Speaking Up to Save Lives: The Honorable Louis Ng Kok Kwang of Singapore (vegetarian), Part 2 of 2

Even as a young boy, Mr. Louis Ng was concerned about animal welfare and environmental protection. On today’s program, he begins by telling us more about his early life. “With environmental/animal issues, somehow, it just stuck with me since I was young. My parents always asked ‘Why’ and (I) don't know, just somehow it clicked in me when I was young. I knew that there was something that I should do about protecting the environment, about protecting animals, and that's something I'm very fortunate with.”

“One turning point was the movie ‘Gorillas in the Mist.’ And it was about this American lady, Dian Fossey, who went to Africa to save gorillas. And I watched the movie with my mom. And, of course, halfway through I turned to her and I said, ‘Mommy, I want to be just like Dian once I grow up.’” Since that time, Mr. Louis Ng has devoted his life to protecting animals and our planet. He believes this is a moral duty for all of us. “It is our moral responsibility to look after these animals, to look after the environment as well, because they depend on us, and much more of course, we depend on them as well, to make sure that we have this planet to live in.”

The year 2020 was the year of the COVID-19 global pandemic. This zoonotic disease began in a wet market, where wild animals were being slaughtered and sold. For many months now, Mr. Louis Ng has been working to improve the situation in Singapore. “So that's one thing I've been fighting for in parliament already, to really scrutinize what's going on in our wet markets. And the first thing I've pushed for is to end the sale and slaughter of wildlife.” “My vision really is that we can coexist with the animals and the environment. That's the reality in urban Singapore as well, where the animals are venturing out of the nature reserves into the urban landscape, and it's important for us to have that harmony with them, to coexist, and to respect each other's spaces.”