otterman’s posterous

"Anyone who can email can now blog" 



June 7, 2009

His Royal Highness, Xylo the Cat

Xylo is leaning on my blue Raffles Museum Toddycats polo t-shirt. He
usually gets up on the bed as I prepare to leave the house and sit
amongst my clothes, keeping me company while I get ready. In this
shot he looked quite regal!

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June 4, 2009

Scrawling on a glass-top once again

I recently held meetings in the Toddycats Room at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and got to scribble on a glass-topped table once again. I find it really helpful in formulating thoughts and illustrating ideas.


Can you guess what this topic was about? 

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June 3, 2009

Is it hot, or what?

Myna, roasted to the bone. Saw this on some ledge in campus, along a long forgotten short cut I'd best not use again in future. 

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May 20, 2009

Ride of Silence Singapore, 20 May 2009

My friends at the ride say it was a large turnout so the cyclists were released in groups of about 10. We dropped in on the cyclists as they left Merlion Park and threaded through the city before heading west to loop around Holland Village.  The route had them making a few lane shifts and navigating small, busy roads (see route). By Holland Road thankfully, the groups found the space and momentum to be tighter.

In the video below, notice how the first group is more disciplined about keeping to a single file. It was nice watching them crunch past up the slope.

From the short time we spent following the groups along the first half of the route, a few things were obvious:

  • White is striking at night! An all white t-shirt or jersey as ordered ("dress in white") would have really made the group stand out. The mixed coloured jerseys that some persisted in wearing are not noticeable and quite unsuitable or night cycling.
  • Rear helmet lights were prominent and in fact, critical for congested roads where cyclists ride in close proximity to motorists. However, few cyclists had rear helmet lights. The rear seat lights are less useful in these situations as they are more noticeable from afar.
  • The few passerby-cyclists without lights were practically invisible to traffic!
  • Quite a number of cyclists were clueless about navigating lane changes safely - their timing and hand signals left much to be desired. Wish they sign up for some practical training somewhere, the sort motorcyclists get in preparation for their Class 2B license.
  • The ride was supposed to be a slow-paced ride. But I think I'd be hard-pressed to keep up with some groups who were whizzed past!

I'm sure there will be more on my cycling lists later tonight and tomorrow. Hope it will help the organisers next year. Meanwhile, see news from Rides of Silence around the world.

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May 17, 2009

Today at Bot Gdns, 7pm - "Healthy Marine Life, Sustainable Seafood and You!"

Get the Flash Playerto see this player.
(download)

You can just drop in – there are plenty of spaces still. I am interested myself to find out how sustainable seafood practises can be applied to Singaporean public with regional information.  

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May 11, 2009

International Museum Day 2009

Let Holiday Fun Take-off At The Museums! - International Museum Day 2009 (23-31 May '09)
Healthy Ice Cream Making Workshop @ HealthZone (23 May, 2 - 4 pm) Open House @ Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (24 May, 10 am - 5 pm)
Krafty Kids Workshop @ Mint Museum of Toys (23 May and 24 May) Carnival Fun for the Family! @ National Museum of Singapore (24 May, 10 am - 6 pm)
Open House Day (31 May) - FREE admission at participation museums FREE Night At The Museum 2 premiums with every 4 museum admission tickets purchased only on 24 May at the National Museum of Singapore! (Whilst stock last!)
For more details, visit museums.com.sg/imd09 or call 6346 3438

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May 11, 2009

Ride of SIlence (Singapore) - 20 May 2009

A CYCLIST WITH A CAUSE
----------------------
SOON after he arrived in Singapore in 2007, Benoit Valin got a bicycle to ride to his office at Buona Vista.

Just as quickly too, on a rainy October day, he was rendered a bloody mess along Portsdown Road by a motorist who turned without looking.

Then the motorist in the car behind honked at him to get out of the way.

“She well saw that I had blood on my head and other parts of my body, but she waved her fist to threaten me,” says the 31-year-old Canadian.

