I used to play this online game where we own ferrets and race them in competitions. And the cuteness of these animals made me want to have one, which back then, I oftened wondered, how come we don't have them here in Singapore?
I finally figured out why, 10 years later.
Prof. Peter Ng mentioned in class that many people come to the departement requesting to bring in non-native species into the country for various reasons, as pets etc. But being conservationists, they have a duty to protect the existing biodiversity in Singapore and do not want these creatures to become ecological disasters here like many other alien species already have.
So, here you have it, that's why we don't have pirannas or poison dart frogs or ferrets! ;)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Importance of Biodiversity in Singapore's Context
Even after
all this time,
the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens
with a love like that.
It lights
the whole sky.
(Hafiz)
Sun, do you not know.
You don't only light the whole sky,
You give life to all
The plants take from you
and they make food for us!
They give us their wood for our fire and homes
They give us shelther
They make the air clean
They decorate our gardens and put a cheer on our face.
The plants also give to us so freely,
because they know their unending source.
So let us be gentle with the earth
They owe us nothing
but we owe them everything
"The forest habitat provides us with goods and services for free, as they receive solar energy from the sun, free of charge and they convert it to carbon." - paraphrased from Prof. Chou Loke Ming's SSS1207 lecture - The importance of Biodiversity in Singapore's context.
"Tree is a living symbol of boundless benevolence. It does not demand from anybody for its own nourishment. It goes on giving enormous quantities of useful materials to the world. Not only this but it goes on giving shade to a woodcutter who has come to cut it." (Lord Buddha)
There's so much we can actually learn from nature. We don't just receive, we give as well. The Sun must be the true altruist. Always giving, always burning.
all this time,
the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens
with a love like that.
It lights
the whole sky.
(Hafiz)
Sun, do you not know.
You don't only light the whole sky,
You give life to all
The plants take from you
and they make food for us!
They give us their wood for our fire and homes
They give us shelther
They make the air clean
They decorate our gardens and put a cheer on our face.
The plants also give to us so freely,
because they know their unending source.
So let us be gentle with the earth
They owe us nothing
but we owe them everything
"The forest habitat provides us with goods and services for free, as they receive solar energy from the sun, free of charge and they convert it to carbon." - paraphrased from Prof. Chou Loke Ming's SSS1207 lecture - The importance of Biodiversity in Singapore's context.
"Tree is a living symbol of boundless benevolence. It does not demand from anybody for its own nourishment. It goes on giving enormous quantities of useful materials to the world. Not only this but it goes on giving shade to a woodcutter who has come to cut it." (Lord Buddha)
There's so much we can actually learn from nature. We don't just receive, we give as well. The Sun must be the true altruist. Always giving, always burning.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Biodiversity and Conservation in Singapore - past, present, future? by Leo W H Tan
Prof. Leo Tan visited to our Natural Heritage SSS1207 lecture yesterday as a guest speaker. I was excited, as I often come across his name in books, in papers and just being mentioned by people around. And he gave such a moving and inspirational speech about conservation in Singapore that I told my friends that we must go down and talk to him after the lecture. We must quickly think up of questions to ask him.
Conservation comes alive!
What moved me was how he made conservation come to life. Prof. Tan admitted himself that as a student he often got bored of the textbooks and many didn't teach in an engaging manner, he would much rather get out of the classroom and inspect nature. It is the same case for me, I honestly could not understand why so many of our Biology lecturers are conservationist. Are the two so tightly intertwined and correlated? I must admit, I expressed shocked when I first asked Prof. Hugh Tan, my supervisor what projects does he do. However, Prof. Leo Tan, for the first time in my life, helped me to see the heart of a conservationist.
