It has been an exhilarating week for me personally. In the past few years, from the days of water issues with our neighbour, to a more global problem with the environment, I have read, visited, accepted, criticised…issues brought up by various parties.

But this week, I have been taken to another side of the matter. I watched with pride and interest, strides made by our country in overcoming this important but perennial problem — how to ensure a continued supply of water for all Singaporeans. To be fair, we cannot rely on Malaysia or anyone else as water is a scarce commodity and they need it for their own people as well.

The Suntec Junior Water Prize where Ngee Ann played a part with the Lien Foundation was an example of looking to the future. It is a great step to take by making the younger generation realise that this is a precious resource and we need to find alternatives to ease the situation. It was heartening for me to note the enthusiasm from the students who took this seriously, yet had fun with the project. They explained their project and how they were encouraged by their teachers. I was also pleased with the MCM (Mass Communications and Media) students present. They took the initiative, asked the right questions and behaved like journalists. This made all the co-ordination work initiated by my colleague, Ms Joh Ting Koh, worthwhile.

I was proud of the students' enthusiam and budding professionalism - here they crowd around Glennon at RWS and fire questions

The RWS closing ceremony with all its glitz and glamour had a serious side to it…to watch our 20 students shove mics to the face of Professor Robert Glennon was indeed refreshing.  It reminded me of my younger days where I did the same. That fire and enthusiasm MUST always be with a journalist as it pushes him/her to greater heights. Their behaviour in almost unbearable humidity made passers-by stop and stare and ask whether this was indeed a group of journalists rushing for a story.

The third event I attended at Bukit View Primary School was for primary school children. It was laced with seriousness, fun and games. Although, there was a short skit to drive home the message of wasting water (and how you can save), Dunman High School pupils organised games in a fun way to ‘teach’ children more about water.

I really liked the explanation of eating sharks’ fins…I must confess I used to love this delicacy…but now??? I will think twice.

At the end of the day, the ‘lessons’ learnt amidst the fun, colour, spectacle and glamour is the fact that water is a very precious commodity and as future media people, we need to send this message across not only Singapore but the rest of the world on how much more we can do to save it for ourselves and our future generations.

If we are able to communicate this effectively…it makes all our efforts worthwhile.

Posted by Paul Ramani, Lecturer, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic