SUSTAINABILITY IN THE COMMUNITY

Mr Louis Ng (Member of Parliament, Nee Soon GRC)

Ms Nor Lastrina Hamid (Co-Founder of Singapore Youth for Climate Action)

In this issue, we speak to Mr Louis Ng and Ms Nor Lastrina Hamid to understand the value of working with the community for environmental action, and how we can prepare our students to take action for a sustainable world.

Mr Louis Ng

With a deep passion for animal welfare and the environment, Mr Ng has been regularly working with the community in the clean-up of Khatib Bongsu Nature Park. The team effort has resulted in a cleaner and more vibrant mangrove environment which the Nee Soon community can enjoy.

#1: What motivates you to travel to a nature park or beach monthly for a coastal clean-up with students and residents in your community?

The excitement of having our own nature park in Nee Soon which the community work together to manage. I feel that the coastal clean up is a valuable opportunity to not just utilise the nature park built by the government but it also serves to engage, empower and mobilise our residents to join us in this journey. We need a sense of ownership and nothing beats getting our hands dirty and going down on the ground (sea in this case). Residents now feel like they are part of the process rather than just seeing the end product.

#2: How has the community outreach impacted the residents and coastal environment?

Seeing the amount of trash in our mangrove firsthand has a huge impact on people. Seeing is believing and these outreach efforts are not just about picking up trash but also about changing mindsets.

#3: What are some observations when reaching out to various groups in the communities such as youths or families with children?

The response has been overwhelming. The monthly clean-ups are booked up within a few hours and it is very encouraging to see youths and families with children coming for the trips. They put their heart and soul in picking every piece of trash they see. Many times, I see people kayak to a piece of trash to try to pick it up, they miss it and they turn back to try again and again. This is really what keeps us going - seeing the growing number of people who are passionate about making a difference for our environment.

#4: As a champion of the environment, how do you think we could prepare our students in taking action for sustainable living, and cultivate in them an environmentally conscious mindset?

I believe that the best way is for our students to experience the issues firsthand and later, brainstorm and develop their own solutions. They should be given opportunities to practice what they have learnt in the classroom.

Ms Nor Lastrina Hamid

Lastrina has been organising community events and working with youths and volunteer groups for the past 10 years. She has built an interest in climate issues and how people respond to climate impacts. In 2015, Lastrina co-founded Singapore Youth for Climate Action (SYCA) to engage youths in climate action or environment-related volunteerism. https://syca.sg/

#1: What motivates you to reach out to youths and students over the years in climate action and environment-related volunteerism?

Youths and students are in this phase in life where they are discovering and making sense of the world and themselves. With the climate crisis, I think it is important to raise climate awareness to the youths and students crowd so that they also take this time to figure out what is happening and what climate action they can take now and in the future, before life introduces them to other things like jobs, families, and more responsibilities.

Additionally, I focus on encouraging volunteerism because there is just so many things we need to do to address the climate crisis. I also believe people do have intrinsic motivations to do good even without payment, and if I can leverage on that and get more people to do something to address the climate crisis why not?

#2: How has the outreach programmes impacted youths, their lifestyle and the environment?

SYCA was formed just before the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015. Since then, we have done many sharings on what climate change is and what climate action people can take, co-organised workshops on international climate policies, and participated in various focus group discussions.

We believe in empowering youths. Through our work, we support youths in discovering the different types of actions they can take and support with what they have and where they are and understanding that they themselves are part of the solution. Roping in youths to find out how they can take action is especially crucial given that youths today may be overwhelmed with information on the severity and urgency of the issue as presented in the media.

Over the years, we have trained hundreds of youths through our different initiatives, We have also collaborated with a diverse network of stakeholders within Singapore and beyond to drive different efforts in pushing climate action. We encourage youths to question how their actions can impact their own lives, the community and the environment in general.

#3: What are some observations and outcomes before and after your speech at COP21? Has there been a change in the community, and mindsets from youths and other groups in their attitudes towards the climate and the environment ever since? How so?

This is purely a personal observation. Before my speech and before the local news coverage, at that point in 2015, I think the only other person I knew who was interested in international climate policies was Melissa Low from the Energy Studies Institute (ESI). After the speech, I received several requests to do sharings on the Conference of Parties (COP), and when I talk to young people, the discussions shifted from local environmental news to what’s happening in the region and the world. I think thanks to the momentous Paris Agreement and that speech that year, I saw an increasing interest in international climate policies and had the opportunity to interact with more young people who are interested in the environment scene beyond Singapore

In terms of change in the community, since 2015, we have seen the birth of other groups such as Climate Conversations, SG Climate Rally, and school groups like Fossil Free Yale-NUS and NTU Divest, as well as individuals running Instagram accounts like @theweirdandwild @earthtodorcas @byobottlesg @a.tiny.warrior. More groups and people are actively talking about climate change.

Additionally, groups like Green Nudge and Zero Waste Singapore emphasise a lot on nudging behavioural change.

In general, more things are happening through the ground-up approach now.

#4: As a champion of climate action and the environment, how do you think we could prepare our students in taking action for sustainable living, and cultivate in them an environmentally conscious mindset?

Some background context here: I took Geography when I was in Commonwealth Secondary School (2002-2005 ) and Jurong Junior College (2006-2007). I was not the best student and I cannot remember what I learnt, but I had great teachers like Madam Rosmiliah Kasmin and Miss Melanie Lum and I remember them to be engaging teachers.

So if you ask me what can Geography teachers do to prepare our students in taking climate action and cultivating a sustainability mindset, the first suggestion I’ll put forward here is for Geography teachers to make lessons fun and lively, and bring in real-world context. Maybe you would not see your impact immediately or directly, but you will definitely leave an impression on your students and when they read or learn something climate-related in life later, they will appreciate things differently.

It is now, 2021. Like what Madam Lim Puay Yin mentioned in the previous issue, sustainability is being discussed on global platforms, at Parliament, in our school syllabuses. The Geography Unit at CPDD has even put together a JIT Singapore Green Plan SLS lesson for Secondary and Pre-University students. The content is already out there. Let’s deliver the content in a way that appeals to the students, sparks their curiosity, and nudges them to take action.

We do what we can to prepare students to be future-ready, to be prepared for the climate crisis. As for the rest, have faith the students have the consciousness and sense of agency to do what is right or what they need to do, and grow up to be responsible and active citizens.

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