tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40372750612459648112024-02-19T09:55:09.333+08:00Ibi Benefici Locus Est~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.comBlogger497125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-33383699459097588632021-07-02T05:10:00.002+08:002021-07-02T05:10:17.170+08:00Letter to the Editor: Protect the Privacy of Aid Recipients<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">LETTER
TO THE EDITOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">PROTECT
THE PRIVACY OF AID RECIPIENTS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8vkK-wWweapW_JFhJ2ZDeTWmtI7kgnfDFkORtyEopMvS5JFXfV3CVLP-VVsi_ZoZoOwqdLGxWJY0TjCuv18m5QmMGVbmj00imdISvi8y0daoc7O_YqgkrPlbUN9e0NzQ5C8O1Y149_lwQ/s843/White+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="843" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8vkK-wWweapW_JFhJ2ZDeTWmtI7kgnfDFkORtyEopMvS5JFXfV3CVLP-VVsi_ZoZoOwqdLGxWJY0TjCuv18m5QmMGVbmj00imdISvi8y0daoc7O_YqgkrPlbUN9e0NzQ5C8O1Y149_lwQ/s320/White+Flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
White Flag Campaign currently trending on social media to encourage people who
are adversely affected by the Movement Control Order and corresponding
restrictions on economic activities to seek help should be seen not as a cause
of pride, but an indictment of the government of the day for its failure to
provide assistance and support to the most vulnerable members of our community.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
we commend the many individuals and businesses that have stepped forward to
provide food aid and monetary relief to the less fortunate, we must remember
that it is our political leaders’ preoccupation with wresting power from one
another, failure to plan ahead and to manage the Covid-19 outbreak, lack of
empathy, and culture of impunity that got us to the point in which 468 suicides
have already taken place in Malaysia from the short period between January and
May 2021. Malaysians who were optimistic, compliant, and cooperative at the
start of the pandemic in March 2020 have since found themselves out of savings,
lacking a safety net, and out of options. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
this reason, the White Flag Campaign cannot be a reason for cheer and pride. Being
in the position to alleviate the suffering of others should not be an opportunity
for individuals, NGOs, businesses, or elected representatives to brag about
their generosity. In an unequal and unjust society, mitigating inequality and
injustice is the right thing to do, but is not an alternative for good governance.
Just because some citizens are willing to extend help to other less fortunate
citizens does not give political leaders the license to go traipsing on maskless
durian parties and breach Covid-19 SOPs. We need to continue to hold our
political leaders to account, even while we are reaching out to those who have
fallen through the cracks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is in the interest of holding others and oneself to account that I strongly
urge donors, elected representatives, and the media not to identify or post
photographs of the aid recipients. Those who put up white flags outside their
homes are already humiliated enough that they have to concede defeat and
acknowledge that they are unable to carry on without the kindness of strangers.
There is no need to exacerbate their shame and sense of helplessness and
powerlessness further by identifying them by name and posting photographs of them
and their homes. There is no pride to be derived from doing the most basic and human
of things for someone in greater need than oneself. Being in a position of
privilege should make us humbler and reflect more on how unequal our society
is. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is sufficient to identify the aid recipients as a “single mum” or “unemployed
father of four” or “struggling hawker” to give their plight a human face. There
is no need to name them and post photographs of them and strip them further of
their dignity. Even when the aid recipient gives express consent to having
their photos taken and shared publicly, this consent is often not given freely
but under economic duress. A desperate parent who truly needs the food basket
for his or her children will swallow his or her pride and agree to be photographed,
but this will only add to the imbalance of power and their sense of
vulnerability. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Further,
we sometimes do not realise the full consequences of our actions. A homeless
contract worker may face repercussions or even termination at work when an
employer realises that the said worker is homeless. There is still a lot of
stigma attached to homelessness and some employers see it as an indication that
the employee could flee after committing misconduct and will not be easily
traced or tracked down, instead of merely an indication that rent and home
ownership is beyond the reach of many people working in the city. An aid recipient
who is working at a low-paying job may face repercussions from his employer who
views the white flag as an allegation that the employer is not paying its
workers enough or as an attempt to embarrass the employer. There are just so
many ways in which the action of flying the white flag or asking for help could
be misinterpreted or judged. Even the Kedah MB and several other politicians
have interpreted the white flag as an allegation that they have failed their
constituents, and some of those who flew the white flag have reported facing harassment
and intimidation as a result. Identifying these individuals by name and posting
their photographs can only make things worse for them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is understood that many donors claim that they require photographs for
accountability reasons when the funds come from different sources. Sometimes, well-meaning
individuals pool together their money and assign a few members of the group to
purchase and deliver the food aid and money. In such a situation, there are
other ways of proving that the aid has reached the recipient. Those responsible
for delivery should take photos of the record of funds collected, the items purchased,
and the receipts. Then they can take photos of the volunteer(s) handing the
food over, and the hands of the individuals who received the aid. If photos are
taken of the recipient and his/her home, the considerate and responsible thing
to do would be to blur out the recipient’s face, home address plaque, vehicle
registration number, and anything else that can be used to identify the recipient
(e.g. work uniform, t-shirt logo, children’s school uniforms) before posting or
sharing the photos. The same rules apply to elected representatives delivering aid
to their constituents – those who support you will believe that you provided
aid even in the absence of corroborating evidence, and those who don’t support
you will claim the pictures are doctored or staged, or that the recipient is
undeserving even if you post the recipient’s entire family history and photo album
online. So why subject the recipient to even more humiliation and harassment? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
trouble with givers is that we like to imagine that our actions will inspire
others to do the same. What we forget is that we can inspire and influence others
without sharing photos and information that make the vulnerable even more
vulnerable. Nobody likes to be identified as a charity case or an object of
pity. If we want to uplift and help others, we need to do so in a way that respects,
protects, and empowers them. If we want to create a spirit of solidarity and
unity in society, we need to extend support and help to those in need without
