Relevant AVA officers

I was looking through the AVA directory to find a person I could email regarding the Riau Vegetable Project. While I was unable to do so, I did manage to identify several positions which may be interesting for my research.

Import / export / transshipment of vegetables & fruits; licensing of traders
63257620, 63257599, 63257285
lily_ling@ava.gov.sg and teo_yen_ling@ava.gov.sg
website

Testing of food & food products
67952829, 67952822, 67952835
liang_soo_mui@ava.gov.sg, noorrani_sahul@ava.gov.sg, siling_lee@ava.gov.sg

Food labelling & advertisements
63258552, 63258556
diana_lee@ava.gov.sg, tan_yi_ling@ava.gov.sg

Agrotechnology & land-based farms
62575291, 67591648
thomas_chia@ava.gov.sg, yeo_meng_wah@ava.gov.sg

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Certification
63257635
khoo_gek_hoon@ava.gov.sg
Vegetable farming in singapore

Agricultural pesticides
63257100, 63257680
low_bee_leng@ava.gov.sg, jannie_wan@ava.gov.sg
Website

Veterinary Public Health Centre
Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority
10 Perahu Road
Singapore 718837

Veterinary Public Health Laboratory
Tel: (65) 67952822 / 67952829
Fax: (65) 68619491

Inspection Services & Epidemiology Division
Tel: (65) 67952830 / 67952821
Fax: (65) 68619492

Of course, the general enquiry email:

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority
5 Maxwell Road,
#01-01 / #02-03 / #03-00 / #04-00 / #18-00
Tower Block, MND Complex
Singapore 069110
Tel: (65) 62221211
Fax: (65) 62206068
ava_email@ava.gov.sg

There are also some subsidiaries like:

Agrifood Technologies Pte Ltd
5 Maxwell Road #03-00
Tower Block, MND Complex, Singapore 069110
Tel: (65) 6325 7654
Fax: (65) 6325 7331
E-mail: foo_siang_ming@ava.gov.sg
Website

Singapore Fruits & Vegetables Importers & Exporters Association
Singapore Fruits and Vegetables Importers and Exporters Association (SFVIEA) was first established in 1984 by a group of fruits and vegetables importers in Singapore.
Website [cannot view on mac]

Singapore Agri-Food Business Directory
Website

Directors to look out for:

Dr Chew Siang Thai
Deputy CEO
Director, Food and Veterinary Administration
Tel: 63257600
Email: chew_siang_thai@ava.gov.sg
Key responsibilities include:
* Food safety
* Animal and plant health
* Animal welfare and control
* CITES
Under Dr Chew, the following Deputy Directors:
1) Dr Astrid Yeo (DD Import and Export, Head of Import and Export division)
Tel: 63257686
Email: astrid_yeo@ava.gov.sg
2) Ms Seah Huay Leng (DD Food Control, Head of Food Control Division)
Tel: 63255480
Email: seah_huay_leng@ava.gov.sg
3) Dr Leong Hon Keong (DD Inspection Services and Epidemiology)
Tel: 67952820
Email: leong_hon_keong@ava.gov.sg

Under Dr Astrid Yeo, within Import/Export, there is a Plant Regulatory Branch
Within which there is a Fruit & Vegetables Inspection Section
Address : Blk 1 Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre #03-03 Singapore 110001

Senior Import & Export Officer
Miss Lily LING
63257620
lily_ling@ava.gov.sg

Senior Import & Export Officer
Ms TEO Yen Ling
63257599
teo_yen_ling@ava.gov.sg

Senior Import & Export Officer
HIU Joon Hong
63257285
hiu_joon_hong@ava.gov.sg

Principal Import & Export Inspector
ONG Teng Soon, PB, PBS
67734394
ong_teng_soon@ava.gov.sg

Senior Import & Export Inspector
TEO Soon Hock, PBS
63257684
teo_soon_hock@ava.gov.sg

I've only included the people within the section that has email. Others are included in the singapore government directory. Mainly lower level officers.