Imagine your laboratory metamorphosing into a airport runway
He talked about the beneficial roles of biodiversity and what it means to Singapore in the past, present and future. Some moving examples he gave was how he and Prof. Peter Ng and him were working on their research project back in the late 1970s on Changi Beach, but in 1981, halfway through their 7-year project, their project disappeared as the government reclaimed that piece of land for the Changi terminal 2 runway. This one really clicked with my heart, and at once, I felt the anguish of losing something one had invested in and one loved. To me, if that had happened to me, it would make me even more eager to share with others the biodiversity in Singapore to try to think of creative solutions to conserve as much as possible.
What is the value of a tree?
My heart was also stirred when Prof. Leo Tan talked about scrupulous contractors who indiscriminately poisoned, ringed the bark of (murder by removal of phloem) and chop down trees in the past due to the low fine of S$10 000, a small sum compared to what they can possibly earn by developing the land on which the tree sits on. He cited an example of how a contractor was fined S$84 000 instead of the S$10 000 for chopping down the Changi tree as the tree was worth $76 000. That's why not we give each heritage in Singapore a value, to protect our trees.
There were many other interesting examples he gave such as the success story of Pulau Semakau - the paradise rubbish island, MM Lee's role in supporting the Gardens at the Bay project at Marina, the indirect economic benefit to biodiversity in Singapore like for securing FTAs and FDIs. But those for another time perhaps.
It is the first time for me to, after a lecture, go down to the lecturer and tell him I was so inspired by him. His speech had a therapeutic effect with removed my inhibition. I thank him for taking time to visit us and to share his passion with us.
To round it up, the most pressing question I had in me was. What is your main motivation for conservation? And it turns out to be for the conservation of self, so that we can live in a healthy environment. :) It is so simple and meaningful. It's not like those lofty ideals nor like a moralistic stance, but one that comes from the heart. Because I am part of this earth and if the earth is sick, I would be sick too.
Conservation comes alive!
What moved me was how he made conservation come to life. Prof. Tan admitted himself that as a student he often got bored of the textbooks and many didn't teach in an engaging manner, he would much rather get out of the classroom and inspect nature. It is the same case for me, I honestly could not understand why so many of our Biology lecturers are conservationist. Are the two so tightly intertwined and correlated? I must admit, I expressed shocked when I first asked Prof. Hugh Tan, my supervisor what projects does he do. However, Prof. Leo Tan, for the first time in my life, helped me to see the heart of a conservationist.
Imagine your laboratory metamorphosing into a airport runway
He talked about the beneficial roles of biodiversity and what it means to Singapore in the past, present and future. Some moving examples he gave was how he and Prof. Peter Ng and him were working on their research project back in the late 1970s on Changi Beach, but in 1981, halfway through their 7-year project, their project disappeared as the government reclaimed that piece of land for the Changi terminal 2 runway. This one really clicked with my heart, and at once, I felt the anguish of losing something one had invested in and one loved. To me, if that had happened to me, it would make me even more eager to share with others the biodiversity in Singapore to try to think of creative solutions to conserve as much as possible.
What is the value of a tree?
My heart was also stirred when Prof. Leo Tan talked about scrupulous contractors who indiscriminately poisoned, ringed the bark of (murder by removal of phloem) and chop down trees in the past due to the low fine of S$10 000, a small sum compared to what they can possibly earn by developing the land on which the tree sits on. He cited an example of how a contractor was fined S$84 000 instead of the S$10 000 for chopping down the Changi tree as the tree was worth $76 000. That's why not we give each heritage in Singapore a value, to protect our trees.
There were many other interesting examples he gave such as the success story of Pulau Semakau - the paradise rubbish island, MM Lee's role in supporting the Gardens at the Bay project at Marina, the indirect economic benefit to biodiversity in Singapore like for securing FTAs and FDIs. But those for another time perhaps.
It is the first time for me to, after a lecture, go down to the lecturer and tell him I was so inspired by him. His speech had a therapeutic effect with removed my inhibition. I thank him for taking time to visit us and to share his passion with us.
To round it up, the most pressing question I had in me was. What is your main motivation for conservation? And it turns out to be for the conservation of self, so that we can live in a healthy environment. :) It is so simple and meaningful. It's not like those lofty ideals nor like a moralistic stance, but one that comes from the heart. Because I am part of this earth and if the earth is sick, I would be sick too.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Statistics is a powerful tool!
