National Youth Environmental Forum (NYEF)

09.05.08 - Beyond Awareness.

How true.

The National Youth Environmental Forum 2008 concluded yesterday with a great bang. Participants were exposed to various guest speakers, given the opportunity to share their ideas in caucus discussions and also, allowed to demonstrate their passion for the environment in front of a youth audience.

Our Service-Learning Project Group, ECO-Echo, grabbed the opportunity and became volunteers for ECO Singapore, the non-governmental organization that we were working with. We managed to gobble part of the Green Pie and were rewarded with valuable Forum Organization skills. We intend to utilize the experience we have gained from the Forum and amplify it further in the [绿话], Small Steps to a Big Change Forum that our group will be spearheading in July.

Yesterday's event was indeed an eye-opener for us. From the various slip-ups in the event, I have gained much. I realize how proactiveness and flexibility were key concepts in the success of the event. It was not the extent of preparation that guarantees the success of the event, but the ability of the organizing team to synergize TEAMWORK and ADAPTABILITY to cope with unforeseen circumstances.

Quoting a personal anecdote from yesterday's forum;

The Guest of Honour, Dr. Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Water and Environmental Resources, had arrived. The Organizing Team had conveniently forgotten the gift for the G.O.H.

Under pressure, I conveniently forgot to bring along my handphone and rushed blindly to Raffles City (Which was about 1.5km away, counting the steps and escalators as well) to buy a bouquet for the G.O.H.

When I got back after my 3k.m. run in 20 minutes, I realized that the G.O.H. had already received her gift - a basket of flowers from the Research Univeristy for Leadership (RUL).

I had made a wasted journey - all attributed to my lack of situational awareness.

From this, I learnt that being able to cope under the hustle and bustle of the event was critical and it takes more than enthusiasm to be able to do things right. If I were presented with the exact same situation, I would have 1) Confirmed the need for the gift 2) Brought along a communication device

From this major event, I'm absolutely certain that our group has reaped valuable experience. Our group also agrees that the National Youth Environmental Forum 2008 has provided us with sufficient insights on Forum planing and we are ready to set the stage for our forum.

Let's rock. (: