Why am I so complicated?

Yesterday, I made my way to a job fair. Like hundreds of active job seekers who participated, I went there with much hope.

At the entrance, we were shoved with a free goodie bag, which was filled mostly with useless brochures and a thick women's fashion magazine which weighed a tonne. After some deliberation on whether or not give it to my fashion-conscious flat mates, I got rid of the magazine and the bag was significant lighter with more space to collect many more (mostly) useless brochures and leaflets handed out by various companies. I had to sort my bag three times to keep only what was useful. I was rather disturbed by the wastage of paper that was going on there. In addition to a handful of useful marketing material, there were so much of un-targeted distribution going on which littered the floors and clogged trash bins with unnecessary paper.

So many trees, animals and habitats elsewhere on the Earth die for NOTHING

Fairs are also a great place to get free diaries, organisers, post-its, fancy pens and drinks! When I first came to Singapore and participated in student fairs, I went beserk with excitement seeing the fancy freebies and shamelessly collected more than I was probably entitled to or needed. As time went on, this 'third world freeloader' mentality wore off and now I only take what I need, otherwise later on, I have to worry about finding rightful places and owners for all the excess ones I collect... and it's very uncool to go on a greedy rampage like that!

There were many booths representing companies in multiple industries, recruitment consultancies, educational institutions and other advertisers. I spoke to several people at these booths and handed out copies of my resume to others. It seemed to me that the number of participants in the fair vastly outnumbered the number of jobs advertised by the participating companies. I was done in about an hour, but had to stick around for another hour for the free seminar that I signed up for. Several weeks before the seminar, we were given a complimentary offer to complete a short questionnaire (mostly on workplace-related questions) and told that a free personalised report would be provided at the job fair. So this one, I had to see.

It's rarely that I have the guts to ask people who know me closely to tell me what they think of me. I fear it might be easily misunderstood as me being needy or fishing for compliments when what I actually need is an objective opinion from an outsider's perspective so I can know what facts I am missing that needs fixing. For example, only on the last day of my previous job (after two years of working there) did I finally ask my boss what he thought of my work and I found the feedback very useful. Also, most of the feedback we picked up or received while growing up were probably incomplete, biased and most certainly outdated now. And that's why I have grown a liking to psychometric tests which are based on science, research and statistics, to help decrypt Shu. As a small side effect, I have also grown a little more tolerant of other's differences.

The seminar was on Emergenetics - another type of (relatively new) commercial profiling system, similar to Myers Briggs or DISC assessments. These are usually used by HR professionals to get insights into employee thinking and behavioural preferences to improve work place dynamics. However, it is also helpful to understand how individuals think and act in other personal life situations as we use pretty much the same preferences. Results were presented on a simple one-paged report with colourful charts and on scales with percentiles, rather than pinning an individual with a final label. The next few pages consisted of a written explanation of the results. Apart from its simplicity, I thought it gave a better picture (than other assessments I have tried) combining both thinking and behavioural patterns.

Basically, they say that we are what we are as a result of both genetics and life experiences. Hard to disagree with that. Thinking patterns, statistically speaking, are of four types - analytical, structural, social and conceptual. People can have a either one type or a combination of two, three or even all four types decided by percentage scores. Similarly, behavioural patterns were judged on three separate scales - assertiveness, expressiveness and flexibility.

I could not find an image with better resolution, however, examples can be viewed here

Add all these variables with varying IQ levels, varying personal belief systems, a dash of madness (i.e. abnormal mental complexes) and viola! we have 7 billion unique individuals gracing the planet.

I also liked the fact that they stressed that there is nothing wrong or right about what we are. If life experiences partly influence what we are, then it can be projected that our profiles will continue to change slightly in the years to come. What we make of what we are is entirely up to us. The way I see it, knowing all this helps becoming more self-aware, having better relationships with others, doing things in better ways by overcoming the 'blind spots' and making the most of our situations. The downsides to profiling might be obsessing over results, mistaking its use only as a tool and not a destiny report, having limiting beliefs of oneself and one's abilities or even running after more seminars to find self-conviction (that last one, I was kidding).

