Finally... after an application process which took a year and a half (I've no idea how those people work - they lost my forms a few times and my passport-sized photos too, and I just had to keep on sending in documents when I'm back in S'pore, only to be forced till the next time I returned to follow up)... I've received the letter from the S'pore Tourism Board:
"We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded the Specialised Tourist Guide licence for the nature category..." Muacks, NParks, haha, I love them sometimes... this is thanks to them and the great people I've been 'working' with at Sungei Buloh. No need for assessment. Just a recommendation... and I haven't even met the age requirement! :)
Now that I've got the licence... I'm unsure of how to go about carrying out the next steps. I know I need to hook up with travel agencies and come up with attractive nature tour/ad hoc packages at attractive rates, promote them, liaise with transportation companies etc etc, and other than all those complicated-sounding processes, familiarise myself with the nature areas and know the routes extremely well. Not a problem for the places I frequent, but I would like to expand my range... and hunt around for more 'best spots'. If I weren't so tied up with driving lessons (and revision) nowadays I'd gladly focus all my energy into this, but too bad I haven't the time... yet.
Nature guiding is my hobby... it's what I enjoy doing. But like my mom says, I can't be a volunteer *all* the time. And if I do have to learn how to earn a few bucks (no matter how little, earning something's
something at least) during my hols, I want to do it in a meaningful way. I don't want to work as a waitress, or behind the cashier's counter, or as some clerical staff. I want to share this joy... the little wonders... and the rich biodiversity Singapore has that so many others fail to appreciate.
But before the action... there're lots of things I need to find out, research, and learn about.
3 Comments:
Had you stayed back in the UK, you could've done the Maths in Biology UROP and earn £150 a week for 6/8 weeks. Shame you're not a fan of maths. There were the worms too. I know how fond you are of electrocuting worms. :-)
Wah! can be the next Subaraj!
hehe Xi - i *could* have but as you've guessed, i *wouldn't* have. nothing short of an exciting expedition to observe the birds on the cliffs of Scotland with Ian Owens would have persuaded me to do UROP in the UK during the hols. :P
mr budak - the next Subaraj? naahhh... not in the next dozen decades! right now i'm but like a kindy kid, and he's the S'pore Idol of naturalists...
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