Vision of Equality for a Greener Earth - VEGE

Hi y’all! NUS VEGE is having our first potluck of the semester next Friday (2 Feb)! 👀

Join us and meet others interested in plant-based diets and/or moving NUS away from animal products! Just bring a small vegan bite for everyone to share. :)

We will be holding the potluck in the Saga Buttery of NUS College/Yale-NUS, from 6-8 PM.

You can signup at the link in bio!! 🐿

We (the new exco) are super excited to meet everyone!! ✨✨

We are still looking for EXCO members! DM us if you are interested xx

If you are interested in leading/contributing to the plant-based movement in NUS, there is some great news! VEGE is recruiting EXCO members!!

We would love to have y’all on board on this amazing journey:) DM us for more info🫶🏼

“As animal activists, we’ve been campaigning on the welfare side. But I don’t think there will be a shift in Parliament anytime soon. Since people don’t really care about it, you have to change the strategy according to what they want. The campaign strategy has to focus on what will give you some success. Like catching onto how it’s fashionable to eat plant-based meat now. Even climate change has surpassed animal welfare concerns, but if it still serves the purpose, why not? As long as at the end of the day, less animals are slaughtered.
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Still, we were very aggressive in the early days of ACRES. I think I’m the only MP that has done protests on the streets and speaker’s corner. But in 2008, we sat the team down and realised we had lots of publicity but little policy changes. Afterwards, Minister Shanmugam showed me another way, to try and work from within as an MP. For example, rather than criticise the police for shooting at wildlife, we told them: Since there is no crime, why don’t you just call ACRES? It’s a win-win. Both public concerns and animal welfare concerns are addressed. It’s evolved to collaborating rather than naming and shaming in the style of Western activism.
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Now, I push aggressively in Parliament, but I’m pushing solutions. I sit in a unique position where I’ve been on both sides. I believe an MP should be an activist, making speeches to fight for change. It’s not that activism is dead, you just have to be creative. They also told me not to just speak on animals, so I speak on everything instead (laughs). I don’t choose the issues, they just come to me. Listening is my most important job.
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I would say that nothing is impossible - miracles take time. I’m very stubborn. The establishment of ACRES has shown that nothing is impossible. When I first went to the government to say I wanted to build a rescue centre, the civil servant told me: Louis, if you can get this place going, pigs will fly. Truly, why would I think that the government would give me land in land-scarce Singapore for something with no economic value? That’s why I bought the flying pig to hang up at the reception during the opening ceremony.”

— Plant-Based People of NUS 🌱

“I chanced upon a few factory farming videos and just kept watching and watching out of horror. It was so gruesome, but I wanted to find out more about how each animal was treated. Overnight, I stopped eating meat. What shocked me the most was how the egg industry grinded male chicks alive because the meat wasn’t suitable for consumption. I also didn’t want to be hypocritical. People usually say they love animals, but they actually love pets. I didn’t want to say that I loved animals as a whole, but still kill pigs or cows for food.
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The transition went smoothly because I did my research. I also already knew how to bake and cook. Through Google and Pinterest, I got exposed to unique ingredients. Since eggs, milk and butter couldn’t be used, I experimented with alternatives like flax egg. Most of the time, the result’s quite similar. We’re wired to think that we need non-vegan ingredients to make our usual baked goods. One of my favourite foods was salmon, but konyaku has a similar texture. I’ve also made oyster omelette before using tofu scramble with mushroom instead. So I don’t miss the taste or texture of non-vegan food.
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I used to be quite passive-aggressive in telling others that meat wasn’t good. Now, I try to inspire others to try vegan food through my vegan recipe Tiktok and Instagram bakery instead. If I can prepare good food and show them that the usual meat-based foods can be veganised, I think they would be more open-minded. At the same time, I created the bakery for those who want to try vegan foods but don’t have the time to bake themselves. The response has been quite positive. Most of my followers, who aren’t vegan, say that the food looks good and that they want to try it out. People save or share the videos and I’m happy that my content reaches more people. After I graduate, I hope maybe even open an actual vegan bakery.
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Everyone can afford to be more open-minded. What you think is not always true - for me, I realised that not only meat could give you protein among others. And there are so many different reasons actually for choosing a plant-based lifestyle. I would encourage everyone to find out more.”
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— Plant-Based People of NUS 🌱