Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

Categories
Environment

[1184] Of podcasting on Earth Day

The second podcast, ever.

[audio:podcastEarthDay2007.mp3]

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

I have celebrated every Earth Day for the past several years by highlighting environmental issues that have — in my humble opinion — captivated the nation. I wish to stay true to that tradition by doing the same thing this year.

There is no doubt that the natural environmental faces challenges each day and there are countless issues that need to be addressed. Sometimes, it is overwhelming to simply list down those issues. It is even harder to prioritize it. So, the issues I am going to highlight here are in no way the only issues we face. Rather, the issues are the ones that have taken the center stage of public attention. Further, in no way this list is exhaustive and it will be updated as we ride on 2007.

Earlier this year, major flooding took the whole nation by surprise. A town deep in the heartland of Johor, Kota Tinggi, despite its name which could be rendered as a city on high ground was flooded for several weeks, cutting simple folks from food and fresh water. It was no less than a national emergency since four states suffered billion of ringgit of losses due to the flood.

The flood attracted public attention to anthropogenic climate change. For the first time in Malaysian history, as far as I could recall, the Malaysia started to take climate change seriously. Or least, the perception of it is there. More importantly, the issue of climate change enters into public consciousness and no longer becomes an issue among small number of environmentalists and scientists in the country.

The government announced that it would produce a report on climate change amid the chaos that followed the disaster. Though I am not sure if the document has been completed, I have not heard the government making the report public. If the government is serious about being transparent, perhaps, it could take the first step by making the report public.

El Niño would have been an issue to be discussed but the phenomenon itself has been mild.

Related to climate change is the intention of the government to increase fuel standard in Malaysia. I welcome such move. The move however might increase gas prices. I would support the price hike but that is just me. I support taxation on fuel consumption and disagree with fuel subsidy. The government plans to adopt EURO II while the current standard is EURO I. For your information, in the EU, the more stringent EURO IV is common.

I am unsure if the adoption of EURO II covers carbon emission. Nevertheless, we are losing significant amount of carbon sink through deforestation. While deforestation is common in Malaysia, so far this year, nothing is more controversial than the one in Lojing, Kelantan. Finger-pointing game is currently being played out but no substantial step towards the conservation of Lojing has been undertaken by any side.

And then, there is poaching. If last year, we had a proud tiger butchered and stored a like a common chicken inside a refrigerator, not too long ago this year, to those that care, to our horror, hundreds of turtles were discovered on the boat. Only a few were alive and saved from the barbarians. The authority successfully arrested several Chinese citizens of whom were responsible for the act.

What gone is gone however. We must take effort to protect what is left, and try to replenish it from what we have. Though controversies have struck the Selangor state government for the past few years, probably in effort to clean up its image, declared a large portion of its eastern frontier as state park. From Hulu Selangor in the north to Hulu Langat in the south, the approximately 90,000 hectare park is a good news. Nonetheless, just as what is happening with Kota Damansara Community Forest Park and many others, this announcement should be received with guarded posture for so many words have been proven to be worthless for so many times.

I wonder though, how would the water pipe link between Pahang and Selangor is going to affect that promise. The pipe will have to go through the park. That is not the main issue however. It is the dam in Pahang that will displace many Orang Aslis off their ancestral home. Dams always devastates local environment. The planned dam in Pahang is no different.

These issues no doubt are large issues and individually, we are almost always powerless to act against it. But when individuals of common interest band together to form a common front, much can be done. But one does not have to confront these issues to make the world we live in a better place for all us. Even gram of carbon we reduce, every consumption we reduce, every time we recycle, we are doing our part for ourselves, for our children and for our home.

Happy Earth Day.

Categories
Photography

[1183] Of the sun sets on a Friday

Friday is always good. Anything else is extra and makes any Friday even better:

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

As usual, I do no justice to things that I record.

Though the light show is impressive, it is not as rare as another beautiful occurrence — the light pillar. I have only seen a light pillar once, while skiing somewhere north in Michigan.

Categories
Environment Politics & government

[1182] Of the rape of Lojing and the clowns in PAS

Exposé on the rape of Lojing started a finger pointing fest between UMNO and PAS in Kelantan. It was not long before the the state and the federal government started to join the blame game. To a certain extent, given how poor the state is and hence, the lack of resource to protect the natural environment, I am sympathetic of the state. Nevertheless, I am refraining from taking side for I am fully aware that both sides are more interested in looking for brownie points instead of the environment. Yet, I cannot help but ridicule PAS on the way it handles the issue. Instead of engaging in damage control, it makes matter worse for itself, much to the UMNO’s gain.

About a week ago, it was revealed by the minister of the environment Azmi Khalid that the state government — more precisely, the office of the state chief minister (menteri besar; MB) — issued a gag order to the state forestry department on the situation at Lojing. The deputy MB denied the allegation:

KANGAR: The Kelantan government is said to have stopped the state Forestry Department from divulging information on the environmental damage in the Lojing Highlands.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid, who made the claim yesterday, said the gag order had resulted in the ministry not being able to get any information.

“I want the people of Kelantan to know that the Kelantan menteri besar’s office had issued a written directive to the state Forestry Department preventing them from giving any information on the damage in Lojing Highlands.”

Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob had earlier denied allegations that the Kelantan government had withheld information about Lojing. [‘Forestry Dept told to keep mum about Lojing’. NST. April 15 2007]

In The Star:

“The statement by the Deputy Menteri Besar that the Kelantan government did not issue such a directive is not true and implies that I have lied. I have written proof as the letter came from the Menteri Besar’s office.

