Wild At Heart

Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
Fun fact: I have 63 stitches.

Wow, please go on.
When I was in primary one, I had this glass cabinet fall on me, and it kind of dug a hole in my chest and arm. They had to do a double stitch to patch me up, and that was how I got my 63 stitches.

Was this a result of you being naughty or?
No, it was just unfortunate! I opened the cabinet and it happened to be loose.

Well, we’re glad you’re well in one piece now! We hear you’ll be completing your National Service soon — any plans after that?
I’m planning to go to uni, but things aren’t confirmed yet. I’m still thinking about what I want to do. But my immediate plans will be to go to Chiang Mai. There are a few elephant sanctuaries there, and I want to spend some time volunteering at one of them.

Are you passionate about animals?
Yeah, I’m quite interested in wildlife and the related fields.

My interest in animals started when I was quite young, in primary school, then my interest in conservation started in secondary school. I was from Commonwealth Secondary School, which has a very active Eco Club, which inspired a lot of us to get into biodiversity and conservation.

That’s nice! What were some of the conservational activities or projects you took part in in school?
I wasn’t in the Eco Club in school, but the most memorable part of my eco journey in general is actually happening right now! I’m part of the organising committee for this event called World Wildlife Day. It’s a regional symposium by NParks, where people from around the region are invited to come down to learn and share more about what’s happening in the wildlife sphere. It’s also a good chance for youths to share more about their own projects, and for our speakers to share more about the work that they’re doing in this realm.

Why do you think it’s so tough to educate people on conservation?
I think in Singapore, we don’t have that immediate connection with wildlife. We are a city in nature, but we’re not as closely connected with wildlife as some of our neighbours are. That’s a really big part of it—we aren’t familiar with wildlife, so we don’t see the importance in its conservation, and in how important animals are to our growth and to the environment, and how important the environment actually is.

Agreed. It’s tough to feel for wildlife when we barely interact with it in our daily lives, though we do understand that in theory, it’s important to protect them. Well, we’re guessing that as a kid, you probably watched a lot of animal-related movies and shows?
Yeah, The Lion King (the animated one) is my favourite movie of all time, though honestly, it’s a bit off for my age right now (laughs).

There was one point in time in primary school where I used to come back home every day and watch The Lion King once before doing any other work. That went on for about six months, and I ended up memorising all the scenes, including the script and everything! It’s been quite some time, so I’ve since forgotten it all, but back then, if you were to ask me what a character said in any given moment in the movie, I could tell you without hesitation.