Me

Hi! I am David

I am here to beckon you to join me in exploring the magical world of plants.

The Why

“For me there is only the travelling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, breathlessly.“

This quote by Don Juan Matus in A Yaqui Way of Knowledge sums up the driving motivation of all my endeavors.

To work with and share of the magic of plants is one path of heart for me.

I lead a double life

By day…

I am an ECOLOGIST in training (the training never ends!), and I work with plants. [See my Research Gate and LinkedIn profiles].

I did my postgraduate research at the University of Tasmania in Australia where I enjoyed the rare privilege to study the ecology of how fire have created the world’s tallests flowering trees.

By night and in every other spare moment…

I am a NATURALIST.

I pursue and study a wide range of botany related topics ranging from plant photography, nature writing on blogs (TasmanianPlants and FloraFNQ), building my plant Life List and volunteering as a demonstrator on how to use the online Australian Rainforest Key.

In particular, I am very interested in bryophytes and where I can I also contribute to working on the online Key to Tasmanian Plants

But beyond the trappings intellectual pursuits…

Underlying everything I do is an awareness of the mystical side of the botanical world.

I aim to enhance the appreciation of plants with SCIENCE.

I aim to infuse the study of plants with HEART.

I aim to integrate the appreciation and the study with SPIRIT

My quest therefore is communion – the integration of science, passion and spirit.

I believe that the grandest expression of all physical and intellectual endeavors lie in this integration.

Where From and Where Now

I am from Singapore. Born there. Bred there. My cultural roots lie in the rich and post-modern chinese culture that has blossomed on that progressive island.

I am currently a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil, where I continue my academic research and teach ecology and scientific communication.

But no matter where I am on this lovely earth, my spiritual home remains in the southeast Asian tropics – the abode of the giant dipterocarp tree, the mecca of fig shrines, and the sylvan palaces of the Kings and Queens of fruits. Ceaselessly, the southeast Asian tropics beckons me to return, in person or in spirit.