Category: Environment

The latest report by WWF stated that one of the most recognizable mammals in the world, the orangutan faces extinction within the short time frame of 20 years.

With the fast pace deforestation due to excessive and illegal logging in both Malaysian and Indonesian jungle, the orangutan’s habitat is seriously threatened. Both Southeast Asian governments need to halt logging and increase forest patrol in Borneo and Sumatra. It is utterly imperative for both governments to get their act together if they could be called responsible for their own wildlife future.

Apart from deforestation, shockingly to me, poaching activity also exists. I’ve always thought poaching was a problem exclusive to Africa and other poor nations. Sadly, this is not the case.

Maybe it is here where environmentalists and libertarians could reconcile – the Big Brother cannot be trusted on the issues that matter.

In my opinion, environmental law in Malaysia is not sufficiently strong to prevent environmental wrongdoings. For instance, in Malaysian Forestry Act, the punishment for illegal logging is jail term between one and twenty years and a fine of RM 500 000, an equivalent of approximately USD 131 000.

First of all, though the jail term sounds bad with the maximum of 20 years, the minimum is too low. It needs to be increased to, say 5 years. That would teach the violators something. And most importantly, the monetary fine is most definately way too down below. A manager of a logging company easily makes millions of dollars. The industry itself is measured in billions. The fine of USD 131 000 is merely a minute fraction of their corrupted income. It’s not even a respectable dent. The level of penalty should be increased to a level that it really hurts both the foul company and its owner. Better, instead of a constant monetary term penalty, the fine should be proportional to its or his or her income.

The key to punishment is to prevent further violation and the penalty should be made larger than the logger expected income when he or she doesn’t suffer any setback, not merely to fine just for the sake of it.

And who did this law anyway? The lawmakers of the said Act are probably the ones of those political science graduates of which know nothing of economics or even rational mathematics. God! Please save my soul if those fools and stupids are running my country.

If ever the younger generation asks me what is an orangutan and if I won’t be able to show them a free living primate of that species, I swear to God, I will dedicate my life to hunt all the ones that are responsible of such extinction. I will make it a personal crusade, by gold, by blood or by God’s name I will if that day comes.

But I pray sincerely, whole hearted, for that time to never come, whether it’s within my lifetime or farther.

p/s – don’t you love unexpected humor?

“Not to make a pun, but I think it’s shedding a light on serious regulatory and safety issues that are not getting much attention” – Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania on genetically modified pets, specifically the fluorescent fish. Report by the Chicago Tribune Online Edition, Jan 12th 2004.

2003. What a year. Each and every passing day, the world seems to head towards chaos.

I remember earlier during the year, Europe suffered one of its worst floods in history. Eastern European cities were partially inundated; the river basins were being flooded by the water from the melting glaciers.

A few months after the flood abated, ironically an unprecedented heat wave and drought swept through the European Mediterranean coast. The heat wave was so great that they had to spray water against the wall of nuclear reactors in order to cool it down. Some of the nuclear plants were forced to shut down. Worse, death toll was high.

Looking at two of many events, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that something is wrong with the Earth. It is true that disaster strikes every now and then but noticeable, the frequency and intensity has risen steadily. Global warming and climate change are as real as you and me.

Down south, Antarctica ice shelves continue to disintegrate and despite of all this, Canada, Australia and USA seem to rejuvenate the old JUSCANZ alliance with Russia as the new member. Maybe the new alliance should be called RUSCAA.

Somehow, it funny to be obsessed with global warming while Ann Arbor is being covered with snow. It is as if I suffer from cognitive dissonance disorder but yet, the news from all around the world convince me that it is God who is suffering the metal disorder. Or maybe it’s just the Human as a species.

0.7 degree Celsius has risen since a century ago. Based on IPCC extrapolation, global average temperature will rise a few more degrees. A few more degrees might sounds nothing but those few more degrees would send many coastal cities and island nations to share the fate of Atlantis.

As the world average temperature continues to set new record each year, I wonder when people will start to seriously care about the environment. And lately, I’m starting to share the green extremist concern – why do we value commodities more than the Earth?

We could die if we were deprived of water or food or air but we could never die if we ran out of gold. Why do we value the medium of trade more than the goods itself? Isn’t the reason of trade is to obtain goods? Worse, why are we putting money above the very place that we call home? If the Earth were reduced to Mars or Venus, won’t money will worth terribly less?