Under Food Control Division, there are also very interesting sections:
Pre-Market Approval Branch
Post-Market Surveillance Branch
Survey & Safety Review Branch
Import Control Branch
Food Legislation & Factory Control Branch

Most of these are under the purview of Dr Chew. However there are also such as:

Dr Hilda Loh
Director, Policy & Corporate Communications Department
Key responsibilities include:
* Policy and planning
* Corporate communications
* Information resource management
* International relations
--> seems to be under an acting director, Dr Choo Li Nah, as of December 2007
Tel: 63257689
Email: choo_li_nah@ava.gov.sg
Under her:
1) Mr Koay Sim Huat (AD/Head international affairs) - one person unit
2) Ms Rubinah Karyeo (Senior Manager Policy & Planning Division) - 3 person unit

Mr Leslie Cheong
Director, Food Supply & Technology Department
Chief Fisheries Officer
Tel: 63257604
Email: leslie_cheong@ava.gov.sg
Key responsibilities include:
* Food supply and agri-trade facilitation
* Agri-regional project development
* Agrotechnology development
* Consultancy and advisory services
--> Under Mr Leslie Cheong, I think focusing on local food supply:
1) Mrs Renee Chou (DD Agri-Technology)
- mostly just for fisheries and horticulture.
2) Mrs Tan-Low Lai Kim (AD/Head Post-Harvest Division)
- split between veggie and fishery post harvest technology
3) Mr Chin Yew Heng (DD Food Supply / Head Food Supply and Agri-tech infrastructure)
- there is a Food Supply Resilience Branch under this division headed by
Miss LEE Siew Mooi, PPA(G)
63257330
lee_siew_mooi@ava.gov.sg
They are in charge of food sourcing.
The other branches under Food Suply are farm management of agri-tech parks in Singapore and farm licensing, mariculture management, tenancy, etc. as well as fishery port management.

Environmental Geography Academics

Found very interesting academics in Kings College London's geography department!

Dr Michael K Goodman (website)
Alternative food production and consumption, ethical and fair trade systems, contemporary consumption and commodity geographies, rural development, qualitative research methods.

Goodman, D. & GOODMAN, M. (2001) Sustaining foods: Organic consumption and the socio-ecological imaginary. In Exploring sustainable consumption: Environmental policy and the social sciences eds. M. Cohen & J. Murphy, pp. 97-119. Elsevier Science, Oxford.

All his works are so interesting and relevant!

He's interested in supervising PhD topics on "Consumption-scapes" and "'Alternative' forms of Consumption and Development". Wow I like the idea of alternative forms of consumption and development. Throw in conservation there and I'm happy monkey.


Dr Daanish Mustafa (website)
Research Interest: Critical water resources geography; social networks and environmental management; global approaches to terrorism; South Asia.

MUSTAFA, D. 2007 (forthcoming). "Flood Hazard" in The Encyclopedia of Environment and Society. Edited by Paul Robbins. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications.

MUSTAFA, D. 2005(6). (Anti)social capital in the production of an (un)civil society in Pakistan. Geographical Review. 95(3): 328-347.

Wah my boss in brunei

haha how come he go brunei i also dunno.. eh.. no wonder he never reply my email :P

Climate Change: Mitigating Its Effect
By Khairunnisa Ibrahim
4 March 2008

Brunei-Muara - Climate change is a very real issue that needs to be addressed because of its impact on human, ecosystems and the environment.

This was shared by Professor Victor Savage from the National University of Singapore (NUS), who gave a talk on climate change and mitigation issues yesterday at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

He said that it would take the concerted effort of all, especially the multi-national companies and the most developed countries in the world, to mitigate its effects, not only in terms of reducing emissions, but also deforestation and ecological footprints.

Here on the invitation of UBD's Geography Department, the NUS lecturer enlightened the audience on the different theories on climate change and global warming, the impact of the changing climate and weather patterns' and what needs to be done to mitigate these impact.

Among the impact mentioned were rising sea levels, widespread health problems, food security, water stress, species extinction and extreme weather.

To illustrate how climate change contributes to worsening health, Savage used Singapore as a case study, noting that in the densely-populated city-state, rising temperatures cause tropical diseases like dengue and malaria to become more widespread. The problem is exacerbated given the country's compact settlements.

