Field Studies to West Malaysia (East Coast)

12 – 15 March 2011

Objectives

  • Familiarize participants with the locations suitable for geographical fieldwork
  • Enhance geographical understanding of concepts and knowledge, especially on coasts
  • Network with fellow geography educators on pedagogy and content

Topics of interest

Coast, Tourism, Rocks and Minerals, Weathering

Resource Person: Associate Professor Wong Poh Poh is a leading scholar of climate change and coastal geomorphology. He was a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS from 1966 until his retirement last year. Prof Wong is an eminent geographer, an expert in coastal tourism, known for his ‘special ability to see the interaction between human activities and the physical landscape’. He served in various national and international communities in areas related to coasts and tourism management, among them, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which won a Nobel Peace Prize 2007. He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the GTA in 2010. In his retirement Prof Wong continues to maintain a strong field research in climate change and coastal hazards and to develop new concepts, approaches and technologies in the adaptation to climate change.

Target participants: Secondary and JC/CI Geography teachers

Cost: $450 (GTA members) $480 (non-GTA members)

Includes: overland transport, full board (twin sharing), meals, guides

(Please note that cost is based on minimum of 25 participant, twin/triple share.)

Insurance coverage – Comprehensive NTUC insurance including unlimited medical evacuation)

Registration and further details

Please register online ( by 12 Feb 2011

Contact Person and information: Charles Chan

Proposed itinerary

DAY 01 -- SINGAPORE-KUANTAN (Lunch/Dinner)

Assemble at 0630 hrs and depart at 0700 hrs for Kuantan. Along the way, recce Pekan River at Rompin for river studies (including headwater and spit).At Nenasi at Pekan, develop a case study on coast with information given by Prof Wong.Check-in to Swiss Garden Resort and Spa Hotel, Kuantan.Debrief on fieldwork possibilities and suitable pedagogies (e.g. geographic inquiry) after dinner.

DAY 02 -- KUANTAN (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Visit Kuantan’s most famous beach, Telok Chempedak for rock, coastal studies and weathering and be enriched by another lecture from Prof Wong. Check out the basalt rocks at Batu Hitam and its potential as a fieldwork venue for coastal studies as well as coastal tourism.Return to Hotel. Debrief and discussion after dinner

DAY 03 -- KUANTAN (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

After breakfast, recce Kg Kempadang, about 30 km from Kuantan. Learn from local guides on other locations currently explored and studied by local institutes and soil scientists and gather the information as potential fieldwork locations for students. After lunch, stop by at Cherating to check out the site for fieldstudy on tourism and/or coast (headland, wave-cut platform, weathering and erosion etc). Return to Hotel. Debrief and discussion after dinner.

DAY 04 – KUANTAN-SINGAPORE (Breakfast/Lunch)

Check-out of hotel after breakfast at 0730hrs to head home.

Lunch enroute and arrive at designated drop off point by 1730hrs.