Normally, I don’t travel in organised groups, preferring to plan my own trips, but when my friend Johanna, an adventure guide for YMCA Singapore, invited me along on a tour of Mongolia I jumped at the opportunity. I became a part of a group of Singaporeans keen to discover more about this captivating adventure destination, bordered by China and Russia.

Arrival in Ulaanbaatar
We arrived in the capital Ulaanbaatar’s tiny airport and made our way into the city. The urban planning in the city immediately threw me back to my 1980s childhood in the Soviet Union. The resemblance to the Soviet urban planning and architecture was very eerie – with ugly grey building blocks screaming of cookie cut construction done on the cheap over 30 years ago. To top it off, Mongolians adopted Cyrillic script (also used in Russia) for their language, so for me at least, all the signs were easily readable. Sadly, the gorgeous curvy, ancient Mongolian lettering can rarely be seen.
Mongolia’s landscapes are vast but the population is sparse – a little over three million people are spread across the whole country, with roughly half residing in Ulaanbaatar. Tibetan Buddhism is the predominant religion and there are still many beautiful temples and monasteries that thankfully weren’t destroyed during the Soviet times, when religion was widely suppressed by the communist regime.

Home stays
Our two-week tour included city sights, national parks and home stays with nomads and camel herders. For the first home stay with nomadic Mongolian families, our large group was divided into smaller units and we were taken from the city to the vast steppes. The isolation was astounding – there’s nothing around, not even a single tree. Five of us were assigned to a completely empty traditional yurt or ger: a portable, round tent covered with felt and canvas, with a sturdy roof supported by interior wooden posts. Yurts have been used as a dwelling by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia for thousands of years.
As there’s literally nothing on the ground of the tent, our sleeping pads and warm sleeping bags came in handy! The nights proved chilly, but during the day it was a comfortable 20-25°C. Since there’s not much available wood in the flat, unforested grassland steppes, all cooking is done by fire on the outdoor stove, using dried animal dung that we collected. Since most nomads’ own horses, cows, goats and sheep, the stove fuel is plentiful. The hosting family appeared and spent a couple of hours with us, taking care of the animals and herding them for the night using dogs and motorbikes.
With the help of our guide, we made our own dinner – soup with vegetables and lamb. The Mongolian culinary choices were underwhelming for our group, spoiled by Singapore multicultural cuisines and wide variety of choices. Mongolians consume a lot of meat, while vegetables are quite hard to come by, since most of the land is dry and not suitable for farming. Most vegetables, if you can find any, are imported from China, while packaged snacks, candy, chocolate, cookies and dry goods usually come from Russia.

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Our next stop was a few days in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, a breathtakingly scenic region. We climbed the beautiful Bodgkhan Mountain and spent two days horse riding. None of us had any riding experience, but to our surprise we quickly learnt to guide our horses through the wild terrain, including river crossings! It was a highlight of the trip. We also spent a night in a large ger that we built ourselves with felt and wooden sticks using ancient techniques. I’m not sure I’ll use this skill in the future, but it was certainly entertaining!

Gobi Desert
It took us five days to travel to the Gobi Desert – along the way we visited the famous Flaming Cliffs: red sand formations that glowed and reflected the sunset. They also contain dinosaur bones within their hard-packed structures. When it comes to dinosaur fossils, the Gobi Desert is one of the world’s top sites – three of the most famous dinosaur species have been found here. Dino fans should head to the Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs in Ulaanbaatar, a palaeontology museum offering exhibits of dinosaur fossils, artefacts and educational programs. Travel in the desert was a breeze as there were very few tourists. We were far outnumbered by wild camels – easy to spot from a distance in the sparse terrain. We climbed to the top of Khongoryn Sand Dune, the largest sand dune in the desert. The hike was exhausting and the sand was treacherous – two steps up, one slide down. Up to 12 kilometres wide and 180 kilometres long, the dune rose to a height of around 80 metres. We also saw a very unusual place – Yolyn Am Ice Gorge, where the mountain gorge is so deep the sun never reaches the bottom and even in the hottest part of the summer people can see, touch and walk on ice!

