Being at the SIWW Closing Ceremony brought out the “little patriotic girl” side of me that I never knew existed.

I was beaming with pride when everyone I met and conversed with at the ceremony told me that they were extremely impressed with Singapore’s efforts in water conservation and management.

From a country that had to rely on its neighbour for water to keep itself going, to being the country that other nations beyond Asia look up to as an expert in water conservation, the Little Red Dot has definitely come a long way.

I remember a few years ago, my parents were speaking worriedly about how the abundance of water in Singapore might come to a standstill in 2061 because of multiple unsuccessful negotiations with our neighbouring country.

Yet, today, people in Singapore are waking up to reservoirs outside their windows, and drinking water that was once flushed out of their toilets.

More impressively, 60% of Singapore is now a water catchment area.

Hearing foreign delegates rave about Singapore’s extensive range of water conservation and management methods, i.e. The 4 National Taps – local catchments, desalinated water, recycled water (NEWater), and desalinated water, felt pretty surreal but it also sparked my newfound interest in water.

I can foresee myself reading up to know more about water issues in my school library during my breaks, and no, I will not be Google-ing it since, as I quote Ms Constance Ward, “doing ten google searches is equivalent to using one tablespoon of water”.

Posted by Khoo Qin Xin, School of Film and Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic