Clean & Green Singapore Schools’ Carnival 2008

Eleven YEGs from 1A and 1D were at the Clean & Green Singapore Schools’ Carnival 2008 on the 6th November. It was held at Suntec City.

The YEGs were helping the Cicada Tree Eco Place to create awareness on having a Clean and Green Environment in Singapore.


The YEGs explained to the primary school students how to play the game on Climate Change.

You are never too young to learn about climate change.

The YEGs also sold pictures of animals designed by Cicada Tree Eco Place. They help the young visitors to colour the painting.

Two of the finished paintings done with the help of the YEGs.



This is a thank you email from Cicada Tree Eco Place.

Faridah and Sherri, many thanks for spending half of your day with us on Thursday, tending our booth and supervising the kids. Your students did a great job in selling our drawings and buttons and in facilitating our carbon footprint game as well as our animal memory card games. Because you were there at our booth, I got a chance to go to other booths to share with them about our programs. Really appreciate this.

With great appreciation and thanks
Vilma

ACRES ROAD SHOWS


On the 4th August, the YEG ACRES to put up a road show in our school. ACRES stands for Animal Concerns Research and Education Society.



As animals cannot speak up for themselves, it is up to humans to give them a voice, speak up their behalf and end their abuse. ACRES believed in giving this voice to the animals.

Later, the founder of ACRES Mr Louis Ng gave an inspiring talk about his work to the students.

Here, Simon Lim, the leader of the group of YEGs taking part in the Citobank Youth for Cause presented the cheque of $3 000 that has been rasied for ACRERS through the sales of Shoo Mozzie.


Meanwhile a production crew from Channel U was producing a programme on Louis and his work. Later after the talk, they interviewed a group of YEGs from the ESS Army.

Great News

In May the YEGs were given funds to produce Shoo Mozzie through the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Cause.

We are glad to announced that we have almost achieved our target of selling 500 bottles of Shoo Mozzies.

Through the hard work of all the YEGs we have managed to sell the following bottles of Shoo Mozzies.

39 bottles at Anchorpoint

16 bottles from Kebun Bahru Parent cum Block Party

9 bottles from fun fair in school

2 bottles from World view 360 competition

416 bottles at Singapore Garden Festival

482 total sale up to 31st July.

We are confident that we will be able to sell the last 12 bottles during the Humanities Week from 4th August to 8th August 2008.

Down memory lane.....





It all started with 4 YEGs who wanted to produce the all natural organic mosquito repellent. They have learnt how to produce it from an environmental NGO called Cicada Tree Eco Place. So they decided to appeal for funds from the Youth for Cause project. Here they are putting the final touch to their project.






Production of Shoo Mozzie began in earnest once approval was given. Ms Faridah was in charge of the production.





All the YEGs dropped by to help. Some teachers including Ms Sherri Ng and Mrs Audrey Koh also lend a helping hand.


We started to sell at Anchor Point,

and in our school.

We sold the most bottles at the Singapore Garden Festival.




We were effectively triangle as we deployed students who can speak, Chinese, Malay and English to promote the Shoo Mozzie.

Three YEGs, took part in the 4th Central Singapore District Public Health Forum on 31st July 2008. They are Srisakvakul Chaiyakorn,Leow Jian Hao and Peh Rui Xiang.

PROGRAMME
4th Central Singapore District Public Health Forum 2008
31 July 2008
6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., The Grassroots Club

6.00pm Arrival of participants/Dinner
7.00pm Participants seated/ Start of Forum
7.10pm Making The SWITCH - Review of Central Singapore’s Game Plans

Against Climate Change
7.20pm Sharing of Dengue Situation Report in Central Singapore
7.30pm Arrival of Guest of Honour
7.35pm Welcome Speech by Mayor
7.45pm Launch of Central Singapore “ME CAN” Network
7.50pm “The Chikungunya Chronicles” Video Special
8.10pm “Cool The Climate, Fight The Bite” Skit
8.30pm “Face 2 Face” stage interview
9.15pm Presentation of Tokens Of Appreciation To Panelists
9.30pm End of Forum

Srisakvakul Chaiyakorn and Jian Hao were featured in “The Chikungunya Chronicles” Video Special.

Meanwhile Rui Xiang took part in the“Face 2 Face” stage interview . He is the one seated on the extream right .

The YEGs at the Singapore Garden Festival 2008

The YEGs have been going down to the Singapore Garden Festival since last Friday to see Shoo Mozzie to raise funds for ACRES. Different groups of YEGs from the young Sec 1 to the young at heart Sec 4 have been taking turns to sell the Shoo Mozzie.

This experience has given the YEGs an opportunity to share with the public about the need to protect our environment.

The banner is used to attract visitors to the booth.

Ms Faridah, the teacher who is in-charge of this project is seen here with Andrew, one of the committee member of the environmental NGO, the Cicada Tree Eco-Place, that we are working with.

