Hantu Blog at Singapore American School

November 30, 2008

On Tuesday, The Hantu Blog had the pleasure of being invited by Singapore American School (SAS) teacher and PADI Instructor, Jim Diebley, to give a talk about marine conservation and the biodiversity of local waters.

Diebley learnt about our talk “Southern Haunt” (developed to commemorate the IYOR) when his student and Hantu Blog diver Lisa Paggeot, who joined the Blog for 2 of our dives this year, recommended we share some local knowledge of our reef with the staff and students of SAS.

I had the priviledge of being introduced before my talk by the precocious and enthusiastic 14 year-old Lisa, who has logged over 100 dives across 4 countries! Lisa, who’s contributed images of nudibranchs to Neville Coleman’s book 1001 Nudibranchs, has ambitions of becoming a nudibranch taxonomist when she grows up – a very specific career choice for most students her age! With her energy, experience, and enthusiasim, Lisa and her father Bruce have been working on the possibility of developing a tv series for the young diver to document her advantures and communicate her love for the ocean.

Members of the audience commented that despite being in Singapore for over a decade, they’d never heard talks about diving at Pulau Hantu and the diversity of Singapore’s marine life. We also discussed briefly about the future of Singapore’s reef – if it’s future is secured by existing policies or if more effort is needed by both grassroots and government organisations to safeguard it’s future. Diebley, who’s been working in Singapore for several decades indicated that is it important Sinagpore finds a means to preserve its historical and natural heritage by heightening the access and recognition of people and places of value to Singaporeans and its expat community.

More about Lisa Paggeot

Email us at hantublog @ gmail.com if you’d like us to give a talk to your school, office or club.

Posted in Events, Seminars