making them feel even more lacking in power, agency, and autonomy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">WONG
EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">PETALING
JAYA, SELANGOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-60967602273640386392021-05-25T12:40:00.005+08:002021-05-25T13:31:48.432+08:00Letter to the Editor: Perhilitan Needs To Answer For The Killing Of Dusky Langurs<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">LETTER TO THE EDITOR: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">PERHILITAN NEEDS TO ANSWER FOR THE KILLING OF DUSKY
LANGURS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPSQNde9kgiaYlXPt8dSExWSwjm5FByLYBrz0tJ9ipQrVc8U243ancTzKrToThVFUHN4D8w4SpcZU9Cy-uGu9ZcLMc8mBsIhYwfvf_9wVgcmbbHm6zir9OYjQDXNyxI5l8qLmW4U-o4_Y/s1350/TheVibes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPSQNde9kgiaYlXPt8dSExWSwjm5FByLYBrz0tJ9ipQrVc8U243ancTzKrToThVFUHN4D8w4SpcZU9Cy-uGu9ZcLMc8mBsIhYwfvf_9wVgcmbbHm6zir9OYjQDXNyxI5l8qLmW4U-o4_Y/s320/TheVibes.jpg" /></a></div>(Photo credits: The Vibes. Link to the original article by The Vibes here: <a href="https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/28309/port-dickson-folk-livid-over-heartless-shooting-of-endangered-langurs">https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/28309/port-dickson-folk-livid-over-heartless-shooting-of-endangered-langurs</a>) <br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is a cruel irony that on May 23, just one day after
the International Day for Biological Diversity, which was observed and marked
with a positive-sounding statement from the Department of Wildlife and National
Parks (DWNP / Perhilitan), Perhilitan officers allegedly shot and killed 20 dusky
langurs, which are classified as Protected Wildlife under the First Schedule of
the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, and as Endangered under the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The outrage and horror of the public over the alleged
killing of these dusky langurs in Port Dickson is justified and requires an
official response from Perhilitan. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is unfathomable that trained and armed wildlife
officers called to assist with the problem of aggressive long-tailed macaques
would be unable to tell the difference between the shy and retiring dusky langurs
and the admittedly bolder macaques. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The shooting of the langurs appears to have been
executed unprofessionally, as instead of being merciful and quick, the suffering
and agony of the langurs were unnecessarily prolonged, as described in the testimony
of eyewitnesses. The additionally brutal act of executing a mother langur and
her baby in cold blood has further left citizens wondering if Perhilitan
officers are able to evaluate what does or does not constitute a threat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This unnecessary and vicious killing is not an
isolated incident. The Perhilitan units in various states have a long history
of being implicated in the killing of wild animals, many of which have not been
proven to be threats to local residents. There is a report of Perhilitan Negeri
Sembilan killing a peaceful herd of wild boars in October 2017, and even
enabling a pack of hunting dogs to maul the wild piglets to death. In 2013, Aljazeera
reported that Perhilitan culled 10,000 long-tailed macaques in 2012, and
Perhilitan confirmed the existence of the culling operations even while acknowledging
agricultural expansion and housing developments near forested areas to be the
causes of human-macaque conflict. We must remember that the population of stray
animals and wild species such as macaques explodes only when humans make
changes to the environment and interfere with the lives of animals so
significantly over a period of time that it changes the availability of food
supply and the existence of predators and competitors of a particular species.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ironically, the Director-General of Perhilitan had in
an official pronouncement in March 2019 reminded the public not to kill or ill-treat
wildlife, and warned the public that cruelty to wildlife is an offence under
Section 86 of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. The D-G had also emphasized the
