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Ria
 My
first time on Chek Jawa? It was a magical predawn visit. In
my feeble torchlight were wondrous creatures I previously saw only in
books. At dawn, the full awesome splendor and immense size of the flats
were revelead. Then I discovered Chek Jawa was to be reclaimed in 6 months'
time.
Many visits quickly followed. I attempted to share the magic with others
through my first website
about Chek Jawa.
To me, however, a visit to Chek Jawa is more than just discovering plants
and animals. Chek Jawa attracts special people. On every visit, I almost
never fail to make a new friend or share good times with old friends.
Why I want to guide at Chek Jawa? Chek
Jawa belongs to every Singaporean. It is almost sinful to enjoy such a
surreal place all alone. Shortly after my first visit in mid-2001, I felt
compelled to share Chek Jawa with as many people as possible before it
was lost to reclamation.
I simply became a self-appointed Chek Jawa guide, and guided whoever was
already at Chek Jawa or brought groups who wanted to go. I even forced
a few people who didn't want to go. It quickly became an obsession. When
Chek Jawa guiding was organised, it was natural that I would continue
as a guide.
What do I hope to achieve as guide on Chek Jawa?
While the need to share Chek Jawa is no longer as desperate as it was
before deferment of reclamation; we still only have a few years before
deferment is up.
Guides are vital to help introduce this wonderful place to as many people
as possible. A knowledgeable guide helps visitors see more and better
understand Chek Jawa. There are many special creatures and interesting
relationships that I myself did not realise until after many visits. For
example, did you know there are tiny transparent shrimps that live on
the giant carpet anemones?
Guides also help visitors interact with nature without endangering themselves
or Chek Jawa. The unaware can easily damage Chek Jawa.
As suitably low spring tides last only for a short time, guides help make
the most out of limited time to see the best that Chek Jawa has to offer.
What I enjoy about guiding on Chek Jawa?
Chek Jawa touches everyone. Even the most hardened urbanite eventually
succumbs under its spell. For some, it is the vast expanse of sky, sea
and sand: a rare experience in Singapore. For others, the amazing profusion
of life, great and small, that is revealed at every step. A world not
often revealed to non-divers, and one that does not require an expensive
plane ticket to visit.
It is a joy to watch the child in each visitor emerge on Chek Jawa, exploring
a gentle wilderness, eyes opening to natural mysteries. What I enjoy even
more than guiding is helping to develop new guides.
And it never gets boring! There is always a new discovery, often pointed
out by a sharp-eyed visitor. New questions fire the quest for deeper understanding.
And new friends to make, new ideas to exchange.
What
else do I do at low tide?
Since Chek Jawa, I have been consumed with the need to explore all other
intertidal areas in Singapore. It is my personal mission to visit and
document these remaining areas. We nearly lost Chek Jawa because we simply
didn't know it was there. Together with a few other crazy people (we call
ourselves the beachfleas), here
are some of the sights that we have seen on our very own shores.
Currently, I am focusing on our beautiful Southern Shores. With plans
to develop some of the Southern islands, there probably isn't much time
to document and learn about these fascinating places. For a gallery of
these shores and the issues impacting them, see the Southern
Shores section of the wildsingapore webstie.
What
do I do at high tide?
Nature guiding
has been my first passion: before Chek Jawa, I have been guiding at Sungei
Buloh and the Botanics Rainforest Trail.
I have just begun guiding at Bukit Timah,
Lower Peirce and MacRitchie
as well. I also work with the Raffles
Museum, Green Volunteer Network
and also volunteer at the zoo.
I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience of the Chek
Jawa Guidebook. I'm planning to use what I learnt to start guidebooks
for some of our other fabulous nature places.
I am blessed to have met many other like-minded people who share the same
passion and drive, so the journey has been lots of fun! One of the groups
that I have had the privilege of working with is led by Kwok Wai who runs
the Wildlife Singapore website
which showcases the equally wonderful terrestrial wildlife that we share
our island with.
It takes a long while to get published on paper. In the meanwhile, I try
to publish on the internet and run the wildsingapore.com
website as well as the wildsingapore
and wildsingapore-weekly
e-newsletters.
I have recently started a blog
in response to an invitation by the National Day Committee to join the
NDP 04 moblog. It was a unique opportunity to showcase nature and the
people passionate about it.
In my Other Lives I am married to the dearest man in the world, who lets
me be who I want to be. His artwork work is incorporated in the wildsingapore
logo. Three fat lazy cats share our home. My full time job is with the
Centre for Strategic Infocomms Technologies.
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You
can make
a difference!
Volunteer for
Chek Jawa
More details
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