malaysia though surrounded by Singapore. We arrived at a station that showed its age but was decorated with cultural murals. Some Singaporeans feel it would be nicer if controlled by Sg. We went through customs/immigration sensing heightened alert by officials as they search for an escaped terrorist—his picture is in every window—on every wall. Then we commenced our early am train ride thru Johor (a modern looking city/Muslim culture) and into countryside of thick vegetation although much of it obviously has had native forest replaced by widely present palms for palm oil. We were met at the station by Gary and his crew of guides and went for an adventurous, muddy ride to reach base camp. At one stop, Gary introduced us to Guava fruit—native here—and I prefer it to apples. Later, when we had to stop for roadwork, Gary got coconuts and opened them with machete for a refreshing drink for all.
(Incidentally, since I’ve been watching for shorebirds, I saw a white egret in the river near Mandai mangroves as we neared the border and a great heron in the same area on return—some of the sparse shorebirds seen here).
At the base camp there were cottages with elevated sleeping platforms, rough toilets, and wonderful local cooking by a local family. Malaysian culture includes six meals a day-breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon teas, supper and midnight snack—they all seemed like full meals (I started skipping some). The park ranger met to tell us the history of the park which still holds rhinoceros, elephant and many large animals. Two areas are set aside for recreation—we were in one----but all the rest/ 80% is off limits except to research and occasional poachers. They are very protective of preserving this habitat. In this area of parkland, indigenous people, the Orangasee, are often used for guides. They are a gentle, peaceful, likeable group who still lives much or solely from the land—the rainforest—harvesting rattan, hunting for meat, guiding, etc.
Our exposure to this environment includes a walk to the falls (I was the only one to fall into the river at a washed out bridge—it cooled me down—always the klutz). Two night walks netted us looks at two flying lemurs, deer, a civet fighting a water snake (the snake seen above in hands of Yasmin), frogs of many types, black scorpion, firefly larvae looking like dark brown millipede with glowing tails, small fish and freshwater eel.
I won the prize for getting the most leeches—over twenty on my first walk of 35 minutes (photo of one above on Dr. Dan’s finger). They respond to your approach—human, elephant, whatever by moving rapidly with inch-worm motion almost jumping to meat your shoes on the trail—standing erect to make contact, then climbing to a good spot over a vein, boring in and going to town. I was bleeding this afternoon again from a bite 24 hours ago—they possess a strong anticoagulant. They start the size of a large pencil lead and gorge themselves to the size of a medium earthworm. The discomfort is about like a Cedar Island mosquito and less than one of our local marsh flies. I was looking at the bruises all over my feet and ankles at the bus stop tonight when Dr. Dan and I realized it was the same bus stop at which he first informed me there would be leeches in my future. We had a chuckle.
This experience was quite a striking contrast to urban Singapore—but not that long ago, much of Singapore held this same biodiversity that is now gone and Malaysia is trying to preserve. This side trip gives me a sense of what a rapid and widespread loss of nature has occurred as result of the developmental path /Singapore has previously chosen—tho now apparently re-examining.
I asked Gary who has worked for 15 years in this field of guiding or environmental field work—and in these geographic areas-the same question I have asked others—which group of animals, plants insects, etc. is showing he earliest signs of impact from environmental degradation. He believes the large mammals are hit the worst in the rainforest and next the reptiles—based on hi experience and observations.
We were able to see the wide biodiversity among trees and rainforest plants especially and at night got s taste of mammals, reptiles and amphibians that stay well hidden during the day.
Three events I do not want to forget: when we arrived we were greeted by the sounds of cicada so loud it could seriously mistaken for the jet engine sound of a plane taxi-ing down the runway//second, the afternoon rain, thunder, downpour so strong it brought limbs down off trees including the one over our roof, and third, the sound of the gibbons playing out of sight in the treetops as we were preparing to leave, One more thing, the shy and soft song sang for us as a gift by our Orangasee guide the night before we left. \
Now back in Singapore, I appreciate clothes that are dry or can dry out at all, the soft mattress, the A/C, and walking on flat level ground. And it was tough trying to keep up with young folk 1/3 my age.
(Incidentally, since I’ve been watching for shorebirds, I saw a white egret in the river near Mandai mangroves as we neared the border and a great heron in the same area on return—some of the sparse shorebirds seen here).
At the base camp there were cottages with elevated sleeping platforms, rough toilets, and wonderful local cooking by a local family. Malaysian culture includes six meals a day-breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon teas, supper and midnight snack—they all seemed like full meals (I started skipping some). The park ranger met to tell us the history of the park which still holds rhinoceros, elephant and many large animals. Two areas are set aside for recreation—we were in one----but all the rest/ 80% is off limits except to research and occasional poachers. They are very protective of preserving this habitat. In this area of parkland, indigenous people, the Orangasee, are often used for guides. They are a gentle, peaceful, likeable group who still lives much or solely from the land—the rainforest—harvesting rattan, hunting for meat, guiding, etc.
Our exposure to this environment includes a walk to the falls (I was the only one to fall into the river at a washed out bridge—it cooled me down—always the klutz). Two night walks netted us looks at two flying lemurs, deer, a civet fighting a water snake (the snake seen above in hands of Yasmin), frogs of many types, black scorpion, firefly larvae looking like dark brown millipede with glowing tails, small fish and freshwater eel.
I won the prize for getting the most leeches—over twenty on my first walk of 35 minutes (photo of one above on Dr. Dan’s finger). They respond to your approach—human, elephant, whatever by moving rapidly with inch-worm motion almost jumping to meat your shoes on the trail—standing erect to make contact, then climbing to a good spot over a vein, boring in and going to town. I was bleeding this afternoon again from a bite 24 hours ago—they possess a strong anticoagulant. They start the size of a large pencil lead and gorge themselves to the size of a medium earthworm. The discomfort is about like a Cedar Island mosquito and less than one of our local marsh flies. I was looking at the bruises all over my feet and ankles at the bus stop tonight when Dr. Dan and I realized it was the same bus stop at which he first informed me there would be leeches in my future. We had a chuckle.
This experience was quite a striking contrast to urban Singapore—but not that long ago, much of Singapore held this same biodiversity that is now gone and Malaysia is trying to preserve. This side trip gives me a sense of what a rapid and widespread loss of nature has occurred as result of the developmental path /Singapore has previously chosen—tho now apparently re-examining.
I asked Gary who has worked for 15 years in this field of guiding or environmental field work—and in these geographic areas-the same question I have asked others—which group of animals, plants insects, etc. is showing he earliest signs of impact from environmental degradation. He believes the large mammals are hit the worst in the rainforest and next the reptiles—based on hi experience and observations.
We were able to see the wide biodiversity among trees and rainforest plants especially and at night got s taste of mammals, reptiles and amphibians that stay well hidden during the day.
Three events I do not want to forget: when we arrived we were greeted by the sounds of cicada so loud it could seriously mistaken for the jet engine sound of a plane taxi-ing down the runway//second, the afternoon rain, thunder, downpour so strong it brought limbs down off trees including the one over our roof, and third, the sound of the gibbons playing out of sight in the treetops as we were preparing to leave, One more thing, the shy and soft song sang for us as a gift by our Orangasee guide the night before we left. \
Now back in Singapore, I appreciate clothes that are dry or can dry out at all, the soft mattress, the A/C, and walking on flat level ground. And it was tough trying to keep up with young folk 1/3 my age.
For park info: http://johorparks.com/
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