Talks to make S'poreans care about environment
SINGAPOREANS will learn more about the environment, and the part they can play in protecting it, through a series of public lectures.
These talks are being organized by the Ministry of the Environment, as part of its overall plan to make Singaporeans environmentally-conscious.
The talks on topics of current interest will give members of the public a better insight into some of the environmental issues and the rationale for some of the ministry’s policies.
The series will begin with a talk on the use of unleaded petrol and catalytic convertors on March 22.
Other topics scheduled include food borne diseases and local and global environmental issues.
The lectures, which will be delivered by experts from the ministry, will be kept simple and interesting for everyone, including students, housewives and businessmen.
Mr. Daniel Wang, the Ministry’s Commissioner for Public Health, said the lectures are aimed at informing Singaporeans and encouraging them to take a more active part in protecting the environment.
"Environmental protection and public health are areas in which everyone besides the government can play an active role in.
"The ministry hopes that these public lectures will enable members of the public to understand the role they can play and how they can be effective in helping the ministry to develop Singapore into a model environment city with high standards of public health," he said.
Mr. Wang quoted a recent survey done after the Clean and Green Week, where a large part of the people interviewed felt that protecting the environment is not the job of the government alone.
He said the ministry also hopes to receive some feedback through the lectures and the question and answer sessions that will follow.
"It will be useful to us. We can formulate or review our policies based on the response from people."
Mr. Wang said the speakers will be ministry officials as not only are they experts in the various areas, they can also give the public the views of the authorities.
The topics will be current and interesting. Mr. Wang said the four chosen so far are some of the current concerns of Singaporeans.
On the choice of subject for the first talk, he said : "I am sure every Singaporean who owns a car has some questions about unleaded petrol and many of them would like to hear from an objective person, rather than the petrol companies."
The talks will be held at the Environment Ministry theatrette which can hold up to 200 people.
All the talks will be in English, unless there is a demand for the talks to be held in other languages.
Those interested in attending them can obtain the tickets, which are tree, by contacting Mrs. Koh Yap Ming or Miss Suriati at telephone number 731-9506. They may also obtain tickets at the door.
Source : The Straits Times, March 3 1991
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