Celebrating green success stories in Singapore

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Celebrating green success stories in Singapore

Celebrating green success stories in Singapore

July 29, 2024 | In the News

On 29 July 2024, APCEL hosted the Good Stories Movement Celebratory Event at JEN Singapore Tanglin. The event commemorated the success stories of environmental protection in Singapore and highlighted the achievements of our pioneer environmental heroes, including individuals, NGOs and government agencies.

In particular, Emeritus Professor Chin Tet Yung (pictured below, in blue shirt), who was the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore from 1992-2001, was lauded for his foresight in advancing the cause of environmental law. Back in 1996, at a time when the legal industry’s focus was on banking and commercial law, he gave the green light for the formation of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL). He was one of 34 recipients of the “Certificates of Global Gratitude”, comprising 30 individuals and 4 institutions, which also included a former Director of APCEL, Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian.

Gracing the occasion was the Guest-of-Honour Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration; Emeritus Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Emeritus Professor Lye Lin Heng, another former APCEL Director, who spoke at the event, presenting the certificates of achievements to our heroes.

Laughter and song were in the air, with Minister Desmond Koh (in white shirt), Emeritus Professors Tommy Koh (in black jacket) and Lye Lin Heng (in kebaya outerwear), and NUS Law Dean Andrew Simester (in blue shirt) in attendance, as well as Attorney Tony Oposa (in purple shirt). Former NUS Law faculty members Chin Tet Yung (in denim shirt) and Koh Kheng Lian (with scarf) were recipients of the “Certificate of Global Gratitude”.

The Good Stories Movement was started by Philippines Attorney Tony Oposa, who is best known for fighting for the rights of future generations to see a pristine forest (in Oposa v Factoran (1993)) and for tirelessly advancing environmental law in his country and worldwide. With the sharing of many good stories in different countries, the movement aims to change the narrative from negative to positive, and to inspire others to take care of the environment. This is the first time that the awards were given out in Singapore. Previous iterations of the event were held in the Hague and New York. With APCEL researcher Carol Yuen as emcee for the day, Mr Oposa, ever positive and gregarious, had the audience enthusiastically singing several songs, including John Lennon’s “Imagine”, throughout the afternoon.

In her speech, APCEL’s current Director, Associate Professor Jolene Lin, shared a heartfelt observation on the need for environmental protection: At a visit to the bird park with her family, she thought of what future generations may miss if efforts to protect the environment were sidelined. On the governmental aspect, Mr Lee spoke about various government initiatives and efforts to continuously engage the community, as well as contemporary urban environment challenges, giving examples such as managing human-wildlife conflict with respect to road traffic.

Mr Oposa lauded Professor Koh’s leadership at global environmental conferences which had led to the formation of international environmental treaties, and his role in promoting environmental education and research in Singapore, bringing the global to the local, while Professor Koh spoke of the community’s ability to be make small gestures with significant consequences, for instance, through songs; it lifts the human spirit and can deliver messages to the hearts of people. He shared a story of how singing kept the native languages of Lithuania and Estonia under the Soviet Union. Finally, Professor Lye spoke of Attorney Oposa’s tenacious spirit, citing how he led the clean-up of Manila Bay in 1999.

“Certificates of Global Gratitude” were presented to organisations such as ACRES and the Nature Society (Singapore); as well as past Nature Society (Singapore) presidents and leaders. The certificates were also presented to individuals including our “Otterman” and “Butterfly Man” personalities, Mr Sivasothi N and Mr Khew Sin Khoon. Posthumous certificates were awarded to honour the work of the late Dr Lawrence Leong, former Executive Director, National Parks, Gardens & Nature Reserves Cluster and Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, which was received by his family; and for the work of Dr Lai-Choo Malone-Lee, who was the first director of the Master of Environmental Management (MEM) programme at NUS.

The certificates and thank-you cards for Mr Lee and Mr Oposa were designed by Ms Sekar Anandati Nugroho, a polytechnic student pursuing art and design here.

Capping the event was more joyful singing of two songs, aptly titled “My Way” and “What a Wonderful World”.

A list of the institutions and individuals who received certificates and their citations is available below.