We have been using the evaluation version of SPSS 16.0 EV to analyse data. We used things like Reliability Analysis, Principal Component Analysis and Generalized Linear Models (GLZ).
I was just talking to Kok Sheng over a meal yesterday that we should have more training in statistical analysis. Nobody teaches us how to but many expect us to know.
We did have formal training in Statistics. We did two statistics models as a Life Sciences student. But never had I imagined, I would actually be doing it hands on later on in my life.
If I could do it again, I would have paid more attention during Statistics lessons, asked more questions, consulted lecturers more, take time to understand and to think and to apply and learn the heart of doing statistics. I would have ask Prof. Kwong and Prof. Chang, what is it about statistics that they made their your career, that you have so much passion and energy for it? Unlike many students who so struggle with it. That would be the heart of statistics.
Prof. Chua Tin Chiu said, "Concentrate on getting the process right, the results are secondary."
I was just talking to Kok Sheng over a meal yesterday that we should have more training in statistical analysis. Nobody teaches us how to but many expect us to know.
We did have formal training in Statistics. We did two statistics models as a Life Sciences student. But never had I imagined, I would actually be doing it hands on later on in my life.
If I could do it again, I would have paid more attention during Statistics lessons, asked more questions, consulted lecturers more, take time to understand and to think and to apply and learn the heart of doing statistics. I would have ask Prof. Kwong and Prof. Chang, what is it about statistics that they made their your career, that you have so much passion and energy for it? Unlike many students who so struggle with it. That would be the heart of statistics.
Prof. Chua Tin Chiu said, "Concentrate on getting the process right, the results are secondary."
How to Cite the Acknowledgments
From the book "How to write and publish a scientific paper" by R. A. Day
"Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Isn't is so strange that the part of the report I was most looking forward to do was the acknowledgments?
I have been very blessed through this experience. As the days toward submission draw nearer and nearer, I guess it is this gratefulness to those who advised me, invested in and cared for me that will push me on! And my desire to transmit information with love, with energy and with materials.
"Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Isn't is so strange that the part of the report I was most looking forward to do was the acknowledgments?
I have been very blessed through this experience. As the days toward submission draw nearer and nearer, I guess it is this gratefulness to those who advised me, invested in and cared for me that will push me on! And my desire to transmit information with love, with energy and with materials.
How to write and publish a scientific paper by R. A. Day
I love prefaces! And this writer sounds like an absolutely nice man.
"There are four things that make this world go round: love, energy, materials, and information. We see about us a critical shortage of the first commodity, a near-critical shortage of the second, increasing shortage of the third, but an absolute glut of the fourth.
We in science, of necessity, must contribute to the glut. But let us do it with love, especially love of the English language, which is the cornerstone of our intellectual heritage; let us also do it with energy, the energy we need to put into the scientific paper so that the reader will not need to use much energy to get the information out of the paper; and let us husband our materials, especially our words, so that we do not waste inordinate quantities of paper and ink in trying to tell the world more than we know."
"The research scientist must provide a written document showing what he did, why he did it, how he did it, and what he learnt from it."
"In this way, the reader, particularly the graduate student and fledgling writer, may get something of the flavor of just what a scientific paper is."
"There are four things that make this world go round: love, energy, materials, and information. We see about us a critical shortage of the first commodity, a near-critical shortage of the second, increasing shortage of the third, but an absolute glut of the fourth.
We in science, of necessity, must contribute to the glut. But let us do it with love, especially love of the English language, which is the cornerstone of our intellectual heritage; let us also do it with energy, the energy we need to put into the scientific paper so that the reader will not need to use much energy to get the information out of the paper; and let us husband our materials, especially our words, so that we do not waste inordinate quantities of paper and ink in trying to tell the world more than we know."
"The research scientist must provide a written document showing what he did, why he did it, how he did it, and what he learnt from it."
