Sin eng-1 - saving the sharks

Raffles Institution
Year 2 Research Education

Design for Change School Challenge 2011

SAVE THE DYING SHARKS

Team Leader : Benjamin Lim

Team Members : Billy Chan
Himanshu Kubal
Andrew Leow

Teacher Mentor : Ms Tan Liling

DESIGN FOR CHANGE - SAVE THE DYING SHARKS

Acknowledgement

Firstly, we would like to thank our teacher-mentor, Ms Tan for her guidance and
insights in completing this research education project. She has given us invaluable advice to
help us complete our tasks.

In addition, we would like to thank the 50 respondents who helped us achieve our
goal by giving us their truthful and suggestive answers. These went a long way in helping us
complete the project.

Besides that, we would also like to thank the people who looked at our posters and
brochures. They were part of our overall goal of educating the general public about the
severity of consuming shark fin soup.

Finally, we are grateful to the many writers and people around the world who have
made videos and articles on shark‘s fin, and allowed us to use their information in our
research.

ii


Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ii
Table of Contents iii

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
Abstract 1
Objective 1
Design For Change Competition 1

Chapter 2 RESEARCH AND FINDINGS
Research Required 2
Survey Methodology 2
Survey Results 3

Chapter 3 PREPARATION FOR ACTION WEEK
Solutions 9
Work Allocation 10
Implications/Problems 12

Chapter 4 ACTION WEEK
Actions executed 13
Feedback 17

Chapter 5 REFLECTIONS 18

Bibliography 23

iii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Abstract

With the sudden increase in prosperity in Asia, shark fin soup, which is considered a delicacy
by many affluent Chinese, is becoming consumed in vast quantities. This places a huge
demand on shark fins which in turn poses an immense ecological threat to the already
dwindling population of sharks worldwide. Furthermore, it also poses a serious ethical
concern – sharks are often finned alive and then thrown back to sea to die a slow and painful
death. We hope to lower the demand for shark fin soup by discouraging people from
consuming shark fin soup. We aim to do so by educating people about the harms of
consuming shark fin and also by advocating for restaurants to drop shark fin soup from their
menus.

Objective

We aim to educate the public on both the harmful effects that consuming shark fins has on us
and the marine ecology as well as the ethical concerns that shark finning raises to discourage
the general public from increasing the demand for shark fins and reduce the supply of shark
fin imported into Singapore. This is because the high demand for shark fin has severe
ecological, health and ethical implications.

We aim to lessen the demand of shark fins in Singapore and save the sharks, hence
decreasing the amount of shark fin imported into Singapore each year. Consequently, the
number of sharks being finned every year would be reduced.

We plan to do this by raising public awareness on a number of issues: the cruelty of current
practices of shark finning, the ecological impact of overfishing sharks, and the health risks
involved in consuming shark fin.

Why Design for Change?

Our team has chosen to take part in the Design for Change Challenge as we felt that the
problem of sharks being kiiled for their fins is a problem that we can make a difference to by
encouraging others to each make a small sacrifice in their lives.

We have chosen Save the Dying Sharks to be our project even though some animal groups
have tried convincing the general public to stop eating shark fin because we think our project
is different insofar as it focuses on youths as its targets for raising awareness. We believe that
having youths as our target group will be effective because as students ourselves, we could
convince our fellow classmates and friends. They could in turn convince their own parents
who would in turn influence their counterparts. This causes a ripple effect that would
magnify the efforts that we have put in.

Benjamin Lim, Himanshu Kubal, Andrew Leow, Billy Chan 1


CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND RESEARCH

Background Research

Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in many Chinese restaurants in Singapore. With the
sudden increase in prosperity in Asia, shark fin soup is being consumed in vast quantities,
mostly by the Chinese. This places a huge demand on shark fins consequently posing an
immense threat to the population of sharks. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed a
year and when they become extinct, the whole marine ecology will change as sharks are at
the top of the food chain in the ocean. Sharks which were once considered only incidental
―bycatch‖, these species are increasingly targeted due to high demand for their valuable fins,
used in the Asian delicacy shark fin soup.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Shark Specialist Group, the
first study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean (pelagic)
sharks reveals that 32% are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing.
Additionally, the AVA (Agri-food and Veterinary) reports 2500 tonnes of shark‘s fin were
imported into Singapore in 2010.

