Search

Nature Conservation and Nature Society (Singapore): 9. Chek Jawa

on 19th May 2017

Joseph Lai first discovered Chek Jawa’s rich marine biodiversity during a nature walk in the remote easternmost tip of Pulau Ubin in 2001. It was low tide and the intertidal zone was teeming with marine life, not seen anywhere off the main island of Singapore (Tan & Yeo, 2003).

Chek Jawa (Photo credit: Dr Chua Ee Kiam}
Kelvin Lim of the then Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research showcasing the rich marine biodiversity to visitors at Chek Jawa (Photo credit: Dr Chua Ee Kiam)

The Nature Society (Singapore) had always taken the lead in lobbying government to conserve nature areas. Chek Jawa was an exception. The society had by then learnt the wisdom of working closely in a non-confrontational way with government. After all, the initial success with Sungei Buloh was followed by a series of proposals being rejected because of media confrontations.

The society “made discreet enquiries at a high level…” and found “that Chek Jawa was slated for land reclamation within a year” (Geh & Sharp, 2008).

Chek Jawa (Photo credit: Dr Chua Ee Kiam}
A volunteer guide conducting a public walk at Chek Jawa (Photo credit: Dr Chua Ee Kiam}

The society was not at first seen publicly as being involved (R. Tan, J. Lai, N. Sivasothi, pers. comm.). Furthermore the Conservation Committee declined to participate, for after all it’s strong point was birds, not marine organisms. The society’s Marine Group similarly did not participate. However, many members could not resist getting involved, but in their personal capacity.

Volunteers like Joseph Lai, N. Sivasothi and Ria Tan came forward spontaneously, to help collect, identify and catalogue the organisms. This was followed by a publicity blitz on the internet, an illustrated account in the Asian Geographic (Sivasothi, 2001) and a very successful series of public exhibitions.

(Photo credit: Dr Chua Ee Kiam}
An outreach programme involving students at Chek Jawa (Photo credit: Dr Chua Ee Kiam}

Once aware of the rich marine biodiversity, hundreds of people visited the area. These included the then National Development Minister, Mr. Mah Bow Tan. He was visibly impressed and belatedly announced a reprieve for Chek Jawa (Wee & Hale, 2008). And for once the Nature Society was caught with its pants down.

Chek Jawa boardwalk that was built after the reprieve (Photo credit: Wang Luan Keng)
Chek Jawa boardwalk that was built after the reprieve (Photo credit: Wang Luan Keng)

Only then was the society roped in to join the same volunteers and the National Parks Board to implement a sustainable guiding system for the long term. Further volunteers were recruited and provided field training. Chek Jawa remains popular with nature lovers until today.

According to Tan (2006/2007): “The reprieve of Chek Jawa … unlike previous successful nature conservation efforts, the credit was not attributed to any one environmental civil society organizations (ECSOs) but to a collective effort between individuals and institutionalized groups.”

YC Wee
Singapore
2nd April 2017

Secretary, Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch) 1978-1990; Founding President, Nature Society (Singapore) 1990-1995

References:
1.
Min Geh & Ilsa Sharp (2008). Singapore’s Natural Environment, Past, Present and Future: A Construct of National Identity and Land Use Imperatives. In: T.-C. Wong et al. (ads.), Spatial Planning for a Sustainable Singapore. Springer Science + Business Media B. V. (LINK).
2. Tan, Ria & Allan Yeo (eds.), 2003. Chek Jawa Guidebook. Simply Green, Singapore. 219 pp.
3. Sivasothi, N., 2001. Chek Jawa .– lost forever? Asian Geographic 10 : 12.–25.
4. Tan Peng Ting (2006/2007). “Saving Chek Jawa”: Social capital and networks in nature conservation. An academic exercise submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Social Science (Honours). Department of Geography, National University of Singapore.
5. Wee, Y.C. & R. Hale, 2008. The Nature Society (Singapore) and the struggle to conserve Singapore’s nature areas. Nature in Singapore 1: 41-49 (PDF).

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

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.

Other posts by YC Wee

2 Responses

  1. It was also hard for Ministers and Government decision-makers to ignore up to 700 people exploring Chek Jawa’s inter-tidal habitats and observing marine life, on Saturdays, instead of being at Orchard Road!

    The public’s response and interest was unexpected and Chek Jawa is the first nature area that was saved by the public! That does not take away credit from Joseph, Siva, Ria, Vilma, Beng Chiak, Angie, Shawn and many others who worked hard on the ground, documenting everything and show-casing this rick area to the masses.

    When Chek Jawa was given a reprieve, there were several others who put their hand up and claimed credit! Shame! I hardly saw them on site when we were there filming an episode of “Secret Worlds” with Charith Pelpola and his crew. I definitely saw those mentioned above though.

  2. Now, who was it who said this when he first set eyes on Chek Jawa: “Right away I know I had to do something to preserve Chek Jawa, which had been earmarked for reclamation…”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Archives

Overall visits (since 2005)

Live visitors
881
19828
Visitors Today
51758829
Total
Visitors

Clustrmaps (since 2016)