The job fair wasn't all a waste of my time. I came out of the seminar somewhat feeling like I got a new layer of understanding about myself, why I function the way I do and how it applies in the bigger picture.

On a positive note, all the email chasers I sent last week to follow up on pending interview outcomes are slowly returning with responses, one at a time. Soon I am to have a swim test and a 2-hour written English test from two different interviews. And then there was finally some closure on another. Come on Shu, let's try to get employed soon.

Everyone's a journalist these days

Our world at large is in crisis - always was and always will be, I suppose. And if we choose to acknowledge it, there's so much injustice and destruction going on in varying types and degrees at every moment. 

Facebook - a source of entertainment and distraction

I have grown a habit of going through the Facebook home page every morning. It's much like reading a paper, only it's more personalised. Once you "Like" certain Facebook pages, there'll be a mix of current news, entertainment, gossip, funnies, science, travel, sports, philosophy, etc on the home page, in addition to posts made by friends. While I do have to endure a bit of unsavory posts, I usually find interesting thoughts and shares posted by the different personalities I have on my friends list. Not everyone is outright vocal about their opinions, what they do or use Facebook as a public outreach medium, but the opportunities that the internet and social media have presented to share information, challenge beliefs and gather support is fascinating. Just as much as we differentiate ourselves over religion, race, gender, education, social status, experiences or other beliefs and make it a cause to feed our sense of pride and superiority (leading to more harm than anything else), sometimes, we use these differences to find beneficial causes to unite under and advocate change. So on some mornings, I am touched to see some people - who have chosen different battles for whatever personal reasons - share posts and silently fight for human rights, women's rights, children's rights, animal's rights, peace, the environment or take a stand against poverty, discrimination and ignorance.

There might be hope for us, after all.

[After note: This writer captured some of what I was trying to express in a better way in his article.]

Living the dream?

A special mentor of mine once told me (for all things related to passions and ambitions) "... focus, set your goals and it is funny how the universe aligns things for you". I suppose he meant everything is out there for grabs and no amount of hoping, waiting, wishing or praying combined will get them any closer unlike some active effort. 

Anyway, that's all that's going to be philosophical here. 

With the end of the 4th class on my "dancing on a budget" voucher, my hip hop stint came to an end. And I was just getting comfortable, dammit. The guy who taught the last class advised everyone to keep grooving to the rhythms - in the shower, in the bus, walking on the road, etc - in order to get used to the style and basic steps. I'll take that advise with a pinch of iodised salt, thank you.

These four classes have helped me to unlock several achievements:

"I love ma hip hop"

"Ain't nobody give no shit bout how I dance"

"Oh yeah, I got swagger"

And that leaves me with the following to work towards in future:

"Flawless finish"

"In da club"

The other day, I made my way to watch Ice Age 4. I wasn't dying to watch it and I went with very little expectations. So being the epic movie it was, with fantastic dialogues and animation, I was totally blown away! It's easy to tell a good movie when you come out grinning instead of having a wtf look, like I had after watching Eclipse from the Twilight series and The Expendables.

The next movie, however, I've been *dying* to see since I first laid my eyes on the trailer in June. It doesn't help when all the bus stands in the neighborhood these days are plastered with colourful posters of this movie announcing 8th August as the release date here. On several occasions, I considered shattering the glass that houses the poster, grabbing it and making a run for it. It's sooo pwetty.

OMG, I love Merida's hair! 

And she's the only reason I look forward to August.

The Retreat

This post takes me back in time to a little over 11 years ago. I must have been sixteen years old then.

First of all, I have to credit my mother for throwing me in bizarre life experiences from a very early age. As much as we disagree to agree on things very often, she has played a pivotal role in what I turned out to be. The independent, the obstinate, the adventurous, the neurotic, the creative, the paranoid, the empathetic - all these traits of mine can traced to her in more ways than one.

