Nature walks and science talks may not be on the cards during the circuit breaker, but scientists and activists are taking their efforts online, offering free activities for people at home. The organisers say these help people feel less isolated, and engaged on important issues.

Yesterday, a group of young people hosted a virtual “teach-in” focusing on the fires in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which have over the past month razed hectares of forest and affected air quality.

The young organisers of the Singapore (SG) Climate Rally discussed the cause of the fires, and the implications for indigenous peoples’ rights as well as its intersection with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Facebook live event featured people working on the front lines of the fires, including various grassroots activists from Chiang Mai and a leader of the indigenous Karen people, a forest-dwelling community who live in the region.

One of the organisers, Ms Annika Mock, 21, said the event aimed to raise awareness of the fires, which have slipped under the radar during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

“In line with SG Climate Rally’s focus on climate justice, we believe the forest fires represent important connections between commercial agriculture, rising temperatures, indigenous Karen people’s rights and regional solidarity. We want to make these connections clear to our audience because climate change is a multi-issue struggle.”

Over at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, the pandemic may have scuppered plans for workshops but the museum still plans to take one of its most iconic exhibits – the corpse flower – right into people’s homes.

The titan arum, a charismatic native of Sumatra, is locally known as bunga bangkai, or corpse flower, for the stench it emits when flowering. A model of the plant is in the gallery. Visits are now not possible, but people can still learn more about the plant from museum research fellow Gwynne Lim at a webinar the museum is hosting tomorrow.

A museum spokesman said: “Gwynne will draw on her fortune at being able to experience multiple titan arum flowering events during her graduate school years, to delve deeper into its fascinating reproductive biology.”

Meanwhile, two Singapore biologists are also on a mission to rally the Republic’s scientific community to host webinars with a unique spin. After a presentation by a guest speaker, the public can participate in a trivia session, to help them better engage with the material.

They are urged to contribute $1 to a trivia pot. “The winner of the trivia would get to decide on the beneficiary of the funds raised for that session,” said Mr Kannan Raja, one of the organisers who is doing his master’s degree in zoology at Bangor University in Wales.

GET BUSY

Tomorrow, 2pm

A free webinar on the titan arum, or corpse flower, hosted by the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Register at www.eventbrite.sg/e/titan-arum-the-spadix-speaks-tickets-103313084216 to receive a link to the Zoom webinar.

May 1, 4pm

The first of a series of #SGStem webinars, which will involve a talk by an expert and a trivia session. National University of Singapore Professor Koh Lian Pin, a conservation scientist who helms a new research centre focusing on nature-based solutions for climate change, will be the first speaker.

Sign up for the free event at tinyurl.com/sgstem2020 for details on how to log in.

ArtScience Museum

Log on to www.marinabaysands.com/museum.html for online versions of the museum’s activities such as guided exhibition tours and workshops.

“This way, we get to raise awareness and funds for local non-government organisations, charities and non-profit environmental enterprises to aid them in their work and service to the environment.”

The first of this #SGStem webinars is slated for May 1 at 4pm. NUS Professor Koh Lian Pin will be the first speaker.

Read the latest on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore and beyond on our dedicated site here.

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