session 3

Quote of the day:

"Sustainability requires a shift from linear to circular thinking."

Old industrial model: Economic development VS environmental well-being

New industrial model: Economic development AND environmental well-being

So we all know the fact that sparing a thought for the environment is becoming increasingly important. We are starting to realise that the doings of mankind are starting to take a toll on the Earth from the signs of the melting of ice caps in the South and North pole, increased global temperature (as if Singapore is not hot enough) and the demise of many ecosystems. Businesses can no longer rely on the old school of thought of increased production and hence increased profits. The health of Mother Earth is now part of the plan of many businesses so as to not infuriate environmentalists which can disrupt their business operations and to also conserve the Earth's resources they need for production. This leads to sustainability in a business.

That said, it bothers me how some businesses try to save the Earth with the intention of ganering more support from people, thus greater customer loyalty and not because of the fact that they are truly concerned. I think that its an issue of respect in the area of giving and taking. We cannot possibly take so much money from our parents for investment purposed and not expect to return them anything when we strike it rich. Won't they be left with nothing at the end of the day? What would be left to give on their part then when you need more?

But with respect to sustainablity of the Earth, we can see over the years how initiatives like the Kyoto Protocol and Earth Hour have been implemented as an effort to help make a change. I personally think that while to a certain extent such things have managed to change our mindsets, there's certainly alot more educating to be done. But before we condemn large companies for polluting the world, wasting energy and blah blah blah, we should look at our individual self first. Simple things like remembering to switch off unused lights at home daily, bringing our own bag while grocery shopping, throwing waste into the appropriate bins (plastic, paper and cans)all go a long way. In this sense, we as individuals which may seem unable to make a significant difference can actually make a difference.

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
-Winston Churchill

Another topic for discussion was on "Innovation Management" of which I had to make a presentation on. Okay I admit I couldn't realy focus on the introduction by prof because I was busy getting nervous about my presentation. But! My take on innovation is that we constantly have to rely on innovation for development. For example, in a supply chain, how can we break down the distant barriers between us and our suppliers or our overseas manfacturer to ease operations and curb communication errors? How can we ensure orders are sent on time and accurately? Innovation can also be applied to sustainability of the Earth. How can we further educate people about saving the Earth? How can we bring the message acorss in a manner that it is interesting and something that will be etched in all our memories? All this and many others are all thanks to innovation.


The idea of innovation is something of great interest to me since the days of doing D&T in secondary school and hence my choice of topic. I once took part in a Tan Kah Kee innovation competition. The whole idea was to determine a problem, find and make a solution and present it. It was a simple problem I faced like having combed hair accumulated on the brush. The process of removing the hair was pretty darn annoying so I took the opportunity to come up with a solution once and for all. The materials I used were things like nets that held fruits to be inserted into the bristles of the brush before combing and from there on I explored other different options and how I could improve the idea to make it feasible. Over the weeks, the solution did improve and I was glad it worked! So yup! That was one of my experiences with simple innovation.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this session minus my nervousness because it gave me more insights on certain issues like whether NEWater for example was a sustainable development. The different presentations by my peers were interesting in their own ways be it their style of presentation and their content. I'd rate this session a 9.