Research required

The research that we require is information on shark‘s fin soup—possible health risks, the
general public‘s opinion on it—and where our supply of shark fins in Singapore comes from.
We studied on the topic very thoroughly at the start of the year on the topic, reading up on
shark finning and the reasons why it is so valuable, and ways to reduce the killing of sharks.
If demand for shark fins is lowered, supply for shark fins will also be lowered, which means
that fewer sharks will be killed every year.

Currently, many Chinese-Singaporeans are eating shark‘s fin about 3-4 times a year on
average. And since about 30% of Singaporean citizens are Chinese, that‘s about 2 million
Singaporeans consuming shark‘s fin 3-4 times a year and that is just Singapore. All over
Asia, shark fin soup is considered a delicacy and is widely eaten by the Chinese community.
This affects the population of sharks greatly and it has been reported that 90% of sharks‘
species has been extinct since the 1970s, millions of sharks are killed every single year and
the figures just keep increasing. This can cause major impacts in marine ecology, and this has
motivated us to make a change for the community. This hard evidence would show that the
Shark Fin situation is in trouble and has adverse effects on the environment, the severity of
the problem is definitely at its highest.

Through many brainstorming session which is made even more effective after the Design for
Change workshop which teaches us to bring out our childhood imagination, we arrived at the
following solutions:

i. Video/Documentary in public to educate public
o Effective in drawing public‘s attention
o Hard to get permission and suitable location (i.e speakers and projectors

ii. Flashy and eye catching action to educate public



o Can attract public easily with Singapore‘s ‗interested with everything‘ attitude when a
crowd gathers
o Hard to plan as permission is required and materials/manpower would not be easily
found

iii. Talks/plays at primary school(s) to educate youths
o Reach out to youths unaffected by tradition of eating sharks fin soup
o Schools might not be able to provide us with the time and resources needed
o Children might not understand the severity of situation

iv. Send out letters to hotels who serve shark’s fin soup
o Can use petition to persuade them
o Follow suit with Fairmont Hotel which has already stopped serving shark fin.
o Send by both email and post to increase effectiveness
o They may not take note of our petition

v. Facebook group with facts and petition
o Widespread influence
o Easy to access and gather supporters
o Might not be significant to others

vi. Brochures/Posters to educate public
o Ensure public will understand points by explaining the negative side of shark finning
o Sustainable
o Able to approach them rather than them approaching us
o Simpler and less planning required

Survey Methodology

A survey in Bishan Library was conducted on 10 June 2011 during the holidays. This survey
was conducted to gather data related to our cause.

The objective of this survey was to find out what the public already know about shark‘s fin
with a couple of simple questions. As well as to assess the public‘s opinion of shark‘s fin
along with suggestions and tips on any solutions or methods that we could use to change
people‘s mindset on the problem of shark finning.

The survey was balanced out with different types of questions as well as suggestion boxes to
help us in our future endeavours. The survey included 10 questions that tested the public‘s
knowledge on the topic of sharks finning, as well as their personal experience with the
delicacy. They answered truthfully and were very helpful in their suggestions and feedback
to help us in this project.



Survey Results

GENDER RATIO

No of males: No of Females:
22 28
No of Females:
28

As seen here, we surveyed more females than males but this did not directly affect the
views and thoughts of the people on the subject. The topic is not affected by the views of
different genders. However, it would have been fairer had we surveyed an equal number of
amles and females.

RESPONDENTS’ AGE

We targeted more youths, as we wanted to see the view of the younger generation that
did not follow tradition as strictly. However, we did survey some adults for a more mature
view.



How many times, in the previous year (2010), did you consume shark fin?
a) 0-2 b) 3-5 c) 6-8 d) >8

We can see that many consumed shark fin minimally last year but there are still some
people who have consumed it in large quantities. Our objective is to educate and change the
mindset of these people.

