(Photo by Khor Kim Seng)
There has always been a certain stigma and perception regarding vegetarianism, especially when it comes to youths choosing to become vegetarians.
In an effort to promote environmental awareness and to lift stigma of vegetarianism, the Singapore Tzu Chi youths (Tzu Chings) kickstarted a movement called "Veggie Hero" (VERO) in April this year. They aimed to recruit 1000 veggie heroes and collect a total of 100,000 vegetarian meals in six months' time.
As part of the VERO campaign, the Tzu Chings organized a large-scale “Amazing Vero Race” modeled after the famous US reality show, Amazing Race, on 9 July.
Go Green, Be Bold
Shouts of “Go Green! Be Bold!” rang through the streets of Bugis on the quiet but sunny morning. The 84 participants, donning the Da Ai eco-friendly polo tees, were all ready for a quest to break the myth about vegetarianism. Some of them came with much curiosity to know more about vegetarianism, some came to try out how it felt like to not eat meat for a day.
The "Amazing Vero Race" was divided into two parts: the outdoor race was to take place on the streets of Bugis, while the indoor session would be held in Tzu Chi's Jing Si Hall.
The participants came from various tertiary institutions and were divided into 10 teams. Part of the challenge was to locate vegetarian eateries around Bugis area based on given clues, conduct diet surveys with passerby, compare resources required to produce meat products versus vegetarian products in supermarkets ('Face the Truth'), and take away beverages using water bottles from coffee shops ('Dare to be Green'). Each team will receive a VERO badge upon completing each mission.
During the 'Dare to be Green' challenge, the participants were hesitant at first to ask for beverage takeaway using their water bottles, but seeing that the waiters were receptive to their request and even giving them discounts, they realized it is never too difficult to be environmentally responsible in their daily lives.
The participants not only had fun playing the station games, they also learned useful information on becoming a healthy vegetarian. The games that they played included tips on having a balanced diet according to the food pyramid, nutrients that are commonly lacking in vegetarians, famous vegetarians around the world, and not to mention how much impact vegetarians would create on saving the environment.
There were eight vegetarian eateries, ranging from Chinese to Western to Indian, participated in the race as game partners. The owners were happy to introduce their signature dishes when their eatery was "discovered" by the participants; some even provided free snacks and drinks for them.
Tzu Ching senior Chng Wei Luen has been running a vegetarian delight store with several Tzu Chi volunteers at Fortune Center for a year. His store was one of the eateries that participated in the race.
Chng once led the Tzu Ching recycling group and pioneered the promotion of vegetarianism among the local Tzu Chings. He recalled that it was a rather new concept to the youths back then but he strongly believed that being vegetarian is the easiest way to play a part in environmental protection. All the while, Chng had been dreaming of combining his career with his aspiration to raise environmental awareness. Now that he has realized his dream, he was proud that he gets to contribute his part to promote vegetarianism in Singapore.
Chng opined that peer support is crucial to every youth's transition to become a vegetarian. He commended the Tzu Chings for daring to promote such a touchy subject among the new members and for doing it in a creative and fun manner through the Amazing Vero Race.
The participants were particularly fond of the brown rice milk with black sesame at Chng’s store and commented that the drink was "healthy without sacrificing great taste". The youths too gave feedback on the dishes offered in Chng’s store, for which Chng had made plans to extend the menu choice to include Western food in future to attract more youngsters in choosing meatless meals.
Choose compassionate, choose vegetarian
Chua Yek Guo from Singapore Polytechnic has joined the VERO campaign since April this year and has so far taken more than 150 vegetarian meals. To begin with, he insisted in having at least one vegetarian meal a day as part of his plan to become a full-time vegetarian. Chua used to feel guilty and uncomfortable when he had to eat meat because he kept thinking of the sacrifices the animals made for him. After switching to vegetarian diet, he felt much at peace and even invited his friends to join him. Even though the start was not as smooth-sailing as he hoped for (he quipped that his first few attempts were "as hard as getting T-Rex to eat plants"), his friends gradually felt the benefits of vegetarianism and opted for meat-free meals whenever they eat out with him.
Theng Kai Yao, a Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student, is a childhood friend of Chua. Because of Chua’s influence, Theng has started to look at vegetarianism in a different light. Once, Chua invited Theng for a meal at an organic vegetarian fast food outlet. Albeit it didn’t leave a deep impression on Theng, the little move had planted a good seed in his heart. Not long after, Chua invited Theng to join the Amazing Vero Race, which subsequently cleared up Theng's misconceptions about vegetarianism.
