Category: ASEAN

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ASEAN Environment

[466] Of the bright side of the disaster

The tsunami brought terrible consequences to many in Asia. Lives were lost, properties damaged and economies slowed. All the while, many others are focused on the destruction that Mother Nature brought against our habitat. However, many have overlooked the benefits of the destruction.

First off, the tsunami probably reduced the number of fishing fleets in the Indian Ocean. In fact, this tsunami acts as a temporary environmental restriction imposed on fishing industry. As a direct result, the amount of harvest will fall. This gives any threatened or endangered fish a chance to recover for at least a couple of months. With reproduction rate possibly higher than the harvest rate, the stock size will increase, making future extraction more sustainable.

Then there are the beaches. All efforts on reclamation and most structures built near ocean have been razed down to the earth. There are satellite photos to confirm this. There is almost nothing there right now. Hence, some might say the incident in Asia and, to a smaller extent Africa, brings back innocence to the beaches. But of course, the reversion was anything but cleanly done. It seems that it is us that need to clean up after Gaia, unfortunately.

With the reversion done, it gives the people in the affected area to rebuild their lives. Specifically, a planned reconstruction of cities and towns is now possible. Previously, most of the hit cities and towns was (or are, I am not sure) disorganized. The places were worse than spaghetti on a plate. Now, especially the urban area has the chance of being thoroughly planned and reorganized – make it pedestrian and biker friendly and in turn, environmental friendly. In spite of that, the current situation is Aceh and Sri Lanka, where the rebels are active, will somewhat deters the reorganization effort. I’m sure that survival is more of an issue than the environment there.

Regardless of all these, nobody wants the disaster to happen in the first place. But we don’t have the ability to control the world. Thus, we will have to do the best out of the situation. We need adapt to the aftermath and look for the silver lining behind the dark clouds. (If you are in Ann Arbor, I’ll understand if there is no silver lining to be seen. For goodness sake, I am yet to see Ann Arbor’s Sun this year!)

So, stop whining and start working. At the same time, stop making foolish statements like this is God’s punishment on us or to the unbelievers. Stop blaming everybody else. The fact is, shit happens. Period.

p/s – an interesting blog concerning the tsunami and the bureaucracy surrounding the ongoing aid.

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ASEAN Economics Environment Photography Travels

[463] Of aids and tsunami

Soon after the confusion began to subside, aid from various directions started to pour in. One of the first to offer help is the United States with the initial aid of $15 million. $15 million is minute when compared to the devastation of the disaster. An official from the United Nations, Jan Egeland was swift to call the US and other industrialized nations stingy. The Challenge has an illustration that reflects the UN official’s opinion.

A few sides, in particular Fox News, were quick to retaliate but nonetheless, as a direct result from such remark, US aid rose to $35 million and shortly, promised a further $350 million of aid. That is a 200-fold of increase. After the increase on US part, the US and the UN, as mentioned in CNN, seem to be best of friends. Who wouldn’t be best of friends with $350 million eh?

While I was in Florida, a DJ over the radio said that he is disappointed by affected Asian countries requesting for help all the while these countries are the ones that are giving the US headache. With his tone, he seemed to be a little bit ignorant of geography and was trying to generalize on all things Asian. Yet, in a certain light, he is right. The world is expecting too much of the US.

I don’t think the world should expect too much from the US. Though all of us are interrelated one way or the other, the US does not owe anything to the world (except their debt. Hah!) and the world cannot possibly expect the US to lead everything. We must understand that the US has its own constraints; politically and financially.

Already, some in the US are saying that the $350 million is too much and might prevent future aid to other needy regions. This worry is justified no matter how badly the tsunami hit the countries of the Indian Ocean.

And if the US is offering aid, as it is the case right now, the US certainly seeks something in return or it was under pressure.

One other thing that catches my ears concerns Al-Qaeda and the Islamists in general. While driving in Orlando, or was it Miami or the Keys, a friend said that we don’t see these terrorists that fought in the name of Islam offering any help towards the victim of the tragedy. He further argued that these terrorists are only interested in bashing the US and not for the betterment of Muslims.