Life as a Camel Herder
We spent some time with a multi-generation family of camel herders in the Gobi, learning their way of life. Their ger had some furniture and decorations, however it was still small and basic. Their proud possessions included an old Soviet radio set from the 1970s (my granny had the exact same one!) and a National Geographic photo book from the 1990s, where the family was featured with stunning photography and stories about their life.
When we arrived, the men were out herding the camels, while the eldest daughter and her younger brother welcomed tourists to the settlement and tended to a few camels. The daughter informed us that women in Mongolia are very important in the family and independent in decision making. We helped her make dinner and learnt how to make dumplings with camel, goat and mutton fillings.
There was no electricity and running water in this settlement, so everything needed to be purchased in a village and transported out to the desert. The way of life is basic, but the people seem content and happy to be free and roam the desert the way they’ve done for thousands of years.

I didn’t know what to expect from this landlocked country, sandwiched between two empires: China in the south and Russia in the north, but our trip was fantastic, and I learnt so much about Mongolia and its people.

Nature notes: Keep flower arrangements unstructured and opt for edible greens where you can, like fresh parsley, herbs and ornamental cabbages. Make it even more enchanting with whimsical quail feathers, little birds’ nests and bursts of colour.
Emerald and jade green shines among the metallic and neutrals of this setting. Decorate with pots of narcissi bulbs, moss covered eggs tied in twine and bunches of fresh herbs. A simple striped tablecloth provides the canvas, and we also propped up a retro bike to add to the laidback mood.
Let seasonal produce steer your colour palate from there. Although citrus accents pop our picnic, deep purple makes a striking statement, along with dashes of radish red and rich orange, reminiscent of an informal cottage garden.
Yellow notes are continued across the table using fruit, tableware, ribbon and other accessories. Green glasses and assorted plates complement the overall look.

Where to shop:
– Spotlight for paper straws, napkins, artificial moss and Peter Rabbit spotlightstores.com/sg
– Terracotta or plastic garden pots from Hawaii Landscape, 559 Thomson Road
Melamine tableware from Binlin, 17 Temple Street Chinatown binlin.com.sg
– Teacups by Royal Doulton
– Fresh hormone and antibiotic free poultry supplied by The Fishwives, Cluny Court thefishwives.com

The menu:
An icy cold ginger and turmeric lemonade is refreshingly exotic on a hot spring day, plus it has wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. A touch of The Source gin with its lemon, orange and coriander notes is a great combination, for those wanting a little more zing! For the kids, you can never go wrong with fresh strawberry lemonade.
If you’re hosting a crowd, rather than a formal table setting, allow guests to move around and mingle. Keep the menu simple with homemade sandwiches, enchanting cupcakes and healthy crudités. Here I’ve made chicken rolls with a hint of mint and lemon zest, and tried and true egg and chive sandwiches. Lamington fairy cakes and lemon coconut muffins are an excellent end to the day.

Lamington Fairy Cakes

Ingredients
180g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
115g butter, room temperature
200g castor sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
120g milk

Method
Whip butter until fluffy, then add sugar until creamy. Add eggs, then baking powder. Alternate flour and milk and mix for about 45 seconds. Fill cupcake pans and bake for 18 minutes at 180 degrees.

Icing
150g icing sugar
15g cocoa
17g butter
60g milk
100g desiccated coconut

Method
Warm milk and butter until butter is melted, then add sugar and cocoa and mix well. Place in a flat bowl and add coconut to another. One at a time, dip the cupcake in the icing and then the coconut. Top with whipped cream rosette.

Ginger Tumeric Lemonade: Bring to the boil 2 cups of water with 1cm piece yellow ginger and turmeric, plus 3 x 8cm stalks of lemongrass. When cool, add 1 ½ tablespoons of raw honey, 2 more cups of water and 1 cup of lemon juice. Add a sprinkle of black pepper or chilli flakes. Serve over large ice cubes with a lemongrass stalk.

Pulau Hantu
A few kilometres south-west of Sentosa Island, Pulau Hantu comprises two islets with a surrounding reef. The area has an abundance of hard and soft corals, and local marine life including clown anemone fish, anemone shrimps, giant clams and a wide variety of nudibranchs. Bamboo sharks are also spotted and divers are encouraged to report sightings to the Coastal Marine Ecology and Sustainability Laboratory (cmesl.org/sharks), where a team from Singapore’s James Cook University is studying the biology and ecology of this species.
Debby Ng started an online blog, The Hantu Bloggers (pulauhantu.sg) in 2003, to showcase the diversity of marine life. This developed into a non-profit volunteer dive organisation, raising awareness and inspiring action to protect Singapore’s biologically diverse reefs.Funds are raised through public guided dives of the reef. Group members also undertake educational talks and assist researchers and local authorities such as the Maritime Port Authority.
An important part of the Hantu Blog’s work is education. “Part of our work is to help people realise why it’s meaningful for an urban country like Singapore to understand and develop our coastal areas in a sustainable way,” says Debby.
The Hantu reef also hosts a vulnerable population of tigertail seahorses, who play a significant role in the marine ecosystem. Divers and snorkellers can report sightings through the global initiative Project Seahorse at iseahorse.org.
Hantu Blog members’ frequent visits to the reef mean they can monitor changes in the area. Divers noticed a significant amount of construction debris around the reef and reported this to the Maritime Port Authority, who sent out a surveyor team. A salvage operation was planned, and members of the dive group took the engineers out to the reef to help crane out the debris, which included paint cans, paint rollers, and boxes of nails. “Because we’re at the reef regularly, we could narrow down the time window to when the debris likely appeared,” says Debby. “This helped the Maritime Port Authority track down the responsible party.”