While most children after finishing their Ordinary Level exams go on holidays or get extra time to watch TV until the results came, my mother packed me off on a 10-day meditation retreat. There was going to be no communication with the world outside (even with family) for 10 days after the retreat started. I don't know how she did it, but she even managed to convince parents of four other friends of mine to send their children off to the same place.

So off we went with bags packed. There was some comfort in knowing we had each other. On the evening before Day 1 started, we were given the briefing. Having 'agreed' to giving a fair chance to this technique for the next 10 days, we were advised on rules to be strictly followed during our time there:

1. Noble silence. Seriously. No talking with anyone, except with a teacher or the management for important matters.
2. No intentional killing of animals (including pests) or any other living organisms, no stealing things, no sexual activity, no lying, no consumption of alcohol or smoking.
3. Food is purely vegetarian and there is no dinner (except for first-timers and people with health concerns).
4. No use of phones or computers. No reading, writing or other forms of entertainment.
5. No make up, fancy jewelry, strong perfumes, etc. Wear simple, comfortable and decent clothes.
6. Agree to follow instructions given by the teachers and not do your own thing as this defeats the purpose of coming here.
7. Discontinue any religious rituals, exercise routines or other meditation techniques for these 10 days in order to give a fair trial to the technique.
8. No physical contact with anyone and there will be segregation of the sexes.
9. Do your own laundry by hand.

The daily timetable was as follows:

4:00 am                - Morning bell (No hiding under bed sheets, they will fish you out. Believe me, I tried)
4:30-6:30 am        - Meditate in the hall or in your room
6:30-8:00 am        - Breakfast break
8:00-9:00 am        - Group meditation in the hall
9:00-11:00 am      - Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions
11:00-12:00 noon  - Lunch break
12noon-1:00 pm    - Rest and interviews with the teacher
1:00-2:30 pm        - Meditate in the hall or in your room
2:30-3:30 pm        - Group meditation in the hall
3:30-5:00 pm        - Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions
5:00-6:00 pm        - Tea break
6:00-7:00 pm        - Group meditation in the hall
7:00-8:15 pm        - Teacher's Discourse in the hall
8:15-9:00 pm        - Group meditation in the hall
9:00-9:30 pm        - Question time in the hall
9:30 pm                - Retire to your own room

The place was absolutely beautiful, perched high up on a hill, surrounded by cloudy mountains, close to nature with clean air to breathe and far from the disturbances of civilization. Rooms were comfortable with all basic amenities. The food was healthy and delicious (okay, I'll admit meal times were a favourite time of the day for me) and everything was managed by volunteers who quietly made sure we had everything we needed to carry on with our tasks. There were participants both male and female, from all walks of life, from all corners of the globe. The course didn't demand any cash payment for instructions, food or facilities - donations of any proportion were welcome though. The funding for these courses came from such donations and helping staff were those who volunteered their time after passing similar retreats themselves as students.

The meditation technique itself was nothing too complex or religious, it was mostly breathing exercises followed by Vipassana. The first few days were utterly and purely horrifying. The schedule was extremely rigorous. 10 hours of the day were to be spent in quiet meditation. Bodily pains were sometimes unbearable. I heard and lived with the loud thoughts in my head for most of the day. Waking up at 4:00am and hearing that blasted gong, I wanted to cry when I knew I could not roll back to sleep. The ultimate battle with the mind (and body) began - trying to focus on breathing was not easy as it sounds. Close to meal times, I was plagued with thoughts like "Hmm, I wonder what's for lunch today.." and waited impatiently for the bell to go off which signaled that the dining hall lay ready for us. Some days, I got greedy, ate too much and paid the price while trying to sit and focus in discomfort. A huge percentage of participants looked like they wanted to run away. Few even did and we noticed their empty seats!

