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A very good
afternoon to all of you. It is my pleasure to be here
today, to open Marsiling Secondary School’s Environment
Education Hub, the first environment- themed visitor
gallery in a school.
Many of you
here probably already know that in a recent global
survey ranking cities on quality of living, Singapore
emerged as Asia’s most liveable city. Singapore has
risen six positions and is now ranked 26th in
the world. These good results don’t happen by accident.
Instrumental in Singapore’s good showing are factors
such as foresight in public policy and planning, clever
design and good implementation of infrastructure and
cooperation of all sectors – people, public and private.
Internationally, Singapore is known for being clean and
green, creating a safe and healthy environment for
residents and one that is attractive to foreign
investors, visitors and talents. In recent years, we
have added “blue” to the green, with Singapore’s water
resources such as rivers and reservoirs being beautified
and designed to become one of the key selling points of
our landscape.
The present
economic downturn will not slow down our efforts to
achieve our vision of Singapore as a liveable and lively
city state. Under the Sustainable Development Blueprint
recently unveiled by the Government, efforts will be
made to improve air quality, open up green and blue
spaces, conserve biodiversity and enhance public
cleanliness. The
blueprint also touches on plans to foster community
ownership and participation.
I am delighted that
Marsiling Secondary School has taken the
lead in coming up with a comprehensive centre for
environment education. The Environment Education Hub
aims to make learning come alive for students. It has
often been said that we remember 10% of what we hear,
30% of what we read, 50% of what we see and 90% of what
we do. Learning has to be reinforced using different
pedagogical methods and stimuli. The Hub’s interactive
displays will allow students to enjoy experiential
learning, complementing what they learn in class, from
their textbooks and through project work. Together with
their teachers, they have also brainstormed and
researched on various topics, undoubtedly expanding
their knowledge about the environment in the process.
Partnership with external organizations is an important
part in making this Environment Education Hub a reality.
One such partnership that Marsiling Secondary School
has actively engaged in is with Applied Materials.
Applied Materials has been an invaluable partner,
supporting Marsiling Secondary not just with a generous
cash contribution but also assisting them with their
resources and expertise. These collaborations between
schools and corporate organisations are very encouraging
and I hope to see more schools leverage on such
partnerships to enrich the learning experience of our
students.
I am heartened that
Marsiling Secondary intends to share this newly-opened
Hub to students from other schools, to pass on their
knowledge and help cultivate more interest in caring for
our environment amongst other youths. The Marsiling
community as a whole will also benefit as the Hub will
be open to them as well. Besides the highly dedicated
teaching staff who has gone beyond their teaching duties
to work on the Hub, the livewires of this place are the
Environment Champions. More
than 70 Environment Champions were selected after
rigorous interviews to be “greenie” role models. They
will take turns to host visitors at the Hub, sharing
their knowledge and spreading their passion for our
planet.
These
Environment Champions regularly conduct house-to-house
visits within the Marsiling community to help promote
eco-friendly practices such as the use of
energy-efficient light bulbs.
It is not just
these students who walk the talk. The school has a whole
range of green initiatives, such as tapping on solar
energy, encouraging recycling through its Recycling
Fridays, co-organising the annual Solar City competition with the
National Environment Agency and so on.
Marsiling
Secondary is no doubt one of the forerunners, both in
the teaching and learning of environment education.
Awarded the status of Centre of Excellence in
Environment Education for the North 5 Cluster, the
school has been recognised as a role model of other
schools and their green initiatives bring much pride to
the staff and students.
Their green
efforts have also impressed corporate organisations such
as Applied Materials, who is the proud sponsor of
Marsiling Secondary’s Environment Education Hub. Such
collaborations augur well for the sustainable
development of Singapore.
In closing,
I would like to thank all the teachers, students and the
sponsors for making the Environment Education Hub
possible. Congratulations on your opening and let’s work
together towards the meeting of the goals of a
sustainable Singapore.
Thank you.
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