need to protect wildlife and ensure the survival of endangered species, and
sought the cooperation of the public to contact Perhilitan in the event of a
human-wildlife conflict instead of taking matters into one’s own hands. Can we,
the public, now invoke the same section to demand that the officers who had
shot the langurs be prosecuted for cruelty to wildlife? Considering that even
non-wildlife experts and local residents are able to tell that the langurs are
not a threat to humans, can the Perhilitan officers really be said to have
acted in good faith and to actually believe that they were carrying out their
official duties to protect wildlife and mitigate human-wildlife conflict? If
that were true, then perhaps a retraining of all Perhilitan officers is in
order. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even in the case of problem wildlife such as
long-tailed macaques, wildlife experts concur that culling may not be the best
solution, and should never be the first option. Culling could destroy biodiversity
by harming unrelated species, for example, in the current case in which complaints
were made about long-tailed macaques but it was ultimately the harmless and endangered
langurs that were slain. Culling could result in unintended ecological
consequences, for example, as in the now-famous anecdote of how China had, in
1949, culled sparrows as a disease prevention measure, which resulted in the
destruction of crops by locusts as there were insufficient sparrows to keep the
locusts in check. Culling may, in fact, lead to the increase in the population
that the authorities is trying to cull, as can be seen in the case of the feral
cat population in Tasmania. Scientists and animal behaviourists have observed
that when older, dominant adult animals are killed, younger animals move in
from the surrounding areas to replace the adult animals, as the older and more
dominant adult animals are no longer around to kill or chase away the younger
animals. Culling some animals from a ‘problematic’ colony also creates more space,
food, and reproductive opportunities for the ones that remain, and within a
short time, their population will bounce back to what it was pre-cull. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To reduce human-macaque conflict, developers need to
build human homes further away from wildlife habitats and forest fringes, create
buffer zones, and install security fences and monkey-proof garbage bins. Perhilitan
needs to monitor areas with reported human-wildlife conflicts and enforce their
threats to fine and punish people who feed wildlife. Without the wildlife
feeders and easy availability of human-generated food waste, much of the
conflict between humans and macaques could have been reduced. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Culling is cruel both to the humans who have to
desensitize themselves to the pain and suffering of animals to perform this
brutal act, and cruel to the animals who are often just the victims of their circumstances
– wild boars and macaques, do not, after all, ask for housing areas or highways
to be constructed through their habitats and do not ask to be fed. Translocation
and relocation to national parks and forest reserves, sterilization of wild
animals by qualified vets, and biological pest control by reintroducing the
natural predators of an overpopulated species are all more humane, more
sustainable, and more responsible options than culling, although more expensive
and time-consuming initially. However, we owe it to the animals to at least find
kinder and gentler resolutions to human-wildlife conflict, considering that the
conflict is a manmade one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Public confidence in Perhilitan as a wildlife
protection agency is at an all-time low. Those of us working in the
conservation and animal protection sectors have a difficult time convincing
members of the public to report wildlife crimes and urban wildlife sightings to
Perhilitan via its hotline numbers. This does not bode well for the future of
wildlife conservation and rehabilitation in Malaysia, if the general response of the public is that they would rather condone the keeping of wildlife as pets
or release captured wild animals themselves than refer the matter to the country’s
only official agency responsible for the protection and conservation of wildlife.
