We have been working at this in the midst of exam script marking and processing with Tze Kwan checking in from Australia. A fairly last minute arrangement, but we have a good partner there and we want to give this a shot, to reinitate what we can do with out libraries.
Civetgirls Weiting and Tze Kwan have been leading the Toddycats exhibitions effort and specimen preparation with Kelvin Lim’s support. And they have also been looking into processing manpower recruitment. It has been to see quite a number of NUS undergrads sign up for Raffles Museum Toddycats after I sent out the post-exam activity advert.
It will be good exposure for them and make them much better biologists as they will use their knowledge in a meaningful and holistic way. Just like they keep professors at the university alert with their questions, the public will do the same to them. It also means Toddycats will have enough to entertain every kid who turns up, so Weiting, Tze Kwan and I have pressed on with this somehow.
The “casualty” of this effort was the loss of the exhibition booth at the Sungei Buloh Anniversary Walk as we are too hard-pressed to organise both while we will be away intermittently. Still, in the midst of nature, we can afford to lose the booth and focus on our surroundings instead. My honours students who would traditionally pull their weight for nature conservation by running the exhibition at SBAW are instead giving talks at the library! So I am feeling quite happy about all this.
Our Department of Biological Sciences veteran Yong An Nee has made yet another lovely poster (below) and we feel close to the finish line now! Publicity will be initiated by the library to reach nearby areas and of course we will rely on our natural history network and WIldSingapore. The Geylang East Library is no stranger to nature as it was the Nature Society (Singapore) venue for talks for a very long time.
Otterman speaks... 