That wasn’t the only incident for the dedicated “bike commuter”.

“Commuting is the only time I can ride my bike. Unfortunately, it is also the most dangerous time of the day (to do so).”

Other close calls include one in January when a driver shot across three lanes of Commonwealth Avenue and Benoit had to swerve to avoid him. In doing so, he had to “touch” the car to avoid being hit by a bus. That enraged the motorist who “chased down” the road for about a kilometre.

“Then he came out of the car, fists in the air,” recalls the Ottawa native.

In February, along Bukit Timah Road, a driver shot across two lanes and narrowly avoided clipping him.

“At the light, I knocked on his window to talk. He did the ‘I’ve done nothing wrong, you’re on the road and you have no place here’ speech,” says Benoit. “That about sums it up. This happens about every week, but I don’t make a fuss about them ... only when they really have to be educated.”

May 20 is when he hopes this will happen. That is when Ride of Silence Singapore - he is the organiser - will kick off at 7pm from Merlion Park at Clifford Pier.

Attending riders will dress in white and ride - in silence - to honour those killed or injured while cycling on public roads. Last year, there were about 22 such deaths here, and this year, the figure already stands at six, says Benoit. It is expected to increase with the escalating popularity of cycling.

The riders here will join others worldwide in a silent slow ride on May 20 to raise the awareness of motorists and other road users as well as that of the authorities.

The first ride originated in the United States city of Dallas, after endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz was killed when hit by the mirror of a passing bus.

Officials from the Safe Cycling Task Force will also join in. The route (yet to be approved) will cover 19km or so.

Cycling for Benoit has been a 14-year “love story”. At 17 and at college, he needed money, so he started cycling extensively as a messenger in Ottawa. At university in Boston, he volunteered for Bikes Not Bombs, a not-for-profit organisation that recycles old bikes for third-world countries.

Graduate school between 2001 and 2006 meant never staying long enough in a place to sustain a devotion to a cause. Until Singapore, where he saw “how road, and cycling safety could improve the quality of life for everyone”.

That encounter in February made the bachelor decide to dedicate his spare time to cycling safety. He then had a cause, but no means to reach out.

“Changing the world by yourself, when all you see is the same five people every day is very difficult,” says the bioinformatics scientist for a pharmaceutical company.

In April, he received an email from Canada’s National Capital Commission, advertising the Ride of Silence.

“It was an epiphany. I found the means to unite people in support for a cause that affects everyone,” he says.

There have been 100 responses from his Facebook group so far. Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Vivian Balakrishnan is scheduled to be present, as is Senior Parliamentary Secretary for MCYS and Ministry of Transport, Mr Teo Ser Luck.

Benoit clocks about 1,000km a month riding from his Bukit Batok home to Buona Vista. When the 200km of park connectors are completed by 2015, “Singapore will become a world-class haven for cyclists”.

“Unfortunately, park connectors don’t go everywhere. They cover only 60 per cent of my commute. The challenge is coping with traffic and the dangers of traffic.”

That means drivers of every ilk, as well as pedestrians, especially “those who zig-zag between cars at lights and pop up without warning”. Cyclists who ride at night without lights and reflectors, wearing dark clothes, and those who ride against traffic and through lights are at fault, too.

Benoit is keen that helmets be worn, and made mandatory for riders under 12.

“Deaths can never be reduced to zero. Drivers need to learn how to communicate their intentions clearly to cyclists (and vice versa). The rules of the road need to be clearer so they can be respected. Only then can roads be safer.”

Cycling safety should be incorporated into driving classes and tested during the theory test. Physical education teachers too, should teach cycling safety, he says.

“On a bicycle, safety means staying alive.”

