NEA’s Energy Challenge Fair 2009 Well-received By Crowd
By Lin Peiyu
MORE than 15,000 people visited the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) Energy Challenge Fair 2009 last weekend taking home with them affordable energy-efficient appliances and more importantly, energy saving tips to make Singapore a more energy efficient nation.
This three-day event at the Marina Square Central Atrium saw a total of 24 booths – mainly electrical appliance retailers and suppliers such as Gain City, Bosch and Sanyo – showcasing their latest energy-efficient appliances and technology that promise substantial cost savings in the long-run.
“Initially, I didn’t want to buy the energy efficient models as they cost more. But now I know a four-tick refrigerator actually saves about $130 per year compared to a one-tick model. It’s good investment,” said Eugene Lim, 40, businessman.
Another attraction of the fair was the energy-efficient concept home, an interactive concept home with energy saving tips mounted on common household appliances such as air-conditioners, washing machines and lighting.
The energy-efficient concept home taught the public simple energy saving habits such as setting air-conditioner temperature at 25 degrees, and highlighted the possible cost savings they can enjoy when these habits are put to practice.
Agnes Tan, 35, homemaker, said the interactive concept home was “a good way” to teach her children about energy conservation.
Interestingly, a booth set up by the National Library Board (NLB) was found amidst the sea of electrical appliance retailers and suppliers. NLB tried to educate the public on energy conservation through books.
“Students actually come to this fair to research on their projects and we are here to provide them with additional reference materials. This is a great opportunity to reach out to the public,” said Peck Hia, 29, NLB librarian.
NEA event supervisor Darren Ang, 29, said the fair was a success and the crowd exceeded the original target of 12,000.
“We are looking forward to a bigger scale fair next year. The response from the public is very encouraging,” he added.
Teo Meng Chye, 43, facilities manager, said the event was a good outreach programme as “Singaporeans have a low concept of energy conservation” and welcomed more of such events.
The NEA embarked on a nation-wide five-year campaign, called the 10% Energy Challenge, last year to encourage adoption of energy-efficient lifestyle among Singapore residents.
This year sees the 10% Energy Challenge focusing on a variety of events aimed at making energy-efficient home appliances readily available to consumers to complement its past efforts of educating the public on energy saving habits.
200 school kids spend the night with ‘beasts’ in wildlife camp
By Shaiful Rizal bin Abdul Malek
OVER 200 eight and nine-year olds left their parents behind to walk on the wild side and enjoy the night under the stars, in the company of beasts from 8 to 11 September 2009.
Children from the Australian International School (AIS) camped overnight at the Singapore Zoo, in close vicinity to beasts such as tigers and lions as part of their outdoor learning curriculum. Their campsite was located next to the dens of these huge cats. Unlike the usual zoo trips, the camp featured day and night programmes designed to immerse the kids in a total wildlife experience, even in Singapore’s concrete jungles.
“Kids these days are losing touch with nature. We want them to experience the ‘wild’ and this camp is an effective way to inject life in our lessons,” said Ms. Sandy Tollemache, a teacher-in-charge from the AIS.
The camp was organised by the zoo’s Education Department to provide an interesting way of learning about wildlife: the lure of nature as teacher and the park as a living classroom.
The programme featured an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the breeding complex of butterflies, scorpions, and snakes. It even showcased the tools that the zookeepers use to handle snakes and how anti-venom is extracted.
Not many of the kids were brave enough to get close to the snakes, but for eight-year-old Xavier Sproule, his eyes gleamed with excitement when he saw a Royal Python.
“The snakes are not slimy at all. They feel cold and dry,” said Sproule, who got his birthday wish of touching reptiles and creepy crawlies a week early this year.
The highlight for many of the third-graders had to be leaving their comfy beds behind to sleep in a field close to the lions, tigers and hippos. The kids slept in a 6-men tent, which they assembled after a lesson taught by the zoo’s camp facilitators.
“It was awesome. While we were trying to sleep, we heard the lions roaring!” said nine-year-old Cynthia Alice Re.
According to camp facilitator, Mr. Haniman Boniran, the campsite is “perfectly safe for resting as the animals are kept in their dens at night.”
Along with three other facilitators, he stayed overnight with the kids, attending to their fascination with nature and animals.
“These kids are always curious to find out more about animal behaviours, diets and habitats. This camp also creates awareness for the decreasing numbers in the animal kingdom,” he said.
“One girl even cried when I told her about the plight of the Asian Elephants.”