Not that I am fond of the terrorists but deep in my heart, I was trying to disagree. I can’t concur with the ways of the terrorists but some aspects of their struggle do sound acceptable, however misguided their actions are. Yet, I couldn’t find a point to counter his suggestion.

Another friend offered a different perspective. He said that we might not know whether the Islamists are offering help to the victims. Really, he said, there is no reason for them to publicize their help while the authority is looking for them. I hope this is the case.

But still, despite Muslims are one the heaviest hit, rich Gulf Muslim countries are doing too little to help. I do realize that these Gulf states are not from the first world but their income from the high oil price is certainly tremendous. These Gulf states need to offer more if they don’t want to let idea of Muslim brotherhood turns into a myth.

Also, there seems to be a fight for influence at the other end of the world. Both India and the US seem to be trying to outdo each other in Sri Lanka – both are sending ships and soldiers to help Sri Lanka. One can only speculate the sincerity of some of these aids.

And if what my friend said about the terrorists helping out quietly is indeed the case, it is a politically game. Even Collins Powell has said that all the aids the US are handing out might improve their image among the Muslims.

Nevertheless, I do believe a lot of givings, especially by volunteers from all around the world, are sincere. Like what was said in one of the interviews done by CNN, there is still good in this world.

Regardless of the event, I had without doubt better time in Florida compared to the people in Asia. The sun was bright, the sky was blue, and the water was clear and turquoise particularly at the Florida Keys. The wind was both strong and graceful at the same time.

This was taken at South Beach in Miami

This was taken at South Beach in Miami and this is my current desktop background.p/s – The Bear suggests an alternative way to help the affected countries. It will not help the victims directly but it helps nonetheless.

pp/s – satellite photos of Aceh and Sri Lanka by DigitalGlobe. Check out the photo analysis.

Categories
Activism ASEAN Economics Environment

[462] Of donation for the tsunami victim

I contributed some monetary support to the American Red Cross’ effort for the tsunami victim via Amazon.com. It’s not much but regretfully, that is what I can afford at the moment. But truly, money is not everything.

My neighbor’s friend is doing more than what I have done. He is currently in Sri Lanka and is offering manpower (he is currently reading medic in the UK) to improve the situation in the devastated paradise. His website is at http://www.kilimedical.com/. There are pictures of victims on site.

Please donate to help. There are various channels to do this. A simple browse through the internet should lead you to some reputable sites. If you need a hint on where to start, Wikipedia has a wonderful list of ongoing efforts for the tsunami victims.

Beware however of fraud. If you are unable to differentiate between a real effort and fraud page, simply ignore the less convincing organization and furnish instead to any reputable organization like the American Red Cross or the UNHCR.

If for some reason you don’t believe the United Nations due to some political belief, there are other organizations but be sure that the page URL starts with https, not simply http. Notice the letter s behind the http – an URL with https is much more secure than a typical page. This also applies to online shopping. You may donate to pages that fail to have a secure page but the risk of fraud is higher one way or the other.

If you are interested in donating to the effort in Malaysia, the Malaysian media The Star has a page for that purpose. But if it were up to me, I rather have you donate to relief bodies in Indonesia or Sri Lanka. Those nations are the ones that truly need help. But who am I to say. I’m not directly affected and those that are affected are feeling the pain all the same.

p/s – the UN has a pdf file on contribution report.

Categories
ASEAN Politics & government

[450] Of ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos

An ASEAN summit will be held this week in Vientiane, Laos. ASEAN, of course is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Prior to the summit, a few issues have already been flying around in the air.

One of them is the situation in southern Thailand. A few member countries have expressed concerns on the recent development but the Thai premier has warned that he will consider any enquiry has a sign of intrusion of Thailand’s internal problem. It is clear that Thailand is eager to go through the meeting without anyone mentioning the condition in the southern Thai states.

The main agenda of the summit however will be the discussion of free trade deal with Australia and New Zealand. It will be interesting to see how things will work out and how Malaysia will respond to it. Currently, all member countries have agreed to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), though the timetable towards reduced trade barriers varies from country to country. Malaysia in particular is supposed to eliminate the tariffs on foreign automobiles by 2005 but the government still maintains the tariffs on imported vehicles.

