An Assembly of Heroes
The awards ceremony of Blue Water Heroes Awards 2023 was held on the evening of 3 November as a gala dinner event at the Club.
Tay referred to it as “a vital corner-stone of the entire event”, in his welcome speech, as it offers the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the “outstanding conservation work of committed and passionate ASEAN eco-champions’’. “We will never kindle the flame of change if we adopt the mentality of ‘leaving it to others’ ,” he added, commending the 10 finalists, who had promptly initiated action upon identifying the problems polluting our oceans.
Among the 10 finalists were founders, co-founders and heads of social enterprises, their designations were as varied as the issues, from coral reef degradation and plastic pollution, to blue carbon deterioration, and more, but their goal was one: To improve marine health.
At a Pitch Presentation held on 10 October as the second step in the selection process, the finalists showcased the community-centric initiatives, environmental educational programmes and innovative and technology-enabled solutions they have employed to achieve their conservation goals and their long-term vision for a sustainable planet.
A distinguished panel of judges, which included Tay, Foster and Dr Chow, also comprised other executives and industry experts. They were Dr Toh Tai Chong, Senior Lecturer at National University of Singapore; Janet Shum, Sustainable Investing Specialist, APAC, at Citi Global Wealth; Christine Amour-Levar, Founder and CEO of Her Planet Earth, Co-founder of Investors for Climate; and Chong Seow Wei, Regional Senior Editor at Tatler Gen.T.
This year’s finalists were Alvin Chelliah, Chief Program Manager at Reef Check Malaysia; Anna Oposa, Executive Director and Chief Mermaid of Save Philippine Seas; Jessica Novia, Founder of Carbon Ethics and Bumi Journey; Kong Man Jing, Co-founder of Just Keep Thinking; Made Merta, Founder of Mina Bhakti Segara Lestari; Mathilda D’silva, CEO and Founder of Ocean Purpose Project; Oh Chu Xian, Founder of Magorium and M-Impact; Swietenia Puspa Lestari, Founder and Executive Director of Divers Clean Action; Tom Peacock-Nazil, Founder and CEO of Seven Clean Seas and Gary Bencheghib, Co-founder of Sungai Watch.
The 10 finalists, who hailed from Singapore, as well as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, came together for the event to support each other and prove their solidarity to the cause. A video showcase illustrating each of their work, and impact and achievements proved beyond doubt that they were each winners in their own right.
It was fitting therefore that the gala dinner held in honour of such eco-champions was kicked off with a personal note—a prerecorded video message—by Dr Sylvia Earle, Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society, and Founder of Mission Blue and Deep Hope Inc. Guests also had the opportunity to listen to the inspiring stories shared by the young members of the Ocean Geographic Antarctic Climate Expedition (ACE) led by Dr Earle, which included the emcee of the evening, Melissa Tan, and 12-year-old pianist, Hillary Yifei O’Sullivan. The latter’s live performance Rhapsody for a Changing Antarctic, written by composer, orchestrator and sound designer, Eric Bettens, set against the moving backdrop of Antarctica kept the guests enthralled. The young pianist had given a similar performance in Antarctica and also recently at the Royal Highland Festival 4,000 feet above sea level in front of the King of Bhutan.
Michael Aw, Founder of Asian Geographic, Ocean Geographic and Deep Hope, further elaborated on ACE, drawing attention to the urgent need for action through pictures depicting the shocking polar environment with brown and pink-stained snow landscape—a far cry from the “snow white” Antarctica of postcards. An image of a rainbow captured during the expedition further drew the point home.
At the end of the evening, three among the 10 finalists were announced as winners of Blue Water Heroes Awards 2023. First place went to Peacock-Nazil based in Singapore and Indonesia, second place went to Oh from Singapore and third place went to Oposa from the Philippines.
Adding to the joyous commemorations were upbeat and soulful cover renditions by live band Skye Sirena and Band. The sustainable menu served during the event aligned with the cause and the Club’s personal commitment to sustainability and its Farm-to-Table accreditation from the Singapore Food Agency.
Blue Water EduFest is, as Tay expressed, “an impassioned plea to gather more people and organisations to the cause of marine conservation,” and will continue to be the stage for impactful action.