Would you be willing to spend time in learning more about the problems of
shark finning and in helping to raise awareness of the problem in your
community?



The people willing to learn more about the matter play a crucial part in our project.
They are the ones who help us accomplish our task of educating the citizens as their
willingness to learn allows us to explain to them about the consequences of shark finning.

When do you usually consume shark fin?
a)New Year b)Weddings c)Family Gathering d) Functions(e.g. Gala
dinners)

These numbers are in some cases overlapping individuals showing the occasion(s)
during which shark fin is commonly consumed. As seen here, it is often consumed at
weddings and New Year celebrations. This is probably because, in order to portray their joy
during the celebration, they indulge in such luxuries delicacies. It is highly common amongst
the Chinese as shark fin is considered a delicacy to them which only the rich can afford.



Do you know where Singapore ranks amongst the countries that import the
most shark fin?
a) Don’t know b) 1st c) 2nd d) 4th e) 5th

As we can see in the graph above, most of our respondents did not know the answer
to the question- an overwhelming number of 41 people got it wrong. Some people claimed to
know the answer, yet they got it wrong. This shows the lack of knowledge the public has on
this topic inspite the fact that this issue has been not only raised by other anti-shark finning
groups but also the newspapers.

Do you think shark fin is tasty?

a)Yes b)No c)Not particularly



More than half of our respondents said that shark fin soup was not very tasty indeed.
Contrary to the truth, shark fins do not have any taste. The taste/flavour comes from the
spices in the soup. Shark fin is mainly eaten for its texture. So, the people who believe that
shark fin soup is tasty are actually wrong. To them, shark fin soup may be tasty, however,
many hidden dangers lie from consuming this. It is this group of people that we should focus
on too, to show them the harms of consuming shark fins.

Do you think the massive shark fin consumption in Singapore is a concern?

a) Yes b) No

There are clearly more people who think that shark finning is a problem. This can contribute
to our project by showing the number of people who oppose to shark finning. On the other
hand, there are still a handful of people who have yet to realize the underlying negative
consequences of massive shark fin consumption and it is our duty to educate them.

Overall, our survey results have shown that although most of the public does not consume
great amounts of shark fin every year, people are not knowledgeable on this integral topic.
Majority of those whom we surveyed got both the factual questions wrong. This proves our
point in saying that educating the public about shark fin and convincing them to stop its
consumption is important. This is solution contributes the greatest impact in our objective of
lowering the demand for shark fin. Some of our respondents were also willing to spend their
time learning about shark fin and helping out in our cause. They would be the ones we are
hoping would help influence people around them to stop consuming shark fin.



CHAPTER 3: PREPARATION FOR ACTION WEEK

Solutions

Our plan for this project is to give out brochures and posters to try and get more of the public
to understand and see the truth about the current situation with the issue of sharks being
endangered due to the demand of their fins in shark‘s fin soup. This took place during 25-30
July.

It attracted the attention of passer-by, one of our group mates dressed up as a shark, which
took careful planning to make, and gave out brochures. We regularly updated our Facebook
group to keep the fans interested and persuade them to spread word of our cause.
Furthermore, we need a template of a petition letter to send to some widely known hotels to
get them to stop the sale of shark‘s fin soup. Additionally, information pamphlets were
pinned up throughout the entire lower secondary classes on their noticeboard as some of them
may not have the time to see our poster. Besides that, we tried including a video to show
during protected interaction time (PIT) but the solution was, unfortunately, scrapped due to
unforeseen circumstances.

Our second part was done outside our school, at Bishan MRT station and Bishan library. We
gave out our informative brochures to members of the public. Approximately 70 brochures
were given out to members of the public.

