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BESG gets S$200,000 from a local donor…

on 24th June 2014

Anyone who caught the above news in yesterday’s Straits Times would be aware that an anonymous donor has generously donated S$200,000 to the Bird Ecology Study Group.

The donor, once an avid birdwatcher, strongly believes that simply looking at birds cannot sustain a person’s interest for the long term. There is a need to inject a little science into this outdoor recreation. And this is where studying bird behaviour comes into the picture. It then makes birdwatching fun and exciting, besides contributing to our limited knowledge of the regional avifauna.

This donation has since been channeled to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum as seed money for an endowment fund dedicated to the studies of bird behaviour. It is hoped to grow the fund to an appropriate amount that will then allow the museum to recruit a full time, suitably qualified personnel to undertake as well as encourage the study of bird behaviour.

BESG is ecstatic at this sudden development, especially on our tenth year of operation. We are happy that our vision can be maintained and the current website can continue to function in one form or another. In this way the general public can still be actively involved in this fascinating study of bird behaviour.

We take this opportunity to once again thank our donor for believing in the Bird Ecology Study Group.

YC Wee
Singapore
June 2014

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

19 Responses

  1. Well done, YC! It’s well worth all the effort that you’ve taken to sustain this site, and kudos to all your contributors too! Hope to see this top dog continue for many more years to come! 🙂

  2. Congrats! Hope to see more exciting developments in BESG’s future! A thought: maybe organise excursions (e.g. expeditions to either local/overseas destinations, bird-watching sessions, etc activities related to bird/plant/insect study)?

    1. Thanks Q and Am. It has been a fulfilling decade, ending in this windfall. A few decades ago I would have the energy and enthusiasm to conduct walks, talks, excursions, etc. – and I did all those. Unfortunately not now. And we do not have volunteers for such activities.

      1. That’s sad to hear. 🙁 I wish I’d known you earlier. I’d like to help in any way I can. I’ll drop you an e-mail.

  3. “Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.”
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

    Congratulations Y C !!! and thank you for providing us a platform to share what little we know ….

    1. All of you made this site a success. No use keeping information close to one’s chest. If not shared, it will be lost to all in due course. My role is simply to maintain a platform for all to contribute – from lesser dogs to top dogs…

  4. Congratulations BESG!

    Catching up. An exceedingly successful businessman and philanthropist,Lee Kong Chian was a household name-in mine anyway that I often heard my Dad admired and spoke about. It is so befitting donation is channelled to Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum as an endowment fund to use for study of bird behavior.

    I believe BESG is another channel for donors to bequest their Will towards this good cause also.

    Daisy O’Neill

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