Chew Peng shares our journey in the past three months. She is one of the many outstanding youths who have stepped up as an IYOR intern. The internship programme is still open, applications welcomed.
It has been an incredible journey travelling around to share about the amazing shores of Singapore! Here's a breakdown of the events that we have been to in the last three months:
1) 6 - 8 April 2018: Asian Dive Expo (ADEX) Singapore
As part of the conservation booths led by NParks to celebrate the International Year of the Reef, we were invited to place our Information Panels at ADEX Singapore 2018! We hope these panels have inspired visitors to explore our shores and perhaps even to dive into our waters to explore the wonderful underwater wild marine life off the coast of Singapore.
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| Panels at ADEX 2018. (Photo Credit: Ng Juat Ying) |
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| Photo-booth at ADEX 2018. (Photo Credit: Lisa Lim) |
2) 16 - 20 April 2018: School exhibition "Marine Week"
In conjunction with Raffles Junior College "Marine Week", we were also invited to place our panels and brochures as part of a student-led International Year of the Reefs celebration in their school.
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| IYOR information panels and brochures on display along the school's hallway. (Photo Credit: Natalie Quah) |
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| Student organisers who put together the outreach effort. (Photo Credit: Natalie Quah) |
3) 14 - 15 May 2018: Pint of Science
Together with Our Singapore Reefs, we were invited to showcase our Singapore Shores at the Pint of Science event, which showcases recent scientific research in fun and accessible way to the public, on two separate evenings. Within a short span of two evenings, the experience saw us interacting with researchers, scientists and public visitors at the Good Beer Company to a range of public audience at Tiong Bahru Market. While most visitors couldn't believe the vast diversity of organisms that we have in the waters and on our shores (including corals!), others were beaming when they spotted shore organisms that they have seen on one of their guided trips to our shores. The colorful panels drew the attention of children who were also curious and eager to find out more from our volunteers at the scene!
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| IYOR information panels at the Pint of Science event @ Good Beer Company on 14 May 2018. (Photo Credit: Karl Png) |
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| IYOR information panels at Tiong Bahru Market on 15 May 2018. (Photo Credit: Karl Png) |
5) 2 - 3 June 2018: Festival of Biodiversity
Is the scene below a familiar scene? Attendees of the Festival of Biodiversity at Tampines on 2 and 3 June 2018 may find this familiar. Yes! Our panels and photo-booths were at the International Year of the Reefs booth on both days! The panels and photo-booth drew the attention of many visitors of various ages to share and learn about our shores. We saw some elderly and parents sharing their memories and knowledge of familiar shore organisms (mostly plants and commonly eaten seafood such as the clams and mussels) and the familiar shores shown on the panels. The panels also aroused the curiosity of both adults and children who were keen to learn more from the panels!
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Celebrating Singapore Shores Information Panels at the Festival of Biodiversity 2018 on
2 June 2018. (Photo Credit: Karl Png) |
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| Smiling faces of the visitors to our photo-booth. (Photo Credit: June Tham-Toh) |
6) 10 June 2018: Chek Jawa Open House
This year, the month of June is also the month of Pesta Ubin! To celebrate the amazing shore life found in Chek Jawa, we were also present at the Chek Jawa Open House! Balik Chek Jawa is a reoccurring annual event held as part of Pesta Ubin where volunteers of several nature groups gather to share the stunning shore life on the shores of Chek Jawa. With the help of the panels, volunteers were able to show and share about organisms that can be spotted in other shore habitats around or near Chek Jawa that were not spotted during the guided walks.
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| IYOR Information Panels at Chek Jawa Open House. (Photo Credit: Ria Tan) |
7) 13 June 2018: "Translating Seagrass Science into Action" Public Talk at the 13th International Seagrass Biology Workshop
We were most recently at the 13th International Seagrass Biology Workshop (ISBW13) "Translating Seagrass Science into Action" Public Talk! Although we were stationed outside the auditorium prior to the talk, it drew the the attention of not only the attendees of the talk, but also the ISBW13 conference and exhibition attendees! While I was initially nervous, I had a great time sharing about our shores to the attendees of the international conference. In turn, I've learnt a lot about their country's shore, seagrass and marine life! In addition, I've also gained a lot more insights to our shores from the experiences shared by the public talk attendees who have been to the shores be it to guide public walks or for their own exploration.
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| Chew Peng interacting with a group of talk attendees at the ISBW13 Public Talk. (Photo Credit: Ria Tan) |
8) Travelling with Lepak in SG Workshops
Finally, our Information Panels are also on the road with Lepak in SG for volunteers and attendees to share their love for our shores!
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| IYOR Information Panels at Lepak in SG workshops. (Photo Credit: Ria Tan) |
Before I conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to all organizers of the above events for having us at your respective events for an opportunity to share with students as well as the public about our wondrous shore life. In turn, we hope that we have spark the interests of the visitors to the panels to learn about and appreciate the various organisms on the shores of Singapore! These talks would not have been possible without support from Karl, Ria, Mei Lin and Abigail!!
Interested to place these information panels and photo-booths at your marine outreach event? Click HERE for more details of these resources!
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