Our Reflection

As responsible global citizens, we are aware of the environmental degradation that has already crippled the roots of our society and is currently posing one of the largest threats to mankind as we develop and modernize. Especially in the Singaporean society, as we are one of the most globalized and integrated countries worldwide, we are greatly affected by any challenges the world faces, including climate change. Hence, in order to save the Earth and as such save ourselves from the impending threat, it is essential that we manage resources wisely, especially if they’re non-renewable.

Such non-renewable energy sources include fossil fuels, currently internationally well-known for the easy harnessing of energy from them. However, fossil fuels are naturally made on Earth in a process that takes up many thousands of years, and at the rate we are using them, the Earth is never able to replace these sources on time to meet the world’s energy requirements. Therefore, there is a need to conserve such sources, to make sure that they can last for as long as they can, and are not wasted unnecessarily. In our daily life, fossil fuels provide energy to power our home; everyday appliances such as the television, the lighting, the refrigerator, all these require electricity which are generated from fossil fuels. Making sure that such appliances do not unnecessarily consume energy freely will go a long way to ensuring that the fossil fuels needed to generate the energy will not go to waste. Small things such as switching them off immediately after use, or even making full use of the time during which they’re switched on, will contribute a portion, nevertheless how small, towards saving Mother Earth.  Whatever we do has a direct and definite impact on the lifespan of the fossil fuels sources, and as responsible global citizens, we will ensure that they will go to waste through monitoring our daily activities.

However, saving the environment is not an individual’s work. It requires the cooperation of the entire society to combat a problem that encumbers that entire society. Even though the actions of every individual may be relatively insignificant, however when you have an entire mass of people making an effort not to waste electricity, to reduce, reuse and recycle, then you have a very strong argument as to how much the people of Earth are indeed contributing to its survival. Hence, it is important that we must encourage community ownership and participation in building a clean, green, and resource-efficient country. Taking small step such as reminding one’s classmates of useful energy saving tactics that they might have disregarded or even taking the initiative to launch a campaign to promote events like Earth Hour will remind a lot of people about the prudence of conserving energy and may even inspire some people to do the same, essentially starting a chain of influence that will result in the entire society working as one and encouraging one another to make more environmentally responsible choices in the way they live, work, play and commute.

Lastly, one might argue that modernization is a double-edged sword in that even as we develop, more and more amounts of fossil fuels are needed to be used to support the increasingly resource-intensive lifestyle of most people today. However, this can be instead use to our own advantage in that new technology can be developed to overcome our resource constraints. Examples of such are the research in alternative and renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric power and wind energy. We have a personal interest in such areas of science, and as students of NUS High School, we have the optimal resources and ability to launch ourselves into such research, and in doing so we can better gain knowledge in the area, share them with other similar-minded people and maybe even develop new technology to improve existing alternative energy sources. We hope many of our fellow youth can adopt the same mindset and if need be, we would encourage them. The combination of cooperation, prudence and knowledge will aid our society as it faces the challenge of climate change.