Festival of Biodiversity 2013!

It's time for the Festival of Biodiversity!



I'll be busy volunteering at the Marine Exhibition, but if you really can't make it to VivoCity this weekend, or are not in Singapore, do look out for tweets from myself (@Varanussalvator) and others, via the hashtag #FestBiodSG.

Tweets about "#FestBiodSG"

Singapore Blog Awards 2013: Thanks everyone for your support!

I'm overjoyed and excited to announce that I won the Panasonic Best Eco-Challenge Blog category in the Singapore Blog Awards!

Chained to Our Roots (22nd-23rd June 2013): an appeal to protect Singapore's own rainforest

Teresa Teo-Guttensohn, a Singaporean eco-artist and Dr. Vilma D'Rozario, Celine Low, and Andrew Tay, together with their group of nature-loving friends, will be part of an eco-performance where they will be chained to a tree for 24 hours, to appeal for the Cross Island Mass Rapid Transit Line to be re-routed such that it will not run through our precious rainforest at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

When: 3 pm Saturday, 22nd June to 3 pm Sunday, 23rd June 2013
Where: Speakers' Corner, Hong Lim Park

Festival of Biodiversity 2013: 13th & 14th July @ VivoCity!

Mark your calendars, for the Festival of Biodiversity is back!

After the success of last year's inaugural Festival, we're hoping to reach out to even more people, highlight the wonderful wildlife and important green spaces that we still have here in Singapore, and encourage people to play a more active role in protecting and conserving our natural heritage.

When: 13th-14th July 2013 (Saturday and Sunday), 10am-10pm
Where: VivoCity, Level 1 - Central Court B and West Boulevard

Do you know that Singapore is home to more than 400 species of marine fishes? Do you know that Singapore is also home to 250 species of hard corals, which is almost one third of the diversity found in the world? Do you know that species such as the horseshoe crab and the banded leaf monkey can be found in Singapore? Join us at the festival to explore and learn more about Singapore's rich biodiversity!

Join us in the many exciting activities we have in store for you at the festival, and find out how you can play a part in conserving our biodiversity. By participating in the festival, you can gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Singapore's rich biodiversity, its benefits, and relevance to us in Singapore.

If you missed last year's Festival, here are some highlights:

The marvels of nature macro photography: a workshop by Nicky Bay

WARNING: Do not continue reading this post if you are entomophobic or arachnophobic. If you do not know what these terms mean, carry on. You'll find out if you actually are.



My friend Nicky Bay is holding a couple of workshops on macro photography, and I thought it would be great to help publicise these workshops. More details are provided in his blog post.

Fun Learning with Panasonic: Go Eco, Get Crafty

(Photo from Panasonic Singapore)

I have plenty of old t-shirts from different stages of my life, from the P.E. attire that I wore in secondary school and junior college, to those that I received for participating in freshman orientation activities in university. And there are loads of others that I just don't wear anymore, simply because I've outgrown them, or the print has faded.

Thursday (20th June 2013), 7-10pm: Nature and the Big City by The Leafmonkey Workshop

The forest and the city: the view along the Southern Ridges;
(Photo by PKPix)

Nature and the Big City

How can we have nature in Singapore city? What is the history and process of urban planning and development in Singapore? How can we manage the trade-offs between conservation and development?

When: Thursday, 20th June 2013, 7.00pm - 10.00pm
Where: Civil Service College, 31 North Buona Vista Road, Singapore 275983

More info here

Friday (14th June 2013), 7-9pm: "Do the Math" Movie Screening

Join 350 Singapore and EcosystemSG for this free movie screening about the rising movement to change the terrifying maths of the climate crisis and challenge the fossil fuel industry.

When: Friday, 14th June 2013, 19:00-21:00
Where: EcosystemSG, No. 3 Jalan Kledek, Singapore 199259 (near Bugis MRT Station)

Off on another adventure

I'm in the midst of final preparations for my trip to Japan as part of the DENSO Youth for Earth Action Global Programme. To refresh your memories, here's what happened during the Local Programme earlier in July.

Rhinos are not prehistoric survivors: World Rhino Day Part 1

Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis);
(Photo by International Rhino Foundation)

This coming Saturday, 22nd September, will be World Rhino Day. It is a day to highlight the ongoing poaching crisis that continues to threaten the survival of all 5 species of rhino, and to push for greater action to put an end to the needless killing over fallacious claims of rhino horn possessing medicinal properties.