Through this project, the YEGs realised that every action counts no matter how small r insignificant it is.

The YEGs will be selling Shoo Mozzie in partnership with Cicada Tree Eco Place. This is part of our Citibank-YMCA Youth For Causes projects. Fund raised will be donated to ACRES, a charity which works to foster respect and compassion for all animals, to improve the living conditions and welfare of captive animals.

We will be at Booth S-14 on weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.


This is the booth that we will be at. As usual, this activity will not contribute towards any CCA points or CIP hours.

Chikungunya video for the NEA.

Two of our YEGs Jian Hao and Srisakvarakul Chaiyakorn, were involved in the video filming for Chikungunya Highlight on the 26 June 2008, Thursday at 2.30pm (Little India) & 27 June 2008, Friday at 1.15pm (Environment Health Institute).


The first Chikungunya case in Singapore this year was detected on 14 January 2008. A total of 12 cases were later confirmed in the Little India area. Investigations from Ministry of Health revealed that the “foreign national" who contracted the fever have not traveled out of Singapore for several months, Thus confirming that the Chikungunya cases were locally transmitted.




The first person the YEG interviewed was Damian Lee, Executive, NEA CRO. Since the Chikungunya outbreak at Little India, NEA has also been conducting intensive search and destroy operations beyond Clive Street. which are bounded by Rochor Road, Race Course Road, Lavender Street and Jalan Besar, to remove mosquito breeding habitats. As at 6 February 2008, Some 20 NEA officers and 15 pest control operators were mobilized to work in the area. More than 4,800 inspections have been conducted and a total of 77 breedings have been detected and destroyed.




Mr Nordin. He is the sanitation and vector control (SVC) manager from National Environment Agency Central Regional Office who is in charge of Jalan Besar area.

Some of the NGOs like Little India Shopowners & Heritage Association (LISHA) also play a key role to assist government agencies’ fight against Chikungunya. Mr Rajakumar Chandra is the chairman of LISHA which played a key role to assist government agencies’ fight against Chikungunya during the outbreak

Later they went to the Environment Health Institute to interview the Head of Environmental Health Institute, Dr Ng Lee Ching.

In Singapore, when the number of Chikungunya cases increased in January, the Ministry of Health and the Environmental Health Institute started to screen residents and workers in the popular Little India enclave. Since 14 January 2008, it was estimated that a total of 2,626 people were screened.

It was an enriching and fulfilling experience doing the video.

This video clip will be showcased at the 4th Public Health Forum (organised jointly by NEA-Central Regional Office & Central Singapore CDC) on the 31 July 2008

CitiBank-YMCA Youth for Cause Competition

Youth Environmental Guardians(YEGs) in our school is taking part in theCitibank-YMCA Youth for Causes .

This year, a new dimension has been added to the Youth for Causes programme:- (a) Encouraging projects which promotes sustainable development, e.g. projects that helps Non Profit Organisations which are supporting environmental causes.

The YEGS have chosen to raise funds for ACRES which stands for Animal Concerns Research & Education Society. They hope to promote Shoo Mozzie to raise funds for ACRES.

Here is an article from the Straits Time about the founder of ACRES.

June 8, 2008
Acres gets Law Minister's thumbs up
By Shobana Kesava

WHEN Mr Louis Ng set up a welfare group here to improve the lot of wild animals, he was labelled a fanatic.

Some thought he had a screw loose.
Seven years later, he is no longer a voice in the wilderness.

Acres, short for Animal Concerns Research & Education Society, has 12,000 volunteers and donors, Government funding and - this is crucial - status as an institution of public character, which allows donations to it to be tax-exempt.
Mr Ng, 29, said: 'I was always told, 'You're a small fry' and 'You can't change big organisations'.'

He has not only made the authorities sit up and take notice, he now works with them to nab those in the illegal wildlife trade.

Acres is also building a shelter in Sungei Tengah big enough to house and give medical treatment to at least 400 animals; it even works with other animal welfare groups to give out grants to students for their own animal-protection projects.

His secret: Perseverance.

A baby chimpanzee named Rhamba started it all for him in 2000.
Then a 21-year-old volunteer photographer for the zoo, he said he saw a keeper punch Rhamba in the face to discipline it.

He said: 'She ran to me and hugged me. I knew then that I had to speak on her behalf.'

He tipped off The Straits Times, which reported the incident and started a groundswell of support from animal lovers who successfully campaigned for Rhamba to be returned to her family.

The zoo denied this was a problem, but following the media publicity, it stopped isolating baby chimps from their families.

Adding that zookeepers have come a long way since then, Mr Ng still considers the episode 'the best thing that happened in my life'.

Inspired to do more for animals, he and eight friends started what would become Singapore's first wildlife protection agency, scraping together less than $1,000 in combined savings.

