oh hi I’m tuning another bureaucrat and
from the National Parks Board and I’ve
got the next 15 minutes to convince you
that Singapore has amazing biodiversity
okay
I’ve got I was told that the total
number of slacks for this whole TEDx
thing at 300 and I took out 100 slides
so I’m gonna rush through bear with me
now the first point is that we’ve got
seven hundred and twenty kilometres
square that makes us a very small
country the next time when you go out
and you speak to anybody and you tell
them Singapore is a very small country
do not get hit but when you tell them
how small they will shake that hit they
won’t believe it because we have 27
kilometers right up and down you
couldn’t do a marathon from from north
and south right so population we are
hitting close to 6 million 6 million if
you divide them the area that we have
with 6 million that makes us one of the
dancers country in the world by some
concert that dances so if you’re the
dancers country you have a very small
country of no space for anything else
but the shocking thing is that we
actually have a lot of stuff so this is
the list of the native biodiversity we
have in Singapore I know to use just
numbers but trust me it’s quite
impressive cell numbers but what’s more
amazing is actually this are so I’ve
been doing this for about 20 years and
I’ve seen changes the our attitude our
awareness and the way we adopt nature
has improved so much since the time I
started the cake a case in point
so in I was an undergrad in NUS in
Faculty of science we were a few of us
classmates we belong to this society
called particle scientists Society is
this you around you know
it is so it’s called a life sign society
you know okay anyway I heard that last
time I was called Society Oh logical
sciences but they changed him because
Society of vs right I’m not so good and
change bicycle sign society which
actually no angry because just BS plural
the SS but then the group of us we were
from ESS and we had to go on this trip
to Malaysia which is to taman negara
which is the nature reserve of
Peninsular Malaysia
so when taman negara and part of the
things we had to do was to stay
overnight there in this high overlooking
a salt lake Holly’s where Elaine was
coming I so will stay overnight and we
were to look at what animals come up and
when we were staying there and we’re all
like just recently out of the army so
true to our mission in we fell asleep in
force our world so we slept through the
whole night except for one guy who I
will not name what my classmate course
is not professional so you’d want damage
his reputation so he he was a storm and
so he didn’t go to a rigorous army
training so he stayed up through the
whole night
he was there looking at animals and when
we woke up the next day we asked him so
you who shall not be named what animal
did you see and very proudly say yes I
saw I recorded it in them in a rock book
so a lot boys of public level every guy
everybody gets to see it so we say oh
let’s see what he wrote and he written
there the date the time and anyone that
he saw was a panda and then you were
their national you this year Singapore
so to our horror we went that you raised
everything because there’s no way he saw
up and you all know there’s no panda
Malaysia right so he saw this
okay this is not a PennDOT you don’t
know what this is this is a tip here and
you know now this when we see a tip here
everybody knows is a tip here this is
2016
so everybody’s old tip here and it’s
really broadcasting on storm on the news
people everybody was the tip here back
in those days the particle scientists a
key of the National University of
Singapore sorry as appender but look at
this look at that top there the last
sighting of tapir was in 1986 I won’t
talk about how our attitudes have
changed you know what happened to the
last sighting of that tapir this is the
tibia 96 in pullout bin now for the
record this man with a stick did not
heal the tibia he actually fell down a
quarry and died but this guy he just
held up stick and now he’s like a bad
guy for posterity but but if you do that
now you’ll be flame online right and
there are many things but in interest of
time I won’t say a couple of anecdotes
about how our duties have changed but
for example other cities in the early
days when we did Gardens right we have
such a hard time telling people auntie
I’m gonna have to learn more plants you
know we have a train more butterflies
and understand the responses yes we want
the butterflies but we do want
caterpillars you’ll figure out the logic
of that okay I’m going to run through a
few images and you guess which one is
Singapore
okay any guesses yeah clever
all of them are Singapore never expected
Singapore health there right it’s not
just nice scenery guess what in our
forest we have a lot of also exotic
animals nice audience in from other
countries but things that you’re not
used to this is a lab back here authors
authors is all news by now right
mouse deer two species of mouse deer
there’s a bankroll in penguins are
critically endangered and then yeah and
you guys are used to seeing monkeys
