The Forest Buddies      
Save The Forests, Save Our Lives
   
 
Rui Jin says...
Introduction
 
Hi! My name is Rui Jin. I am 14years old and I am from the Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore. I am the group leader for this project.

I became interested in the Thinkquest project after being introduced to it by my school. When I visited the Thinkquest website, I was very impressed with the quality of work done by the contributors to the website. That spurred me to join this Thinkquest competition.

Finding a team

Firstly, I had to find team-mates. As this was the first major project I was embarking upon, I invited my two very good and trusted friends, Bryan and Samuel to join me. We invited Nicholas to join us to add some diversity to the team. I was hesitant at first about working with a stranger. However, when I met Nick, I was impressed by his maturity, ability and warm personality. I also realised that I needed someone who can do audio-visual presentations, so I approached Fang Hui to join us.

Brainstorming

Bryan was brilliant to come up with the idea on deforestation. After brainstorming further, we decided to contribute meaningfully to Thinkquest by having a broader global perspective. Hence the title, “Forests: Our life-line, the deforestation dilemma.”

It was not an easy topic to discuss. We had to discuss why forests are our lifeline in the “Importance of Forests” section. We had to explain why deforestations occur in the “Causes of deforestation” section. Then we had to discuss the dilemma facing deforestation, which we did in the “Effect of Deforestation” section.

Engaging viewers

To make the website more interactive and engaging to our viewers, we developed the “Interaction” section. Here, you can engage in challenging quizzes and crossword puzzles. To make a greater impact on the global perspective, we included the section on case studies that gave a better insight to our topic, “Forests: Our life-line, the deforestation dilemma.” We also came up with the surveys to show how our local people think about recycling and global warming.

Photographs

Bryan and I went to the HSBC Treetop Walk and The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve to take the photographs for the trails. I also organized a hike up the Bukit Timah Hill with my team-mates to capture the interesting photos for this trail. I approached Uncle Yoke Lin who generously contributed beautiful pictures for the other trails. My cousin, Christian, also contributed a photograph. I also reminded Samuel to get some beautiful and relevant photographs when he travelled to South Africa.

Collaboration

It was hard work for my team-mates and me. Fortunately, we were able to meet several times to do the project. After the initial meetings and everyone was sure how to work on their own independently, we started using email and the MSN to communicate. Designing and programming the website was a major responsibility for me. I was able to complete it with the help of my team-mates and Mr Galvin Sng, our coach. Fang Hui met me after school and we worked together on the audio-visual part of the website and completed everything within two weeks.

Thanks!

This has been an enriching experience for me. I have learnt how to see the big picture when doing any task. I have also learnt the importance of being meticulous. Most, of all, I have learnt how to work together in a group and to harness each individual’s strength. I have learnt to seek alternative steps when a problem is encountered.  Mr Sng, Bryan, Samuel, Nicholas, Fang Hui, Uncle Yoke Lin, Christian and all our parents, “Thanks for making this website a success!”