"In this way, the reader, particularly the graduate student and fledgling writer, may get something of the flavor of just what a scientific paper is."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Nature Conservation, back in those days
"Corner still recalls how close he got to physical violence in those days, while striving to protect Bukit Timah. His tactic was to distract the illegal wood-cutters by tossing their hats into the undergrowth, while his Malay assistant, Mohd. Noor, would snatch their axes and throw them away too. When the Colonial Secretary received complaints from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce about a strange European harassing Chinese citizens in the forest, Corner had to explain to that their activities there were unacceptable. The Colonial Secretary then replied to the Chamber in writing that the logging was illegal, and wrote to the Gardens to say that Bukit Timah was in effect protected. Thus came the first intimation that Bukit Timah might soon be designated a proper reserve."
A snippet from a book that looks tantalizingly amazing - A View from the Summit, The Story of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve 1996. Published by NTU, NUS, NParks
A snippet from a book that looks tantalizingly amazing - A View from the Summit, The Story of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve 1996. Published by NTU, NUS, NParks
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A brief modern history of environmentalism in Singapore
Over the many years since the conception of Singapore, looking at the rate in which we level down hills, clear forested area and reclaimed our coral reefs, one could be forgiven for thinking that the government values economic development over environmental conservation. Reading articles by the Nature Society when it tries to halt the loss of habitats and the often times bleak news about the state of the environment in the newspaper, further strengthens this view.
However, I have a new view of the government as I sit amongst books, proposals, survey findings etc. about the governments many efforts to promote environmentalism in Singapore, here in the library. They were interested to measure Singaporean's understanding and attitudes about environmentalism and to educate the general public about green issues. Though the emphasis on brown issues is considerably smaller, they are still there in black and white on these manuscripts.
Here on my lap are survey findings about the Environment Protection Campaign. The Ministry of Environment had commissioned these consultancies to test whether Singaporeans are aware of the Clean and Green campaign, whether there has been any effect on their attitudes and behaviour, whether they were aware of the main environmental issues. These were done in the early 1900s, probably an age I was too young to remember the details, though I remember the cute frog picture on the dustbin telling me to use it.
I recently read an old article about how the NUS marine biology lab was asked to survey the waters off Bedok river, to test if the release of affluent from sewage negatively affected the water quality and the diversity and abundance of the sea creatures living there. And there was an Interfaculty Conference On Environmental Issues In Development and Conservation organised by the School of Building and Estate Management in NUS in 1993. In this conference, many professors from different faculties such as School of Architecture, Department of Geography, Department of Botany shared their opinions about development and conservation in Singapore. I am also very impressed that Dr. Ho Hua Chew, the head of the Nature Society's conservation committee was from the Department of Philosophy.
The Green Plan is actually very impressive to me, that our leaders had the forsight to develop Singapore into an "environment city" despite the many constraints a small city like ours might have. The new Singapore Green Plan 2012 has a new slogan as well: Beyond Clean and Green, towards Environmental Sustainability.
Even more amazing I believe are the many many individuals ranging from professors to the common man who could appreciate the beauty and the treasure trove of wildlife that we have here in Singapore. These are the unsung heroes who spearheaded nature conservation in Singapore. Their legacy lives on in many books, many proposals for conservation, many societies that were formed and most significantly in the lives of the people now who continue this passionate act of love for nature now. Whether one has the influence to write a journal article to impact many at once from far, or the influence to educate fellow Singapores about the biodiversity hidden in many areas of our concrete jungle at close proximity, it does not matter. I wish to salute you all for the work that you have done and are doing.
This is a very brief glimpse into a very recent past. It's very incomplete (due to time constraints), but very interesting, isn't it?
However, I have a new view of the government as I sit amongst books, proposals, survey findings etc. about the governments many efforts to promote environmentalism in Singapore, here in the library. They were interested to measure Singaporean's understanding and attitudes about environmentalism and to educate the general public about green issues. Though the emphasis on brown issues is considerably smaller, they are still there in black and white on these manuscripts.