In the first two days, all five of us cracked down under pressure to adjust to the routine while trying to keep silent. In fact, we managed to speak a little and secretly exchanged letters because we didn't want to go crazy over the silence. It wasn't easy writing, reading or even exchanging letters unseen to other meditators. But we got very creative at doing this. Letters pouring with emotions, frustrations and gossip about block-mates and fellow meditators were very discreetly exchanged while passing each other in corridors or left in the crevice of a special tree for drop off and pick up. Afterwards, these were read in toilets and rooms when no one was around. There were lots of interesting sentiments shared. Like one of them had to share a room with an old woman who farted and burped a lot and all her clothes and sheets smelled bad. She also told us how she dreamt that Iraq finally found Darth Vader's planet and she was informed about it. Another told of how she was horrified when one of her block mates stripped down naked when changing. In the dining hall was a white board with the list of all participants and we tried to guess which names belonged to which faces. We also tried to guess which ones were couples by observing body language of female and male participants during meal times, where they dined in close proximity. Someone in my block kept a stash of biscuits with her for emergencies and this was attacked by a big rat on the second day (Hah! the irony. We were not supposed to be snacking at odd times). For me, I happened to see the first ever G-string drying on a clothes line in my block and I was quite bewildered by it. Sometimes, it was hard not to giggle when we passed by each other. What was certain was that we were highly distracted and agitated.

We didn't get too far with all that, however. We were caught and given a strict warning by the teachers.

And that warning stuck. Embarrassed and feeling weak-willed, each one of us, one by one got serious and followed through till the end of the course. For the rest of the days, we barely looked at each other or spoke. The routine got easier to manage. Under the guidance of the teachers, there was serious work to be done individually. There were interesting self-discoveries made. There were lots of observations made, even when not meditating. The rules that once seemed strict, helped minimise distractions and disturbances to all meditators. As the retreat drew to an end, everyone felt happy and calm here. There was even a slight sense of dread about going back home to chaos.

On the 10th day, the silence was finally lifted off. It was as if we had forgotten to speak or rather, had too much to tell but didn't know where to start! Everyone seemed so happy for various reasons - braving through the retreat, having experienced significant changes in their attitudes, being able to finally talk and wanting to share the experiences. We finally got to speak to the people we only watched for 10 days. It was as if we had known each other for a very long time. It's quite hard to put into words the spirit that engulfed the air that day.

Looking back, it was a like a boot camp that required much trust in the retreat, patience, determination, effort and strength of mind. The transformation and sharpness of mind experienced at the end of the retreat was phenomenal. So was the joy in being able to manage the ups and downs in life calmly and finding more meaningful pursuits in life later on. Of course, we were warned that this effect would only last only as long as we remained mindful of our thoughts and actions, i.e. continue to practice. And true enough as time went on, most of us got caught up in the usual mode of life, neglected on regular practice and most of the old habits, attitudes, thought patterns and perspectives crept back into the personality. We occasionally talk about how nice it would be to go on a retreat again as it is similar to a 'detox' and some un-cluttering every now and then would be ideal. But it is not easy to spend that many days on a retreat with the demands of a job, especially with limited annual leave. 

After this interesting experience, the five of us have remained a very special gang of friends and continue to organise 'conferences' on Skype when we agree on a convenient time that suits five countries in three continents - United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and Singapore. The past 11+ years have seen us go through so much change. Yet, a conversation with them today feels not much different to one we had back in our school days. We rarely speak of meditation or philosophies now but mostly love to catch up, gossip and support each other in tough times.

What prompted me to write this blog was recently, one of them scanned and sent the rest of us a few of the letters we exchanged back then. Oh, it was gold.

Just spammin'

Just when I thought spamming could not get any better than viagra, enhancement pills and "Dearly beloved" emails from Nigeria, I got this:

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

Dear Shu <Shu's family name>,

My name is Miss Cotton Brain, a legal practitioner with XYZ LLP in <insert bogus address>, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

I saw your contact and profile and decided that you could cooperate with me in this proposition.

I have a client by Name Mr. Katab <Shu's family name>, who was deceased in November, 2009, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am contacting you because you have the same surname as my deceased client and I felt that you could help me in the distribution of funding that were left in my deceased client's bank account. This funding is closed to be declared un-serviceable by the bank as there were no indicated next of kin or next of beneficiary of the funding in the bank account.