“I urge Datuk Ahmad to retract his statement and check the matter with the Menteri Besar’s office,” he told reporters after closing a handicraft seminar and workshop in Mata Air near here yesterday. [Azmi hits back at Kelantan government over Lojing logging. The Star. April 15 2007]

Later, the deputy MB admitted to the existence of the order after consulting with the MB’s office:

KOTA BARU: Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob made another about-turn yesterday, saying that there had indeed been an order restricting the disclosure of information on forest clearing in the state.

He said the menteri besar’s office had issued a letter dated March 26 to the state forestry director not to divulge details on logging in the state to federal authorities.

[…]

Ahmad, who had denied issuing the gag order, said he was only told about the letter by the menteri besar’s office on Monday. [Deputy MB blames boss. NST. April 18 2007]

In the article, the word another refers to this:

In a sudden about turn, the state government is now claiming that 13,000ha of Lojing Highlands had long been gazetted as a forest reserve.

Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob, contradicting his own statement on Sunday that the government-owned 25,000ha of land in Lojing which had yet to be gazetted under the National Forestry Act 1984, said the 13,000ha had been earmarked as a water catchment area. [Deputy MB’s gaffe over Lojing Highlands claim. NST. April 17 2007]

That means he shot himself in the foot, twice. He should be in a wheelchair now. It is unsure if the shot foot was in his mouth.

Back to the letter, apparently, the letter ordered the forestry department not to divulge information to the public with permission from the chief minister’s office, as clarified by PAS member Husam Musa:

State Public Administration, Economic Planning, Finance and Community Development Committee chairman Datuk Husam Musa said Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, as a state leader, was “well within his rights” to insist on being kept informed.

He said a letter dated March 27 to the department was in fact not a gag order although it ordered the department director to obtain permission from the menteri besar before releasing any information on land clearing in the state. [State says MB ‘well within his rights’. NST. April 19 2007]

Not a gag order? Really? Further in the same article:

“We have no intention of restricting information or vetting them as we are transparent. But the menteri besar must be informed, otherwise there will be chaos.” [State says MB ‘well within his rights’. NST. April 19 2007]

No intention of restricting information? Transparent? Au contraire!

There is no restriction of information if and only if the state does not restrict information!

And yes, that is a tautology.

Moreover, how does the rationale “menteri besar must be informed” rationalize the restriction of information? Would the MB be uninformed if there was no gag order? Stupid is it not?

Also, despite what had happened:

Its secretary, Takiyuddin Hassan, said the party would hire a consultant who would be accompanied by knowledgeable government officials to inspect the development of hilly terrain in other states.

“We are pushing for total conservation of the environment. We are aiming for it in Kelantan, but can other states follow suit?” he said in an interview. [Look at damage in other states first, says Kelantan. The Star. April 1 2007]

The people from PAS will be better off if they take my advice: slow down and think way, way harder before blurting an opinion.

Categories
Economics Environment Liberty Politics & government Society

[1181] Of a way to celebrate Earth Day

Earth Day falls on April 22 every year and the next Earth Day is about five days away. Those that care should start things running by reading The Power of Green at the NYT:

One day Iraq, our post-9/11 trauma and the divisiveness of the Bush years will all be behind us — and America will need, and want, to get its groove back. We will need to find a way to reknit America at home, reconnect America abroad and restore America to its natural place in the global order — as the beacon of progress, hope and inspiration. I have an idea how. It’s called “green.” [The Power of Green. Thomas L. Friedman. NYT. April 15 2007]

This is possible of those of writing that shakes the green world. If I am not mistaken, the last writing of such importance was The Death of Environmentalism.

The article is pretty long. If you are interesting in watch a video on it instead, go to the video section of the NYT.

Categories
Society

[1180] Of racism does not solve the Rohingya issue

Gross generalization is easy to do because it does not require rigorous thinking. For a simpleton, this is a preferable style of thinking, or lack of. We as a society unfortunately are so simple-minded that we fall for that trap. Not too long ago, a survey claims that we as a society generalize Malays as lazy, Chinese as greedy and Indians as drunk. After that, foreign labors have been blamed for the increase of crime rate, despite the fact that the locals commit more crime than foreign workers. As if that is not enough, our legislature even considered of passing a xenophobic bill. Now, we see claim that all Rohingyas in Malaysia are beggars or criminals, the people as a whole creates “a sort of a beggar ridden country.”

It all started with a missing kid. In two weeks, the parents with the help of local community joined hand in hand for a search effort. The effort bore fruit in the end and the parents were, I believe, overjoyed.

Initially, the media reported that the kid had been living with a Rohingya family. The kid was lost and upon seeing him all alone, the family decided to take care of him. Later however, the police suspected that the kid was kidnapped by the family and used for begging purpose. There are those that seem to be turning onto the family, passing judgment based on mere suspicion while the court of law has not been given the opportunity to rule over the case. Some courageously indulge a hasty generalization and assumed guilty charge on the family. As if that is not enough, he audaciously takes the next leap and claims that all Rohingyas are beggars or criminals; either way, parasites.

Imagine, a couple’s alleged — not convicted — crime is enough to condemn a whole people. Such hasty generalization borders racism, if it is not racism by itself.

There are people that hold the same thinking. Though the actors differ, the storyline essentially remains the same. Switch Rohingyas for Arabs and Malaysians for French, you would have what racist far right in France are thinking. Switch Rohingyas for Turks and Malaysians for Germans, you would have what the racist far right in Germany are thinking. Switch Rohingyas for Jews and Malaysians for Nazi Germans, you would have what the Nazi on aggregate were thinking.

Issue regarding the Rohingyas, specifically, their status in Malaysia needs to be addressed and there is no doubt of that. But turning to hasty generalization or racism is not a solution. For a solution to be found, we need to sit back and think a little harder.