Theng was glad to discover that he can still have a variety of food choices even after becoming a vegetarian and signed up to become a VERO on that day itself.
A new perspective
In the afternoon, the participants headed back to Tzu Chi's Jing Si Hall in Pasir Ris for an in-depth environmentalism lesson. Together they watched a short video “A Life Connected” and understood the significance vegetarianism could do to human society, the animal kingdom and Mother Earth. The participants also learned that Singapore is not alone in promoting less meat intake among youths as Tzu Chings around the world are walking on the same path too.
Subsequently, a reward ceremony was held for VEROes who took more than 100 vegetarian meals over the past three months. Each received an eco-friendly lunchbox as an encouragement for them to continue to "Go Green and Be Bold".
The participants gave positive feedbacks on the day's event as not only it broke the stereotypes they had about vegetarianism, it came as a surprise to some that vegetarian meals can be as healthy without compromising its taste, while keeping its price as low as a usual meal would be.
Chua Soon Hau, who majors in Biological Sciences, clarified to the fellow participants that protein in meat is not the only source of energy provision. As one of the team leaders in the race, he pointed out that the food pyramid shown in one of the station games illustrated a balanced diet that provides enough energy to sustain a vegetarian’s daily activities.
Lee Shao Wee from NTU was long aware of the connection between vegetarianism and environmental protection. The earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan in March however made him ponder the issue further. He was glad that he has gained invaluable knowledge on becoming a healthy vegetarian through the race.
Chua Poh Ling, who led Team 5 in the race, used to be a meat and seafood lover. Last year, Chua went to the founding place of Tzu Chi in Hualien, eastern Taiwan and after listening to Master Cheng Yen’s teachings, began taking vegetarian meals starting the Buddha Day celebration this May. Armed with an unwavering determination, the fresh NTU graduate has managed to overcome her meat craving entirely.
One of the highlights of the day was the introduction of a software prototype built on Google Android Smart platform which Tzu Ching Hsu Che Wei designed using his computer programming skills. The software records the amount of vegetarian meals one consumes on mobile phones. He encouraged the VEROes to fully utilize the software and humbly welcomed participants from computing background to explore on the software together.
Though everyone was tired by the end of the day, the event was concluded in Jing Si Hall with much laughter from all the participants. Although this was their first try in conducting a green-themed race, it helped the Tzu Chings to better acquire ways and methods to tackle the issue.
There is certainly a long way to go for the VEROes, who must persist in their efforts to promote this "green revolution" among their peers. Go Green, Be Bold, all VEROes!
Three shouts of “Go Green! Be Bold!” rang through the early streets of Bugis, where the Tzu Chings began the "Amazing Vero Race". (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
From comparing the resources required to produce meat products and vegetarian products, participants get an overview of the energy wastage and inefficiency behind meat production. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
VERO promoter Tai Ming Hang succeeded in inviting two Indian friends to participate in the race. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
Since the launch of the VERO campaign in April, Chua Yek Guo (right) has eaten more than 150 vegetarian meals. (Photo by Khor Kim Seng)
The participants supported the call from the organizing committee to bring along their own utensils so they could lessen the workload of the eatery employees. (Photo by Ng Jia Han)
Participants conducting surveys on the streets to get a feel of how the public views the connection between vegetarianism and saving the planet. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
Through participating in the race, Theng Kai Yao (2nd from left) gradually understood the reason his best friend Chua Yek Guo (2nd from right) persuaded him to take up vegetarianism. Theng later signed up to become a VERO that day. (Photo by Ong Jenn Bing)
Chua Poh Ling used to be a meat and seafood lover. But since her switch to become a vegetarian since the Buddha Day in May, she has found more tranquility in herself. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
Lau Zi Quan (left), one of the coordinators for the event, is only 17 years old this year. Picture shows him making use of some last minute time to do the final preparation work for the indoor session. (Photo by Ng Jia Han)
With much persuasion, Tai Ming Hang (left) got his secondary schoolmate Loh Chun Heng to join in the VERO campaign. Loh has eaten more than 100 vegetarian meals since then. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
A group photo of all 84 race participants taken at the entrance of Jing Si Hall. (Photo by Pua Poo Toong)
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