The total amount of cash in the bank account of my deceased client is US$ 12.5 Million (Say, Twelve Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars Only) The bank had issued to me a notification to contact the next of kin of my deceased client for either to re-activate the bank account or to make claim of beneficiary, of the funding in the bank account, with a month surcharge of 6% to be deducted as an Escrow safe keeping fee of the bank account, so as to avoid the indefinite closure of the bank account. My proposition to you is to seek your consent, and to present your kind self as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my deceased client, since you have the same last name with him.

This means that the proceeds of his bank account would be paid to you as his next of kin or the legitimate beneficiary. When the proceeds in his bank account are paid to you, we would share the proceeds on a mutually agreed-upon percentage of 55% to me and 45% to your kind self. All the legal documents to back up your claim as my client's next-of-kin would be provided by the court. The most important thing I would need is your honest co-operation in this proposition. This would be done under a legitimate arrangement that would protect you from any breach of the law.

If this business proposition offends your moral and ethical values, feel free to back out. Please contact me at once if you are interested, reply through my Personal email (barristercottonbrain@spandex.com)

Regards,

Bar. Cotton Brain
Advocate/Solicitor.

Disclaimer: Names and addresses have been changed.


Shu's response:

Dear Barrister Cotton Brain,

Regards,
Shu <Shu's family name>


WHO THE HELL FALLS FOR THIS SHIT??

Expressions

The sitar is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful and expressive instruments ever designed and it holds a superior position in the world of stringed instruments. It is a popular instrument of choice for the Hindustani (North Indian) style of classical music and it is often accompanied by a tabla - making them a winning team. Combined with the talent of a player, type of raga and other vocal and instrumental accompaniments, it can evoke strong emotions in a listener. The clip below that I found on a friend's Facebook wall is an interesting and beautiful fusion of music from the East and West.

"Sea Dreamer" by Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale & Sting

It also reminded me of one of my old music teachers. He was a very talented and accomplished sitar player back in his day. But when I came to know him, he was passing a definite low point in his life and his glory days seemed a lifetime ago. I came to know he coached intermediate students on the violin and soon after, I became his student and continued for a few months until it was time to leave to Singapore. Violin techniques were not his strong point but he was able to give compostions and coach me on these since I had the basic skills. Apart from giving me beautiful classical pieces to play which he made up on the fly (I think he was mostly lazy to prepare in advance and follow a syllabus but I didn't mind at all), he showed me how these were supposed to sound by playing it on his sitar. Sometimes he got carried away and played a little extra. That was certainly a highlight of this class. I would often sit and watch soul-struck, speechless and sometimes on the verge of tears (of joy) before I picked up my violin and hopelessly attempted to play like that. He was that good.

Today was day 3 of 4 for hip hop classes. It's fun and encouraging to go with Katy Kat, who took an interest in joining the class after reading one of my old posts. Together we have made a pact to break out of our social awkwardness that inhibits us from enjoying ourselves as dancers. Today was the first time I felt comfortable and least conscious at class so I am quite thrilled about it. It just might be progress over three classes or the fact that it was a mixed hip hop class for beginners that didn't involve many feminine dance moves like the two previous girls-only hip hop classes I tried. 

[Edited] During these few classes, it has occurred to me that had I spent more time as a child pretending to be a diva, following those feminine moves would have come easy! But no, I spent much of my childhood like the son our family never had, being my mother's 'bodyguard' in my father's long absences from home and the kid who naturally preferred trees, bicycles and getting messy outdoors over dolls, dollhouses and playing dress-up indoors. So it's going to be a little challenging to move past my current diva bias and learn to follow a simple choreography for the sole purpose of mastering coordination in the girls-only classes.

Happy belated birthday, Shu. You are now twenty-seven years of age.

With great power comes ...

Sitting on the Royal throne of the evolutionary chain, having the freedom and power to think and make our 
own choices, should be enough reason to make us feel both privileged and obligated to consequences.

