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Linking You With Green & Me

Sunday, July 27, 2008

1:44 PM

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Yesterday, yili was saying how she wondered whether we put in more effort than what we got out of greenlink. We came to the conclusion that, we learned so much from being in greenlink, and what we take away with us will last us throughout our lives. It more than makes up for all the sacrifices made.

Haha, what a way to begin... my past entries having been full of crap, I promise to make this a proper post this time :)

We learned a lot alright. I feel a sense of nostalgia...time to reminisce. This is going to be a long post, I think :)

I remember my first session in greenlink. I didn't come for the orientation as I had piano lesson every thursday ( I had to reschedule my lesson after that. And then I ended up having to put piano on hold until after A's because I simply couldn't cope with having to take my grade 8 exam on top of 2 ccas and studies :( But I can honestly say that I have no regrets joining 2 ccas which I loved :) ) I didn't have a clue what went on in greenlink. I thought it was just for appreciating nature and loving animals :) and then hongyi came towards me with a pair of muddy gloves on her outstretched hands and asked me to get the application form out from her bag because she was gardening. Haha, i was feeling perplexed as I filled out the form. And the rest, they say, is history. I started gardening for the first time and i didn't like it. It was probably because I was lazy :P But with good company and the fun of yanking out weeds (you can vent your anger out on the weeds) it wasn't so bad after that. And it is like you have the power to recreate part of nature, though in a really small way. Haha, remember EOP, we have got the POWER.

And then there were the actual activities themselves. Going to ubin to see the great Grant himself and witness what nature guiding was like. (and also to feed mosquitoes. sobsobsob) River-keeping...it's a good thing we no longer go to sungei api api. Bee stings, evil giant ants climbing up your legs, ducking under endless endless branches to pick up endless litter...ahhh, the horror. And of course, there was recycling. Those days last year when we thought we would die if we had to carry another stack of newspapers and weigh them. And we had can tab counting competitions :D Kudos to jasly for having the moving of newspapers spread out over many weeks this year. There was also the Recycling Outreach Programme which was like Envirofest. Little kids playing games. From experience, little kids seem to become more devious each year. So beware!

The camp last year was really enjoyable. But we were nicer than the batch of seniors last year ok! Last yr we had to squeeze out oranges without using our hands and drink creatively(disgustingly is a better word) concocted orange squash. This year there were the butt-to mouth interactions and the witnessing of a live R21 scene. We screamed when we saw the humping monkeys (well, the more guai and innocent people screamed. Others were not that innocent.)

Remember when we had to rush out posters proclaiming our love for ubin (despite its being mosquito kingdom) in the midst of CTs? The making of posters so stimulated our brains that peiyee and I ended up talking online throughout the rest of the night..till dawn. The BIG event for us that year was Energy Outreach Programme. Who would have thought we had to come onstage to sing the jingle, swaying our bodies as we did so. A lot of preparation went into the games and i remember how peiyee, yili, jasly and I were still working the night before at harmoc chalet. But the end result was the smooth running of this major event which we had to plan from scratch. I remember how I was pleasantly surprised when the audience clapped along with our jingle and not stare at us like we are ovesized kids dancing to what sounded like the barney song. Haha. I love the 07/08 batch of greenlinkers (it's platonic love btw.)

A word of warning...look out for the kids called rongrong and didi when you man the ubin greenhouse. They are incredibly naughty! And cute too. I must say the experiences at ubin have been really eye-opening, mosquito kingdom as it is :) Just think, which other cca gives you so much exposure...giving you the chance to show off "Oh, I survived climbing up onto the newspaper pile which took up the whole greenlink storeroom from floor to ceiling and managed to get down safely after that. I sang and danced to the barney jingle infront of over a hundred people, including a Member of Parliament. I went door-to-door for blocks and blocks, helping people to save electricity." Heh.

There was plenty of fun but of course the journey was fraught with difficulties. Nevertheless, we overcame them and emerged stronger than before (cliched right?). Like aloy said, greenlink is not about hugging trees. And it totally changed my perspective of it being a slack cca for appreciating the beauty of nature (yes, i used to think that) It is about appreciating the wonders of nature, but also playing a bigger role in linking people to the environment. hmm, more like showing them we are linked together in more ways than one thinks. Lol, I remember what huiyong wrote. If others criticise greenlink, say they have no link cos green links you and me! Greenlink...what an apt name.

I thought of this before, just after harmoc syf; a cca does not have to be just a routinely thing which you come for to do work...then move on to more work. You experience this warmth as you work together with your fellow cca members with a shared passion, going through everything with everyone else. Greenlink will always be a close-knit family for me :) (the nature guiding family is the closest-knit of all...)