While it seems that rhinos were not historically present in Singapore (except as captive specimens), I am particularly fond of rhinos, and have decided to do a series of post in the days leading up to World Rhino Day.

Green Drinks Singapore: Seagrass & Aqua Republica

I attended the August 2012 edition of Green Drinks Singapore earlier tonight. Not only did I learn more about the importance of seagrass habitats from Siti, but also listened to Chengzi share about an upcoming game that aims to teach people about integrated water resource management.



Naturally, I was tweeting away, and the following Storify is a compilation of tweets, mostly by Gladys and myself, as well as relevant links and further information.

Sharing Singapore with visiting scientists

Several marine scientists from all over the Asia-Pacific are in town for a workshop on marine biodiversity in the South China Sea. I was able to spend a day helping out with the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) as a guide, sharing about Singapore's natural heritage to specialists from the region. (Edit: Mei Lin was a participant as well, and shares more about the workshop in this post)

DENSO Youth for Earth Action

For the last 3 days, I have been involved with DENSO Youth for Earth Action (DYEA), an international programme to support youths in Japan and ASEAN who are passionate about doing something for the environment in their home countries.

Visiting the ACRES Rescue Centre

To recognise the contributions and efforts of its supporters, the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES) organised a get-together at its headquarters at Jalan Lekar. I had a great time chatting with friends and other like-minded individuals who are concerned about animal welfare, and was glad to finally get the chance to visit the Wildlife Rescue Centre, which was opened in 2009.

Rhythm with Nature @ Gardens by the Bay

The Gardens by the Bay are finally open, and apparently saw more than 70,000 visitors over the first 2 days of its opening. I was part of that crowd on Saturday evening, as I had managed to win a pair of free tickets to catch local singer-songwriter Corrinne May, who was performing as part of Rhythm With Nature. Thanks Timberland Singapore for the tickets (and the shoes), which I had won as part of their Earthkeepers 101 blogging contest.

Earthkeepers 101

Timberland Singapore is organising a blogging contest, in conjunction with their upcoming involvement in Rhythm with Nature as the Official Apparel Sponsor.


(Click to enlarge)

The fun of Storify

On 23rd May, I attended U@live Louis Ng: Speaking Up for the Voiceless. Featuring Louis Ng, Founder and Executive Director of the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES), it was an interesting insight into the motivations and personal journey of one of Singapore's foremost champions of animal welfare.

Catching up with the Festival of Biodiversity

If you missed the Festival of Biodiversity, you can get a glimpse of the fun and festivities through the many blog posts and photo albums that have been uploaded so far. Jocelyne has helpfully compiled them all over here on the Festival of Biodiversity blog.

Storify is turning out to be an excellent tool to collate information from many different online platforms, and Gladys and I worked together to create this Storify of the entire Festival of Biodiversity:

Vote Monday Morgue!

Me in my element: Guiding as a volunteer with the Raffles Museum Toddycats!.
(Photo by Boh Zuze)

It's been such a fun and fulfilling weekend at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, sharing interesting stories about Singapore's wildlife and wild places with members of the public. And I'm really pleased that my talk about the importance of documenting dead animals was very well-received. I'll write about my weekend soon enough, but now that the fun and festivities from the Festival of Biodiversity are over, it's time for Monday Morgue to focus on another significant event: the Singapore Blog Awards. If you recall, I'm currently a finalist in the Sold.sg Best What-the-Hell Blog category.

Voting opened on Monday, and everyone can cast one vote per category every day until 30th June. I hope that I'll be able get more support, not just from friends who are familiar with this blog, but also with new readers. A big thanks to Crystal and Jerome, who are finalists in other categories, and who have shown their support for Monday Morgue!

In the meantime, while I prepare a nice blog post to show you all about what happened at the Festival of Biodiversity, here's a short interview for the Singapore Blog Awards:

It's Showtime!

The Festival of Biodiversity begins tomorrow!



Many of us are busy making preparations for the weekend, with a wide range of activities for the whole family to enjoy. Besides doing booth duty as a volunteer guide with the Marine Exhibtion and the Raffles Museum Toddycats!, I also plan to participate in some of the film screenings, symposiums, and of course, not to forget my talk on Sunday.