By Victoria Vaughan

REPAIRING houses, planting trees and conserving turtle eggs were just a few of the accomplishments of a group of Singapore scouts in Setiu, Terengganu - and they have now set the standard for future projects there.

Eight rover scouts - that is, the senior section for those aged 17 to 26 - assisted WWF conservationists in their turtle and community projects in the Malaysian east coast state and impressed them with their pro-active approach.

Team adviser Tan Sijie, 26, led the group to Setiu, one of Terengganu state's poorest districts in terms of revenue generation, for their first Orion Turtle Project that they hope to turn into an annual event.

Mr Tan came to know about the project after a friend volunteered to join it three years ago. But it took many e-mail exchanges and two visits for him to convince the WWF in Setiu to give the green light for the trip as the organisation was not equipped to take on such a large group.

'As scouts, we leave the place a little better than when we first found it, and that's what we aimed to do in Setiu,' said Mr Tan, who has been a scout for 15 years.

WWF's Mr River Foo, the Setiu community project liaison officer, said: 'The amount this group did was immense. The standard of these kids is a benchmark for other volunteers that come out.

'We do not really take on volunteer groups as we are too busy with our day-to-day jobs, but we did not have to babysit them. They were so independent and got around on their bikes cycling to

areas up to 8km away. They were really passionate about everything they did.'

The group, consisting mostly of students, organised its activities, including patrolling the beaches at night to spot turtles laying eggs. The eggs were then dug up and reburied in the WWF hatchery to protect them from predators and people who believe the leathery-shell eggs are aphrodisiacs.

After talking with a women's group in Setiu that the WWF helps to educate, the scouts identified two building projects in the town: constructing a toilet for a man on kidney dialysis and replacing the crumbling wall of a home in the village. The divorcee who lived in the home was so grateful she cried when they left at the end of their two-week trip.

The group also planted 1,000 mangrove trees from the WWF nursery in four areas along the banks of the Setiu River over two days.

All the hard work has earned the group a Scouts of the World Award - a badge currently held by only seven scouts in Singapore. It requires the scouts to go on a community project for 14 days.

There are 20 registered rover crews and about 250 rover scouts in Singapore. Next year will mark 100 years of scout presence in Singapore.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.