Singapore’s first such ride was in 2006, started by Jimi Loh. But the rides were never registered with the US and not publicised. Benoit and Mr Loh will work together next year. For details visit www.rideofsilence.org

Email your views to voices@mediacorp.com.sg

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May 7, 2009

Selatium brockii @ Lim Chu Kang mangrove

I brought Ben Godsall, on a 3-month stint from Imperial with the Systematics & Ecology Lab, out for a recce at Lim Chu Kang mangrove (LCK). Mandai used to have greater numbers but LCK is safe for a recce during an immersed high tide spring walk. Brought me back to 1990 when I'd take the bus down to do my night work and race out to catch the last bus out.


Mudskippers were up and about (both the larger species), a pair of horseshoe crabs were mating, a cuttlefish swam by and of course the tree-climbing crabs. We focused on the Selatium brockii prime estate and they didn't disappoint. Ben got acquainted with the site, population size there, seeing the crabs in their natural setting, handling the crabs gently so no legs are lost and conducting measurements in the field. He got a mouthful of LCK water too, on our way out. He's much taller so you can imagine I was under water too.

Lots of trash about so the July bi-annual cleanup will be a welcome effort once again.


     
Click here to download:
Selatium_brockii_Lim_Chu_Kang_.zip (826 KB)

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April 29, 2009

Assisi Hospice Charity Fun Day @ SJI International, Sat 02 May 2009

The Assissi Hospice Charity Fun Day @ SJI International, Sat 02 May 2009 is a day to find great music, food and drink, fruits galore (a friend took away a few cartons!), games, performances and loads of cheery people! Join us and part with some cash for the charity. 

  • Map: http://tinyurl.com/assisi-funfair (off Thomson Road, after SLF building)
  • The carpark is at the MCYS charges per entry $1.07.
  • A free shuttle bus (40 seater) will operate from Novena MRT Bus Stop to SJI International bus-stop and back, from 9.30am to 4pm. It is about a 30-min loop. Note: DO NOT take the Mount Alvernia Hospital busplus shuttle at Novena MRT!

The people and atmosphere will make you part with your cash quite happily and we stall holders got kinda carried away ourselves. Some natural history books that I gave to friends this year were bought from my own stall (some of Adrian's flora books) - they had been kept until I found the right person to give them too. 

It's all quite mad and good fun and the group of us like the process as much as the eventual target of raising funds (see last year's blog post). I also look forward to bumping into more than a couple of my friends there. I am bringing along two Canon Selphy printers for the photographs with Star Wars characters. I better check those tonight!

Meanwhile, Lekowala writes to the team:

Hi Guys,

  1. Our stall is B24 & B25 (that's the same as last year, in the middle of that long drive up SJI international.
  2. We will operate from 8am-5pm. Official launch is at: 10.30am - 12.00pm.
  3. Our stall will have:
    • Books, Electronics, Bags and other barang barang (i/c Ivan/Oi Yee)
    • Nun's books (i/c Ivan) 
    • Storm trooper photo taking (i/c Jen Kee)
    • Chin Chow (i/c Natalie)
    • Kaya Toast (i/c Jen Kee, Airani, Jessica Chak) 
    • Coffee by (i/c Adrian and Meng Shyan)
  4. Wai Leng's cookies have been sold and the money all collected!
  5. Apparently the nuns and others have been praying since February for this event, so we should have enough blessings to help us along the way...   
  6. Anyone with flu or fever or not feeling well at all, please don't come... just stay at home and say some prayers for the event.

Cheers,
Adrian

   
Click here to download:
Assissi_Hospice_Charity_Fun_Da.zip (246 KB)

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April 26, 2009

Why snooze alone? [Mr Bats the cat snuggles up]

Mr Bats likes to stuff his head into our arms or chest to catch a snooze in the early evening or late morning. He displaces my wireless keyboard (thankfully catnip prevents cat-astrophes) and then parks himself into the crook of my arm and snuggles in. It's nice when he does that and is purring away while I type... 

   
Click here to download:
Why_snooze_alone_Mr_Bats_the_c.zip (349 KB)

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