At the same time, it is interesting to note that if the free trade is signed, a good will probably go to the US from Australia via Singapore and then back again without being taxed, or at least being minimally taxed. This is because both Australia and Singapore have a free trade agreement with the US. An ASEAN-Australia FTA will complete the link.

Another issue that will be discussed on the table in Laos, surprisingly, at least to me, is the plan to increase the use of renewable energy. It is encouraging to see ASEAN is tackling the issue of energy together while heading to the right direction in matter concerning the economy and the environment.

The summit starts tomorrow. Let’s hope the progress towards one more free trade deal will go uninterrupted.

Categories
ASEAN Politics & government

[435] Of case for a Malaysian intervention in southern Thailand

Things seem to be heading for the worse close to home.

A few days ago, a few Buddhists were killed as revenge to the unnecessary death of roughly 80 Muslims in southern Thailand. I don’t see the problem subsiding as everyday since the trouble was aggravated has been marred with death related to the issue.

Some in Malaysia have voiced outrage over this. There were a few protests here and there and the most notable was recently held in front of the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur. No unwanted incident happened there but it does reveal that part of Malaysians, the Malay Muslims at least, are quite concerned with the development there. And it is not just Malaysia. Practically, every other Muslim nations have somewhat voiced their regret on Thailand’s mishandling of the issue. Even the United States expressed concerns.

What bothers me the most is not the mishandling per se but rather, I am worried with the nearness of the conflict to the Malaysian border and history. So far, most of regional conflicts have occurred well off Malaysian soil. Even when a conflict spilt into Malaysia as what had happened in Sabah a few years ago, it happens at a place where the population density is very low and the effect on Malaysia is negligible. If it gets worse, the worst thing that could happen is a diplomatic row, of which is kind of fun to participate in whenever it concerns Singapore. And whenever all that occur, I may only care for an issue without the fear of knowing Malaysia might become too entangled in it. To say the least, all the diplomatic issues that had risen in the past were much less of an issue when compared to the outbreak of the recent avian flu or the infamous Coxsackie virus.

But the resurfacing issue in southern Thailand brings a different kind of feeling to me. This is simply because the southern Thai states are more culturally similar to Malaysia than to Thailand. And in many ways, the issue affects Malaysia.

Mahathir on the other day suggested autonomy power being granted to the troubled states. It is a sensible option but the administration in Thailand quickly brushed the idea off the table and accused Mahathir of interfering with Thailand’s internal problem.

This is no doubt part of Thailand’s internal issue but it does concern Malaysia. It is similar to the situation when Russia had to drop its paratroopers into Belgrade during the NATO bombing in order to help the people that shared a trait of Russian culture. Malaysia can’t stand quiet while the undercurrent occurs. Malaysia must actively participate in this issue.

At the same time, with the mercury rising in southern Thailand. It is only comprehensible to expect the tension between the Muslims and the Buddhists there to be rather high. Muslims in Malaysia have expressed their opinion but the Malaysian Buddhists haven’t but I in no way expect the Buddhists to stay quiet if the Muslims overreact. However, I trust rationality will overcome any discomfort between Malaysian Muslims and Buddhists. But this possible misunderstanding in Malaysia provides the more reason for Malaysia to lend Thailand a hand.

Of course, Thailand will be outraged by this notion but Thailand must understand that the world is a continuous system. Something that happened somewhere, will affect something else somewhere else, regardless of the magnitude. Whatever Thailand chooses to do, Malaysia will be affected. Furthermore, local trade in the vicinity of the Malaysian and Thai border will hurt if things get worse. Without trade, development along the border will suffer. Local trade must flourish for the benefit of both Malaysians and Thais and for healthy trade to occur, cooperation towards peace is a must. Therefore, it is only acceptable for Thailand to allow a Malaysian intervention. Thailand cannot deny that.

In the near past, Malaysia has acted as a mediator in the region. Malaysia was the one that brokered a ceasefire between the Mindanao rebel and the Philippines government. Malaysia has also been of a help in Aceh and Myanmar. It would be uncharacteristic of Malaysia to not assist Thailand in this issue.

p/s – Totti is an arse.