Volunteering at SOSD Shelter

 

I have spent most of my weekends’ morning volunteering at SOSD shelter for the past 2.5 years. Volunteers play a huge role in maintaining the shelter. Volunteers also provide training for dogs to make them more adoptable. Every week, volunteers will be assigned to one or two dogs by the in-charge.

 

 

This is Katsu, my first regular dog. I attended pack walks with him since she was a puppy until she was adopted.

 

 

 

 

We would reach the shelter by 9 am and we will begin our briefing for the day.

Briefing before pack walk

After briefing, we would then proceed with the pack walk – walking together as a pack. The aim of pack walk is to promote cohesion between the dogs by letting them know that they are a pack. In addition, it drains their pent up energy, keeps them calm and train them mentally. It is important because it makes them more “attractable” for people to adopt. However, walking the dog properly requires technique. It requires volunteer to lead the dog and be calm. If the volunteer does not keep calm, the dog can feel it and will eventually get too excited which will cause them to tug or pull the volunteer while walking.

We would often walk to dog run (a free roaming area) or to wetlands before heading back to shelter. One walk usually last about an hour.

Walking together as a pack!

 

Sometimes if the weather is good, we get to walk to the beach with the dogs too.

This is Smartie, enjoying his time at the beach!

Throughout the pack walk, volunteers will usually use the interval breaks to interact with the dogs.

Bambi giving Hi-5 in order to get her treats!

                   Nadia enjoying her rubs around her neck

 

Not all dogs in shelter are friendly to every volunteer at first encounter. Some of them require more time for them to trust me before I was able to get close to them.

This is Pocky. She has food aggression due to her past experience. She gets uncomfortable with strangers and might bite. It took me some time to bond with her and now she wags her tail happily whenever she sees me !

This is Lita. When she was first rescued, she was uncomfortable with people. Now she love it when people shower her with hugs and kisses.

 

From time to time, SOSD shelter rescue puppies too. At this stage, it is crucial that proper training and discipline is provided. It is the time where they are more susceptible to learning their boundaries. It is also the time when they learn to interact with humans properly, so we have puppy’s socialization session when we get to meet cute puppies!

Primey, the fluffy puppy! He is Lita’s son.

Surrounded by affectionate puppies!

 

At SOSD, it is not all about the dogs. I made friends with people of similar interest too.

Celebrating our shelter’s helper birthday .

The whole purpose of this post is to spread awareness about animal welfare organization. SOSD shelter is one out of the many organizations. Volunteering at SOSD during my free time makes it more meaningful. I hope with this post, I can let others know what volunteers do at animal shelter. Even though we cannot provide a home for them, we can help them to find a home that belongs to them.

My role in SOSD shelter is only weekly pack walk volunteer which requires commitment. They have roles that are event-based which does not require much commitment. Furthermore, they have bi-weekly tour where volunteers will bring you around the shelter. If you are interested, do visit this website www.sosd.org.sg for more information!

 

 

 

Reader Response (Final)

In the article “Why Climate Fight Needs Engineers, Shah (2014) reported that professional engineers are in demand for innovation of sustainable engineering solution. The author highlighted that rapid urbanization together with climate changes is pushing Singapore to transit into a sustainable urban and economic system. Khew, Deputy President of Institution of Engineers, stated that the main areas where engineering plays a part are “Clean environment and water resources; sustainable development and infrastructure; sustainable energy; and resilience and adaptation to climate change.” Kuttan, Director and Country Manager of the Clean Technology Centre, DNV GL, also explained that in order to solve the challenges, it would require outstanding engineers with great understanding and innovation. While I agree with the author that engineers have a crucial role, I feel that the article lacks elaboration on the factors that engineers have to take into consideration and the difficulties they face while addressing challenges related to climate change.

Studies from Engineering the Future (2011) showed that extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods and earthquakes are happening more frequently around the world. Engineers have to take these effects produced by climate change into consideration when addressing the challenges. However, Warry and Mair (2010) expressed their views that the effects resulting from climate change may not be simple to predict as they are constantly happening with higher intensity. Engineers will have to depend on probability to predict the effects and propose solutions that are more adaptable. It could be risky if predictions are not accurate, which will result in implementing solutions that are not effective in addressing the challenges. Furthermore, Li (2015) reported that high carbon emission is one of the main factors that results in drastic climate change. As a result, engineers will need to innovate solutions that reduce carbon emission but adaptable and efficient.