right you’ll marry sea monkeys now those
are not only monkeys we have we have
another species but you guys have never
seen it because it leaves deeper in the
forest
bender leaf monkeys and of course we
have monitor lizards now the big thing
about this mortal is that is there many
species or more intelligence in the
world okay this is a second Vickers and
we have anything appalled the only thing
bigger than this is the Komodo dragon of
course even the biggest monitor lizard
will get it certain sometimes by the
biggest our tongue the world so the
biggest reptile the world is dead
there’s the estuarine crocodile we have
it in Singapore as well but it’s not
just about small animals in our waters a
seagrass by in the indo-pacific region
there 20 over species of seagrass this
little dot that we sleep on in Singapore
we have half of their net few the
necking count is a sponge you’ll start
to be extinct the whole world didn’t
have it anymore until I was found in
Singapore again and only in Singapore
and talk about rare things right this
crap the swamp forest crap is only found
in a patch of forest in the whole world
just at Petra for us and the petrol
forest is in Singapore and this crap is
only found in a stream in Singapore just
one stream nowhere else in the world but
my favourite conservation story is
actually about that so but not this but
this is a white balance ego is the
biggest ego we have in Singapore so the
equivalent of the disc eagle would be
your your somebody in your maybe on a
classmate with bass
it goes the gym and good-looking as well
right shop features who would wanna shop
features so this ego is like the boss
the king of the air his big is from but
nature is very fair so he’s good-looking
his muscular his good is his good within
in physical attributes but we click on
that the icon the one that mixes up
he sounds like a tap if somebody can
click on the iPhone I could make the
call so this is like you going and you
see this good-looking guy and then
starts popping to you and then he’s like
a voice that goes okay
next look at this this but there’s a
brahminy kite slightly smaller but super
a job this guy swirls and turns in the
air you can pick on anything is really
fast and he’s got shot features as well
if this was a lot of the rings you’ve
you legalize but nature is fair because
if somebody can click on the sound again
it sounds really effeminate old holy
breath
yes there’s the pond mini kite right and
then you come to this but this bird is a
straw headed booboo this bird is really
not very good-looking it just looks like
a but but but this bird is one of the
best vocalizations in the whole bird
Kingdom in fact because of his song is
so good and rings out to the forest
travels for kilometres it’s so good
there is now endangered in its homeland
there’s there’s no more this but and the
last stronghold or build the last one of
you on the last stronghold is here in
Singapore this is Troy head cuckoo and
this is what it sounds like butter but
it does not do it justice can we have
the sound this is a call of the straw
edible
[Applause]
so this is one of the prime targets for
a songbird tree about a hero or hero of
our story that she displayed you go the
picture okay that was a real bro that
was a real bro and that is the birthday
I want to talk about now this bird visit
soon my Balu is really nothing very much
it okay it’s big it’s too long it’s
called as a trap the legs are too skinny
and needs a 10 right but this book and
the call you heard just um it sounds
like the mrt-3 but the amazing thing
about this book
all right as it all other shore birds
migratory birds that come to Singapore
is the ability to fly incredible
distances and that is the story that I’m
going to tell you the next five minutes
this is the Arctic tundra okay this is
the tundra in summertime it’s pretty
nice place can be quite beautiful and
it’s a good place for a lot of shoulders
to actually find food because all the
insects are hatching out in summer is
the air is full of food and then there
are no predators around and they can lay
their eggs and have their chicks out in
a few months time and be big enough to
fly weight because they need to fly away
once the winter comes it looks like this
I need to hit self and because of this
epic journey here traveling throughout
the whole world is become known as
microfi Flyway and there are a couple of
flowers in the whole world
but the biggest the most in Econ Flyway
is the East Asian Australasian Flyway in
which Singapore is right smack in the
middle of so you see the birds will move
from north to south and then from south
all the way up again in months and
that’s an incredible story but along the
way they need to stop at very very
important places called mud flats they
need places like this and they need to
feed it you’ll find one more tool
if you flock together find shelter the
problem is that mud flats are always at
a course right and codes are always the
most important areas for a continent
development and in our slightly which is
the best Flyway most number of birds
