Speeches
Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs, at the Launch of the National Weather Study Project 2009 on Thursday, 24 July 2008, at the Singapore Science Centre at 3.30pm
Professor Leo Tan, Chairman of the NWSP Advisory Committee
Mr Roy Adair, President and CEO of Senoko Power
Distinguished guests
Teachers and students
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
I am happy to join you at the launch of the National Weather Study Project 2009, or NWSP for short. Words such as “global warming” and “climate change” have come up frequently in conversations. Indeed, climate change is one of the top global concerns today, alongside rising oil prices and inflation.
According to the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), eight of the 10 warmest years recorded since 1850 occurred over the past decade, with 2007 being the second warmest year ever experienced. Global temperatures are expected to rise even higher in future due to ever-increasing greenhouse emission levels. Global warming has caused polar ice caps to melt, glaciers to retreat and sea levels to rise. These changes threaten the livelihoods of farmers, fishermen and endanger human lives. Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Nargis and Typhoon Fengshen illustrate the devastation of increased natural catastrophes brought about by climate change.
Closer to home, some of you may recall the severe flooding that the Thomson and Mandai areas experienced in December 2006. Global records show that flooding is likely to increase in frequency and severity as global warming causes higher tides and heavier rains.
This shows that even Singapore, known for being protected from natural disasters, is not immune to the effects of climate change. Therefore, Singapore cannot isolate itself from the global movement in slowing climate change.
The only way we can do this is to educate present and future generations of Singaporeans on environmental issues. Knowledge will empower our people with the ability to make climate-friendly choices. That is why we need to engage the students of today, who will be the parents, politicians and industry leaders of tomorrow, in tackling climate change.
The National Weather Study Project (or NWSP), a competition designed to get students thinking about meteorological issues, is an ideal platform to educate students on climate change, which is currently one of the biggest real-world challenges. This is because climate change is a highly complex issue that encompasses fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, economics, sociology and much more.
In other words, the competition allows students to synthesise what they have learnt in various subjects in school, for a holistic understanding of climate change. The NWSP is a great example of how the Ministry of Education collaborates with other parties to advance the national interest.
By adopting a “Think global, act local” approach towards solving real-world problems, the NWSP exemplifies how our students can get first-hand exposure to authentic tasks by examining complex real-world issues. The competition was designed to enhance students’ understanding of the relationship between daily weather phenomena and the long-term climate change. The winners will get to go overseas and gain insights into the global nature of climate change and the need for international collaboration to tackle it.
I commend Senoko Power for organising again the third edition of the competition. I urge schools to make use of this platform to teach our students more about a topic which many world leaders consider to be one of the most pressing problems in the coming decade.
It is now my pleasure to officially launch the National Weather Study Project 2009.
Thank you.