Lapp (2005) reported that the solutions from engineers not only need to be acceptable in terms of technology, they also need to have acceptance from the public in order for the solutions to be implemented successfully. The solutions would need to take public safety, health and welfare into consideration. With the increase in recurrences of extreme weather events, the frequency of the need of maintenance for technologies and infrastructures will increase. As maintenance can be costly, many investors are not willing to pay extra unless the amount can be recovered from the profit (Warry and Mair, 2010). Lapp (2005) also added that proposed solutions would also require government support. According to Engineering the Future (2011), Lord Browne, President of The Royal Academy of Engineering, also agreed that the proposed solutions would require governments’ support such as implementing policies or schemes to encourage investments. Furthermore, government can also aid in promoting acceptance from public by educating the public on the importance of the scheme and policies

In conclusion, I agree with Shah (2015)’s article on the crucial role that engineers have in addressing challenges posed by climate change. However, their role is not easy as they have to innovate solutions that has to take many factors into consideration and have public, government and investor acceptance.

(514 words)

References 

Chua, J. (2015). Engineering plays crucial role in climate change. Eco-Business. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/news/engineering-plays-crucial-role-in-climate-change/

Engineering the Future. (2011). Infrastructure, Engineering and Climate Change Adaptation – ensuring services in an uncertain future. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183536/infrastructure-rae-report.pdf

Lapp, D. (2005) Engineers and Climate Change: What you need to know. Engineering Dimensions, 51-53. Retrieved from http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/20669/la_id/1.htm

Li, M. (2015). Engineers have a role to play in minimizing climate change. [weblog]. Retrieved from http://blogs.aecom.com/engineers-have-a-role-to-play-in-minimizing-climate-change/

Mair, R., & Warry, P. (2010). Opinion: Infrastructure engineering and climate change adaptation. Ingenia, (45), 11. Retrieved from http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/issues/issue45/issue45_opinion.pdf

 

Technical Report – Executive Summary

In recent years, there are cases of slip and fall incidents happening at lift lobbies and sheltered pathway at Housing Development Board (HDB) estates. As 80% of the population in Singapore live in HDB flats, safety of the residents should be the main priority. The team will be looking into addressing the issue by ensuring flooring quality standards to meet the minimum requirements. In this proposal, background on HDB flats in Singapore, and the purpose of identifying the problem in the facilities will be provided. Additional research, in terms of primary and secondary, will be included in reference to the issue of flooring quality. Through the research, current implementations will be analysed to present the pros and cons. The final proposed solution has been determined and will be discussed by taking into consideration its costs incurred, feasibility, and durability.

Technical Report – Personal Statement

As a student studying Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services) at SIT, I understand that a building not only has to be green, it must also be safe for users and residents. As the majority of Singaporeans reside at HDB, it is very important to constantly maintain the safety features of the HDB estate. I hope with our solutions implemented, we can address the issue of slippery floor surface at lift lobbies and sheltered pathways to provide a safe and quality environment.

Technical Report – Transmittal Letter

30 October, 2015

Mr Brad Blackstone
Senior Lecturer
Singapore Institute of Technology
SIT @ Dover
10 Dover Drive
Singapore 138683

Dear Mr. Blackstone

Proposal for improving the quality of flooring at Singapore’s Public Housing Estates

This letter is to inform you of our acknowledgement and response to your letter of authorization. We would like to present to you our following proposal to enhance the quality of flooring at the public housing flats in Singapore and taking the residents’ safety into consideration.

In recent years, cases of slip and fall incidents have been happening at areas like lift lobbies and sheltered pathways. The victims of the cases have experienced injuries ranging from minor ones like bruises, to major ones with fractured arms or legs. This is a concern for most residents as they have to walk past these common areas every day, and it is necessary for measures to be put in place to reduce the rate of accident cases.

In order to ensure the residents’ safety and mitigate the problem of slippery floorings, our team is proposing two solutions. The first solution is to have the application of the anti-slip chemical treatment, and the second solution will be the implementation of flooring standards which is currently used by U.K. Both solutions will work in a holistically manner to improve the flooring surface quality. Through our proposed solution, we hope to give the residents a sense of security when accessing the common areas, putting their safety as our priority.

The team would like to thank you for taking the time to read through our proposal. We hope that you will consider our proposed multiple solutions to allow the Housing Development Board (HDB) and us to take a step closer towards responding to the residents’ needs, providing them the best quality of living in Singapore.

