Yes, we can make a difference for our Marine Park! More than 50 people gathered last week for the second series of talks, as part of preparation to be volunteer guides at the Marine Park. One of the highlights was an introduction to Marine Flora by Koh Kwan Siong, National Parks Board.
I gave an introduction to marine life in Singapore, threats and actions we can do for them. Also an introduction to keeping the shores safe, and staying safe on our shores. We also had lots of hands-on interactive sessions.
All talk no play is boring! So we prepared hands-on session after each talk. Which not only allowed everyone to ask questions but also to get to know one another. With more than 50 participants, it was a lot of fun!
Here's Pei Yan introducing the Marine Park volunteers who have been guiding regularly for the last year and have returned to help ease new volunteers into their roles. Pei Yan is introducing Richard, Lisa, Chay Hoon (who also live reported the talks!) and Ian.
They helped conduct the hands-on sessions and answer many questions from the new volunteers.
Thanks also to experienced people like Yook Sau from Ubin NParks who not only came to attend the talk but also helped share about the specimens during the hands-on session.
For my hands-on session, I thought it would be useful for volunteers to discuss and come up with ways to keep visitors entertained if they have to take shelter in the huts during bad weather. Using commonly seen bits that wash up on the high shore.
Some games we can play include: "One of these things is not like the other".
Or "Which one can eat?". Sharp-eyed folks immediately spotted the cream-puff I added to the assembly. But technically, you can probably eat anything at least once.
Pei Yan took us through the evening from start to finish, using slides prepared by November. As as usual Mui Shan took care of everything so it all went smoothly. And a big thank you to NParks for the lovely refreshments, the room, the talks, and all the support.
Thanks to Chay Hoon and Ian for live sharing the talks on social media. Their posts are consolidated in
this Storify.
Thanks to everyone for coming, and to all the speakers and volunteers who came to help.
More about the training programme
More information about the Sisters Islands Marine Park
