On 25 July 2007, the teacher advisor and the 19 members of the Environment Club of East Spring Secondary School attended an “Outdoor Hands-on Recycling Class” in Jing Si Hall.

The students were split into smaller groups to work in the various recycling zones. A few male students were stamping aluminum cans, making the recycling centre very lively.

Muhammed Qayyum (center), presently a Sec 3 student, was very excited on the sorting work. With the advance of knowing environmental issues in depth through the Environment Club, he hoped that the future generation could continue to live on earth through everyone’s concrete actions.

During the sorting process, the female students, who were initially shy and hesitant, became more enthusiastic.

Usually recycling knowledge was gained through books. Sean Tang (centre), the teacher advisor, led the students and participated with them in hands-on recycling.

A reunion at a wedding dinner was instrumental to this visit to Jing Si Hall. Sean Tang was a teacher in East Spring Secondary School with about 4 years of working experience. He taught Science and Physics, and was also the teacher advisor to the Environment Club of the school. At the dinner, he met up with university mate, De Yuan, who was now one of the volunteer leaders in the North East District. In their conversation, Brother De Yuan shared with Sean his involvement in Tzu Chi volunteer activities that took up most of his weekends. He highlighted the importance of the recycling mission of Tzu Chi, as well as the presence of a recycling centre at the Jing Si Hall in Pasir Ris.

About three weeks later, Sean initiated contact with the Secretariat of Tzu Chi Singapore branch and arranged 19 members of the Environment Club to visit Jing Si Hall’s recycling centre.

Since its establishment two years ago, the Environment Club had organized visits to the incineration plant and landfill. However, this visit was the first time where the students got to get their hands “dirty”.

Proper sorting could turn rubbish into resources

Sister Fu Shu Hua, a volunteer at the recycling centre, briefed the students on the various sorting techniques. The students were then split into smaller groups, each led by Tzu Chi volunteers, to work on different recyclable items. A number of male students were seen stamping aluminum cans. One even joked that, “This is such a good way to vent our anger!” The female students, who were initially shy and hesitant, became more enthusiastic. Some started separating Black & White papers from the colour papers; some were stacking and tying up old newspapers; others were folding the large plastic bags. While the male students were involved in the more “masculine” dismantling work – tearing away the CD covers from the plastic casing, and separating the metal parts of old video tapes and cassettes from the plastic rolls. The presence of the students had indeed made the recycling centre livelier.  

The teacher advisor, Sean, said that, “Students usually only learn (about environmental knowledge) from the books or from institution visitations. However, today is a real hands-on experience, which I think is quite a special lesson for them.” 

Muhammed Qayyum, now a Sec 3 student, was especially excited in the sorting work that day. He said that participation in the Environment Club had given him the opportunity to learn about environmental issues in depth. As for what he had experienced that day, he said he would certainly share it with his family members, cousins and even friends and teachers. He recounted visiting Pulau Semakau (a landfill island 8km south of Singapore) with the club last year. “It was not good to see so much rubbish being buried in Singapore land.” “I think it’s better for us to recycle, so that the future generation can continue to stay on this planet.”

The two-hour hands-on recycling had allowed students to have a deeper understanding of the fact that wastes disposed from home could be recycled to become resources. To address the environmental crisis, it is certainly not as simple as “dropping a huge block of ice into the ocean to cool down the earth” – as suggested by a scientist in the cartoon “The Simpsons”, that was shown to the students.  What are needed are people with good intentions, like Brother De Yuan who took the opportunity to spread the good words, Sean who translated thoughts into actions, as well as Muhammed Qayyum who sincerely wished that the future generation could inherit a clean earth.

Everyone has a role to play.