Last month, the TK library had an exciting guest speaker, Dr. Willie Smits, a gifted scientist who wears multiple hats, preserving rainforests and saving wildlife in Indonesia. Dr. Smits flew straight in from New York, where he was a keynote presenter at Columbia University. Once in Singapore, he keynoted at the idsMEd conference in Singapore, and presented the medical potentials of rainforest plant diversity.

His next speaking engagement was at CIS TK, where he met a group of CIS students, Grade 5 and 6 students from TK and some Lakeside Secondary students (Community, Action and Service) from Lakeside. The students were delighted to meet Dr. Smits and learn about his impressive work in building a sustainable civilisation in Indonesian villages.

During his talk, Dr. Smits gave an overview of his environmental work, from saving tree species and finding cures, and from indigenous plants to saving orangutans and other endangered animals. He introduced students to the world of 1,243 different tree species that coexist in the same ecosystem, and the unknown secrets of these diverse plants and trees that could help heal diseases. He discussed his foundation's initiatives of planting 5 million trees in mixed forests, and how this has improved water supply, reduced erosion, stimulated rainfall, and provided jobs and income for the local people. Dr. Smits examples made it clear to students how human actions can result in one of two changes: a change reaction of extinction or a positive cycle of sustainability.

Dr. Smits also shared his work to stop animal smuggling. Saving orangutans was the first task he embarked on in this field, afterwhich he expanded his scope by founding Masarang Foundation to benefit the welfare of animal, plants and humans in ecosystems. Some of his initiatives have included the Tulap turtle project, and a bird sanctuary for illegally smuggled and exported birds, whose wings have been clipped. He spoke of the dangers of just “saving” animals and releasing them back into the wild without tackling the structural problems of a community facing poverty and unemployment, and how that this approach would just end in the perpetuation of the problem.

Dr. Smits’ talk perfectly complemented Grade 5 and 6 students’ UOIs. Grade 5 students were stimulated to think about “how the world works” and how design thinking can provide solutions to real life situations. Grade 6 students learnt more about “Sharing the Planet” as they listened to sustainable solutions on farming, producing and creating a physical, social and political environment.

After the talk, Dr. Smits, his wife Adrienne Watson-Smits and secondary students had a discussion about how students and teachers around the world can become involved in his projects. He also talked about how we need to turn our ideas into meaningful action. He was delighted to learn that Grade 12 student Cindy Hartantio is visiting BOS (Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation) in October, where she will get the opportunity to apply her science knowledge in a practical manner as she helps out endangered orangutans and reaches out to the local community. We look forward to future collaborations with Dr. Smits and his organisations. To learn more about Dr. Smits’ work, you can view his TED talk here.