Hello friends, it’s been a while since I last posted here and I hope everyone’s doing awesome.
Today, I’ld like to share with you an email that my friend Chia Chia wrote in reflection of a work-trip to Shanghai that we had. Reproduced with her kind permission, this is a reminder to myself of what I can do for this planet of ours.
A bit about Chia Chia – she is a full-time volunteer at a Singapore-based non-profit organisation called Ground-Up Initiative. Here’s how they describe themeselves.
About Ground-Up Initiative (GUI)
GUI is a community-based and volunteer-driven non-profit organisation that brings together people who value reconnecting with and nurturing the land. Since April 2009, we have progressively built a Sustainable Living Kampung (SL Kampung), based at Bottle Tree Park, Yishun, where we promote environmental awareness and responsible practices by encouraging more people to come together to work, learn, play and in the process, care for humanity and the earth. SL Kampung is open to the public. To find out more about us, do check out our website at http://groundupinitiative.org/ or visit our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groundupinitiative
Read on my friends. Cheers!
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of Detached Cities & the need for EARTH CARE, PEOPLE CARE & FAIR SHARE
One of my biggest takeaway from this exchange is to hear from the locals, and one of my aki friend who has been working in Shanghai, their thoughts on how Shanghai is developing. Quite disturbing but it rings true of our cities is that people are increasingly feeling detached from the very city they build…feelings of angst..helplessness. My friend told me “i know of the problems, but there’s nothing i can do.”
Seeing this strengthens my belief that we have to rethink our track of development. The urgency of this cannot be ignored. We do have opportunities and are in a good position to influence the people we work with, the clients we work for, the materials we use, even our own families and friends etc.
“Work” is taking up a majority of our modern lives now…and it is easy to get pigeon-holed into our lives as “professionals”…Architects, Engineers, Developers etc. A common grouse i hear from my friends is “life is tough…”. When they hear of what I’m doing in Ground-Up Initiative, the common response is that “Wow! U’ve earned enough to go into retirement?!” or “Why are you giving up Architecture?”.
Even on this Shanghai trip, i’ve been asked the same questions. To me, i’m simply living my life…responsibly. To have deep consciousness and gratitude…to share and care for people and the very Earth that supports us all.
We are blessed in many ways… there are many people in our societies who do not have the opportunities and options like we do. How then do we pull our skills and resources together to create positive change? to have sustainable development not at the expense of the less privileged, not at the expense of environmental degregation?
of HARDware Vs HEARTware : the strange case of Sanitarywares vs Funny Bunnies / Fan Bing Bing Syndrome
We are lacking not in Hardware, but in Heartware.
a simplistic example will be how we’re talking more about the “funny bunnies” than the sanitary products we see at the Expo during our Shanghai trip…the stampede of people rushing to see Fan Bing Bing rather than the latest brands of bath wares. The social connections are what engages & draws people together.
What we build plays a big part in this “supply & demand chain”, currently driven more by Wants than by Needs. It is disturbing to know of what drives our Youths today…How Youths are willing to sacrifice their sense of smell for technology (see attached report “Truth About Youth”) and how a Chinese teen is selling his Kidney for an iPad2!
If this is the future we’re headed for, a society of Wants…all talks on sustainable technologies, environmental conservation will be feeble attempts to slow our paths to self destruction.
If i were to redefine Architecture, I’d like to see myself as being an “architect of life”, it is not only about the buildings or landscapes we design…it is also about building relationships with the people we work with, the people we’re designing for and the greater Earth that we all share..
To Connect and to Heal our environments and the people around us.
It is not a lofty aspiration, everyone of us Can do it. It is only a matter of making the choice.
to Live, to Green and to Give
we need to redefine “Progress” and it take everyone’s effort to make the shift in perspectives.
Only when perspectives & attitudes change will we see a shift towards a model for sustainable development. Redefining economies, our built environment and our landscapes. Here’s to share a ted talk link about the “Happy Planet Index”. Ultimately, are we not seeking happiness in our lives? To be able to Receive and to Give is a blessing…
http://www.ted.com/talks/nic_marks_the_happy_planet_index.html
…of Dreams & Possibilities
i do dream of a better world…to turn dreams to realities takes time & effort
If you’ve managed to read this far into my email and find that things resonates, lets come together to explore the possibilities ahead.
I will be travelling in Europe from 06-25.June and may not be checking on my mails regularly. But do write and we can link up when i’m back.
That said, you guys are always welcomed to come by our SL Kampung and get to know the many interesting & sincere people who are part of this movement. From engineers, to accountants, social workers, psychologist, artists, graphic designers, chefs, students, teachers, neighbourhood aunties and uncles, young & old…
For those of you who came before, i’d like to emphasis that it is not just about urban farming per say. Urban farming is a platform and a starting point for us to reconnect with Nature and People. It is the building up a community that supports one another that is the key.
it is not about Ground-Up Initiative as an organisation…but Ground-Up Initiative as a Movement to inspire positive change, first in ourselves and then our Brave New World…
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