wetlands
a publication of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Vol 9 No 3

otters: water puppies of the reserve

Hillgrove secondary school adopts the reserve

singapore's first wetland reserve:
what does this mean?

reintroduction of
native mangrove flora

some interesting notes on
the sunbirds

volunteer training at mawai eco camp

Commonwealth secondary school student volunteers

home on high
  
channel of commitment
by jeanne tan
senior education officer

On 30 November 2002, in conjunction with "Clean and Green Week", and upon the invitation of Commonwealth Secondary School (CSS), Linda and I had the opportunity to grace an interesting event held at the school.

This launch was held to acknowledge some of the students of CSS for all the hard work they have put in to the partnership between Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and the school. Three students from the "Green Guides" CCA group, had the privilege of receiving an award for their outstanding contribution to the community and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. The awards went to Rudy Herianto, Quek Weiliang and Duncan Lin. Each of them received "The Most Committed Guide" award.

"Commitment" to these young guides came in a whole significant and inspiring list of reasons, definitions, convictions and examples. As circumstances would permit, I could only meet up with two of the boys for an interview, which they gladly obliged. The boys were asked about what "commitment" meant to them, and how they felt about being a student nature guide for Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. I was astounded and impressed by their response and focus through it all, for as young as they may seem to be, their answers came with much probity.

To Quek Weiliang, 14, from Sec 3/2, being 'committed' meant being loyal and pledging a degree of support to a particular responsibility that one undertakes, and putting in effort to complete it. "It has been a good experience for me to be a student guide for SBWR. I get a variety of interesting experiences guiding kids and adults alike. I have the chance to get in touch with nature, literally! This is very much a totally different experience from what we learnt in our textbooks. I'm happy being a nature guide, as this is an opportunity for me to help spread environment awareness. The knowledge we gain from guiding is not what one can learn everyday from textbooks. And what I've experienced too is that guiding for a big group of adults can be quite 'scary', but I'm beginning to see all of this as a learning process, which builds us up along the way!"

Rudy Herianto, 16 added that "being committed comes with a sense of happiness in carrying out my responsibilities as a student nature guide. Nature guiding is like an impartation of knowledge from us to the people we guide. It is a fulfilling experience as there's always a two-way communication. Sometimes , I received from the adults some 'life skills'….I'm surprised with getting this award. I did most of my guiding without thinking about getting any rewards in return, and I was chosen as one of the three to get this award. It was a pleasant surprise."

To these students, all I want to say is, you have put in the effort, now you see the fruit. There's a time for sowing and reaping. You have sowed commitment and responsibility, and in turn you reaped more than an award. You have reaped knowledge and a growing experience! Commitment is engraved in the serving hearts of these young ones, who have given a little more to the community, to SBWR and to their school through being a student nature guide.
   
© Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve