I have one of those pocket prayer cards that read: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; The courage to change the things I can; And the wisdom to know the difference. I don’t keep it in my wallet ‘cos I had memorised this a long time back for moments like these.

I received an email from one of last Sunday’s Reefwalk participants this morning. He raised many concerns regarding how much damage is imposed on our shores during Reefwalks. This is not an issue that is new to us. It is an issue that we grapple with all of the time. How do we educate people during Reefwalk yet minimise the impact of having large groups of people walking the reefs?

I was deeply troubled for the rest of the day. Just sat outside Lucky Plaza after work, putting my troubles down on paper ‘cos I didn’t know who to turn to for reassurance. I was so weighed down by what he said. — “Have we succeeded in spreading green ecology? Or, is this just another ‘outing’ for bored Singaporeans .. keen to brag on Monday what terribly different and exciting things they did?” — “If people cant learn to respect nature, I say it’s better to leave it… By highlighting these places as ‘things to do’, we are only helping in their decimation. Let them stick to Orchard and cinemas, .. so the mud skippers, crabs, anemones may live.”

I wasn’t upset by his words. In fact, I was very grateful and touched that he took the trouble to share his thoughts and feelings ‘cos it showed he cared. I was upset because I felt I didn’t have the wisdom to know the difference between what can be changed and what can’t, what is right or not so right in the long term, what may seem wrong but is actually right. Darn it, I didn’t even know the difference between a dead or live octopus.

We have always maintained a “soft approach” to spreading the message of marine conservation. We don’t storm into restaurants while people are enjoying their shark’s fin soup to show them gory pictures of fin-less sharks bleeding to death. We don’t picket outside buildings to fight for a cause. Our approach is simple - conservation through education.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum to the women and men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” - Antoine De Saint-Exupery, The Wisdom of the Sands

So for us, we can’t simply say “Don’t litter”, “Don’t throw rubbish into drains ‘cos it will end up in the ocean”. We SHOW them how littered our shores are. We don’t expect people to fight for or against something unless we know that the groundwork has already been laid - that people already FEEL for our shores.

But how do you make people FEEL?
— God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

Do I have the ability to change a mindset or move a heart?
— The courage to change the things I can;

Can I do so without