Saying goodbye to APES

Keystone XL Pipeline update (May 18th): Grassroots movements are rallying together to disapprove of the proposed Keystone pipeline. The group Bold Nebraska, established by Jane Kleeb, represents farmers opposed to the pipeline and TransCanada. It's exciting to see more citizens becoming vocal about their opinions, as they recognize the adverse effects that the pipeline will bring. 

APES: Yesterday, I had my last AP Environmental Science class of the year, on the last day of high school. It was emotional, because the class has guaranteed more than an education for me. The experiences that APES has provided, introducing me to my best friends and taking me to remote tropical islands, are incredible. I'm going to miss the class and Ms. Began so much. 

Our last assignment included writing a letter to a person of power, regarding an environmental issue we cared about. I wrote to the president of the college I'll be attending - Harvey Mudd - about divesting from fossil fuels. The letters are getting mailed today; I hope I receive a response! 

Here is an excerpt of my reflection of APES: 

Taking AP Environmental Science has been such an enlightening experience. It’s one of the only classes that focuses on issues beyond the individual, applicable to real life. Our generation has so many environmental challenges to tackle, before climate change drowns San Francisco and poor waste management leaves half the world sick and destitute. While it’s easy to be discouraged by the intense work that lies ahead, this class has taught us that there are solutions. We have the opportunity to fix problems and we need to take it.

“We shall never achieve harmony with the land, anymore than we shall achieve absolute justice or liberty for people. In these higher aspirations the important thing is not to achieve but to strive.” ― Aldo Leopold

March updates

At the convergence of environmentalism, economics, and politics is the controversy over supporting solar power. Traditionally a party that dismissed environmentalism as a fad and eyed Obama’s administration as one of “solar cronies,” the Republican Party is now turning onto a new, but divisive path. Several conservative leaders and party members now accept and welcome an increase in the development and usage of renewable energy resources, especially solar energy. Big name Republican politicians, including Barry Goldwater Jr., claim themselves to be the “original environmentalists,” who loved the original Western Frontier. Georgia’s Tea Party has even teamed up with the Sierra Club to form the “Green Tea Coalition” just last year.

Traditional conservatives panic at the support the GOP has for policies usually associated with liberals. At the heart of this rather sudden switch are multi-faceted issues of “national security,” fossil fuel spending, and the concept of the free market. Every conservative solar-panel user has different motives for pledging allegiance to the growing solar power movement. Instead of eyeing domestic oil reserves as we noticed our pro-drilling panel members did in our ANWR debate, Republicans like Tom Morrissey, former state party chairman for Arizona, see solar energy as an opportunity to divest from Middle Eastern fossil-fuel related conflicts. The utilities industry is also increasingly seen as “regulated monopolies” controlled by a handful of bureaucrats, not the free market economy that most Republicans advocate. This new, more liberal stance on energy consumption is surprising, but positive as well, in my opinion. If Obama’s administration chooses to campaign for an advancement in renewable energy resources research and usage, perhaps change will happen faster with more Republicans’ support. It’s important we take this political shift in attitudes, driven by economics and foreign policy, and produce real action.

Find the original article here. 

In other news, SAS, Tanglin Trust School, UWC East, and the International School of Singapore hosted the first local global issues conference last week! It was a definite success  Students from eight schools discussed issues to a number of problems that are prevalent here, ranging from the lack of care for elderly people and preserving the Macritchie rainforest (as opposed to converting it into a trainforest, as one of my friends cleverly put it). Each GANG - Global Action Network Group - presented their Local Action Plans and committed to the carrying out of the plans, with a set timeline. We also hosted three speakers who focused on human trafficking. Check out the photos from the event. More information on each of the action plans will come in once people make progress!  

SAS Solar Launch

On Saturday, SAS hosted the Solar Launch of its 3,356 panel photo-voltaic system! High school and Middle School GIN collaborated with each other for over a month and the result: success. We had Singaporean members of parliament attend, as well as the new American ambassador and our own superintendent at the venue. Elementary school kids dressed up as suns to greet guests, middle school students created videos, held tours all day with high school club members' help, and teachers, staff, parents were present too.  I love events like these because they really gather and demonstrate community support, awareness, and action; and it's one of the reasons I'm using SAS as a case study in my Capstone report. 

Here are some videos featured during the Solar Launch: 

• Middle School GIN video
• Interview with project manager André Nobre
• Mrs. Early's 4th grade class video
• A short promo

Next week, I'll be going to pristine Tioman Island with my AP Environmental Science class and then Beijing for our annual GIN conference! I've heard that the section of Pulau Tioman we will be staying in is almost untouched by humans and previous years' classes have seen baby sharks; I can't wait to experience living in the real tropical rain forest! I always wonder what Singapore would have looked like 200 years ago and this is my chance to go see it live. The GIN conference is bound to be charged with energy. SAS is taking 20 students, each in a different "Global Action Network Group (GANG)." I'll be a part of the biodiversity and ecosystems group and I hope to be able to take my knowledge from Tioman to Beijing. 