most humble species is getting
devastated so we are looking at a lot of
development that I’m coaching on the map
less where the bird is getting nearer
nearer to the extended birds have no
more places to go and sometimes get
worse some places they’re building a dam
right across the mud flap and when you
build a dam everything dries up
everything inside dies and Magina but is
looking for food has to stop at this
place to continue on its next thing of
its journey it stops at what flat to D
dry they all die and we are losing tens
and thousands of birds and what I was
lab right
why was left of the mud flats it gets
polluted it becomes unusable servers and
the farmers who had a livelihood
affected by development they’re forced
to catch mobiles and the population has
double whammy so the story comes down to
to my below that this but if they can
make it to suma below a small place in a
very small country there they can find
respite because over here provide my
flex where these birds can she Chula and
feed and stalk energy for the next link
home of the journey but what a whole
world the birds are being celebrated no
kids in Korea in China Japan they
celebrate a birthday where countless
each year and in Singapore over the last
20 years we are also starting to do that
we not appreciate but very very much and
when the bus reached Webelos not only do
we love them we study them as well so
these guys these are all the staff that
somewhere below we catch the bus that’s
me by the way I don’t usually do it by
just post fault photograph so we we ring
the bus we put texts of them and then we
put do locators recently put your
locators and then and this jewel kids
are little things they’re not satellite
transmitters you put them in the lakes
and the hylia idea where the birds go
and we are starting to find a lot of
emission which are then feeding back to
the world’s knowledge bank of what
happens with this bicycle traveling so
anyway just for interest you see a green
flag over white flag
now next time when you go traveling
anywhere within the East Asian or Asian
Flyway and you see a bird with green
flag of a white flag report it back to
us because that’s Albert and once we
flag it that helps us know where the
birds go so you guys see a but you know
that it tells to my browser whatsoever
and we say where was it somebody’s power
and even if it’s in the bottom of
somebody’s dish right you can still tell
us so interesting things that we found
out putting judo cages on but we put it
on one but and then we cut it back in
the next season and we download the data
we know that this bill was traveling it
and making incredible journeys you can’t
see it here but the bit left Singapore
on the 2nd of April and rich suit on
China on 3rd of April if that’s 3000
over kilometers in 24 hours imagine
these are not big egos as saw on
thermals idea actually flying very hot
when we catch the birds in season when a
duration Singapore right they are all
exhausted you can feel the voice very
sharp but when they stay three months
stay in Super Bowl or you put on a long
way so that’s why someone below stands
for suddenly balloon without reason
the next step the next thing we all do
is to put satellite transmitters on the
bus these things are very expensive but
we don’t need to catch the bus again
they give a live signal ping ping ping
ping ping as you go along
and we’re actually about to do that next
week so once we do that we’ll know where
the birds are right there and then and
if someone catches the but it goes in
someone’s home we can she’d follow the
birth to its home so no poaching but why
am I tell you all this is because by all
accounts somewhere below is quite
successful and where we got to where we
are today is because of one thing is
because of Singaporeans who came in and
saw a vision with Sumer blows nothing
but a couple of 30 points inside that
they love but and decided then to keep
it as a sanctuary and it was given to us
as a bit pop not a reserve then but the
cost of the support of Singaporeans on
the moment the day we over the way we
open our gates they started coming in
and through the years that she really
came they came to listen to learn and
enter eventually a love somewhere below
and to this day the loving continues so
the kids are still coming but now in all
at all levels and from different
backgrounds and not just younger kids we
have the tertiary students we have two
adults the corporates are coming in and
everybody is showing love for abalone
just families are in that means young
kids all the families and retirees and
it’s because of people like this the the
the volunteers the stakeholders people
who give their time in the commitment
that they were able to mix my blue what
it is today and the same story repeats
itself for all our other nature parks
and all ninja eusers is the story of
people in Singapore coming forward to
make a stand and to rewrite the script
on what they want our users to be and
because of that my take on what is the
most particular part of the concision
story in Singapore is actually us people
in Singapore thank you
you
