Here I am with my billet - Deb

Foreword

I will be going to Canada for the Summit of the Sea Core Conference, from the 1st to the 6th of September 1997, in St. Johns's, Newfoundland, Canada.

Right now, I am feeling really elated, having this great chance to go there, however, there is a lot of work to be done to prepare for this event. I hope that everyone will give me their support on this as I hope to be able to make a difference.

Continue to visit this page and I will keep you updated as to the happenings at the conferance and all. Meanwhile, here is the official site of the conferance.

Thank you very much ,
Chiam Yue Ling

Having returned from the trip and finally getting over all the school work and other stuff, I am finally free enough to do this page.

As expected, the conference was great, in fact, I got more than I ever thought possible. There, I got to meet people from all over the world: the internation student delegation, the adult delegation from ASEAN, many people from the UN and its branches, my billets, the organisers, the Chancellor of Memorial University, the Premier and many many more people.

Especially memorable was the stay with my billets - Deborah and Charlie Randall. They were very very friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with them ...... I got an insight to the lives of Newfies - a very laid back (and intoxicating) one as compared to the Singaporean way of life.

As I discovered, Newfoundland is a remarkably beautiful place. The sea is truly a part of the lives of the local folk and is never far from mind (or stomach!). The countryside is full of rolling hills and by the sea, the cliffs are dramatic. Greenary stretches as far as the eye can see and the forces of nature are very evident (especially up on Signal Hill) ..... the area has many geographical features most of us only HEAR about .....

As for the conferance itself, it was great. Beverly LeMoine (the organiser) ensured that we did not get a watered-down version of the actual conferance, so we attended the actual sessions and planetary presentations and all. It was very enriching and I learnt a lot from listening to the discussions. However, we did not exactly totally grasp everything that was being said, which was where the Youth Caucus Meetings made sense.
The youths gathered together to discuss the issues raised at the sessions and we formed for ourselves our own green group - LookOUT!

The experience of meeting youths from all around the world (Canada, USA, UK, South Africa, Sweden, Germany) was very eye-opening. We found out that we all had shared views and ideals about the environment, and through the interaction, we gained strength from one another and gave each other the will and ability to carry on our fight for a better earth.

I look forward to more chances to attend such sessions and would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people here.

Thank you Sister Maria, Mrs Low, Mr Tan and Mr Chia for organising this whole thing. Thank you also to Mr Norris, Mrs Ho, Miss Foo, Mrs Koh and Mr Ho for putting up with my missing of classes etc.

Also, I'd like to thank my parents for being so supportive and lastly and most importantly, I'd like to thank Beverly and our sponser for having given me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; my billets Deb and Charlie Randall for putting up with me .... and of course, the members of the international youth delegation for giving me such a wonderful time ...... I hope you people had as great a time as I did. I love you always ...... peace and remember to be on the LookOUT and save the earth!