A Newsletter of the M.Sc.(Environmental Management) Programme of NUS

MEM News

A newsletter of the M.Sc.(Environmental Management) programme of NUS

Issue No. 1, August 2010

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About the Newsletter

“MEM News” is a newsletter of the M.Sc.(Environmental Management) (MEM) programme of the National University of Singapore (NUS). It is published twice a year (in January andAugust). This is the maiden issue of the newsletter. Please send comments to:[1]

Auction of Art Pieces

The MEM programme was named as a beneficiary of the proceeds from the auction of two paintings by Ms Zhou Su Yin. Ms Zhou is a promising young artist. She is the first artist of her age to have her works exhibited at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. An exhibition of her work was held at the Art House in Singapore on July 2010. The President of Singapore, Mr S.R. Nathan, officiated at the opening of the exhibition on 13 July 2010, and Prof Tommy Koh delivered a speech at the ceremony. The MEM programme was represented by Assoc Prof Lye Lin Heng and Prof George Ofori. The donation will be devoted to a suitable cause on the MEM programme. The other beneficiary of the proceeds of the auction is a group which helps to develop interest in art among children.

MEM helps organise MFA training programme

The MEM programme, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), helped to source speakers for the executive development programme on “An Introduction to Climate Change” for officers of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on 22-23 April 2010. The MEM programme and APCEL co-ordinated the contribution of the speakers they had sourced. This is the second programme on climate change for MFA run by the MEM Programme and APCEL. The speakers who spoke under the MEM programme were: (i) Assoc Prof Jeff Obbard; and (ii) Assoc Prof Jesuthason Thampapillai.

Welcome Ceremony for New Students andInaugural Seminar

The MEM’s Welcome Ceremony for New Students andInaugural Seminar for the 2010-11 academic yearwas held on 30 July 2010. The event was attended by Professor Tan Eng Chye, Deputy President and Provost of NUS, and MEM new and existing students, alumni and academic staff members, as well as invited guests. The Guest of Honour was Mr Lee Chuan Seng, Founding President of the Singapore Green Building Council. Mr Leedelivered the MEM Inaugural Seminar for 2010-11 on the topic: “Singapore Green Buildings: How regulations and incentives can accelerate development”.

Other key activities at the event were:

1. launch of the first book of MEM dissertations, "Sustainability Matters: Environmental Management in Asia" by Mr Chiew Nguang Yong, General Manager, Shell Jurong Island, of the Shell Group of Companies which sponsored the publication of the book
2. launch of the National University of Singapore Society MEM Scholarships scheme by Mr Johnny Tan, President of the Society
3. presentationof the Shell Best DissertationAwardto MsCarrie WallaceCandeto; and delivery by Ms Candeto of a short presentation of her dissertation
4. presentation of the AECOM Book Prize to the group which submitted the best Environmental Master Planning report by Mr Peter Lee, Senior Vice President of AECOM; and presentation of the winning report by the group.

Winners of MEM Awards

The winners of the various awards of the MEM programme in 2009-10 are...

1. Shell Medal for Best Student Graduating from MEM programme –Mr Saurabh Joshi
2. Shell Best Dissertation Award – Ms Carrie WallaceCandeto, for the Dissertation entitled“Empowering the Bottom of the Pyramid : Government, Business and Solar Power in India”
3. AECOM Prize for Best Master Planning Scheme – the group comprisedChen Hong; Hannah Keren Griffiths; Raj Shree Das; Jan Martin Hecker; Lee Howe Ming; Loh Jiayi, Davina; Somdeep Nandy; Sonthalia Rakhee; and Yu Zhen for the “Lim Chu Kang Vertical Eco-Village” scheme.

Briefing for New Students

In the afternoon of 30 July 2010,the new MEM students were given a briefing on the MEM programme by Prof George Ofori, Programme Director. This was followed by short talks by recent MEM graduates who had been selected to represent a wide range of careers, from the public and private sectors to a research institution, as well as doctoral studentship. The alumniwho spoke were: (i) Ms Jasmine Ann Teo; (ii) Mr Albert Sin; (iii) Mr Sathyanarayanan Srinivasan; and (iv) Ms Tran Thi Minh Hang.

Some Statistics

In August 2010, 15 students were admitted onto the MEM programme. A number of students who were offered places requested for their matriculation to be deferred.

