Who am I?

I'm Yi Han.

I have a german name, 'Hans', but I don't usually use it unless it's for foreigners who may have problems with chinese names. For me, I am proud to use the name my parents gave me and imbued with their hopes and dreams for me.

一涵 means the number one most gentlemanly person (最有涵养的人）. This is their hope for me! =P

I believe in living my life to the fullest. I don't believe in an afterlife. For me, this is it. It may have anything between 1 second or 100 years more on this world, but in any case, it will be finite. Therefore, I don't want to waste a single second doing something I feel is not worth my time.

I have no official religion, but I learn a lot from various religions and philosophies. To me, there is much timeless wisdom in these religions and philosophies, and it would be a waste to avoid religion completely or restrict myself to one religion just because that's the norm.

I recently read a quote by the Dalai Lama that echoes what I feel about religion:

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” - Dalai Lama

I try to cut down my meat intake for ethical and environmental reasons. However, I'm not a full vegetarian. Some people question whether this means my principles are flexible. However, my principle is not to avoid killing animals altogether. My principle is to have compassion for all living things, including myself. I feel happy whenever I can avoid killing animals. But if for example, I can't find any vegetarian food, I will still eat meat. I don't subject myself to unnecessary suffering.

You may criticise this stand, but I would never have made it so far if I didn't feel happy with merely cutting down.

I believe very strongly that we must take a stand for protecting our Earth. The way humans are extracting resources from the Earth, polluting it, destroying the biodiversity and causing climate change is simply unsustainable. If we have compassion for the animals that share this planet, and the poorer people and indigenous natives who will be the first to suffer from environmental degradation, then let's rethink how we're living our lives.

5 Threats to Singapore's survival

2. Energy crisis
Singapore is reliant on foreign countries for a shocking 97% of our energy. The 3% that we produce locally is from burning trash in incineration plants. This puts Singapore at an extremely vulnerable position in terms of changes in international oil and natural gas prices.

As fossil fuels run out, how will Singapore sustain it's ferocious appetite for energy?

As can be seen in the graph below. Our carbon emissions per capita is one of the highest in the region when compared to countries with similar standard ofhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif living. Only Australia is worse than us.

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Recent developments in Singapore have mainly comprised of a shift away from petroleum to natural gas as the dominant fuel to produce electricity in our power stations. Unfortunately, this only shifts our reliance to another country. We are now reliant on imports of natural gas from Malaysia and Indonesia to produce 81% of our electricity.

Plans to build a coal power plant is being painted as a "green" solution to our energy problems, with the words "clean coal" being banded about. However, coal by its nature contains the least amount of energy for the same weight compared to oil and gas. Coal also tends to contain sulphur, which causes acid rain, and radioactive materials can concentrate within the fly ash.

Is there a better way to improve our energy security while at the same time reduce the flatulence we are releasing to the world?

These are some ideas:
1. Exploring alternative sources of energy

1a. Nuclear. Was always going to be tricky, especially since the Fukoshima disaster in Japan. However, new generations of nuclear fission power plants are designed to be much safer.

1b. Solar. Singapore enjoys so much sun that our lack of solar power is simply embarrassing. German companies are now decades ahead in this field thanks to support from their government.

1c. Wind. Written off by the authorities, wind energy never had a chance to prove its vaibility in Singapore. Yet, innovative turbine designs can extract energy even from low win conditions. They should be explored.

1d. Undersea currents. Surrounded by seas, this is another emerging technology worth exploring.

2. Improving the power grid

2a.Regional power grid. A regional power grid can link up renewable energy sources around the region. For example Geothermal energy. Although there is very little potential in Singapore, geothermal potential is enormous in neighbouring countries.

2b. Smart grid. A smart grid can be used to control smart energy storage or energy consumption devices to make sure that energy withdrawn from the grid matches the energy generated. This reduces the need to build new power stations just to cope with the occasional peaks in energy use.

3. Improving transport system. To cut out dependence on petroleum, electric vehicles are the way to go! Electric vehicles tend to be more efficient because they can also recapture energy from braking or going downslope. The power to the engine is also stopped when the vehicle is idle. Public transport is obviously more efficient than cars in moving people, so there should be a definite push to get more people to walk, cycle, car-pool or take the bus and train.

4. Improving energy efficiency through design and technology. The Green Mark scheme has been doing well to encourage buildings to become more energy efficient. This is a step in the right direction. It should be extended as a standard to all public housing.