Here on my lap are survey findings about the Environment Protection Campaign. The Ministry of Environment had commissioned these consultancies to test whether Singaporeans are aware of the Clean and Green campaign, whether there has been any effect on their attitudes and behaviour, whether they were aware of the main environmental issues. These were done in the early 1900s, probably an age I was too young to remember the details, though I remember the cute frog picture on the dustbin telling me to use it.
I recently read an old article about how the NUS marine biology lab was asked to survey the waters off Bedok river, to test if the release of affluent from sewage negatively affected the water quality and the diversity and abundance of the sea creatures living there. And there was an Interfaculty Conference On Environmental Issues In Development and Conservation organised by the School of Building and Estate Management in NUS in 1993. In this conference, many professors from different faculties such as School of Architecture, Department of Geography, Department of Botany shared their opinions about development and conservation in Singapore. I am also very impressed that Dr. Ho Hua Chew, the head of the Nature Society's conservation committee was from the Department of Philosophy.
The Green Plan is actually very impressive to me, that our leaders had the forsight to develop Singapore into an "environment city" despite the many constraints a small city like ours might have. The new Singapore Green Plan 2012 has a new slogan as well: Beyond Clean and Green, towards Environmental Sustainability.
Even more amazing I believe are the many many individuals ranging from professors to the common man who could appreciate the beauty and the treasure trove of wildlife that we have here in Singapore. These are the unsung heroes who spearheaded nature conservation in Singapore. Their legacy lives on in many books, many proposals for conservation, many societies that were formed and most significantly in the lives of the people now who continue this passionate act of love for nature now. Whether one has the influence to write a journal article to impact many at once from far, or the influence to educate fellow Singapores about the biodiversity hidden in many areas of our concrete jungle at close proximity, it does not matter. I wish to salute you all for the work that you have done and are doing.
This is a very brief glimpse into a very recent past. It's very incomplete (due to time constraints), but very interesting, isn't it?
Writing the Paper
"A paper on a scientific or technical subject necessarily consists of (a) a report of facts, (b) an interpretation of facts, or (c) a combination of a report and an interpretation.
"A scientific paper is intended to be studied and used as a reference; it is not merely to be read. Hence literary devices should be subordinated if they interfere with clearness. The plan should be self-evident throughout the composition."
The materials and methods will need to be able to provide details that enable future researchers to repeat the methodology.
Title (brevity and comprehensiveness)
Abstract (a brief condensation of the whole paper)
Introduction
A) Nature of the problem; its state at the beginning of the investigation
B) Purpose, scope, and method of the investigation.
C) Most significant outcome of the investigation; the state of t he problem at the end of the investigation.
Materials and Methods
A) Description of the equipment and materials employed.
B) Explanation of the way in which the work was done. (Give sufficient detail to enable a competent worker to repeat your experiments. Emphasize the features that are new.)
Experiments and results
A) Description of the experiments.
B) Description of the results. (If possible, these should be shown in tables and graphs.)
Discussion of results
A)Main principles, causal relations, or generalizations that are shown by the results. (Choose one or several main conclusions that your evidence tends to prove.)
B) Evidence (as shown by the data) for each of the main conclusions.
C) Exceptions and opposing theories, and explanation of these.
D) Comparison of your results and interpretations with those of other workers.
From: How to Write Scientific and Technical Papers by Sam F. Trelease (1958) The M. I. T. Press
"A scientific paper is intended to be studied and used as a reference; it is not merely to be read. Hence literary devices should be subordinated if they interfere with clearness. The plan should be self-evident throughout the composition."
The materials and methods will need to be able to provide details that enable future researchers to repeat the methodology.
Title (brevity and comprehensiveness)
Abstract (a brief condensation of the whole paper)
Introduction
A) Nature of the problem; its state at the beginning of the investigation
B) Purpose, scope, and method of the investigation.