The sheer potential for both good and bad that we humans are capable of achieving is quite humbling sometimes.  On one side, we can be a force for evil by killing, hurting, stealing, raping, deceiving and driving mass destruction. On the other hand, we can just as much be a positive force for compassion, empowering, creating art, inventing and driving change in beneficial ways.  

An orchestra is a beautiful analogy of how various personalities (being the different musical instruments and elements) at their best and under good direction can be combined to create something far greater and powerful than any one individual can achieve alone. The performance itself and the natural reactions of the people in this clip are priceless.

Disclaimer: this philosophical post may be the result of the video above combined with too much thinking, too much time at hand and too long being unemployed.

World's Dumbest

Some songs don't die easy. Here's an example:

The other day, I was sitting in the front passenger seat of a taxi when "Macarena" by Los del Rio started playing. It was like being hit in the head with a giant club of nostalgia. It is associated with strong memories of the time we got our first CD player and I made sure it was played several times a day, much to the annoyance of everyone else at home. This song came out nearly TWENTY years ago and "the macarena" has gained status as a popular dance move to this day. Not only that, it sits at #5 on Billboard's All Time Top 100.

Recently, my mother - using my father's account - had done a critical check on my Facebook profile and had a suggestion for me (well, there were other comments too);

"Change that display picture to something nicer and age appropriate, will you, something where you look like you actually combed your hair? You look like a school child."  [OH-Kay mom, that picture will be staying longer than intended now.]

Parents are now 'friends' with their children on Facebook. This new reality is a major advantage for parents, mostly overly-attached mothers whose children live far away from their grasps. They can now stalk whereabouts, analyse thought processes, scrutinize actions, review friendships, judge photos, and form opinions and comment on nearly everything related to their children whose lives are pretty much open books on Facebook. For me, I prefer they keep up that way than me having to actually update them personally.

Another interview today. Damn, I feel like I am getting better at this. With each passing one, I feel a little less nervous and more confident of playing the cards of the "Interview Game". That is not to say I wasn't nervous at all, but it wasn't anything my latest power anthem (below) could not cure.

After taking a very scenic ride in the bus, I arrived just a little earlier than 9am for my interview [Sheesh, that was pretty early for one]. In my opinion, it went well. I didn't stumble on or utter anything stupid like I tend to do a lot when I am nervous. Even though my heels were killing my feet, I left quite satisfied at having performed averagely well. In this game, it does not suffice to put your best effort to look professionally acceptable, or be confident and pleasant, or communicate clearly, or appear interested through body language that is in sync with what is said, or ask a ton of questions, or market your strengths and abilities while cleverly masking any weaknesses or even observe the interviewer's body language to see what ticks them and adjust the tone of the responses accordingly. The last move of the game is to send a "Thank You" note to your interviewer to show appreciation for the interview opportunity, sell your strengths a little more [Shuri was selling strengths such as ability to learn quickly, adapt and being detail-oriented during the interview] and express interest to work for them. This is compulsory.

When this was sent, I realised to my horror, that my email contained an attachment that I didn't attach. This was a map of the building that one of my previous interviewers had sent with a lovely red arrow pointing to interview area. As the situation become clearer, I realised this happened because I used the same email thread I used for my previous interviewer to modify my "Thank You" response to this interviewer. Of course, irrelevant correspondence was safely removed, but I missed removing that map. [Good job, Shu. This manager will be completely at ease knowing that you'll be sending wrong attachments to customers and forgetting to check your emails properly before you send them out]. 

So my final move (extended) read as follows:

Dear Ms Doe,

My apologies for the unintended attachment, kindly ignore it.
Have a good evening.

Regards,
Shuri

In light of today's turn of events, the award for the "World's Dumbest Interviewee" for shooting herself in the foot AND possibly losing the job opportunity goes to.... none other than.... *drum roll*.... SHURI.

[Afternote: No surprises, I didn't get the job!]

