Organiser of competition hopes to raise awareness in this controversial field
Judith Tan, Straits Times 12 Sep 09;
THE assignment: find out what the average Singaporean believes about genetically modified (GM) foods and debunk any misconceptions he has about them.
About 130 students from 20 secondary schools, joining in efforts by Singapore's GM watchdog to raise awareness in the controversial field, produced videos to do so as part of the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC) Student Reporters' Challenge.
The six finalists had their work screened at the Biopolis science hub last week.
GM foods have their genetic make-up altered to boost their nutritional content, make them more resistant to diseases or insects, and yield better harvests.
However, such foods are controversial, with sceptics worrying about adverse effects on human health and the ecosystem.
While conducting the interviews for the challenge, which were organised by the GMAC, the cub reporters found that most Singaporeans did not understand or trust GM products.
Professor Lee Sing Kong, chairman of the GMAC sub-committee on public awareness and director of the National Institute of Education, even gave the example, to much laughter, of one woman here who worried that GM foods would turn her skin green.
The competition is part of the drive to promote understanding of GM foods, he said.
'Students here learnt about GM technology and GM foods in schools, and are enthusiastic about its science and applications. We feel that it is time for them to share what they know with other Singaporeans,' he said.
Unity Secondary clinched top honours in the lower secondary category for its simple yet clear video presentation.
The team's group leader, Secondary 2 student Chua Guo Yao, 14, said: 'If you don't understand the science of GM foods, it can seem very scary.
'So we tried to explain it simply and not complicate the issue.'
The group of five 14-year-olds from the neighbourhood school in Choa Chu Kang had a secret weapon - teacher Clement Yew, a former television producer.
He helped them to fine-tune their work, for example, by showing them how to avoid distracting background noise.
'I merely took them through the paces of film production. The hard work was theirs,' he said.
The trophy for the upper secondary category went to the team from Raffles Institution.
juditht@sph.com.sg
The winners
LOWER SECONDARY CATEGORY:
1st Prize: Unity Secondary (Trophy and $1,000)
2nd Prize: NUS High School of Mathematics and Science ($600)
3rd Prize: CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' ($300)
UPPER SECONDARY CATEGORY:
1st Prize: Raffles Institution (Trophy and $1,000)
2nd Prize: Nanyang Girls' High and Hwa Chong Institution ($600 each)
