Kwekings

… to be a conservation biologist in 2010, pay was (certainly) not a key factor. The mindsets of government funding that research must bring tangible economic benefits, the restrictions that such funding must be for Singapore projects only, and pressure on us not to reveal any inconvenient findings, were. The disruptions to your study sites, when the government claims to want you to study the biodiversity of certain places but they are already beginning to bulldoze them before you have even begun, were also important considerations. I had some ground to believe that the complete lack of meaningful biodiversity conservation laws would drastically change one day even as we point out the hypocrisy of Singapore’s actions in pretending to be a “green” city. So it is with more recent wayang shows. If the balance is tilted in the future, it would make it harder for anyone considering a career in ecology in Singapore.

-Anonymous