from the National Parks Board and I’ve
got the next 15 minutes to convince you
that Singapore has amazing biodiversity
okay
I’ve got I was told that the total
number of slacks for this whole TEDx
thing at 300 and I took out 100 slides
so I’m gonna rush through bear with me
now the first point is that we’ve got
seven hundred and twenty kilometres
square that makes us a very small
country the next time when you go out
and you speak to anybody and you tell
them Singapore is a very small country
do not get hit but when you tell them
how small they will shake that hit they
won’t believe it because we have 27
kilometers right up and down you
couldn’t do a marathon from from north
and south right so population we are
hitting close to 6 million 6 million if
you divide them the area that we have
with 6 million that makes us one of the
dancers country in the world by some
concert that dances so if you’re the
dancers country you have a very small
country of no space for anything else
but the shocking thing is that we
actually have a lot of stuff so this is
the list of the native biodiversity we
have in Singapore I know to use just
numbers but trust me it’s quite
impressive cell numbers but what’s more
amazing is actually this are so I’ve
been doing this for about 20 years and
I’ve seen changes the our attitude our
awareness and the way we adopt nature
has improved so much since the time I
started the cake a case in point
so in I was an undergrad in NUS in
Faculty of science we were a few of us
classmates we belong to this society
called particle scientists Society is
this you around you know
it is so it’s called a life sign society
you know okay anyway I heard that last
time I was called Society Oh logical
sciences but they changed him because
Society of vs right I’m not so good and
change bicycle sign society which
actually no angry because just BS plural
the SS but then the group of us we were
from ESS and we had to go on this trip
to Malaysia which is to taman negara
which is the nature reserve of
Peninsular Malaysia
so when taman negara and part of the
things we had to do was to stay
overnight there in this high overlooking
a salt lake Holly’s where Elaine was
coming I so will stay overnight and we
were to look at what animals come up and
when we were staying there and we’re all
like just recently out of the army so
true to our mission in we fell asleep in
force our world so we slept through the
whole night except for one guy who I
will not name what my classmate course
is not professional so you’d want damage
his reputation so he he was a storm and
so he didn’t go to a rigorous army
training so he stayed up through the
whole night
he was there looking at animals and when
we woke up the next day we asked him so
you who shall not be named what animal
did you see and very proudly say yes I
saw I recorded it in them in a rock book
so a lot boys of public level every guy
everybody gets to see it so we say oh
let’s see what he wrote and he written
there the date the time and anyone that
he saw was a panda and then you were
their national you this year Singapore
so to our horror we went that you raised
everything because there’s no way he saw
up and you all know there’s no panda
Malaysia right so he saw this
okay this is not a PennDOT you don’t
know what this is this is a tip here and
you know now this when we see a tip here
everybody knows is a tip here this is
2016
so everybody’s old tip here and it’s
really broadcasting on storm on the news
people everybody was the tip here back
in those days the particle scientists a
key of the National University of
Singapore sorry as appender but look at
this look at that top there the last
sighting of tapir was in 1986 I won’t
talk about how our attitudes have
changed you know what happened to the
last sighting of that tapir this is the
tibia 96 in pullout bin now for the
record this man with a stick did not
heal the tibia he actually fell down a
quarry and died but this guy he just
held up stick and now he’s like a bad
guy for posterity but but if you do that
now you’ll be flame online right and
there are many things but in interest of
time I won’t say a couple of anecdotes
about how our duties have changed but
for example other cities in the early
days when we did Gardens right we have
such a hard time telling people auntie
I’m gonna have to learn more plants you
know we have a train more butterflies
and understand the responses yes we want
the butterflies but we do want
caterpillars you’ll figure out the logic
of that okay I’m going to run through a
few images and you guess which one is
Singapore
okay any guesses yeah clever
all of them are Singapore never expected
Singapore health there right it’s not
just nice scenery guess what in our
forest we have a lot of also exotic
animals nice audience in from other
countries but things that you’re not
used to this is a lab back here authors
authors is all news by now right
mouse deer two species of mouse deer
there’s a bankroll in penguins are
critically endangered and then yeah and
you guys are used to seeing monkeys
right you’ll marry sea monkeys now those
