Yangtze River Conservation Project — Shanghai

June 30, 2002


organised by Asian Journeys and
supported by Singapore International Foundation
in conjunction with YMCA, YWCA of Shanghai
3-20 June 2002

In the summer of 2002, Asian Journeys organized its inaugural environmental project in Shanghai, China, supported by Singapore International Foundation as a Youth Expedition Project. A team of 30 youths and young adults were selected from the many applicants from Nanyang Junior College, Nanyang Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.

Led by team leaders Loke Wai Leong and Moses Lau, and guided by two facilitators including Sam Lim and the Executive Director of Asian Journeys, Lawrence Ko, the team went through a two month-long intensive preparation for the project.

Beginning with a series of project briefing meetings, the team spent time in team-building and environmental research to educate themselves about environmental issues in general and river conservation in particular.

The project was centred on the study of river conservation efforts in Shanghai : from the Yangtze rivermouth at Wusongkou to Huangpu river and Suzhou river. The study would seek to analyse the causes for river pollution and understand the approaches taken to address the problems of water treatment. The team would also showcase Singapore’s experience in the Singapore River clean-up and the technology in water treatment.

Included in the team were also three environmental engineers and researchers from the Nanyang Technological University which Asian Journeys have been privileged to have invited as the nucleus of the river conservation project. Thus was mooted the idea of an environmental exhibition with a water filtration model system as the heart of the project.

The Asian Journeys team also had sessions dedicated to learning more about China’s social, political and economic systems. Time was spent discussing Singapore’s own current affairs and policies in diverse areas from environmental programs to social policies, in order to arm the participants with accurate information about Singapore.

The three weeks spent in Shanghai was eventful with the team busy constructing and painting the exhibition boards, designing the exhibition panels and setting up the environmental carnival at Luoshan Community Centre in Pudong New District.

Besides visiting the water plants and research laboratories at Tongji University, the team also spent a weekend polling residents in Luoshan district along with environmental activists from a local Shanghai university.

The highlight of the trip must have been the carnival itself, where the team choreographed and staged their own dance and song items for an Environmental Concert with the theme “Water –the Fountain of Life”.

Local residents and volunteers also staged Chinese dance routines to propagate the message of river conservation.

The stay at Luoshan centre came to an end on the Sunday with a simple but emotional Father’s Day lunch celebration at the Lusohan Centre. The students spent the next three days in recreational and educational tours to Suzhou Industrial Park and visited Shanghai Petrochemical company in addition to the other cultural and historical sites at Shanghai.

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