C) Most significant outcome of the investigation; the state of t he problem at the end of the investigation.
Materials and Methods
A) Description of the equipment and materials employed.
B) Explanation of the way in which the work was done. (Give sufficient detail to enable a competent worker to repeat your experiments. Emphasize the features that are new.)
Experiments and results
A) Description of the experiments.
B) Description of the results. (If possible, these should be shown in tables and graphs.)
Discussion of results
A)Main principles, causal relations, or generalizations that are shown by the results. (Choose one or several main conclusions that your evidence tends to prove.)
B) Evidence (as shown by the data) for each of the main conclusions.
C) Exceptions and opposing theories, and explanation of these.
D) Comparison of your results and interpretations with those of other workers.
From: How to Write Scientific and Technical Papers by Sam F. Trelease (1958) The M. I. T. Press
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
How to Be a Statistics Sleuth: Seven Critical Components (Utts 2005)
Component 1: The source of the research and of the funding
Component 2: The researchers who had contact with the participants
Component 3: The individuals or objects studied and how they were selected
Component 4: The exact nature of the measurements made or questions asked
Component 5: The setting in which the measurements were taken
Component 6: Differences in the groups being compared, in addition to the factor of interest
Component 7: The extent or size of any claimed effects or differences
---
Now, let's analyze my project with these seven components!
Component 1: NUS DBS Plant Systematics Laboratory, with honest motivations, seeking honest results.
Component 2: Assoc Prof Hugh T. W. Tan appealed to students to do the survey during his SSS1207 – Natural Heritage of Singapore class on the 21st of February 2008. A possible biased would be the influence the researcher might have on the participants, as participants are more likely to answer according to the desires of the researcher. Therefore having a conservation biologist conduct the survey would perhaps have some effect on the students.
Component 3: It is possible that students taking this module, do so, because they like nature, or have an interest to learn more about it. Hence, this sample selected is biased, and it would not be representative of the undergraduate student population in NUS.
Component 4: Some students avoided revealing their family income and religion and left blanks here and there. The questions asked were related to behaviour, attitude, knowledge and demographics.
Component 5: Survey was conducted before break time. Students might have been tired and rushing to finish the survey in order to have time to visit the toilet or get some food. This might have affected the quality of answers. But students overall appeared very cooperative.
Component 6 is not applicable.
Component 7 would be discussed in time to come.
Reference:
Utts, J. M. 2005. Seeing Through Statistics. Third Edition. Brooks/Cole
Component 2: The researchers who had contact with the participants
Component 3: The individuals or objects studied and how they were selected
Component 4: The exact nature of the measurements made or questions asked
Component 5: The setting in which the measurements were taken
Component 6: Differences in the groups being compared, in addition to the factor of interest
Component 7: The extent or size of any claimed effects or differences
---
Now, let's analyze my project with these seven components!
Component 1: NUS DBS Plant Systematics Laboratory, with honest motivations, seeking honest results.
Component 2: Assoc Prof Hugh T. W. Tan appealed to students to do the survey during his SSS1207 – Natural Heritage of Singapore class on the 21st of February 2008. A possible biased would be the influence the researcher might have on the participants, as participants are more likely to answer according to the desires of the researcher. Therefore having a conservation biologist conduct the survey would perhaps have some effect on the students.
Component 3: It is possible that students taking this module, do so, because they like nature, or have an interest to learn more about it. Hence, this sample selected is biased, and it would not be representative of the undergraduate student population in NUS.
Component 4: Some students avoided revealing their family income and religion and left blanks here and there. The questions asked were related to behaviour, attitude, knowledge and demographics.
Component 5: Survey was conducted before break time. Students might have been tired and rushing to finish the survey in order to have time to visit the toilet or get some food. This might have affected the quality of answers. But students overall appeared very cooperative.
Component 6 is not applicable.
Component 7 would be discussed in time to come.
Reference:
Utts, J. M. 2005. Seeing Through Statistics. Third Edition. Brooks/Cole
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