Toastmaster Speech 2

“Not me!” is a phrase we learn at such a young age. As children, we learn very quickly  to push blame and point fingers in order to stay away from the wrath of authority and avoid being the ones who have to take responsibility.

“Not me” is a phrase that follows us throughout the rest of our lives in countless situations. Just think about  today’s meeting, I’m sure some of us would have thought, “Not me”, I’m not going to put myself out there this week to make a speech. I’ll let someone else take their turn. I’m tired. Not me.

Many people also choose to say ‘not me’ when asked whether they are ready change their lifestyles to tackle climate change. Even more people will say ‘not me’ to speaking up for the planet.

Today I hope, with my speech, I can persuade you to give up the “not me” mentality, and instead, take a more proactive approach to solving climate change.

Sadly, for climate change, the “Not me” movement has formed itself into a triangle of inaction. Fingers are pointed at each of the three culprits that make up this three-sided unsustainable mess. The citizens point to the government, saying that they have to create legislation and regulations to solve climate related problems. The government points to the corporates and institutions, telling  them, “hey, you guys made the mess, fix it”. And the corporates or producers point yet again to the consumers, the citizens who buy up all the material goods and services, and say, “you know, this is really all your fault, we’re just following your orders”.

There are big issues facing our planet today and some people still deny that the climate crisis is even real. Climate deniers say that climate change simply doesn’t exist.

Here in Singapore fortunately, most of us know that climate change exists, but we are so apathetic to the whole thing because it is an inconvenient truth. As such a vulnerable country, our people are still unfazed by the fact that 50% of our water supply comes from our neighbours and that that agreement ends in 2061. We are undisturbed by the fact that most of our little red dot lies only 15m above sea level. We are blissfully ignorant that our food will continue to be shipped in. Food that we rely on heavily, considering we barely grow our own. Being an island nation without its own natural resources, puts Singapore in a place where we should be doing a lot more to prevent climate change, but, are we? Or are we pushing the blame and saying, not me?

We are an educated and affluent country. We are also spoilt. Convenience here takes precedence over a lot of other issues. So, instead of changing mindsets and making our behaviours more sustainable, we point fingers. Not me. I don’t want to change the way I live.

I have worked hard for this luxury, this convenience, and this lifestyle.

In 2022, OCBC carried out a survey and found that when it came to changing behaviours to become more ‘green’ 53% of the population said that it was inconvenient.

Inconvenience then acts as a barrier to change, and instead allows the ‘not me’ narrative to take over – causing inaction.

I’m sure we all have seen many examples of how inaction has perpetuated problems. Sitting around waiting for someone else to fix something or solve our problems. It happens at work, at home, and in relationships. Now, it’s happening in climate change too.

So, what if we changed this ‘not me’ narrative?

What if we all did our part to save our planet, everyone, in our own little way. Rather than pointing fingers and assuming that advances in technology, buying more things, and disadvantaging others are going to save us?

What if we all saw the planet as our home? Rather than thinking that we are not responsible for this – the one and only Earth that we live in. What if we took the responsibility to say, I am adding to the problem, I can also add to the solution. I will change my behaviours, I will become more sustainable. Because me, as an individual, I can do my part.

There are many ways to do our part. We don’t have to work in sustainability or conservation in order to save the world. We can do simple, small things, right in our own homes and in our own everyday lives. Simple things make a big difference. For example, eating less meat, or using less water. These are all easy fixes to a worrying climate problem.

Let me tell you a story. There is a hummingbird that once lived in the forest. One day, wildfires took over the forest. Everything was ablaze and there was chaos and all the animals were running out in a panic. Except, the hummingbird. She beat her tiny wings and was heading in the other direction. “Where are you going?” cried the antelope, his eyes open wide in fear. “The forest is on fire! Get out while you can!” She stopped and looked at him, a confused look on her face while she hovered mid-flight, her little wings buzzing frantically. “I’m going to save my home. I’m going to do the best I can! Aren’t you?” and with that she flew off.

You see, the hummingbird was carrying water in her beak to put out the fire. Even though she was so small, she wasn’t going to wait around for anyone else to save what was important to her. She also knew, her small actions to save her home, would save the homes of her other forest friends.

So, what’s stopping us?

I hope that my speech has persuaded you to realize that we do not have to do big things, but we can do little things in big ways. Getting rid of the ‘not me’ syndrome will help mitigate climate change in a big way if we each do our little part to save the Earth.