Yours Sincerely,
Joey Cheng Yi Zhen
Team Leader
On Behalf of Team Joper

The Role of Peer and Tutor Feedback – Critical Reflection

I always believe that communication is an important aspect in our daily lives. Throughout my education journey, I have attended several workshops and modules that have similar objectives as “Effective Communication, SIE2016” module.  The only thing that SIE 2016 is different from the others is the active involvement of peer and tutor feedback.

In SIE 2016, we are required to give feedbacks to our peers for every task we were given. I personally feel that peer feedback has enhance my learning in this module. When I am supposed to evaluate my peers’ task, I would be able to identify the mistakes or flaws and understand better what was expected for the task. Just like during the oral presentation when I was the audience for my classmates’ presentation, I began to understand the need for eye contact and loud projection of voice in order to capture audience attention. When it was my turn to receive feedbacks from peers, I received some feedback that differs from tutor’s view. Although not all the peers’ feedback were accurate and detailed, I was able to see in a different perspective from the different feedbacks. This have taught me to broaden my views on each task and look at the task from different perspective.

On the other hand, tutor feedback is detailed and reliable. Although I may be be over reliant on tutor feedback for improvements, I still feel that tutor’s feedback is very important as the feedbacks given are often critical and allow me to have a gauge on how well I am doing. In addition, the feedbacks would point out where and show further improvements could be made.

All in all, the involvement of peer and tutor feedback method have helped to enhanced my learning experience in SIE 2016. Even though I have attended many similar modules, I feel that SIE 2016 was most effective. In future assignments and modules, I will try to use this method by arranging group consultation and study sessions to get the best learning experience out of it.

Something that influence my life

Something that influence my life: Animals.

They are the ones that shaped the values I live by.

I grew up surrounding by animals.From having my first cat at five years old till having 20 of them now. Together with the cats, I have two additional cheeky dogs at home.

My two cheeky dogs ! Chester on the left and Momo on the right .

Chester was adopted from a shelter.

 

Momo was abandoned by her owner as she was no longer cute, so my family decided to adopt her .

This is Lane , one out of the many cats I have.

Because of my love for animals, I aspire to be a vet since young. I want to be one who is able to cure the sufferings or pain from the ones who could not speak out.  Thus during my poly days, I studied veterinary Bioscience. However after graduation, I came to realize that the journey to a vet career is costly. My family could not afford it so I gave up the slot that a university offered to me.

Following my passion, I volunteered at a shelter -SOSD every weekends and do re-homing.  That was when I learnt so much values in life. Many of the dogs in the shelter been through much hardships.

One of the recent rescues by SOSD.

Some of them was abused before, confined,  abandoned to strive on their own when they was domesticated. Yet, they never gave up in life. Every time when volunteers visit them, they are always so wagging their tails like it was the happiest moment of their life. Just a little kindness from us was something important to them. I believe that this not only apply to animals, but even for people too. Little kindness action will bright up someone’s day or even change their life.

Xiang Xiang, the bubbly dog that is always so happy.

Just like how when I help to re-home abandoned helpless kittens and cats. There are so many screenings to be done to ensure that the home is suitable. It is a tedious process but the efforts put in will find them a place where they truly call home. I realize that what I did may not have change anything in the world, but I know I have changed their entire world.

(Left : When Orllie was first rescued )                 (Right: Orllie at new home)

Orllie was a kitten that was found in the drain. My family brought him home and fostered him while looking for adopter. He was eventually adopted and is now very happy at his new home!

Other than weekly volunteering, I took up the role of SOS rescue team at SOSD. The SOS rescue team main role is to help stray dogs that are in need. We have a hotline and email address that public members can contact us to inform us about any dogs in distress.

At that point of time, I was working full time while handling the rescue team on a volunteering basis. The role was not easy. On most days, I see the ugly side of humanity. I get nasty calls threatening us to save stray dogs at the area before authority comes and cull them because they do not like to see them in their living area. Owners giving up their dogs just because they are no long cute and cuddly.

This is Migo, one of my first rescues. He was infested with ticks due to negligence of his owner. Eventually the owner wanted to euthanize him as they did not want to care for him any more.

SOSD shelter took him in and provided him the medical attention that was required. He is now officially adopted and has a place he calls home!