The D-G of Perhilitan needs to investigate the killing of the langurs immediately
and come up with new SOPs for dealing with human-wildlife conflict to restore
public confidence in the agency. Members of the public will also need to play
their part in learning to coexist with local fauna and reduce the risk of human-wildlife
conflicts instead of reporting encounters with wildlife as problems to be dealt
with and eliminated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">WONG
EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">PETALING
JAYA, SELANGOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-76231007458653697402021-04-03T13:40:00.001+08:002021-04-03T13:40:08.408+08:00Letter to the Editor: Biodiversity Loss A Cause For Alarm<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">LETTER TO THE EDITOR: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">BIODIVERSITY LOSS A CAUSE FOR ALARM<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDqn3ZobpDT5SZIVTrqZTBJs6RNdBUurmy_frIKVBRLfjH0ngz9oLPLKRy9-vL922Ranj5a7WgGSU5C459qhRC-_mzfSi95IEr6fv7EBIKDFJV_t7oZtPrP7XSIWxrDpWi6rAwlH_AI91/s640/Reuters+Malaysia+Deforestation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDqn3ZobpDT5SZIVTrqZTBJs6RNdBUurmy_frIKVBRLfjH0ngz9oLPLKRy9-vL922Ranj5a7WgGSU5C459qhRC-_mzfSi95IEr6fv7EBIKDFJV_t7oZtPrP7XSIWxrDpWi6rAwlH_AI91/s320/Reuters+Malaysia+Deforestation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Image credits: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-palmoil-deforestation-idUSKCN1VD0CR">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-palmoil-deforestation-idUSKCN1VD0CR</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The recent report that a total of 567 plant species
out of the 1,600 Peninsular Malaysia plant species assessed in the Malaysia Red
List have been classified as threatened should be a cause for alarm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Malaysia’s tree cover, which stands at approximately 55.3%,
obscures the alarming reality of biodiversity loss in Malaysia, but the fact
remains that tree cover is not the same as natural forest cover. Most of
Malaysia’s tree cover consists of plantations and degraded forest land. Plantations
do not have the same biodiversity value and cannot provide the same ecosystem
services as natural forests. Intact and biodiverse forests protect watersheds
and water quality, are more resistant to fire and drought, regulate climate and
weather patterns, and provide habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Biodiversity ensures food security, as a biodiverse
ecosystem will provide genetic resources for a variety of food, including those
that are resistant to fungi and diseases that may wipe out cultivated strains
of crops. Keeping forests intact and biodiverse prevents wild species from
crossing into human habitation and spreading both known and new diseases to
domestic animals and humans, and thus protect biosecurity. Approximately 50,000
to 70,000 plant species are used by humans for traditional and modern medicine
worldwide. Biodiversity loss will limit the discovery of potential new medicines
and medical treatments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Humans rely on the ecosystem services such as the
supply of clean air and water provided by healthy and biodiverse ecosystems. The
National Water Resources Study 2000-2050 warns that Kedah, Kuala Lumpur,
Melaka, Penang, Perlis, Putrajaya, and Selangor are at risk of water deficits,
partly due to the loss of vital water catchment areas, and partly due to poor
water management systems and habits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The UN FAO reports that only 18.7% of forests in
Malaysia is classified as primary forest, the most biologically diverse and
carbon-dense ecosystem, and that only 11.6% of the forests in Malaysia is
classified as ‘pristine’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Malaysia is rapidly losing forested areas to
agriculture and development, and state governments continue to degazette forest
reserves and issue logging permits with impunity. The requirement that states
gazette replacement sites for degazetted reserves does nothing to turn the tide
of biodiversity loss. States are running out of suitable sites to gazette as
replacement forest reserves, and further, the gazettement of secondary forests
and degraded land cannot be a substitute for the protection of natural and
intact forests.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Google’s global forest map reveals that between 2000
and 2012, Malaysia had the world’s highest deforestation rate at 14.4%. Satellite
data from the Carnegie Landsat Analysis System-lite platform shows that over
80% of the rainforests in East Malaysia have already been logged. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Between 2000 and 2009, over 9,000 hectares of
Permanent Forest Reserves were degazetted in Malaysia, threatening watersheds
and carbon sequesters, and destroying flora and fauna including those
classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The degazettement of
the Bikam Permanent Forest Reserve in 2013 caused the extinction of the Keruing
Paya, a critically endangered hardwood tree, in Peninsular Malaysia. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The best way to mitigate biodiversity loss is by
protecting existing forests. One of the main problems why forest conservation
is so challenging in Malaysia is that the Federal Constitution gives states
jurisdiction over their land, water, and forests. Forestry revenue accrues to
the state government and not to the federal government, and as such, forests and
extraction-based industries such as logging and mining are a major source of
revenue for state governments seeking short-term gain. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Government agencies set up to manage forests see
forests not as sensitive ecosystems to be protected, but as resources for
socioeconomic development. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">However, the
economic benefits of logging and mining are short-lived and can sustain only
1-2 generations at most</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. State governments
stand to lose more from the loss of forests and the ecosystem services they provide.
Droughts, floods, soil erosion, landslides, and health crises such as dengue
and malaria outbreaks will all cost the state and federal governments more in
the long run. We need to stop relying on commodity crops and extraction-based
industries as our primary source of revenue. If we build a knowledge and skills-based
economy and stop relying on monoculture crops and extraction-based industries
as our country’s primary source of revenue and jobs, we can find better ways of
sustaining our economy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We need to rid ourselves of the mentality that the
loss of threatened tree species does not affect us, or that it can be rectified
through tree-planting campaigns and gazetting degraded land as replacement forest
reserves. Tree-planting campaigns, habitat restoration, the setting up of seed
banks, and environmental education for the younger generation, all take time to
bear results. And time is a luxury that threatened species do not have. Biodiversity
is not merely something that is nice to have, but essential to the survival of
humanity and a living planet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">WONG
EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">PETALING
JAYA, SELANGOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-80013334102240759302021-02-03T05:02:00.006+08:002021-02-03T05:02:49.403+08:00Letter to the Editor: End Deforestation Before Embarking On Tree-Planting Campaigns<p style="text-align: justify;">LETTER TO THE EDITOR</p><p style="text-align: justify;">END DEFORESTATION BEFORE EMBARKING ON TREE-PLANTING CAMPAIGNS</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnukGQuf42_qFmUofqXfnNtpNscRJVy9HojhG5Y9OsnEBXSwTyhgtA7Yd16aWqQYMAAs_iRk9opqKky37PHJykS5eDbp50kXhnKNzNMWt9KL7na-RWyjCidYLUOwPmgM76w4r0lmvIhmNZ/s960/TreePlantingMNS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnukGQuf42_qFmUofqXfnNtpNscRJVy9HojhG5Y9OsnEBXSwTyhgtA7Yd16aWqQYMAAs_iRk9opqKky37PHJykS5eDbp50kXhnKNzNMWt9KL7na-RWyjCidYLUOwPmgM76w4r0lmvIhmNZ/s320/TreePlantingMNS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is difficult for environmentalists not to respond with scepticism to the Prime Minister’s 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign. While it is heartening to see that the government acknowledges climate change to be a real and imminent threat, the actions of those in power thus far are not consistent with environmental protection, climate mitigation, or biodiversity preservation. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The PM claims that Malaysia has forest cover of 55.3%, which is wildly inaccurate as it includes plantations, which consist of monoculture crops that rely on large quantities of synthetic herbicides, insecticides, bactericides, and fertilisers in order to thrive. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation reported Malaysia’s primary forest cover to be at 18.7% in 2010, and it has decreased since then. Tree cover is not the same as forest cover, and not everything that puts out roots and leaves is automatically beneficial to the environment. Old-growth forests store carbon for centuries, whereas plantations constitute net emitters of carbon due to the disturbance of the soil and degradation of the previous ecosystem. Plantations cannot be classified as forests, and they are in fact a direct threat to forests due to the fact that forests are cleared for agricultural expansion. For the sake of scientific accuracy and for this massive tree-planting campaign to be an actual climate mitigation strategy, this inventory of 100 million trees must necessarily exclude plantation trees. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">While a tree-planting campaign of this magnitude sounds good in theory, the Perikatan Nasional government does not have a credible environmental track record. Just days before the announcement of the 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign, the Kedah government proposed to log 25,000 hectares of the Ulu Muda forest, which is a vital water catchment area and biodiversity hotbed. Further, there are recent reports of logging in the vicinity of the Jerantut Tambahan Forest Reserve and Lesung Permanent Forest Reserve, among other forest reserves. Things in Pakatan Nasional controlled states are not much better, as the Selangor State Government is adamant about proceeding with its plans to degazette and destroy the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve. Based on these precedents, it is difficult to believe that the government is in any way committed to protecting the environment. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Planting trees make up only a partial solution to the effects of deforestation. A better, less expensive, and less quixotic option would be to end or at least reduce deforestation. Let us remember that mature trees offset far greater amounts of carbon dioxide than young trees. A tree will only begin to be effective in absorbing carbon in its tenth year, so planting trees as a climate mitigation strategy is not going to produce the results we want to see within our lifetimes. Intact forests provide many ecosystem services that newly-planted trees can’t. Researchers from 15 countries published their findings in Nature in 2014 that old trees not only store carbon and prevent it from escaping into the atmosphere, but actively convert carbon dioxide from the air into their trunks, branches, and leaves, a feat that is not replicated by young trees. Currently, the Earth’s forests and soil absorb about 30% of atmospheric carbon emissions. Mature and biodiverse forests store carbon, recycle water, prevent erosion, harbour biodiversity, and improve air and water quality. When trees are cut down, years of a forests’ stored carbon are released back into the atmosphere. When we plant forests, we gain some of the benefits that forests provide, but it takes decades to grow a healthy forest, and humanity is running out of time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I can see the appeal of a massive tree-planting campaign to those in power. It creates the appearance that the government is doing something proactive to protect the environment, and also creates public relations opportunities for corporations, particularly those in polluting and destructive sectors such as construction, property development, and oil and gas, to perform a corporate social responsibility exercise to improve their image. Before we embark on this ambitious and expensive campaign, however, it would be good to know what plans the government and its corporate partners have beyond planting trees. Planting millions of trees is the easy part. Tracking these trees and ensuring the young trees’ survival is the challenging part. Mega tree-planting efforts in India, Turkey, and Ethiopia record the number of saplings planted, but are unable to provide accurate and adequate information about the survival rate of these saplings. What makes us think that Malaysia is going to be the exception, given our society’s poor maintenance culture? Tree-planting campaigns are also a cop-out for governments and corporations because it is a way of avoiding having to address more serious environmental issues such as deforestation, pollution, mining, and other destructive activities. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">By all means, we should plant as many new trees as possible, especially native trees that provide food and shelter for native fauna. However, we need to stop pretending that it will solve the environmental problems caused by weak governance, greed, and the prioritising of short-term benefits over environmental integrity. If the PM truly cares about “greening Malaysia” and our trees, as he had claimed, he would start by putting a halt to deforestation and the degazettement of forest reserves. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">WONG EE LYNN</p><p style="text-align: justify;">PETALING JAYA</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-85996774067631083332020-12-17T22:52:00.002+08:002020-12-17T22:52:20.941+08:00Letter to the Editor: Racist Statements Cowardly, Irresponsible, and Unprofessional<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">LETTER TO THE EDITOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">RACIST STATEMENTS COWARDLY, IRRESPONSIBLE, AND UNPROFESSIONAL<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEeDEFc2wdb6M0kK6th9Puo9uP5Ecu53vQDswkpFptv9zojq7IK0qxECZTl6NevF-B1UGimZZSZ0cAPQGl35Oy7LT7Ra0hBJDuhtTJJn9cHPvcEt5EEHSCuRbYULWwKCfnVaxXlWGDNIIO/s640/KedahMB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="422" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEeDEFc2wdb6M0kK6th9Puo9uP5Ecu53vQDswkpFptv9zojq7IK0qxECZTl6NevF-B1UGimZZSZ0cAPQGl35Oy7LT7Ra0hBJDuhtTJJn9cHPvcEt5EEHSCuRbYULWwKCfnVaxXlWGDNIIO/s320/KedahMB.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Nary a month goes by in Malaysia without a politician making
a racially-charged statement and then attempting to defend or justify it. More
exasperating still is how these politicians manage to get away with impunity,
and how the Prime Minister and party leaders ignore or downplay the incidents. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Anyone can tell that Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Mohd
Nor’s crass and unfunny remarks that MIC Deputy President M Saravanan and DAP’s
Deputy Penang Chief Minister II P Ramasamy are “drunk on the toddy of
popularity” and “acting drunk on three bottles after consuming only one” were
intended to stoke racial hatred, because they are unrelated to the issue at
hand. If the MB had no intention of being racist, then the analogy of being
drunk on toddy would never have been used. He knew very well that the insult
would not have the same effect on people of other ethnicities. His insult was
illogical and irrelevant to the issue at hand, which is as follows: Why was the
Hindu temple demolished when the Kedah MB had previously given his express
assurance to the Unity Minister and MIC leaders that all relevant parties would
be consulted and notified before the destruction of any houses of worship? MIC’s,
DAP’s, and the local Hindu communities’ assertions were that the demolition was
unfair and not done according to due process, and not that they, the MIC and
DAP representatives, were popular, teetotallers, or sober, so why was it
necessary to invoke the topic of alcohol consumption and toddy? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">A leader of calibre would be able to respond to the questions
raised, demonstrate knowledge and fairness, and defend his or her decision
without having to resort to personal or racial attacks and irrelevant insults.
