Going Green (:During BB Goes Green, 100 J1 and J2 BBians got down and dirty at Bishan Park and got to know the environment.
Ling Wei Tsi talks to
Kelvin Woon and
Victor Leung, organisers of the event.
Most BBians have never even heard of a cangkul before, let alone even touched one, before BB’s CIP event(
it’s a hoe). On the 21st of Feb, 100 BBians learned exactly what it meant to be a gardener. Raking and weeding may sound easy, but it is harder than it looks, as many can testify.
Raffles Press (RP): How did the idea for BB Goes Green come about?
Victor: Well, we wanted to conduct a mass activity where BBians could do something for the environment and have fun at the same time, and so we thought about working together with NParks on this. We originally wanted to plant a BB tree, but the budget didn’t allow for it.
Kelvin: Yes, it all began when we decided we wanted to organize a house CIP event. After much thinking, we finally decided that an environmental effort would best reflect BB as the green house, and there you have it!
RP: Tell us more about what you did at NParks.
Kelvin: Well, we raked away lots of leaves at the park, which really made us realise how much work the cleaners had to do every day; especially when we spent loads of time and effort clearing up leaves only to realise more leaves were falling right behind us on the spot we cleared. We also learnt a lot about the different types of plants in the Green Vibes Garden, such as Lady Finger plants, dragonfruit, dill and tapioca. The nice aunties at Bishan Park also gave us sugarcane to eat – which was very hard, they had to teach us how to peel and eat it.
Victor: Yeah, we raked up a mountain of leaves and filled lots of trash bags, but realised that it didn’t seem to make much of a difference – there were just so many leaves! Even though we thought raking was a waste of effort because the leaves just kept falling, the NParks supervisor explained to us that it’s still necessary – the dry leaves are a potential fire hazard if left alone. Weeding was very tough as well; most of us didn’t know how to tell the difference between weeds and plants, and the roots were so deep it was hard to pull them out. 10of us couldn’t even clear a 3 meter patch of weed in 1 hour. We were very satisfied with our weeding too, despite the fact that we were told that the weeds would grow back soon enough, because it felt so good to be doing something for the environment.
RP: What would you say was your greatest take away from the event?Kelvin: Well, we always believed that BB was the most awesome house ever, especially in terms of our house spirit, and camaraderie. For me, the success of the event reflected the amount of support and love the J1s had for BB, and the assured knowledge that the bunch of us from grassroots can leave the BB in these great hands is surely my greatest takeaway.
Victor: Definitely the smile on everyone’s faces as we sat around, tired and sweaty, after the event as we enjoyed the fruits of our labour. Although a close second was working with the HouseComm and HouseD on this together; it was great fun working together and weeding together! For most of us, BB Goes Green was a reminder of how hard it could be to go outside our comfort zones. And we all loved it.
