Reef Celebrations 2008 roundup
Thursday, September 11th, 2008A (very) long overdue post on the Reef Celebrations held at Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens on 8 and 9 Aug 2008.
Much fun was had by all at the event, although there were a couple of hic-cups along the way.
At the 11th hour, we were informed that our Guest-of-honour, Prof Tommy Koh, was called away, which left Francis (Chariman IYOR 08 Singapore) and Prof Chou (our keynote speaker) to hold the fort. Francis, ever the charmer, managed to hold the attention of the almost 100-strong audience, with his vision of what the IYOR 08 Singapore could achieve - a coral paradise in Singapore by 2018.
Francis at the podium speaking to the packed Function Hall.
Prof Chou’s keynote address was interesting - it was, at once, funny, sobering, and filled with hope for our beloved reefs.
Prof Chou, relating his experience with Singapore reefs, and possibilities for the future.
Sivasothi, considered by many to one of the “founding fathers” of the conservation volunteer movement in Singapore, also gave his perspective on the effectiveness of marine conservation NGOs in getting the conservation message across to the public.
The programme also included a ceremonial handing over of a donation by TMX Pte Ltd, the owner of Asian Dive Expo and Boat Asia to the IYOR 08 Singapore committee. The monies were collected during the last Dive Expo, and amounted to S$5,000, which was to be used for marine conservation events.
The event did not end with the last of the speeches - besides the makan, there was a great deal of interaction between the audience and the conservation groups at the display area.
The next day was just as crowded - especially with the sidewall of the Function Hall open, creating an inviting environment for visitors to the Gardens to attend the talks, the colouring activity of the Naked Hermit Crabs, and ask questions of the volunteers manning the booths. All in all, an estimated 400-500 people had taken part in the event.
The day (finally) ended, with one final round of presentations by each conservation group to the assembled volunteers, some of whom had not had the chance to tour the other displays.
A final whirlwind of activity ensued, as volunteers dismantled the displays and packed away all the (dead) specimens. In less than 30 minutes, what took the better part of Thursday afternoon to setup was taken down and put away … ready for use at the next event, whenever that may be.
More pictures of the event can also be found at:
IYOR 08 Singapore Launch
) on 16 Aug 2008, 2pm at Kinokuniya Takashimaya and 22 Aug at Books Actually Bookstore, 730-8pm. The distributor is Objectifs Films. The films first 300 copies will be on sale at Kinokuniya, Books Actually Bookstore and Objectifsfilms. I intend to place it at some diveshops for sale soon. More on that later 