 

Authority would give us a list of dogs with their pictures, asking us which to one we would like to save. Most of the time, the shelter is often filled to the brim, so we could only offer to save a few usually. As for the rest which we or other animal welfare organization did not have a chance to save, they will be euthanized.  I hated the fact that we were the one that decides their fate. These strays did not have a chance to even try to survive on their own. These strays use to roam around forest and field. But the lands were cleared to building house estates for people eventually. They ended up with nowhere to go and eventually began roam into housing estates in search for shelter.

These incidents taught me to be more tolerant to each other difference. Sometimes you may not know if the other party is having a hard time which they did not say. Sometimes the other party may have grew up in an difficult environment which resulted in what they did.

 

 This is Fraser, one of the dogs that was lucky to escape the fate of euthanasia. He was taken by authorities as he reported as an aggressive dog. When we met him, he was actually one of the tamest  and friendliest dog ! He is still looking for a home.

When I think back, I am really glad that I am brought up in a house with animals. This is because they taught how me how to be a better person and play a part in shaping who I am now.

[updated on 3/12/15]

Oral presentation reflection

Since young, presentation was never my forte. No matter how well-prepared I was, I would always stumble upon my own words. During my polytechnic days, my role in my Co-curriculum activity(CCA) often requires me to lead and give instructions to a large group of people. The role have helped to boost my confidence when speaking to a group of people and trained me to speak loudly and clearly in order to capture the audience attention.

During my presentation on last Thursday(5 Nov 15), I am glad that I was able use my past experience when I was presenting. In addition, I was able to continue speaking by thinking on foot even though I actually had forgotten my script. However, I feel that I still have a lot of room for improvements.

Firstly, peers reviewed that at certain point of time, I looked like I was trying to recall my script when my eyes started looking at the ceiling. I will need to practice on my eye contact even when I have forgotten my script.  Next, I tried the method of speaking without using the slide. I realize that in order to do that, one need to be really good at catching the audience attention which I feel it was not suitable for me. I should make use of the slide to boost my presentation and make it more interactive. In addition, I tend to use filler words in between my sentences which it is a very bad habit I should learn to get rid of. Lastly, I learnt that group presentation is not only about myself. I need to learn to coordinate with my groups to ensure we are doing it as a group presentation and not as individuals presenting a group presentation.

Presentation skills is very important in our daily lives. I hope that during my next presentation, I can work on my flaws to further improve on presenting!

Reader Response Draft 3

In the article “Why Climate Fight Needs Engineers, Shah (2014) reported that professional engineers are in demand for innovation of with sustainable engineering solution. The author highlighted that rapid urbanization together with climate changes is pushing Singapore to transit into sustainable, urban and economic system. Khew, Deputy President of Institution of Engineers, stated that the main areas where engineering plays a part are “Clean environment and water resources; sustainable development and infrastructure; sustainable energy; and resilience and adaptation to climate change.” Kuttan, Director and Country Manager of the Clean Technology Centre, DNV GL, also explained that in order to solve the challenges, it would require outstanding engineers with great understanding and innovation. While I agree with the author that engineers have a crucial role, I feel that the article lacks elaboration on the factors that engineers have to take into consideration and the difficulties they face while addressing challenges related to climate change.

Studies from Engineering the Future (2011) showed that extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods and earthquakes are happening more frequently.  Engineers have to take these effects produced by climate change into consideration when addressing the challenges. However, Warry and Mair (2010) expressed their views that the effects leading to climate change may not be simple to predict as the effects are constantly happening with higher intensity. Engineers will have to depend on probability to predict the effects and propose solutions that are more adaptable. It could be risky if predictions are not accurate which will result in implementing solutions that are not effective in addressing the challenges. Furthermore, Li (2015) reported that high emission carbon is one of the main factors that results in drastic climate change. As a result, engineers will need to innovate solutions that reduce carbon admission but adaptable and efficient.

Lapp (2005) reported that the solutions from engineers not only need to be acceptable in terms of technology, they also need to have acceptance from the public in order for the solutions to be implemented successfully. The solutions would need to take public safety, health and welfare into consideration. With the increase in recurrence of extreme weather events, the frequency of the need of maintenance for technologies and infrastructures will increase. As maintenance can be costly, many investors are not willing to pay extra unless the amount can be recovered from the profit. (Warry and Mair, 2010) Lapp (2005) also added that proposed solutions would also require government support. Lord Browne, President of The Royal Academy of Engineering also agreed that the proposed solutions would require governments’ support such as implementing policies or schemes to encourage investments. Furthermore, government can also aid in promoting acceptance from public by educating the public on the importance of the scheme and policies. (Engineering the Future, 2011)

In conclusion, I agree with Shah (2015)’s article on the crucial role that engineers have in addressing challenges posed by climate change. However, their role is not easy as they have to innovate a solution that has to take many factors into consideration and have public, government and investor acceptance.