The National University of Singapore-trained biologist was then doing his masters in primate conservation part time with the Oxford Brookes University in Britain, but through sheer will and support from friends, he got Acres up and running on a shoestring in 2001.

He and his team began by fanning out to give talks in schools. Public education is on-going.

In the past seven years, Mr Ng estimated, Acres has reached out to over 200,000 people about animal abuse and how animals can be better protected.
The group's efforts here have so impressed Law Minister K. Shanmugam that he agreed - on short notice - to speak at Acres' seventh anniversary celebrations last month.

And here is the article published on January 28 2001 about the outcome of Mr Louis's action.

Zoo's 'snapshot' chimps now run free
Singapore Zoo ends confinement of trained chimpanzees on the back of criticism by animal-welfare groups
By Eunice Lau

THE days of being caged in are over for Poko, Gombe and Rhamba - Singapore Zoo's young chimpanzees, which pose daily for photographs with visitors.
The zoo decided to end their confinement following an outcry by the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

The three - aged between 1 1/2 and four years - are in a long line of chimpanzees which have helped popularise animal photography at the zoo for more than 15 years. Poko, Gombe and Rhamba were taken away from their mothers at birth and raised by the keepers. They were kept apart from the other chimpanzees, which lived in an open enclosure.

After being trained to pose with visitors, they were kept in cages so that it was easier to produce them for photography.

They were integrated with the rest of the chimpanzees shortly after The Sunday

Times reported in November last year on the animal-welfare groups' attack on the caging of the trained chimpanzees.

Frolicking in the sun: Rhamba, trained from young to pose with visitors, is no longer caged and is now reunited with mother Suzy (above left) and the other chimpanzees. -- THOMAS WHITE

This was revealed by Mr Bernard Harrison, chief executive officer of Wildlife Reserves, during a visit last Sunday to the zoo by an IPPL director, Mrs Dianne Taylor-Snow.

'We are very open to what the animal-welfare groups have said,' he said. 'Animal welfare is the overriding deciding factor.'
He said the young chimpanzees would not be separated from the rest of the herd again.
So far, the three have responded well to the changes and have been accepted by the other chimpanzees.

The Sunday Times saw them rolling on the grass and frolicking with other chimpanzees under the sun.

The keepers do not have any problem retrieving them from the group for their photography sessions, which continue as usual.

The zoo has also decided to immunise all young chimpanzees against common human diseases and asked keepers to explain to visitors the need for conservation.

Mrs Taylor-Snow, an American, was happy: 'We will continue to monitor the situation, but we are pleased with the changes.'

Conservationist Louis Ng, 22, who blew the whistle on the practice of caging the chimpanzees after witnessing a keeper allegedly abusing Rhamba, said the fight was worth it.

'I wanted to improve the conditions for the animals. Maybe I did it the wrong way, but that should not be the issue now.

'After seeing Poko, Gombe and Rhamba run in the open enclosure, I feel I've done something good.'

P.S.

ON April 5, 2004 Rhamba, the Singapore Zoo’s celebrity chimpanzee, died during a failed escape attempt. She climbed over the electric barriers and was shot by a tranquillizer dart gun. But she still managed to run straight into a reservoir and drowned before the keepers could save her.

This is what the New Paper reported on the 9th April 2004.

Animal welfare activist Louis Ng had got to know the chimpanzee when he was a volunteer in 2000.

He launched his first campaign to pressure the zoo to stop photo-taking with the chimps, claiming that he saw Rhamba being punched in the face to make her behave.

He went on to set up the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society.
Responding to Rhamba's death, Mr Ng said: 'To say that I am devastated is an understatement.

'I remember the times she would come and hug me, seeking comfort when times were hard.

'I would not be fighting for the rights of animals if not for her.'


This is the newspaper report from Nov 7, 2000 which started the ball rolling for ACRES.
Outcry, so young chimps will get a bigger cage

BECAUSE of the outcry by animal-rights groups, Poko, Rhamba and Gombe - the three young chimpanzees trained to pose with visitors daily - will be getting a bigger cage.

Mr Harrison said that although the cage in which they live is by no means 'squalid and small' - it measures 2 m by 2 m by 3 m - the zoo will be building a bigger one.


Unlike the open closure of the other chimps, Gombe (above), Poko and Rhamba are caged up so keepers can produce them for photo sessions. -- ALAN LIM


'To be honest, it is in relation to what has been going on,' he said.
The three chimpanzees, raised by their keepers from young, have been kept apart from the rest of the chimpanzees which live in an open enclosure.

They have been kept confined so that it is easier for the keepers to produce them for photography sessions.

When the issue of the zoo's practice of using apes for photography was raised briefly at the annual World Zoo Organisation conference last month, Mr Harrison had said that he would review the zoo's policy and the way it keeps its animals.