5. Government legislation and incentives. The Green Mark scheme is an example of how the government can make huge changes by providing the right carrots and sticks. More can certainly be done to support alternative energy sources eg. via feed-in tariffs.

6. Changing mindsets. Ultimately however, the common man has to start appreciating the importance of energy. We have to start demanding that buildings be designed so that air-con need not be used. Then we have to get used to the heat and humidity instead of looking to air-con. Can we do that?

5 Threats to Singapore's survival

1. Food crisis
Singapore is woely dependent on food imports to feed our rapidly growing population. Our population in 2010 stands at 5 million but set to grow to 6.5million. Based on AVA statistics, we import 97% of our chicken meat and 95% of our vegetables. As a result, we have virtually no buffer against any rise in global food prices due to freak weather conditions. Already, food prices have surged upwards twice in the last decade - once in 2008 and one still occurring right now in 2011.

The global climate crisis will tend to increase the frequency and ferocity of extreme weather events, leading to the spectre of rapidly increasing cost of living for Singaporeans.

Worse still, if climate change leads to serious food shortages, food-producing countries will cut food exports to Singapore in order to protect their own food prices and food supply. In such a situation, Singaporeans will literally learn the adage that "you can't eat money".

Diversifying our food sources should only be part of the solution as transport only adds to the cost and does little to buffer us from increases in global food prices. Buying farmland overseas can also help, but still leaves us at the mercy of other countries.

We need to look towards self-sufficiency of food. Incredible as it seems, with our limited land space, it is not impossible. Just look at how we are moving towards self-sufficiency of water.

For starters, we need to provide more government support for existing local farms, such as the vegetable farms in Lim Chu Kang and the fish farmers. For example, farm licences are valid for only 1 year, therefore depriving farmers of the certainty needed for making long-term investments in their farms.

Secondly, community farming should be encouraged. Such farms can be set up in the unused green spaces between buildings, buffer zones besides roads as well as below MRT train tracks. These farms also double up as excellent bonding opportunities for residents.

Thirdly, food wastage habits should be stamped out. According to Food Waste Republic.com, an excellent website on food waste in Singapore, we throw away 20% of our food. This wastage occurs all along the supply chain, from supermarkets which remove less than perfect fruits and vegetables, to bread stores which throw away daily leftover bread, to consumers who don't finish what is on their plates. Our society and corporations need to fundamentally change our attitude towards food in order to prepare ourselves for the day when we start to run out.

Fourthly, we should tap into our high tech research centres to develop ways of growing food in a lab eg. via tissue culture, as scientists in the Netherlands have done recently. By directly growing pure muscles from a single cell immersed in a broth of nutrients, the idea is to cut out the inefficiencies (not to mention cruelty) that go with rearing animals.

Fifth, we can stretch our imagination even further by exploring the use of our surrounding seas to grow seaweed and edible algae. The algae may be even used to produce biofuels.

Sixth, develop vertical farming eg. on windows of HDB flats or even entire blocks devoted to farming.

Certainly more ideas can be identified and explored, given the amount of intellectual talent in our country. However, Singapore must first wake up to this problem.

To be continued...the next 4 threats...

Reflections on Indonesia Model United Nations

I was at Universitas Indonesia, at the outskirts of Jakarta, from 23-27th October to attend Indonesia's very first Model United Nations.

This was my very first model united nations (MUN), and actually the main reason I signed up for it was to get an excuse to go to Indonesia.

In general, the idea of a MUN is to develop and vote in a resolution for a certain topic. We had 2 topics: Developing nuclear energy and renewable energy. So our very first task was to debate on which topic to talk about. It was quite amusing that we spent half a day debating that. Each of us represents a country and we have to speak on behalf of their national interest while trying to get the other delegates to agree with us. Given that the speeches are limited to 1 or 2 minutes, it was no mean feat.

By the second day, I was part of a large alliance who had drafted out a draft resolution that seemed to meet the needs of all countries. However, there was a lot of disagreement over one of the points in the draft resolution about forming an OPEC-style body to regulate uranium prices. We spent a lot of time debating about the pros and cons of this idea without much avail. Only in retrospect did I understand why: distrust.

The idea of the "body" was just a red herring. The delegates opposing us were also those who opposed the spread of nuclear power and preferred encouraging countries to shift towards renewable energy. They were suspicious of our intentions and thought we wanted to make money out of nuclear energy --- which was absolutely untrue! Yet, because we couldn't look beyond the topic at the larger picture, we lost the opportunity to reach deeper and to target the false perception.