I'm having the blues. I will really miss the hilarious meetings with meikwan around. But ah well, it's time to move on. The next greenlink journey will be another adventure.

Byebye Greenlink.

Loving green always,
OWL aka OXL

8:06 PM

Friday, July 11, 2008

8:49 PM

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Hi, this is Aloysius - I just wanted to write a short message on the eve of handover. It has been slightly more than a year since the graduating exco took over; we have done loads of stuff, and I'm proud of them.

I have never imagined myself in Greenlink. Though I knew the existence of green clubs, which was one of the more prominent clubs in my sec school, I have never thought of joining one until I came to NJC. I'm sure many of us here have this same feeling. My initial plan was to take up a commission in NPCC, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see), I missed the submission deadline. Much later I realised you could submit the form though the deadline was over, as long as you have teacher endorsement. But the world has turned green then...

Looking back, I have learnt and done loads. Nature guiding is extremely fun and enjoyable, so is gardening. I've always had an interest in nature through trekking and hiking, but never before I was so serious in it. Memorising plant names was easier once I had touched, smelt or seen it. I remembered every nature guiding experience. My first was guiding NTU Earthlink students (with Yili), second was for MINDS (Pei Yee), third was for breast cancer survivors (Mei Kwan), fourth was for children's orphanage, fifth for my Fellowship friends, and sixth for a software company. Of course there were still countless trips to Ubin to man the Greenhouse, my memory has failed me in this aspect.

Greenlink isn't just about hugging trees or getting stung by bees. There are some projects which require real organisational skills. I'm glad that I had this opportunity to exercise my skills and unleash my potential. Not many young men or women have such a chance. I can say 100percent now that Greenlink, besides sustaining my interest in nature, has further developed my skills in organising. The Energy Audit Project will always be memorable...the number of hours spent to paint a simple toy model! And my favourite Snakes & Ladders, which will be used for generations. Nice...

I had the honour of meeting my seniors, who gave me great comfort and ease when I first entered the club. They were extremely humourous, friendly and joyful, yet also serious when it comes to work. They helped me settle in the club easily. Of course, my fellow J2s too. It was a bit weird at first because there were only 2 guys, including me. But I got to know the rest pretty well later on, I could tell who's who and differentiate between them well. The exco worked quite good, held on by our passion. I apologise for any mistakes I have made and for any neglection of duty. There might be some conflicts, crying or debates here and there, but as a whole we are a capable team. I hope we remember our party times and learn from our lessons.

I wish the J1s best of luck. It will be the best of times and it will be the worst of times. But still have fun! Remember, always lead a balanced life of work and fun. I belong to one of my teachers' minimalists' school of thought - if there's nothing good to say, then don't say. But for you I break this rule. Bring Greenlink to greater heights, and build on the foundations which our seniors and us have laid carefully, painstakingly.

Goodnight, and good luck!

9:51 PM

Sunday, July 6, 2008

1:11 AM

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Hey Jiamin herrree!!
I have more random photos heerrree!!!!
HAHA!
I had loads of fun during the camp although i didn't get to sleep at all!=(
Thank you guys!!=))

10:45 PM

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Hi =)

to compensate for all of us missing out on all the treats at chek jawa, here's what i saw at on the morning of chek jawa. My dad and i were walking around the inter-tidal areas early that morning. chek jawa is also an inter-tidal zone. such areas allow us to see marine organisms that would be covered during high-tide, and we don't have to swim or scuba dive. but too much walking on such areas is very damaging since they are underwater most of the time, and aren't designed for foot traffic.

guess what's in the pot?
it's coming out...
it's out! outopuses at the inter-tidal zone seem rather satisfied with just a little bit of water. it was hiding out the high tide in that little pot. and the water had receeded around the pot. then the poor thing got disturbed by us. =)
can you spot the pipefish? fella was happily hanging around in just 10cm of water.
thunder crab. again, i don't know the proper name. people say that if a thunder crab catches you in it's claws, it's so strong that you can;t force it to let go, but it will automatically let go if there is thunder. haha =)

Labels: inter-tidal

9:02 PM

More photos! =)

8:55 PM

yann qi seems to be doing something to hui yong's knee.

and here's hong yi and karen. they are so much more civilised.

bye!

char

Labels: mei kwan

8:36 PM

char is experimenting and trying to figure out how to post. I'm a tech dinosaur, but if I manage to post this, then I'm a very smart dinosaur. =)

8:32 PM

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