Sandy beaches and sea breeze; beautiful blue oceans that are teeming with life. I’m not talking about a remote tropical paradise, I’m talking about our home – Singapore.
As a certified and avid diver, I’ve had the privilege of perspective from beneath surface waters. If you’ve been diving yourself, I’m sure you can identify with the eye-opening experience of having a whole other world revealed to you, with nothing to take you away except the sound of your own breathing (and that distinct crackling of underwater life). The magnitude and multitude of life in our oceans is breathtaking (pun not intended) but so is the damage being done to it. We may feel separated from it on land but life in the oceans is just like ours – complex and resilient but fragile, and in need of tremendous care.
With my gained perspective, it’s easy to be surprised when friends tell me they’re craving an island getaway and remind them that they live on one. It’s easy to wonder at just how separated people feel from the waters that literally surround our island-city. But if I looked deeper, I was just the same. I equally shared this perspective before I was shown differently – before I personally experienced it.
This got me thinking – how can I get others to think differently about our oceans? About our home and its place amongst the oceans, about our role in protecting not just the land but the waters that sustain us.
Enter, Mutant for Good.
Making ocean conservation personal
With a decade of experience in PR and communications, campaigns, key messages and storytelling are second nature for me. But after years of watching our amazing Mutants in Singapore and Malaysia leading our clients to success, my needling thoughts about the ocean finally came to a head. I asked myself, “What if our agency harnessed the power of storytelling for good?”
In true fashion, our leadership team responded emphatically. Ideas snowballed into plans, plans culminated into partnerships and our project, Peering into our Future, came into shape.
Peering into our Future, and all the Mutants involved, are all driven by one common purpose – making ocean conservation personal enough for people to care. By bringing together some of Singapore’s most talented writers to craft dystopian futures, we hope to ignite imaginations and remind readers of just how easily our idyllic city could be ravaged by the destruction of our oceans. Through the added elements of experiential storytelling and events, we hope to replicate what is happening to our oceans here on land and inspire a personal connection to these happenings. And finally, by harnessing the power of PR and storytelling, we aim to amplify this important message to as many people as we can and get them involved.
Do we need another CSR project? Yes, we do
As anyone in the conservation space knows, trying to encourage change isn’t straightforward. Despite being a life-affirming source of support for millions worldwide, marine ecosystems are under immense stress from global warming, overfishing, and pollution. As an island nation, Singapore has a responsibility to care for its rich coastal and marine biodiversity. However, media coverage on the issue has been surprisingly scarce, and most coastal conservation efforts have been isolated and inconsistent.
It takes great tenacity, passion and dedication to persevere in this space, and we are grateful to work with some amazing NGOs who do exactly this, to help translate our lofty ambitions into impact. They have entrusted us to build a platform that educates people about the importance of ocean conservation, and in return, they gain support in continuing to do what they do best.
The main challenge that lies ahead of us is conveying the importance of ocean conservation to the distant or disconnected layman, and creating an active community of advocates for this cause. Our approach is understanding that we all want change, and that nothing ignites change like personal stakes. What is happening to the oceans affects us all, and through Peering into our Future, we hope to educate, facilitate and revive the deep connection that we Singaporeans, as island dwellers, have to the marine world.
And we plan to have a lot of fun doing it.
To learn about Mutant for Good and stay updated with our efforts, please watch this space for more, and follow us on socials.
Cover photo: A juvenile Cuttlefish photographed in Singapore waters – Photo Credit: Matthew de Bakker