I think this applies even in daily conversation. Very often, we focus at the content and not the intent of a statement. I think Ms Lim gave the example of someone saying "my boss sucks", when he actually means that he has problems working with his boss. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who will launch into a debate on whether the boss really sucks, rather than try to understand why the person cannot connect with his boss. Well I guess, practise makes better...

Reflections on my oral presentation

I was pretty nervous for today's presentation. More so than usual. I think the pressure of having to display good presentation skills was pretty stressful. In most other presentations, the content is what matters, so I can practically read from the slides. However, this time, my heart was pounding when Charmian cued for me to go up and present.

It was therefore fortunate that I had rehearsed my part multiple times the night before, and even once that morning. Even then, there were still parts when I got stuck or said something differently than I intended.

I only really settled down near the end when the whole team did the 'strong arm' display and everyone laughed.

Aside from that, I'm satisfied with my performance. I really tried hard to vary my tone, since being monotonous is one of my main weaknesses. On reflection, it was all pretty fun! ;p

Kultur 'Shock' in Deutschland

I was in Germany for 8 months last year and experienced first-hand the cultural differences between the Germans and the culture we have here in Singapore (some call it 'Asian', but I don't know if it is fair to paint all Asians with the same brush).

I had my first culture shock in only my first week there. I was staying in a youth hostel and one night, it was so cold that I had trouble falling asleep. Then, I noticed that the lady next to me had opened the window above her bed. It was well below zero outside and I felt that even if the person had wanted to keep the window open, it would be unfair to everyone else in the dorm. So without further hesitation, I closed the window and went back to sleep.

The next morning, the lady was clearly in a foul mood. She complained to me that someone had closed the window the previous night and she was having a splitting headache as a result. Maybe my expression gave me away, but she immediately figured out that I was the culprit. What followed was a the first tongue lashing that I had ever received from a stranger. I was utterly dumbfounded and could only mutter 'Tut mir Leid (sorry)' repeatedly.

After she left, I reflected on this incident and found myself feeling really sore about being scolded. But then I realised that being straightforward is probably something normal in their culture. In contrast, Singaporeans would at most complain privately and would certainly refrain from directly criticising a person.

Although I didn't directly discuss this issue with a German, I saw many more examples of Germans being upfront and straightforward. One instance was in a supermarket where I was queuing up at the cashier. There was only 1 cashier and the queue was getting quite long. Suddenly, I head a lady's voice behind me that boomed (in German), "Hey, open up another line!". Immediately, one of the employees came out mumbling "all right, all right" and started up a new cashier station. That really impressed me... Firstly, because in Singapore, no one would have dared shout like that. And secondly, even if someone did, it would really make the cashier very unhappy. Yet in Germany, it was just something natural and no one was the worse for wear.

Application letter critique

Blk 485 Jurong West Ave 1
#08-61
Singapore 640485

05 September 5 2010

ECO Sphere
87 Beach Road
Chye Sing Building
#06-01
Singapore 189695

Dear Mr Wilson Ang,

I am graduating in December from the National University of Singapore and I am writing to apply for a job at Environmental Challenge Organisation, Singapore (ECO Singapore). Although there are no job vacancies on the website, I am hopeful that there will be some way I can offer my services in the programmes department. ECO Singapore has been active in engaging the youth as well as working with international partners, both of which I feel strongly about.

I am passionate about environmental and social issues facing humanity and have been actively involved in community service projects for the past few years that address both areas. My experience in managing projects that target these issues have helped me to understand how to engage the general public as well as tackle problems on the spot. I have also been able to hone my leadership and interpersonal skills by being a mentor for younger students in various events.

My skills include proficiency in web development and knowledge in engineering principles. Besides being fluent in English and Mandarin, I have a good grasp of German and I am currently studying Bahasa Indonesia in the university. These language skills would be useful in interacting with our international partners. In addition, I am very willing to pick up new skills.

Despite the challenging requirements of working with ECO Singapore, I believe my passion and experience can meet your needs. I have several ideas on new programmes that I can help to implement and I will contact you next week to share these ideas. In the meantime if there are any enquiries, please feel free to contact me. My contact details are as follows:
Email: tanyihan@nus.edu.sg
Handphone: +65-91700320

My resume is attached. Thank You for reviewing my letter!

Yours faithfully,

Tan Yi Han