On Valentine’s Day, most couples would head out for an overpriced meal accompanied with overpriced flowers, complete with an overpriced staycation.
But not Baey Yam Keng.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth opted to be Mother Nature’s bae, spending his Valentine’s Day morning with a enthusiastic bunch of young eco-lovers bundling along Coney Island.
Mr Baey’s appearance was part of Outward Bound Singapore (OBS)’s effort on 14 Feb to encourage more youths to appreciate the rich biodiversity in Singapore.
The guided tour of the newly opened Coney Island consisted of many lessons, including the importance of appreciating the nature and being environmentally-friendly.
Since OBS organizes outdoor adventure learning activities for the youths in Singapore, Mr Nicholas Conceicao, Executive Director of OBS, shared that it is important for our youths to understand their environment and how to use these natural places responsibly.
At the end of 4km nature trail, Joo Kek, an NParks’ volunteer guide, reminded us to keep our food and drinks off the sight of the monkeys, as they will be scouring for food.
Our guide also explained the importance of picking up the litter, as the animals will mistake trash — tissue paper, plastic bottles, plastic bags — for food.
From a dedicated ecological literacy programme in schools, to a flora and fauna treasure hunt competition, exciting ideas were mooted by the youth participants.
However, getting youths to heed the call of Green might take some time.
Steven Cheng, President of EarthLink NTU (a youth green group at Nanyang Technology University), told us that “while youth [are] aware of Singapore’s environmental causes, not many are taking action. This is why sessions like these are important.”
During Mr Baey’s closing speech, he said:
“I’m pleased to see many young nature-lovers spending the morning of Valentine’s Day here at Coney Island. Youths are always looking for something fresh to interest them and today’s activity is one of such engagements. As youths are the future leaders who would see Singapore through SG100, it is important for them to be aware and proactive in conserving the environment.”
At the end of the SGfuture engagement session, these youths put their newly acquired environmental conservation knowledge into action by removing the trash from the discussion areas before departing.
OBS has made plans for the next outdoor conservation classroom learning experience titled Project IsLand-A-Hand on 5 Mar. Details can be found at http://bit.ly/piahwithobs050316.
MustShareNews thanks NYC for inviting us to the event.
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Featured Image via Outward Bound Singapore
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