Overall, the feedback to this project was not bad as we had managed to reach the public and
educate them about the downside of shark‘s fin soup. We had encountered and given out
brochures to many people, as well as given them some insight by explaining shark finning
and some facts to them. Besides that, we even interviewed a public member who said that he
was stunned at the effects of shark fin on the environment and this changed his mind about it.
From this, we can improvise that our project does have an impact on people. Another public
member commented that he was happy to see students carry out such projects to aware
people of what is happening around them. This will create a two pronged approach at the
students and at the public and would increase our chances of educating the general public on
the issue of shark finning.



a) Work Allocation:

Here is a table of our work allocation:

Task Description Work Done Timeline

Preliminary Ideas(PI) Compulsory for each group member to do. 28/1 – 11/2

Group Project Proposal (GPP) Benjamin, Himanshu, Andrew 11/2 - 4/3

Gathering information Compulsory for each group member to do. 4/3 – 25/3

Choosing solutions Compulsory for each group member to do. 25/3 – 8/4

Draft survey Benjamin, Himanshu, Andrew 8/4 – 21/4

Evaluation of Material Billy 15/4 – 29/4

Carrying out survey Benjamin, Andrew 17/6

Collating survey results Benjamin, Andrew 18/6

Draft Report 1 Benjamin, Andrew 20/6 - 8/7

Poster and brochure design Billy, Himanshu 20/6 – 8/7

Draft petition letter Benjamin, Billy, Himanshu, Andrew 1/7 – 8/7

Action Week Compulsory for each group member to do. 19/7 – 29/7

Draft Report 2 Benjamin, Andrew 8/7 – 31/7

Individual Portfolio Compulsory for each group member to do. 22/7 – 26/8

Making of class notices Himanshu 28//7

Pasting class notices Himanshu, Andrew 29/7

Sending of petition letter Billy 31/7

Final Report Compulsory for each group member to do. 31/7 – 5/8

Oral Presentation draft Billy, Himanshu 31/7 - 5/8



Preparation for Action Week Plan

Week Benjamin Andrew Billy Himanshu

Poster and Brochure design (drafts
and final product by 18 July)
8-15 Start on petition letter/ Start on
July Facebook fan base report part Himanshu to get permission on 15
1-3 July to put up posters

Finish planning of Entire Action week by 15th July

Start on the Start Finish report Start on the action week (Putting up
action week( getting part 1-3 draft of posters, giving brochures and
15-22 Hanging of ready for on 17 July sending of petition letters)
July posters, giving Action
brochures and week (21-
sending of 28 July) Start preparing for the interactive part of the action
petition letters) week (Day 4 to 7)

b) Resource Management:
Money spent on printing and buying required items was borne by the respective person(s) in-
charge of the task. However, if costs were very high such as for the printing of our brochures,
the group divided it equally. We made sure that everyone paid approximately the same
amount of money for our resources. To save money, we decided to print some of the
documents at home.

The four of us were able to give out brochures effectively and even round up people to view
our exhibition. However, it was slightly difficult for us to garner ‗likes‘ for our Facebook
page. We required the help of our friends to spread the message to their friends and even
some of the people we gave our brochures to.

It became rather hectic and tightly-scheduled for us during the course of our action week.
There were quite a handful of tasks to be completed in a very short period of time. We had
CCAs (Co-curriculum) on going and some of us even had competitions. In spite of all these
drawbacks, we managed to find time and use the time to the fullest. We do hope more time
was given for us so that we could reach more people using more interesting ways.

c) Risk Management:

We did not really face risks throughout our project. Yet there was the minor worry as we
were unsure whether people would take our project seriously. However, with the statistics



and information we managed to convey to our audience, we could see that most of the people
were actually now more concerned about the future of sharks. On the other hand, there were
a handful of ignorant people who tore up our brochures/crumpled them behind our backs.

d) Who is involved?

All four of us were involved during the period of the action week. We gave out all the
brochures together, pasted the class notices and invited students to view our exhibition. There
were several friends of ours who helped ‗share‘ our Facebook page to their friends so as to
help us garner more support and we would like to convey our sincere regards to them. Our
RE mentor helped us in ensuring we did not slack off during the course of action and with
her constant support, we managed to succeed in completing all our work in time.

Implications and problems

However, we are a little short on manpower as our action week has been planned on a school
week. This means that we will likely have lesser chances to go out and educate the public as
school and co-curricular activities would take up most of our time. We would most likely
acquire the help of our friends and family while we are not available to help us educate the
public.

