Doing research - Singapore style.

By Martin Chew
Year 4, Life Sciences Program

STUDENT RESEARCHER: Martin Chew
Source: The Straits Times ©right; Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Permission required for reproduction. Creeping around the edge of the pond, I stare intently at a swan which lazes by the lake at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. It has been two hours since its last meal and according to my extremely "precise" scientific timing, it should be releasing my much needed "substrate" in exactly... two and half minutes. Finally she hops back into the pond. I rush forward in little steps and with gloves, pick up its fresh dung, pressing lightly to see its consistency, taking a slight wiff. It's just right with a fresh grassy smell.

Collecting my "substrate" and doing research on fly sex and morphological sutures on genitalia were not exactly the first things that came to mind when I first joined the NUS Life Sciences programme four years ago. I was more interested in cures for cancer, neuro-surgery and the promises of a good life in air-conditioned rooms. However, working on Biologyresearch projects proved to not only offer interesting anecdotes to gross out relatives and friends, it also allowed me to work on living creatures helping us to understand a little more about ourselves.

Research though can have relaxing aspects as with my study on Tridacna crocea or boring giant clams in Pulau Tioman, Malaysia. Lazy mornings along the beach and watching sunsets with a cool beer seemed to be more of an episode from Baywatch. But, instead in three days, I had clocked 150 duck dives, saved my dive buddy from bumping into sharks and barracudas twice, swam and ran after my measuring equipment in a Styrofoam box and had my fingers stuck twice between clam scutes. All that however came to fruition when my talk on the aggregational behaviour of the giant clams was well received at the World Ocean Conference in Manado, Indonesia. Still it was a queer situation of me being a predominantly English speaker, was trying to converse in spatterings of Bahasa Indonesia with the Manado locals and the article finally finding its way into the Singapore Lianhe Zaobao Chinese newspaper. Such can be the irony of science. More importantly though, I realize that I am part of a much larger international community. To me, my three days in the sun to scientists mean saving the last remaining clams, while to others, it just means a new item on sashimi plates.

Research is not all about doing what other people want you to do, but sometimes also just for pure interest. Driven by my gastronomic obsessions, I studied the taste perceptions of Singaporeans on their favourite bakkwa. I found that 70 per cent of subjects could not tell the difference between the bakkwa they liked and their favourite brand, bringing huge implications for the consumer industry. After the results were published in The New Paper, I was called to explain my case before disbelieving boards of directors. It was strangely exhilarating to be both interrogated yet having to stick to my findings. Now, during every Chinese New Year, I receive a complimentary packet of Bakkwa from that particular vendor.

Life as a researcher was never meant to be easy, and sometimes it takes a bit of hindsight to see the rewards I have reaped. My research has piqued the interest of the scientific community - three research work in international journals as well as three newspaper articles. I was also the only undergraduate giving a presentation at the 24th International Willi Hennig Conference, a conference for evolutionary biologists. In all, the experience was an incredible learning journey with plenty of laughs along the way.