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 and August). This is the
maiden issue of the newsletter. Please
send comments to: bdgofori@nus.edu.sg1
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)
1
This issue of MEM News was prepared by Professor
George Ofori, MEM Programme Director
Assoc Prof Jeff Obbard; and (ii) Assoc Prof
Jesuthason Thampapillai.
Welcome Ceremony for New Students
and Inaugural Seminar
The MEM’s Welcome Ceremony for New
Students and Inaugural Seminar for the
2010-11 academic year was 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 Lee delivered 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:
a. 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
b. launch of the National University of
Singapore Society MEM Scholarships
scheme by Mr Johnny Tan, President of
the Society
c. presentation of
the
Shell
Best
Dissertation Award to Ms Carrie Wallace
Candeto; and delivery by Ms Candeto of
a short presentation of her dissertation
d. 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
1
2. Shell Best Dissertation Award – Ms
Carrie
Wallace
Candeto,
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 comprised Chen
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 EcoVillage” scheme.
Publication of First Book of MEM
Dissertations
Briefing for New Students
The book comprises 18 chapters which are
summaries of the selected dissertations. It
has 5 sections with the following headings:
Corporate
Environmental
Management;
Biodiversity and Planning; Urban Pollution
and Waste Management; Environment and
Economic
Development;
and
Energy
Sustainability.
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 alumni
who 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, 201011 is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Students on MEM modules, Sem 1, 2010-11
MEM
Other
Total
Students
Students
Environmental
25
n.a.
n.a.
Economics2
Environmental
33
3
36
Management &
Assessment
Environmental
24
1
25
Law
Environmental
20
13
33
Science
2
PP5269 Environmental Economics and Public Policy
is offered by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
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.
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 Singapore Botanic Garden to speak at
its Flora Malesiana Conference. Some of
the activities of Sir Peter during his visit to
the NUS on 25 August 2010 were:
a. a meeting with Professor Tan Chorh
Chuan, President of NUS
b. 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
c. 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
d. signing an MOU with Prof Heng Chye
Kiang, Dean of SDE, on a joint research
project on Industrial Ecology, under the
2
auspices of the Centre for Sustainable
Asian Cities (Dr Kua Harn Wei is the
Principal Investigator of the research
project at NUS)
e. visit to Bollywood Farms, an organic
establishment. Sir Peter had dinner with
about 20 MEM 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.
Field Trips
31 July 2010
Trip to Central
walk along the
of the National
… (for new students) Field
Catchment Area including a
TreeTop Walk. Ms Karen Teo
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
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
Mr Lee
Singapore green buildings: How
2010
Chuan
regulations and incentives can
Seng
accelerate development
20 Aug
Prof
An assessment of the influence
2010
Cheong
of tides and river works on the
Hin Fatt
frequency of flooding
27 Aug
Mr David
Responsible waste stewardship:
2010
Chng
Why it is important to do it right
the first time
03 Sept
2010
A/P Victor
Savage
01 Oct
2010
08 Oct
2010
Mr Grant
Pereira
Prof David
Koh
15 Oct
2010
Ms
Martha
Fernandez
Mr S.K.
Ganesan
22 Oct
2010
29 Oct
2010
Mr
Joselito
Guevarra
Environmental sustainability in
jeopardy: How do we handle the
climate change variable?
The green volunteers: Walking
the walk
Environmental health issues in
the pulp and paper industry: A
case study
Carbon finance for projects: The
case of the Payatas Landfill
Project, Philippines
Bringing indigenous plants back
into our urban landscape
(tentative title)
The impacts of oil spills in the
marine environment
END
OF
THIS
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 development of 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.
ISSUE
OF
MEM News
3