Sisters’ Islands
The waters around the Sisters’ Islands, south of Sentosa, were designated Singapore’s first ever marine park in 2015.
“This was a very important step for marine conservation in Singapore,” says Debby. “National Parks engaged all marine users in the process, to provide them with reef awareness. People were used to going wherever they wanted, but these new laws now govern how they interact with the reef.”
The Marine Park protects coral reefs, inhabited by rare and endangered species of seahorses, clams, fish and other marine life. It’s also home to Singapore’s first turtle hatchery, providing a favourable environment for baby turtles to incubate, hatch safely and make it out to sea. Despite the busy waterways around Singapore, the coast is home to several species of turtles, including Hawksbill and Green turtles. The hatchery aims to increase the survival rate of turtle babies through technology, research and community involvement.
Late in 2018, as part of the National Park Board’s ‘Grow a Reef Garden’ project, an artificial reef structure was sunk within the Marine Park. The project will add additional reefs to the area, to support and enhance the existing habitat.
For visitors to the Sisters’ Islands, National Parks provides regular guided coastal walks, and an underwater self-guided dive trail for divers and snorkellers. (nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves/sisters-islands-marine-park).

Pulau Ubin
Ria Tan, founder of the website Wild Singapore (wildsingapore.com), and co-author of a book of the same name, has been working in conservation in Singapore for nearly 20 years. She was one of the founding members of the Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M) initiative, formed by a group of people passionate about restoring the mangrove habitat on Pulau Ubin. “These mangroves provide a vital habitat for wildlife and aquatic life,” says Ria.
The project involved monitoring the mangroves of Pulau Ubin, regular site clean-ups, undertaking biodiversity surveys and mapping surveys with researchers, and holding guided mangrove walks to educate Pulau Ubin visitors about this important habitat.
Pulau Ubin hosts one of Singapore’s richest ecosystems, the Chek Jawa intertidal flat. The area also has mangroves, a seagrass lagoon, rock pools, and a sandbar, providing homes for rare plants and animals. Local conservation group the Naked Hermit Crabs (nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.sg) conducts guided tours of the Chek Jawa area, raising awareness of the importance of the ecosystem and the hermit crabs that call it home. Chek Jawa’s seagrass beds, home to Hawksbill turtles, seahorses and other species, are the subject of ongoing monitoring by Team Seagrass (teamseagrass.blogspot.com). This volunteer group has been monitoring the seagrasses on Singapore’s shores since 2007. Changes in seagrass health can impact marine biodiversity, and often act as an early warning of impacts from coastal development, pollution and climate change. Team Seagrass submits their data to National Parks, and to Seagrass-Watch, a global seagrass monitoring project. Volunteers from Team Seagrass conduct guided tours of some of Singapore’s seagrass beds and the group is always looking for more volunteers. “It’s a great opportunity for ordinary people to experience some of our best seagrass meadows and contribute to scientific monitoring of them,” says Ria.

GEMS World Academy (Singapore)

“Our school has implemented a series of initiatives that aim to reduce its environmental footprint and encourage our students to be more aware of the environment and make a difference in our local and overseas communities, so that we have a sustainable planet to share,” says Sebastien Barnard, Head of Admissions and Marketing.

How green is your school?
We are an environmentally responsible campus. A great significance has also been placed on the reduction of energy consumption through campus design measures – such as reducing the amount of air conditioned spaces with natural ventilation and shade and providing more natural light to cut back on artificial lighting.

What are your students doing?
Our students are really pushing the environmental and recycling projects at GEMS. They’re tracking their plastic consumption at home and at school and trying to come up with innovative solutions on reducing single-use plastic and using water wisely. Our students also organise monthly environmental events, such as beach clean-ups.