The Chek Jawa Tour

The route to Chek Jawa wetlands on the island of Pulau Ubin is a very interesting one, especially in the early mornings. Making it to Changi Village (it seems to take forever in a bus!) and after standing in the queues at the Changi Ferry Terminal, one finally gets to board an old fashioned wooden bumboat. Step into one and metropolitan Singapore is easily forgotten. 

Watching the sunrise as the boat makes its way to Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin is a rural village where some of the last kampong villages of Singapore can be seen. It is also home to Chek Jawa, a preserved coral reef area with an impressive collection of marine life and associated ecosystems. Without the pressures of urban development, the island has become a popular tourist attraction where people can relax in the laid back surroundings, cycle, camp and enjoy it's rich biodiversity not too far away from the mainland. There's also a curious family of Pied Oriental Hornbills who've been granted permanent residence in the island and seem to be quite happy with the attention they get from the NParks staff and visitors. Speaking of attention seekers, there are lots of wild boars and their piglets too.

The coastal boardwalk. It is worthwhile to mention that HSBC is a huge benefactor for the conservation efforts that go on here and it has set a good example for the corporate world

I once chanced upon an opportunity to volunteer at the Ubin-HSBC Volunteer Hub (managed by friendly NParks staff) as a guide for the Chek Jawa inter-tidal walk. I liked the place, I had a lot of time on my hands and the job was simple enough; introducing the different marine species and habitats to small groups of visitors. My only concern was public speaking because so far, I have successfully dodged about 98% of situations in life that involved any type of public speaking. It didn't require a biology background, however, mine certainly helped me during training. Training was on the job and we followed experienced guides on their tours and learnt by observation. Reading up was entirely up to us. There were only a few tours during a given month, as it was tide-dependent and most of the marine life is visible only during the inter-tidal period.

Rock oysters (left) and barnacles and limpets (right) firmly attached to the rusted pontoon that even the changing tides don't wash them off them

A very soft carpet anemone (left) and workings of a sand bubbler crab (right)

The relatively small area of Chek Jawa is prized for having six distinct ecosystems (coastal forest, rocky shore, mangroves, sea grass lagoon, sandy bank and coral rubble) lying very close to one other. This makes it an ideal area for researchers to observe and study various inhabitants that occupy these different ecosystems and their associations during varying tides. Experienced NParks staff dubbed "hunters" go early before the tours start and look for specimens on the sea grass lagoon and sandy banks. Their findings are displayed in plastic trays as temporary exhibits for the benefit and education of tour participants. This exhibit is an added bonus to see a larger collection of species that are not always visible during the walk to inexperienced eyes. The staff try to maintain a fine balance between the disturbance to the fragile environment (by human impact) and using specimens for public outreach /conservation efforts. The specimens are released when the tour groups wrap up.

 

A sea horse daddy carries the offspring in his pouch (left) and a sea hare (right). The area is also home to many types of anemones, sponges, corals, sea stars, sea cucumbers, bivalves, fish, crabs, squids, worms, mud skippers, seaweed, sea grass, to name a few - all easily spotted during the tour

Part of the challenge of being a tour guide will be to learn to adjust the facts to cater to people from different backgrounds. The audience can vary from people with a strong science background (more questions to answer!), to those from non-science backgrounds, to children (who have short attention spans) so not everyone will enjoy too much details. During one of my trainings, I was mildly annoyed to see a group of housewives ask the tour guide at each exhibit if these animals were edible and some went on to speak of their memorable experiences in trying out various seafood dishes. Not everyone sees the place with the same level of appreciation but what they all need to take back from the tour is some awareness and initiative to do what little they can to preserve these habitats.

Unfortunately, the Chek Jawa tour was put on hold for the rest of the year as the floating pontoon was due for upgrading, so my training will have to be completed when it resumes in early 2013. On a positive note, I think it'll be quite interesting to see the changes to the species populations and ecosystems when it re-opens after a prolonged period of minimal human impact by visitors to the area. Assuming the upgrading works are done carefully, that is.