One of the ways to mitigate climate change, said Savage, is by putting the focus on the main culprit, the biggest producers of greenhouse gases.

According to Savage, the worlds richest make up 20 per cent of the population, but produce 80 per cent of global income and output. Among the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide are the United States, European Union countries, China and India.

In terms of per capita emissions in 2005, Singapore had the second highest, producing 35 tonnes of carbon per person annually.

Singapore and Brunei both have high per capita carbon emissions, said Savage. This is due to two reasons: the countries' small populations and large oil and gas industries.

Energy systems should also be switched to those that are cleaner, safer and more effective, and that encourage the use of hydrogen energy vehicles and public transport to reduce harmful emissions.

Other mitigation measures mentioned include having benchmarks for environmental management, related laws and regulations and political sustainability.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

UC Berkeley PhD Program

For the sake of my california-based lao gong
The Ph.D. Program in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
UC Berkeley Geography

Other california programs:
San Diego State University Geography
UCLA Geography
Stanford Interdisciplinary Grad Program in Environment and Resources - they are funded by betchel. forget it.

Saw an email about UK and found some very interesting faculty!!
King's College Department of Geography

Why is it that the environmental studies are all under Geography? Am I doomed to be in Geography forever? should I resign to my fate already or should I look towards Yale as my sole shining star in this otherwise gray path?

Funding Resource

Found a most amazing scholarship resource.

http://www.getscholarship.net/

Cameron Highlands in July

July, it would appear, is a bad time to go to Cameron Highlands. It's peak season and EVERYBODY wants to go there.

Mr Chua replied me via SMS today that the apartment is already booked from 1st July onwards. The very day I was hoping to go to CH to begin my fieldwork. I think I'll have to do 2 weeks in June, and find alternative accommodations in July and possibly August as well. I'm waiting for Mr Chua to get internet access again to see my email.

I've also been checking out the budget hotels in Cameron Highlands. Cameron Highlands Online is a fantastic resource page and seems quite well updated.

Considering my extremely tight budget, I really must stay in a cheap cheap cheap place. I wonder if this monkey can survey 1 month of staying in a dormitory... I might disintegrate. But for the cheap rate of 10RM per night I wonder if I am willing to rough it out. Not forgetting I need to pay about 100RM per day for the vehicle/driver. Woe!

IRB 1st Contact

Last week I submitted my IRB form via the department. I had mostly copied a senior's IRB application format as his was approved. However, today I got my first email contact from the IRB secretariat with some other unfavourable responses.

Dear Ms Tan,

Project title: Singapore and Its Agricultural Hinterlands: Urban Demand Impact On The Environmental Behaviour Of Malaysian Vegetable Farmers

We refer to your submission for IRB review which we received on 03 Mar 2008. As the FASS GRSS funding is indicated as pending on the application form, please advice if this research will still be carried out regardless of the GRSS grant application outcome. Please note that review by the Board will commence only if the funding is approved or if there are other sources of funding to support this research.

If this study will proceed regardless of the GRSS grant application, please address following:

1) Please submit the following for the review by the Board:

• IRB Application Form: Please complete Section VII of the application form.
• Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form (with Version and Date). Please reference attached Guidelines On Participant Information Sheet And Consent Form.
• Will the list of questions provided in Appendix A1: Aide Memoire be applicable to the interview with the Agencies officials, Government agencies, Retailers, Supermarket Merchandisers and Wholesalers. If otherwise, please provide the list of questions that will be asked to this group of subjects.
• All Survey forms to be used in this research.
• Data collection forms (if any) (with Version and Date).

Please also email us the files of the above document for our records.

2) Please also let us have a copy of the GRSS grant application proposal for our reference.

Thank you.

Perhaps I am too ambitious as previously criticized but I noticed that most people only do interviews with one type of respondents while I have interviews with 5-6 different group of respondents PLUS surveys. Serve me right.

But most of these forms are missing because honestly? I was lazy. Anywho, I have already sent them saying that I would self-fund if GRSS doesn't go through. Also I also sent them my grant application proposal. On top of that I'm working my butt off to finish the aid memoires and survey questions tonight. I'm half way done already. *pleased*