How do you recycle?
Recycling bins have been placed throughout the campus and GEMS educators always look for new innovative ideas to reduce our negative impact on the environment. They recycle, re-purpose and sometimes even create art and design pieces from waste. We’ve turned carton boxes into stage backdrops, pop tabs into bags, wooden cable holders into tables, and old magazines into art. Our new Design Centre has been equipped with smart recycling facilities to raise awareness of plastic pollution, resource management and our responsibility to recycle and protect our environment.

What yearly environmental programs do you have?
Each year at GEMS students are invited to participate in a ‘Week-Without-Walls’ experience, designed to offer opportunities outside of the classroom. Last year, our students travelled to South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. They worked alongside the local community in a range of sustainability activities and had the opportunity to participate in other local service projects and cultural activities. We also teach valuable lessons about pollution in the ocean by using our Olympic-size swimming pool as a plastic dump before a big swim-a-thon. This provocation activity helps our students to think about how we share finite resources with other people and living things.

What other student-led initiatives do you have?
Recently our students organised an art installation, Way to the Water, to raise awareness and funds for those in need of clean water. All the funds have been donated to organisations such as UNICEF and Water for South Sudan.

Australian International School (AIS)

“Green is a very popular colour at the Australian International School,” says Jennifer Burgess – Senior Communications Manager. “Not only does it feature on the logo and uniform, but increasingly it is being referenced in the classrooms, playgrounds and boardrooms, as the school focuses on how it can become greener or environmentally focused.”

tudent-led straw ban
Zoey, a Year 5 AIS Student, was inspired by her teacher’s messages about the harmful impact of plastic on the environment. Her goal was to convince the school canteen to stop providing plastic straws with drink purchases. After researching the detrimental impact of straws online, she shared this information with her friends, who joined the quest. Together they spoke at school assemblies and collaborated with the canteen providers for AIS – Chartwells – to eliminate straws. The initiative was successfully introduced and implemented at the school. Zoey and her friends, Abbey and Jasmine are now continuing their campaign by focusing on alternatives to boxed drinks with attached straws.

Solar stars
In 2018, AIS installed 330 rooftop solar panels at its campus in Lorong Chuan, with an additional 1385 panels to be installed later this year. When complete, the panels will generate about 704 MWh of solar electricity yearly, which will be fully available on the open energy market. The project is estimated to offset about 303 metric tons of carbon.
AIS also intend to develop a new program to educate students about green energy. As part of this program, the school hopes to display a live-feed dashboard that tracks the energy produced by the solar panels, which will support its continued commitment to raising awareness about clean energy. “We are extremely happy to be making these efforts towards developing a green and sustainable campus, while empowering students to play an active role in tackling real-world environmental issues”, says Mr Andre Casson, Head of School.
Green building initiatives were used at The Early Learning Village, including a rainwater harvesting system which is used for irrigation. Water conservation was a focus when selecting water taps and toilets and there are motion light sensors in all the rooms, so lights turn off when the rooms aren’t in use. The building management system also automatically manages the temperature within the rooms, based on usage.
Combined with the green walls on the exterior of the building, which cool the building down naturally, the Early Learning Village is a masterclass in green design which is why it also holds a Greenmark certification.

Canadian International School (CIS)

“We are a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Silver Flag Eco School and have prioritised sustainability in our newest strategic plan,” says Michael Broadhead, CIS teacher and Lakeside campus sustainability lead. “We now have a carbon neutral electricity supplier and we’re working on encouraging more zero waste, plant-based, carbon positive initiatives. These living habits are key to a sustainable future.”

What recycling do you have?
We have paper recycling in every classroom, and plastics and metal collection points in different areas of the school. Our design department is constantly finding ways to reuse materials for student projects.

What green spaces do you have?
Our Outdoor Discovery Garden is a beautiful green space for our primary students to interact with nature. We also have a rooftop garden for secondary students to develop their green thumbs.

How do you educate students?
The environment and sustainability is incorporated and taught in many parts of our curriculum. In the IB Diploma Programme (DP) we offer Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) as a course.

What yearly environmental programs do you have?
Each year our secondary school students participate in Excursion Week, taking part in environmental projects around Asia. We’ve helped with mangrove planting, building safe water gardens, coral planting and more. Our Biology and ESS diploma program students also do a week of on-site learning in Malaysia, collecting scientific data for their coursework. In our primary school, we have Open Minds, hands on outdoor learning experiences in settings such as Fort Canning, Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve and the Eco Garden at the Science Centre.