One risk is that people may not actually look at our brochures and posters and just throwing
them away as many Singaporeans do. This would prove difficult to accomplish our goal as if
people do not so much as look at our information, then we would be unable to explain and
persuade them that shark‘s fin is bad for both your health and the environment. In addition,
unforeseen circumstances would arise sometimes and we would be facing a major problem
but we would improvised and learn for the mistakes and not making it twice.

Other problems that arose would be the attitude of the group. Also, many things and
expectations were not told of at the start thus giving us further problems with our solutions
which put off some of the ideas we thought of and even posed barriers to our efforts. At the
start of the year, we may have wasted some time due to the dragging of deadlines and were
not vigorous enough. In the end, it piled up at the end of the project with many things
uncompleted, thus it almost affected our action week and plans. However, it is through these
problems that we faced is what made us stand up and come together to solve them.



CHAPTER 4: ACTION WEEK

(1) School Exhibition & Public Awareness Drive

During our Action Week, we participated in the Design for Change Showcase in Raffles
Institution, as well as gave out brochures promoting our cause around Bishan and sent
petition letters to hotels to discourage them from selling shark‘s fin soup.

Firstly, over the course of 19-21 July, we had created a poster on a black foam sheet. We
printed out basic facts on paper and glued them onto the background. We also included some
alternatives to shark‘s fin soup and introduced ways to help stop shark‘s fin like supporting
our Facebook page ―Save the Dying Sharks‖. Pictures that helped prove our point were also
included and showed the gruesome things that the fishermen did to the sharks just for their
fins, we even brought a computer just to show to onlookers a documentary on the cruelty that
sharks have to suffer when they are caught and finned

Here is
Benjamin, our
group leader
with the poster
and brochure
that we
displayed
We also printed brochures that gave more detailed facts on shark‘s fin and during our
the harm it does to both us and the environment. It again contains action week
educational information on the harms of shark finning. These were given
out during the showcase as well as to the public around Bishan Public
Library and Junction 8. This was carried out from 25-29 July.



This is Benjamin
with a passerby.
As seen here we
are educating
the public on
shark fin and
trying to garner
their support.

Here we have Himanshu
presenting our brochures
to some of the students
from Raffles Institution
in public.



(2) Petition Letters to Major Hotels

Secondly, we wrote petition letters to five major hotels in Singapore that currently still serve
shark fin soup on their restaurant menu, urging them to drop the dish from the menu. Petition
letters such as the one below were sent to Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, Shangri-La Hotel
Singapore, Conrad Singapore Hotel, Grand Hyatt Singapore, and Intercontinental Singapore:

Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039799
13th July 2011
Dear Sir/Madam,
Petition to Stop Serving Shark Fin Soup

We, the students of Raffles Institution, write this letter to petition that Ritz-Carlton
Millennia Hotel removes shark fin from its menu.

The practice of shark finning is a brutal and cruel act. Sharks caught at sea are often finned
alive and dumped back into the sea to drown and bleed to death. Approximately 100
million sharks are finned annually. With 110 species of sharks classified as endangered,
threatened or vulnerable, it is only a matter of time before sharks are plunged into
extinction. This would be devastating to the world‘s ecosystem.

Shark fins are not an essential part of our diet. With little or no nutritional value, it may
even be detrimental to one's health as sharks have been found to contain high levels of
mercury. Worse, shark fins are sometimes bleached with hydrogen peroxide before drying
to make their colour more appealing.

In light of both these ethical and health considerations, we would like to suggest that your
restaurant serves healthier and more humane alternatives to shark fin soup. Since shark fins
are in themselves tasteless, they may easily be replaced with abalones, mushrooms or
scallops without compromising the taste of the dish.

We have a Facebook page, named "Save the Dying Sharks", that has garnered over 100
‗likes‘ in just two weeks and is steadily increasing. This is a clear indication of the public's
support for the cause of ending shark fin consumption. By taking shark fin off your menu as
other leading hotels such as Fairmont Hotel have done, you will be positioning Ritz-Carlton
Millennia Hotel as one of the few socially responsible hotels that do their part for the
environment and the welfare of the general public.