are not only monkeys we have we have
another species but you guys have never
seen it because it leaves deeper in the
forest
bender leaf monkeys and of course we
have monitor lizards now the big thing
about this mortal is that is there many
species or more intelligence in the
world okay this is a second Vickers and
we have anything appalled the only thing
bigger than this is the Komodo dragon of
course even the biggest monitor lizard
will get it certain sometimes by the
biggest our tongue the world so the
biggest reptile the world is dead
there’s the estuarine crocodile we have
it in Singapore as well but it’s not
just about small animals in our waters a
seagrass by in the indo-pacific region
there 20 over species of seagrass this
little dot that we sleep on in Singapore
we have half of their net few the
necking count is a sponge you’ll start
to be extinct the whole world didn’t
have it anymore until I was found in
Singapore again and only in Singapore
and talk about rare things right this
crap the swamp forest crap is only found
in a patch of forest in the whole world
just at Petra for us and the petrol
forest is in Singapore and this crap is
only found in a stream in Singapore just
one stream nowhere else in the world but
my favourite conservation story is
actually about that so but not this but
this is a white balance ego is the
biggest ego we have in Singapore so the
equivalent of the disc eagle would be
your your somebody in your maybe on a
classmate with bass
it goes the gym and good-looking as well
right shop features who would wanna shop
features so this ego is like the boss
the king of the air his big is from but
nature is very fair so he’s good-looking
his muscular his good is his good within
in physical attributes but we click on
that the icon the one that mixes up
he sounds like a tap if somebody can
click on the iPhone I could make the
call so this is like you going and you
see this good-looking guy and then
starts popping to you and then he’s like
a voice that goes okay
next look at this this but there’s a
brahminy kite slightly smaller but super
a job this guy swirls and turns in the
air you can pick on anything is really
fast and he’s got shot features as well
if this was a lot of the rings you’ve
you legalize but nature is fair because
if somebody can click on the sound again
it sounds really effeminate old holy
breath
yes there’s the pond mini kite right and
then you come to this but this bird is a
straw headed booboo this bird is really
not very good-looking it just looks like
a but but but this bird is one of the
best vocalizations in the whole bird
Kingdom in fact because of his song is
so good and rings out to the forest
travels for kilometres it’s so good
there is now endangered in its homeland
there’s there’s no more this but and the
last stronghold or build the last one of
you on the last stronghold is here in
Singapore this is Troy head cuckoo and
this is what it sounds like butter but
it does not do it justice can we have
the sound this is a call of the straw
edible
[Applause]
so this is one of the prime targets for
a songbird tree about a hero or hero of
our story that she displayed you go the
picture okay that was a real bro that
was a real bro and that is the birthday
I want to talk about now this bird visit
soon my Balu is really nothing very much
it okay it’s big it’s too long it’s
called as a trap the legs are too skinny
and needs a 10 right but this book and
the call you heard just um it sounds
like the mrt-3 but the amazing thing
about this book
all right as it all other shore birds
migratory birds that come to Singapore
is the ability to fly incredible
distances and that is the story that I’m
going to tell you the next five minutes
this is the Arctic tundra okay this is
the tundra in summertime it’s pretty
nice place can be quite beautiful and
it’s a good place for a lot of shoulders
to actually find food because all the
insects are hatching out in summer is
the air is full of food and then there
are no predators around and they can lay
their eggs and have their chicks out in
a few months time and be big enough to
fly weight because they need to fly away
once the winter comes it looks like this
I need to hit self and because of this
epic journey here traveling throughout
the whole world is become known as
microfi Flyway and there are a couple of
flowers in the whole world
but the biggest the most in Econ Flyway
is the East Asian Australasian Flyway in
which Singapore is right smack in the
middle of so you see the birds will move
from north to south and then from south
all the way up again in months and
that’s an incredible story but along the
way they need to stop at very very
important places called mud flats they
need places like this and they need to
feed it you’ll find one more tool
if you flock together find shelter the
problem is that mud flats are always at
a course right and codes are always the
most important areas for a continent
development and in our slightly which is
the best Flyway most number of birds
most humble species is getting
devastated so we are looking at a lot of
