Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.
2 Responses
It would be interesting to know whether there is a line of trees leading up to the crash site? Such may have guided the bird into the glass.
Maybe not, but nevertheless, tree lines running into glass buildings is often overlooked by architects / landscape architects during the design of new buildings. I have personally witnessed birds flying along such corridors and into buildings myself in London and the US, whereon they dropped to the pavement stunned!
I am not suggesting for a moment that we start removing trees! but rather that we should think about the design of wildlife corridors created sometimes…
There are always trees lining roads in Singapore, whether leading to buildings or not. But at level 5, isn’t it a little too high? Our architects have yet to be sensitive to bird crash into buildings. Maybe because we have yet to do any surveys on dead birds found every morning in and around the central business district.