The number of students taking each of the MEM modules offered in Semester 1, 2010-11 is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Students on MEM modules, Sem 1, 2010-11

MEM Students / Other Students / Total
Environmental Economics[2] / 25 / n.a. / n.a.
Environmental Management & Assessment / 33 / 3 / 36
Environmental Law / 24 / 1 / 25
Environmental Science / 20 / 13 / 33

Publication of First Book of MEM Dissertations

A book which is the first compilation of the better MEM dissertations was published in July 2010. The editors of the book were: Assoc Prof Lye Lin Heng, Prof George Ofori, Assoc Prof Victor R. Savage, Dr Malone-Lee Lai Choo and Assoc Prof Ting Yen Peng. It was published by World Scientific in Singapore. The publication was sponsored by the Shell Group of Companies in Singapore.

The book comprises 18chapters which are summaries of the selected dissertations. It has 5 sectionswith the following headings: Corporate Environmental Management;Biodiversity and Planning; Urban Pollution and Waste Management; Environment and Economic Development; and Energy Sustainability.

Copies of the book are available in the SDE Information Resource Centre.

Visit of Yale Dean to NUS

Sir Peter Crane, Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES) of Yale University, visited Singapore in August 2010. Sir Peter was invited by the SingaporeBotanic Garden to speak at its Flora Malesiana Conference. Some of the activities of Sir Peter during his visit to theNUS on 25 August 2010 were:

1. a meeting with Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, President of NUS
2. tour of the facilities of the School of Design and Environment (SDE), and discussion with the Dean, Prof Heng Chye Kiang and Heads of Departments of Architecture, Building and Real Estate. It was agreed that the NUS SDE and Yale FES would explore research and educational projects of mutual interest, and co-operate on appropriate ones
3. meeting with the Chairman and members of both the MEM Advisory Committee and the MEM Programme Management Committee to discuss the extension and deepening of the collaboration under the existing MOU between MEM and FES
4. signing an MOU with Prof Heng Chye Kiang, Dean of SDE, on a joint research project on Industrial Ecology, under the auspices of the Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities (Dr Kua Harn Wei is the Principal Investigator of the research project at NUS)
5. visit to Bollywood Farms, an organic establishment. Sir Peter had dinner with about 20MEM students, 6 MEM staff members and 2 members of the MEM advisory committee. The visit and dinner were sponsored by Dr Geh Min, a member of the MEM Advisory Committee.

On 27 August 2010, Sir Peter attended lunch hosted by Prof Tommy Koh, Chair of the MEM Advisory Committee. Also present were the NUS President, Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, some members of the MEM Advisory Committee members of the MEM Programme Management Committee, and other invited guests.

Seminar Series

Table 2 shows the dates, speakers and titles of the events in the MEM Seminar Series for Semester 1, 2010-11.

Table 2 MEM Seminars, 2010-11

Date / Speaker / Title
30 July 2010 / Mr Lee Chuan Seng / Singapore green buildings: How regulations and incentives can accelerate development
20 Aug 2010 / Prof Cheong Hin Fatt / An assessment of the influence of tides and river works on the frequency of flooding
27 Aug 2010 / Mr David Chng / Responsible waste stewardship: Why it is important to do it right the first time
03 Sept 2010 / A/P Victor Savage / Environmental sustainability in jeopardy: How do we handle the climate change variable?
01 Oct 2010 / Mr Grant Pereira / The green volunteers: Walking the walk
08 Oct 2010 / Prof David Koh / Environmental health issues in the pulp and paper industry: A case study
15 Oct 2010 / Ms Martha Fernandez / Carbon finance for projects: The case of the Payatas Landfill Project, Philippines
22 Oct 2010 / Mr S.K. Ganesan / Bringing indigenous plants back into our urban landscape (tentative title)
29 Oct 2010 / Mr Joselito Guevarra / The impacts of oil spills in the marine environment

Field Trips

31 July 2010 … (for new students) Field Trip to Central Catchment Area including a walk along the TreeTop Walk. Ms Karen Teo of the National Parks Board was the guide.

4 September 2010… (for students taking DE5106 Environmental Management and Assessment, and BL5102 Environmental Science) Field Trip to Pulau Hantu.

Miscellaneous

The Shell Group of Companies in Singapore has provided sponsorship for two MEM students to attend the Singapore Contact CSR International Summit at Resorts World Sentosa on 6-7 October 2010.

Staff-Student Liaison Committee

A Staff-Student Liaison Committee for the MEM programme is being formed. The committee will comprise representatives of the students and those of the MEM staff members. The aim of the committee is to seek the welfare of the students, and contribute to the continuous improvement and developmentof the MEM programme. The committee will meet twice during each semester.The first meeting will be in September 2010.

The Future

Watch this space for news on the 10th anniversary celebration of the MEM programme.

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E N D O F T H I S I S S U E O F MEMNews

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[1]This issue of MEM News was prepared by Professor George Ofori, MEM Programme Director

[2]PP5269 Environmental Economics and Public Policy is offered by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.