development that I’m coaching on the map
less where the bird is getting nearer
nearer to the extended birds have no
more places to go and sometimes get
worse some places they’re building a dam
right across the mud flap and when you
build a dam everything dries up
everything inside dies and Magina but is
looking for food has to stop at this
place to continue on its next thing of
its journey it stops at what flat to D
dry they all die and we are losing tens
and thousands of birds and what I was
lab right
why was left of the mud flats it gets
polluted it becomes unusable servers and
the farmers who had a livelihood
affected by development they’re forced
to catch mobiles and the population has
double whammy so the story comes down to
to my below that this but if they can
make it to suma below a small place in a
very small country there they can find
respite because over here provide my
flex where these birds can she Chula and
feed and stalk energy for the next link
home of the journey but what a whole
world the birds are being celebrated no
kids in Korea in China Japan they
celebrate a birthday where countless
each year and in Singapore over the last
20 years we are also starting to do that
we not appreciate but very very much and
when the bus reached Webelos not only do
we love them we study them as well so
these guys these are all the staff that
somewhere below we catch the bus that’s
me by the way I don’t usually do it by
just post fault photograph so we we ring
the bus we put texts of them and then we
put do locators recently put your
locators and then and this jewel kids
are little things they’re not satellite
transmitters you put them in the lakes
and the hylia idea where the birds go
and we are starting to find a lot of
emission which are then feeding back to
the world’s knowledge bank of what
happens with this bicycle traveling so
anyway just for interest you see a green
flag over white flag
now next time when you go traveling
anywhere within the East Asian or Asian
Flyway and you see a bird with green
flag of a white flag report it back to
us because that’s Albert and once we
flag it that helps us know where the
birds go so you guys see a but you know
that it tells to my browser whatsoever
and we say where was it somebody’s power
and even if it’s in the bottom of
somebody’s dish right you can still tell
us so interesting things that we found
out putting judo cages on but we put it
on one but and then we cut it back in
the next season and we download the data
we know that this bill was traveling it
and making incredible journeys you can’t
see it here but the bit left Singapore
on the 2nd of April and rich suit on
China on 3rd of April if that’s 3000
over kilometers in 24 hours imagine
these are not big egos as saw on
thermals idea actually flying very hot
when we catch the birds in season when a
duration Singapore right they are all
exhausted you can feel the voice very
sharp but when they stay three months
stay in Super Bowl or you put on a long
way so that’s why someone below stands
for suddenly balloon without reason
the next step the next thing we all do
is to put satellite transmitters on the
bus these things are very expensive but
we don’t need to catch the bus again
they give a live signal ping ping ping
ping ping as you go along
and we’re actually about to do that next
week so once we do that we’ll know where
the birds are right there and then and
if someone catches the but it goes in
someone’s home we can she’d follow the
birth to its home so no poaching but why
am I tell you all this is because by all
accounts somewhere below is quite
successful and where we got to where we
are today is because of one thing is
because of Singaporeans who came in and
saw a vision with Sumer blows nothing
but a couple of 30 points inside that
they love but and decided then to keep
it as a sanctuary and it was given to us
as a bit pop not a reserve then but the
cost of the support of Singaporeans on
the moment the day we over the way we
open our gates they started coming in
and through the years that she really
came they came to listen to learn and
enter eventually a love somewhere below
and to this day the loving continues so
the kids are still coming but now in all
at all levels and from different
backgrounds and not just younger kids we
have the tertiary students we have two
adults the corporates are coming in and
everybody is showing love for abalone
just families are in that means young
kids all the families and retirees and
it’s because of people like this the the
the volunteers the stakeholders people
who give their time in the commitment
that they were able to mix my blue what
it is today and the same story repeats
itself for all our other nature parks
and all ninja eusers is the story of
people in Singapore coming forward to
make a stand and to rewrite the script
on what they want our users to be and
because of that my take on what is the
most particular part of the concision
story in Singapore is actually us people
in Singapore thank you
you
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