We appeal to you to consider this petition. We hope that you will join us in being a part of
this movement to end the cruel and senseless killing of sharks.

For more information, please contact Benjamin Lim via email at limjiahan@gmail.com or
via phone (+65) 97865778 Thank you for your kind consideration. We look forward to
hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,
Benjamin Lim, Andrew Leow, Billy Chan and Himanshu Kubal
Save the Dying Sharks Movement
Raffles Institution

(3) Facebook Page

Thirdly, we created a Facebook page that we would gather people to like and use in
our petition letters against hotels. Currently we have 148 people who like this page. We also
add facts and interesting things to it to keep people interested and support us.



(4) Educational Awareness Posters

An additional solution that we carried out was to print out a ―Save the Dying Sharks‖
information sheet that we had put up in classes‘ notice board to further encourage students to
stop consuming shark‘s fin. This includes information on how shark finning is carried out and
some issues related to shark finning.

This is one of the notices that were put up in
classes to inform and educate the students who do
look at it about shark fin, as well as some
suggestions as to how they can help our cause. It
also contained some fun facts and celebrities who
are against the act of shark finning.

Feedback

Overall, the feedback to this project was not bad as we had managed to reach the public and
educate them about the downside of shark‘s fin soup. As seen in the pictures above, we had
encountered and given out brochures to many people, as well as given them some insight by
explaining shark fishing and some facts to them. Besides that, we even interviewed a public



member who said that ―Oh my god! I‘m happy that I got this brochure. Its baffling to know
that so many sharks are being killed a year just for their fins. I used to think of them as
merciless carnivores and even thought that shark fin soup was healthy and good for health
because many of my friends told me so. I guess you guys are correct lah… From now on, I‘ll
never eat shark fin again!‖



CHAPTER 5: RFLECTIONS

To recap, our objectives were to educate the public on both the harmful effects has on us and
the marine ecology and to lessen the demand of shark fins in Singapore, ultimately saving the
sharks. In our opinion, we feel that our objectives have been met. Firstly, there were positive
feedbacks from our action week. Not only did we use solutions that were effective in
convincing the public such as brochures, we added creative elements to the common
methods. For instance, we dressed up as sharks to attract people‘s attention to our cause.

In addition, we used solutions that were ranked most effective in our surveys of the
respondents that received our brochures, read our information sheets and saw our posters. All
of them have even replied that they were convinced to the extent that they would actively
take part in our campaign by helping us spread the message across to their friends and family.
This shows that not only was our project was successful, we achieved our objective in
educating the public on the true story of behind shark finning. Also, despite our action week
being over, our groups‘ message is continuing to spread and our campaign never stops!

Our thoughts

It can be said that nothing in life is smooth sailing, especially in project work. Throughout the
course of this project, there were many ups and downs and there were times when we almost
broke down in stress. Yet, together, we made up for each other‘s shortfalls. We finally
showed that we could pull through with our best effort and definitely, it is the fruit of our
hard labour. This was only possible with our unwavering attitude and determination towards
the project. Coupled with the belief that we could make the world a better place, we
continued to strive on and believed deeply in our cause. However, we did regret having to
stop our action week because not only were we having fun, we were doing our part in saving
the sharks too. This definitely was a project that displayed our ―I can‖ spirit, not only to the
world but also to ourselves.

Strengths and weaknesses

In every team, there are strengths and weakness. Our weak points were that sometimes, we
would start to slack and stray from the topic. It did at times cause us to hurry in our work.
However, we overcame this obstacle by making up for the loss of research and effort. These
shortfalls are not bad points but rather learning points for us to figure out our mistakes and
learn from them, so as to never make them again. In contrast, we felt that our greatest
strength was actually determination and passion for our cause. There were times when we felt
like giving up yet we reminded ourselves that we had a part to play in our society to raise the
severity of this issue. In times of difficulty, we managed to carry on and strive to overcome.