Environmental updates!

School has begun again! With the homework and tests come exciting environmental initiatives. There are so many ideas and so much energy among the green community - the perfect combination to act! 

Our school installed 3356 solar panels over the summer, with the help of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) and a local solar energy company Sunseap! They account for 30% of the school's energy consumption and can produce 1 MW of power on the sunniest, clearest days. The Middle School Global Issues Network (GIN) club will be working with the High School SAVE and GIN club to present the school's new source of renewable energy to the whole community. It's a great example of direct steps taken by the school to become a greener campus! 

I'm taking a class called Senior Capstone this year. It's an opportunity to independently research and study a subject of my choice. I chose the environment (no surprise!); I'm using Singapore American School (SAS - my school) as a case study, as well as some Canadian schools, and creating a green guidebook for already established schools. My focus is not on the physical campus but the additional efforts a school can take to become a more environmentally friendly community. I'm splitting up initiatives in terms of student driven, technology, and waste management. It's a work in progress but I love being able to connect it to the current AP Environmental Science (APES) class I'm taking. I'm learning of plenty of real life examples to apply my growing understanding of the environment. 

In the past few weeks, I've gone to a couple of talks on biodiversity and plastic. The Singapore Land Transport Authority is planning to build an MRT through the primary forests of Macritchie reservoir. Last Thursday, as a part of a biodiversity talk, botanist Joseph Lai went through 200 slides of pictures (taken by him) of the unique species that live in Singapore's primary forests. He knew all of them by heart and it was incredible to see the variety of life that exists on this once tropical forested island. Visit http://www.chope4nature.org/ to join the protest against the cutting down of this rich primary forest! 

Two weeks ago, I also went to a Plastic Symposium held by the National University of Singapore's SAVE (Students Against the Violation of the Environment) group. They invited several guest speakers - an environmental entrepreneur engaged on the business side of things, a government representative from the National Environment Agency, and an NUS professor who spoke about the impact of plastic on marine life. It was so interesting to see so many different schools there to understand the state of plastic waste in Singapore, despite the fact that it was a Saturday afternoon. I found it especially interesting that plastic, whether recycled or not, is always incinerated in Singapore. 

The year's off to a great start and I'm proud to say I'm a part of it! 

The Sensory Trail

We tend to take the simplest things for granted; walking down stairs, enjoying the sight of trees blowing in the wind and the ease of ordering food at a counter are all actions we are familiar with on a daily basis. But for some people, these basic lifestyle needs are inaccessible, because of their lack of sight. 

On Saturday, April 20th, our school organized a "Sensory Trail" on the picturesque island of Pulua Ubin. The island, once used as a granite quarry, allows visitors to glimpse into life in Singapore and its rustic Kampongs as it was in the mid 20th century. Worn down shops and gravelly paths lead into a tropical rainforest that brings a refreshing break to the towering concrete jungle of the main island. 

Inaugural plaque, April 2000 

Since 1996, with dedicated biology teachers like Mr. Early, Ms. Toma, and Ms. Began - who tirelessly worked to create the Sensory Trail that exists today - SAS has partnered with National Parks and the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped to bring the joy of nature to those who can't see it on their own. I lead a middle aged lady with 10% vision, who on first sight wouldn't even be considered visually handicapped. Initially, I assumed that she could see and was unsure about how much help I should provide, because it was not apparent that she was visually impaired. As she started groping the walls to walk on the even surface of the platform leading to the ferry, I realized that she did need my help after all. Her arm holding onto mine, we walked onto the ferry and through the verdant overgrowth of Ubin. She explained the numerous difficulties that she experiences on a regular basis, such as problems discerning the edge of a step, or working on the computer at her office (she's still an administrator for a company!), and profusely thanked me for helping her experience Singapore's nature as she had in her youth.
Walking with the visually handicapped on the Sensory Trail allowed me to take the nature in more slowly and through all of my senses, not just sight. We smelled the leaves, felt the bumps that covered the fruits in great detail, tasted the "toothache" plant's leaves, which made my mouth feel like it was back at the dentist getting braces again, and described the ripe, bright colored, half-eaten, seeded papayas that hung from the trees, ready to fall at the slightest breeze. 

It was an eye-opening experience - a sense of nature that still exists, tucked away from the shiny metal buildings of Singapore's city, coupled with the satisfaction of helping those who didn't have access to this kind of nature, made my Saturday before Earth Day complete. 

Her final goodbye is still with me: "There are so many good people in the world. Thank you."

Happy Earth Day!