Written by A/Prof Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive, Science Centre Singapore

Science Centre Singapore was invited to take part in a STEAM Education Conference by The Ganesha83 ITB Foundation. The conference was held at the Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Jakarta on 9 May 2015.

I gave a talk on ‘The important role of science centre in education at large’ and my Deputy CE Clarence conducted a workshop for teachers on ‘How to make your class alive where students really learn’.

I chipped in with two activities about plant and human anatomy while Clarence was the main inspirer with many intriguing and engaging demonstrations and experiments.

ITB is abbreviation for the Institute of Technology Bandung, and Ganesha refers to the road name where the campus sits.  The alumni from the ITB Class of 83 came together several years ago to set up the Foundation as a platform to give back to the society because they firmly believed that it was good education that made them successful individuals in Indonesia.  The non-profit Foundation thus has a noble mission to promote STEAM education and to fight against poverty.

One of the founding members (fondly known as Ibu Nana) came to know about us from her visits to Singapore.  She is clearly a determined and passionate educator (a professor of astronomy) despite being physically challenged.  She managed to get us over for the National Education Day programme where many teachers from different regions were invited to take part.  Her proactive spirit is truly respectable and inspiring.  Because of her proactivity, we have now started a friendship between our centre and the Foundation which is embarking on a joint effort with the Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture to develop science centres and techno parks.

Being proactive is a positive trait of a change-maker.  We all can be a change-maker just like Ibu Nana and her friends of ITB Class 83.  We just need to find that calling in our own heart and be proactive about it!