Challenges or difficulties encountered within the team
One of our challenges is the diversity in the team. Two of us are from sports CCAs, one from
a Uniform group and another from a Musical group. This made our free time slots very
limited and we could hardly meet outside of school curriculum time, thus limiting our
discussion time. However, with the development of social networking, we were able to
message one another and finish the project on time. We were meant to organise meetings
during certain days but unforeseen events such as camps and last-minute trainings prevented
these meetings, consequently causing us to lose precious time.

Learning points
What did I discover about myself through this SL project?
Through this SL project, we learnt that the public has the wrong perception on important
issues (an example would be shark finning which many think is not wrong at all); it is our job
to correct their perspectives. Also, we learnt that we have to be sincere in promoting our
cause because people can tell from your attitude, how determined, dedicated and sincere you
are. Only when you are sincere will people believe in what you are trying to say or promote.

How different are my life experiences from these people? What has contributed to the
difference in my life?
Although we are still students, we experienced doing something that not many people have
tried doing, even though they are adults. In today‘s society, many people are too concerned
with their work to notice what is being done to the environment. We indulged in a first-hand
account of learning how to launch a project or an act against a practice that deserves much
flak. This has made our life more complete in ways that that raise awareness amongst us on
global issues and unethical acts happening around the world.

How have I grown from this experience?
Not only have we learnt much on the issue of shark finning but we have also discovered the
joy in promoting a cause which we sincerely believe in. This especially, when there is a sense
of satisfaction upon knowing that you are helping to make this world a better place for
everyone.

What’s stopping me from picking up the habit of volunteerism?
We did not pick up the habit of volunteerism due to our busy schedules and the demanding
workload of school. Although volunteerism is a good and time worthy habit to pick up, it
requires much energy and time for a person in order to be effective and dedicated. Perhaps in
the future when we have more time to spare, we can come together as a group again and
immerse ourselves in more voluntary work for causes.



Do I have the makings of a good worker in social services?
Personally, we do not really think that we have the makings of a good worker as we all share
poor time management and sometimes drag external projects.

The Microscope Reflection

What difference or impact (if any) have I made to the people / community?

Our group has made a great impact to the people in our community in raising awareness on
the issue of shark finning. It has corrected their flawed mindsets of thinking that shark finning
is alright. To prove our point, our respondents have even replied saying that they were
convinced to the extent that they could actively take part in our campaign by helping us
spread the message across to their friends and family. This shows that not only was our
project successful but also that we achieved our objective in educating the public on the true
story behind shark finning.

How has the experience challenged my stereotypes / prejudices?
We now see that a famous Chinese stereotype of thinking that eating shark fins is good for
one‘s health is in fact wrong. Shark fins can actually poison one‘s body, thus proving that not
all stereotypes are right. So now, we think that some stereotypes are actually wrong and we
should not confine ourselves to follow them. We believe stereotyping should be stopped as it
affects our judgements.

What is the relevance of my learning to the people / community?
We learnt to educate the people and community. The process of spreading messages has to
start from somewhere and our group is the spark behind the chain reaction in this project.

The Binoculars Reflection

What future collaboration or follow-up actions could develop from concerns / issues
involved in this experience?
Despite the success of this project, I think there are future extensions for this project such as
instead of focusing on the restaurants, other groups may target the area of supplies such as the
big fisheries. They could also bring the project onto the international stage where not only
Singapore but other countries are brought into the sphere of influence.

What overarching issues remain to challenge the situation?



The campaign against Shark finning has been relatively new one thus it have not gain much
publicity or support. Much more effort is needed to push this vital topic to attract the
attention of the real power brokers in this manner which usually are the governments. Despite
that, another area they can embark on would be spreading information to the general public
and the perpetrators, convincing them to stop their act.

