26 October 2015

Talks for Marine Park volunteers

Yes, we can make a difference for our Marine Park! More than 50 people gathered last week for the first series of talks, as part of preparation to be volunteer guides at the Marine Park. It began with an introduction to the Marine Park by Koh Kwan Siong, Biodiversity Manager, National Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board. There were also talks about the heritage of our Southern Islands and coral reefs.
The next series of talks is this week on 30 Oct (Fri). Here's more of what happened last week.



We followed with a fascinating look at the Heritage of the Southern Islands by Marcus Ng, co-curator of ‘Balik Pulau: Stories from Singapore’s Islands’ and
Followed by a look at the nearly lost memories of our shores by Juria Toramae, creator of 'Point of Departure', visual narratives of coastal and island life in Singapore'.
We all learned a lot about Corals reefs of Singapore by Dr Karenne Tun, Deputy Director, Coastal and Marine, National Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board
Thanks to Pei Yan for being MC for the evening.
We had very lively Q&A with many good questions. Fortunately, we had all the experts present to help share more. Here is Collin sharing about diving at the Marine Park.
And Richard helped explain his experience snorkelling with his family on our shores.
The plan was not to have non-stop lectures. But to intersperse with hands-on interactive sessions. Thanks also to Mui Shan (left corner) for not only taking care of all the admin in the weeks before, but also the arrangements on the day and taking photos too.
The hands-on session appear to be quite popular.
Books about Singapore's marine biodiversity were also on display.
Thanks to Chay Hoon and Ian for live sharing the talks on social media. Their posts and other photos by Adrian are consolidated in this Storify.


Thanks to everyone for coming, and to all the speakers and volunteers who came to help.

Join us for the next series of talks this week. The event is free, all are welcomed and no registration is required.

30 Oct (Fri): Marine Park Public Talks: Series 2
  • Flora of the Southern islands: A brief introduction to coastal forests, mangroves and seagrasses of the South by Koh Kwan Siong, Biodiversity Manager, National Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board
  • Singapore got marine life meh? A brief introduction to Singapore’s marine ecosystems and threats to them by Ria Tan, wildsingapore
Time: 6.30 - 9.30pm
Venue: Function Hall, Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens (Tanglin Gate) map

More about the training programme

More information about the Sisters Islands Marine Park