How does the school deal with food waste?
Our canteen and plate food waste is collected for a co-digestion energy project with the NEA. Volunteer students have set up composting bins in certain areas of the school to collect waste from snacks.

How do you reduce plastic and waste?
Our food has always been served on reusables. Straws and sandwich boxes were phased out in January and we’ll be phasing out disposable cups by April. Our goal as a school is to be zero waste in the future.

Note: Questions relate to CIS Lakeside campus only

Local schools are also making strides in green initiatives, check out the
School Green Awards run by the Singapore Environment Council for more info. sec.org.sg/sga/

What is EarthFest?
EarthFest (earthfestsingapore.com) was first held in 2015. It was started by a passionate Canadian teacher called Michael Broadhead to celebrate and promote all forms of sustainability in Singapore. It’s now a yearly festival. The festival spans food, waste, energy and other aspects of sustainability, and brings together a diverse group of small businesses, documentary filmmakers, international schools, environmental groups, large companies, Singapore government agencies, public educators, musicians, and others. The festival has grown dramatically over the years, with the 2019 instalment in January drawing thousands of visitors to Marina Barrage.

What makes the event so special?
EarthFest is entirely waste-free. Food and drink stalls encourage visitors to bring their own reusable cutlery or they are given biodegradable cutlery which can be composted after use. All food served is entirely plant-based, including ice-cream, cakes, pasta, burgers, satay and a lot more – though you wouldn’t know they were plant-based if simply presented with a plateful.

How important is plant-based food?
Plant-based food is a core underpinning of environmental strategies the world over now, with respected institutions highlighting the dramatic impact that the livestock industry has on the environment. Recent research shows plant-based diets could reduce emissions by 73% and that we would require 76% less farmland – land that could be used for other purposes or to reverse wild habitat loss. A piece published in the Financial Times states: “about a quarter of greenhouse gases attributable to human activity come from intensive farming” – which is even more than industry and transportation! This was all a surprise to me. I felt it would be irresponsible for me to not do my bit. It was then easy for me to support an event like EarthFest and other initiatives, helping to contribute to a change in our environmental impact in every way from our food choices, energy use and waste.

What is your current role with EarthFest?
After volunteering with EarthFest for a couple of years I agreed to join the board of the organisation, Centre for a Responsible Future (CRF), which oversees the festival and many other programs. The CRF professional staff and volunteers are truly dedicated to the cause of long-term sustainability and are well-informed and fact-based in their work. They’ve created real impact in a relatively short few years and relying on a tiny budget. For my part, CRF asked me to consider joining their governing board because they recognised the need to further professionalise and systematise their operations, which is something that I may be able to help with given my involvement with several corporate boards and fast-growing companies.

Why is working in an environmental area important to you personally?
Our stewardship of the environment is our legacy to future generations; anything we do now will reflect squarely on us in future history books.

What is your day job and other passions?
I’m also passionate about cycling and I run Tin Men Capital (tinmen.asia) a South-East Asian venture capital firm I co-founded with two partners.

What other programmes does CRF run?
Another programme is called the Alliance for a Responsible Future, (arf.org.sg) which engages businesses and policy-makers towards a plant-based future. The ARF is the organiser of the Disruption in Food & Sustainability Summit which brings together government policymakers, large businesses, researchers, hotels, start-ups, hospitals and many other industry participants to raise awareness and foster growth in the plant-based, clean meat and sustainable space.

What events do have planned?
EarthFest is expanding to run several smaller events throughout the year, in addition to the big annual festival. We now have staff working full-time on this. In addition, CRF organises several other events, ranging from small talks at schools to beach clean-ups and many more. Keep an eye on our website!

How can people get involved?
We always welcome more volunteers and donors. Details on how people and companies can contact CRF are available at crf.org.sg/donate

How can people strive for Zero Waste in Singapore?
It is almost a cliché now but the best advice I have to offer is “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. Most people who hear this only internalise the recycle bit of that advice, whereas reduction of one’s consumption habits and reusing things we already have can have much higher benefits towards waste reduction.

Murli’s Easy Green Tips
– Consume less animal products. Even as little as a day or two every week makes a difference. You’ll see health benefits too!
– Cut down aircon usage or turn up the thermostat by a couple of degrees. I’ve found that using a ceiling fan instead of the aircon in my bedroom has helped me wake up much more easily in the morning and I almost never have a stuffy nose.
– Use dimmers for your light bulbs and lower the brightness of your TV, laptop and cell phone screens at night. This also wonderfully improves sleep quality.