What are the larger social/political/economic implications?
Looking at this issue in a wider scope, the possible implications that this project would have
is that jobs may be affected such as those of the fishermen that depend on sharks as their jobs.
However, they could instead look towards another direction of fishing such as clams or
oysters. Not only that, traditions might be affected like the Chinese. Despite the traditions of
the Chinese, we could suggest other alternatives such as lobsters or fish for grand occasion.
Finally, through banning Shark Finning forcefully through means like the law, it might ever
push it into the black market causing more problems for officials. Yet, by cutting out the
demand for Shark Fins, the supply would also dry out and the ghastly action on Shark
Finning would be stopped.
What can be done to impact what the future holds for such individuals / the community
/ Singapore?
Our solutions create a two pronged approach at the students and at the public and would
increase our chances of educating the general public on the issue of shark finning. Thus, the
public would have a full understanding on the topic of Shark Finning and start refraining
from eating it. They would also fully understand the need to cut down on Shark Fin
consumption and continue spreading the word of this issue to the public. It made them more
responsible humans as they empathise with the animal‘s plight.

Improvements to be made
In order for the project to be sustainable, we had to educate the younger generation on this
topic. Since the above methods are sometimes ineffective in changing the perspective of
children, we can use other methods. A common one would be computer games.

In this design, the player is a shark fin supplier, in charge of ensuring that his company
remains profitable. The player has to control the number of sharks killed (additional
challenges would occur such as political issues etc.), and ensure that there is a constant
supply of shark fin to the consumers. Other factors such as corrupting sea officials,
environmentalists, animal groups etc to stop from being sued, and advertising shark fin for
consumers, controlling the price of the shark fins and customer satisfaction can be added into
the game. This in turn provides more opportunities for ideas to further discourage people
from eating shark fin and build up on the ideas in place so as to increase their effectiveness.

Unfortunately, due to our lack in knowledge in computer-game programming and lack of
funds, time etc., we were unable to implement this idea. In the future if people, like us, are
devoted to this cause, they can try using this idea.



REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY

M e r c u r y T e c h n o l o g y S e r v i c e s , . ( 2 0 1 1 , A u gu s t 4 ) . S h a r k f i n s o u p .
R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / h gt e c h . c o m / In f o r m a t i o n / S h a r k _ F i n _ S o u p . h t m l

Sharkwater, (2003, September). Shark education. Retrieved
from http://www.sharkwater.com/education.htm

G r e e n p e a c e , ( 2 0 0 6 , O c t o b e r 4 ) . S h a r k f i n n i n g m ys t e r y . R e t r i e v e d
from http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the -expedition/news/shark-fin-
m ys t e r y

V i e g a s , J e n n i f e r , V . J . S h a r k f i n n i n g: h u m a n s h a r k c r a v i n gs a n d t h e p r i c e
we pay to satisfy them. Retrieved
f r o m h t t p : / / d s c . d i s c o v e r y. c o m / s h a r k s / s h a r k - f i n n i n g. h t m l

Li n g, Li s a , L. L. ( 2 0 0 8 , D e c e m b e r 1 0 ) . S h a r k f i n s o u p a l t e r s a n
e c o s ys t e m . R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / a r t i c l e s . c n n . c o m / 2 0 0 8 - 1 2 -
10/world/pip.shark.finning_1_shark -fin-shark-populations-top-
p r e d a t o r ? _ s = P M : W O R LD

S h a r k s a v e r s , T h e r e a r e n o go o d r e a s o n s t o e a t s h a r k f i n s o u p . R e t r i e v e d
f r o m h t t p : / / w w w . s h a r k s a v e r s . o r g/ e n / e d u c a t i o n / s h a r k s - a r e - i n - t r o u b l e / 7 0 7 -
there-are-no-good-reasons-to-eat-shark-fin-soup.html

S t o p S h a r k F i n n i n g , S h a r k f i n s o u p - w h a t 's t h e s c o o p ? . R e t r i e v e d
f r o m h t t p : / / w w w . s t o p s h a r k f i n n i n g. n e t / s h a r k - f i n - s o u p . h t m

Tan, J. (2011, March 25). Calls to ban shark fin soup growing around the
w o r l d . R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / w w w . i n d e p e n d e n t . c o . u k / l i f e - s t yl e / f o o d - a n d -
drink/calls-to-ban-shark-fin-soup-growing-around-the-world-
2251407.html


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