(511 words)

References 

Chua, J. (2015). Engineering plays crucial role in climate change. Eco-Business. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/news/engineering-plays-crucial-role-in-climate-change/

Engineering the Future. (2011). Infrastructure, Engineering and Climate Change Adaptation – ensuring services in an uncertain future. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183536/infrastructure-rae-report.pdf

Lapp, D. (2005) Engineers and Climate Change: What you need to know. Engineering Dimensions, 51-53. Retrieved from http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/20669/la_id/1.htm

Li, M. (2015). Engineers have a role to play in minimizing climate change. [weblog]. Retrieved from http://blogs.aecom.com/engineers-have-a-role-to-play-in-minimizing-climate-change/

Mair, R., & Warry, P. (2010). Opinion: Infrastructure engineering and climate change adaptation. Ingenia, (45), 11. Retrieved from http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/issues/issue45/issue45_opinion.pdf

 

Reader Response Draft 2

In the article “Why Climate Fight Needs Engineers, Shah (2014) reported that professional engineers are in demand to come up with sustainable engineering solution. The author highlighted that rapid urbanization together with climate changes is pushing Singapore to transit into sustainable, urban and economic system. Khew, Deputy President of Institution of Engineers, stated that the main areas where engineering comes into play includes – “Clean environment and water resources; sustainable development and infrastructure sustainable energy and resilience and adaptation to climate change.” Kuttan, Director and Country Manager of the Clean Technology Centre, DNV GL also explained that in order to solve the challenges, it would require outstanding engineers with great understanding and innovation to tackle on the key areas. While I agree with the author that engineers have a crucial role, I feel that the article lacks elaboration on key areas and other factors engineers have to consider while solving challenges to climate changes.

Firstly, the author only briefly mentioned about the key areas where engineers can tackle without much elaboration. As water is a scared resource and with population increasing, there is an increase demand of technology for water recycling, water treatment, Chua (2015), drainage system and flood control (Lapp, 2005). Li (2015) reported that high emission carbon is one of the main factors that results to drastic climate change, engineers will be needed in this field to reduce the emission of carbon from the current technologies and infrastructure while maintaining the efficiency. As extreme weather events such as typhoon, flood, etc are happening more often, studies from Engineer the Future (2011) showed there would be an increased need for more robust and adaptable infrastructure, transport system and communication system in order to adapt to the climate change.

Secondly, the author did not provide analysis of other factors that engineers have to consider while innovating. Warry and Mair (2010) expressed their views that the effects leading to climate change may not be simple to predict. Hence engineers will have to depend on probability or come up with solutions that are more adaptable which could be risky. In addition, they also mentioned that maintenance of technologies and infrastructure can be costly and, many investors are not willing to pay extra unless the amount can be recovered from the public. However, public members often are not willing to fork out extra for better infrastructures due to high cost of living in an urban country. Lapp (2005) also reported that the solutions from engineers not only need to be acceptable in terms of technology, they also need to have acceptance from the public in order for the solution to be implemented successfully. Thus coming up with solutions to counter climate change may not be as simple as it seemed.

In conclusion, I agree with Shah(2014)’s article on the crucial role that engineers have in coming up with solutions to solve challenges posed by climate change. However, these solutions have many other factors to take into consideration including the key areas which increases the limitations and difficulty for engineers to innovate.

(500 words)

References 

1. Chua, J. (2015). Engineering plays crucial role in climate change. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/news/engineering-plays-crucial-role-in-climate-change/
2. Engineering the Future. (2011). Infrastructure, Engineering and Climate Change Adaptation – ensuring services in an uncertain future. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183536/infrastructure-rae-report.pdf
3. Lapp, D. (2005) Engineers and Climate Change: What you need to know. Engineering Dimensions, 51-53. Retrieved from http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/20669/la_id/1.htm
4. Li, M. (2015). Engineers have a role to play in minimizing climate change. Retrieved from http://blogs.aecom.com/engineers-have-a-role-to-play-in-minimizing-climate-change/
5. Mair, R., & Warry, P. (2010). Opinion: Infrastructure engineering and climate change adaptation. Ingenia, (45), 11. Retrieved from http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/issues/issue45/issue45_opinion.pdf

[Edited on 2 Oct 15]