Zoee Lim shares about using nature in battling loneliness and a family falling apart, TAY HWEI TING MEGAN JOY finds out more.
Zoee Lim (far left) pointing out specimens to her participants on an Intertidal Exploration with The Untamed Paths. Photo courtesy of Zoee Lim.
Being an introverted, daydreaming misfit in her teenage years, making friends proved to be a formidable task for the then 14-year-old Zoee Lim. Her parents, who raised her rather hands off due to their schedules, were on the verge of divorce.
With few friends and an uneasy home atmosphere, Zoee describes these times as her “angsty teenager phase”. At times, she would think, “I hate humans. I hope all humans burn somewhere. I don't wanna do anything with humans.”
The divorce that soon followed sent Zoee deeper into her shell — loneliness consumed every part of her life. Her saving grace was the love and curiosity she had for animals and nature.
To Zoee, they were her “only reason for living” at that time. The animals only had her, which made her want to live for their sake. Daydreaming could not relieve her loneliness, and nature proved to be an effective distraction from her reality.
“I hate humans. I hope all humans burn somewhere.
Zoee’s infectious love for animals comes not only from her natural curiosity in the creatures, but also from the way she was brought up. Zoee’s childhood looked quite different from her peers. Zoe says, “My parents would take me out to fish farms on the weekends to just look at the fishes, we didn't go shopping much.
Cartoons were discouraged. Instead, Zoee was given early exposure to animal shows and documentaries. There was also little pressure on Zoee academically, allowing her to nurture her mind and passion wherever it led her.
“I believe that life is about collecting stories and meeting people I can learn from, who inspire and motivate me,” says Zoee. Unfortunately, such people were not found amongst her fellow Secondary 2 classmates — whom, frankly, she found boring.
So, she began volunteering with ACRES in 2016 as a rescue caregiver and officer.‘
Working with ACRES, Zoee realised people rarely cared for animals that weren’t conventionally ‘cute’, like cats. She developed a soft-spot for the lesser-loved animals such as reptiles, arachnids, and insects, and a sense of camaraderie for the rejection they faced.
For snakes in particular, people would kill them on the spot regardless of their size, species, or danger level. Zoee says: “If it's a snake, they hate it, and they will kill it.” She feels that these lives are lost as a result of a lack of knowledge about them.
“I want to leave an impact, I want to inspire people, and I want to keep educating myself even when I’m educating others.”
What began as an escape from her life soon developed into a career. Now 20, Zoee is a fauna specialist at Camphora, a biodiversity consultancy, where she conducts environmental impact assessments to ensure developments in the area are carried out with wildlife conservation in mind.
Regarding the importance of environmental consultancy, Ms Pamela Ng, who holds a Masters in Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-Based Climate Solutions in NUS, says: “It's extremely important because it makes clients and consumers accountable for their output and actions.”
Aside from this, Zoee works as a nature guide with The Untamed Paths, where she brings people through forests and beaches, educating them on the wildlife they encounter.
Zoee says that her three main goals in life are: “I want to leave an impact, I want to inspire people, and I want to keep educating myself even when I’m educating others.”
Ms Melody Tan, 25, a participant of her nature walks, describes Zoee‘s passion as invigorating. She says: “She has so much joy in her work of guiding and research. It is infectious and it gets me really excited about what she’s excited about too.”
“Nature is for everyone.”
Through her journey with nature, Zoee has found many lifelong friends who inspire her, and she finds herself in a much healthier place mentally and physically. The curiosity and fascination she experiences while working with animals fills her life with excitement, and heals her old wounds.
Knowing how much nature has helped her, she hopes to inspire others and guide misfits like herself to find their path in life through nature. She wants to start her own guiding program with her boyfriend, using macro photography, to show more than can be seen with the naked eye.
Zoee feels that exercising curiosity is important for mental health. However, in Singapore, curiosity is not a priority, and she feels that people less willing to spend on such experiences in comparison to things like tuition or school materials.
She wants to allow kids and adults to experience this curiosity and inspiration without money on their minds and plans to keep it free for children below 16. She says: “I want to make sure regardless of background, people can go on these walks and learn. Nature is for everyone.”
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