THIS is our landfill....

Yes, the picture above was taken at Singapore's very own landfill. Hard to imagine that a landfill can look like this right?

My geog class went to Semakau Landfill last Wednesday for a field trip to get an understanding of waste management in Singapore. I came out of the trip having a greater understanding of the need to reduce, reuse and recycle, the 3Rs being taught to students. Additionally, waste management sure is expensive! The landfill site was created at a cost of SGD$610 million through the reclamation of two small southern islands, namely Pulau Semakau and Pulau Sakeng.



After the 'construction' of the island was complete, the other infrastructure was put into place. This self-sufficient facility takes in non-incinerable waste from Tuas and is then dumped into cells (as seen in the picture above) in the landfill site. It was refreshing that there was no smell at all on the island, everything was very clean and nice. In fact while we were on our way there by boat and reached the island, we could just close our eyes and imagine that we were going to a beach resort. The place is really very scenic.




The presence of replanted mangroves was also a pleasant sight. Not only were they replanted because the original mangroves had to be removed due to the development of the landfill, they were replanted as these mangroves will serve as biological indicators. What this means is that in the event that leakage might occur from the cells (even though the cells are lined with an impermeable membrane called geo-membrane and clay), the resultant 'pollution' will be shown in the mangroves so rapid action can be done to prevent further environmental damage.


Ok, fun of the field-trip aside, am going to reflect a bit about something. Firstly, the field-trip was a much needed break from the drudgery of written work and classroom teaching. I, like Bananasaviour, was rejuvenated from this field-trip. All field-trips rejuvenate me and my geographical soul. Secondly, I got to know some of my fellow classmates better. From the 'Japanese-tourist' to the 'Stare-queen' to the 'Gangster-loanshark' failure, I found out that they are actually quite a fun bunch to be with.

Thirdly, this deserves a new paragraph since it is un-related to the Semakau trip, I've been reflecting on the longest email I've received from my geog tutor so far. Basically, I'm not too sure what's the problem here. Is there really a problem here in the first place? Views and suggestions were proffered, comments were given, justifications were given, so...where is the beef? I dunno, I might be too dense or maybe too rational/logical to be able to see whether there is any problem in the first place.

I believe our tutor knows best and has already justified his rationale in the way that he has taught the class. That's fine. I believe all of us appreciate his efforts. So.... then what gives?

In my logical brain, I see two ways out. That is IF we actually want to analyse this further.

1. Tutor knows what's best for us. Seriously. Especially with his background and experience. So we leave our student caps on and learn in the manner that has been taught (but maybe throw in more field-trips).

2. Everybody pour out their woes, ideas, suggestions and what not in the next available class and everybody, I mean EVERYBODY must settle whatever grievances they might have.

I rather everything gets sorted out rather than leaving the situation tense and feeling as if a guillotine /giatine/ (that's how u pronounce it - don't have the IPA fonts in my comp so...) is over our heads.

Side-note: Next thursday is my micro-teaching on Industries and factors influencing industrial location. If anybody has any ideas on how to make this more interesting, please throw suggestions at me thanks. Wanna see whether I can experiment something different, but highly unlikely due to my severe lack of imagination.