Making a racist statement is a distraction tactic. The MB knew that it would
outrage his critics who are of Indian ethnicity, and at the same time it would
win him support from certain segments of society who would then see him as a
‘defender of the race and faith.’ However, one cannot defend one’s race and
faith by insulting other races and faiths. One can only uplift one’s race,
faith, and society through good deeds and by conducting oneself with integrity
and competence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In any civilised society and in the eyes of any person with a
sense of fairness and integrity, acts such as corruption, abuse of power, and
violations of the human rights of minorities are far bigger crimes and sins
than the consumption of alcohol. One is not by default a morally upright person
merely because one does not consume alcohol. Not all non-Muslims consume
alcohol, not all who consume alcohol become intoxicated, and not all who become
intoxicated cause harm to others. Consuming alcohol in a social or celebratory
setting is a harmless activity in many cultures around the world. To assume
that someone who is not of the same race or faith as you is somehow morally
inferior to you is a sign of ignorance and immaturity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In his address to the nation in March this year, Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin vowed to be a “Prime Minister for all Malaysians”. Yet his
silence and inaction on the recent statements of the Kedah MB as well as
previous incidents, for example, that of Baling MP Abdul Azeez against Batu
Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, show that he has no plans to follow up on his vow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Each time a politician makes an insulting statement of a
racial or religious nature, there will be a short-lived outcry from the public
and politicians from other parties. We will then remind the perpetrator that
there are over 40 different ethnic groups in Malaysia, that we are a
multiracial and multifaith society, that non-Malays also played a role in
securing the Independence of the then Malaya from Britain, that non-Malays also
play a significant role in nation-building, pay a disproportionately large
percentage of taxes, and serve in the civil service and security forces. To dismiss
and disrespect the needs and wishes of such a significant percentage of the
population is arrogant, dangerous, unfair, and irresponsible. But the cycle of
racist verbal abuse resumes each time accountability is demanded of particular
politicians. MP Kasthuri Patto was insulted when she asked about the lack of female
representation in the Parliamentary Select Committee. M Saravanan and Dr P
Ramasamy were insulted when they queried the Kedah MB on the demolition of the
temple. Any rational voter can see that these politicians resorted to racially-charged
insults when they are not able to show accountability and respond to their political
opponents’ queries. The only reason these racist statements were made was to
make the persons at the receiving end feel disrespected and unwelcome. The PM
and party leaders need to end their silence and complicity in this culture of systemic
racism and the use of racist language and hate speech to harass ethnic minorities
and political opponents, not merely because politicians and citizens from minority
groups deserve better, but because you need to prove to everyone – both those
from majority groups and those from minority groups – that you are capable of
decency and fair play. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">WONG EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">PETALING JAYA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-21108202384922478222020-09-20T15:17:00.004+08:002020-09-20T15:17:25.103+08:00Letter to the Editor: Captive Breeding of Tigers Is Not Conservation<p><span style="font-family: times;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">LETTER</span><span data-offset-key="6lsfb-1-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> TO THE EDITOR:</span></span></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">CAPTIVE BREEDING OF TIGERS IS NOT CONSERVATION</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="avb4a-0-0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42x0wshTUeqfzihOugN3TuKrNNI5N8oyYiMpfuyyxa9-XMgypatNGIqr5N0YY4xZL91tUhleP3UO8tSM6-RPA0XsDdG03WO6SKLwbNIggKwMIU5ymVIKy_ku2oDkFbEUK_gTHeMQpng_t/s959/EeLynn+Mycat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="959" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42x0wshTUeqfzihOugN3TuKrNNI5N8oyYiMpfuyyxa9-XMgypatNGIqr5N0YY4xZL91tUhleP3UO8tSM6-RPA0XsDdG03WO6SKLwbNIggKwMIU5ymVIKy_ku2oDkFbEUK_gTHeMQpng_t/s320/EeLynn+Mycat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="5msb-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5msb-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="5msb-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="2m3mr-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2m3mr-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2m3mr-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">The proposal by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) to breed the critically endangered Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) at the National Tiger Conservation Centre for release and ‘rewilding’ raises many reasons for concern. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="bnlu9-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bnlu9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bnlu9-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="aem3o-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="aem3o-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="aem3o-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">The reason for the decline in the population of Malayan tigers is not that the tigers are not mating or breeding enough. Tigers, like most members of the cat family, are prolific breeders, which explains why the number of tigers in captivity continue to rise worldwide, even as wild tiger populations continue to be decimated. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="77l2m-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="77l2m-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="77l2m-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="8m08l-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8m08l-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8m08l-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">The Malayan tiger is critically endangered in the wild because of habitat destruction, diminishing prey species, poaching, and the wildlife trade. Human encroachment into tiger habitats, usually for agriculture, also increases the risk of human-wildlife conflict. In such conflicts, tigers often die from being shot or snared by plantation or livestock owners, or from diseases such as canine distemper virus when they come in contact with infected dogs introduced by humans. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="501jh-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="501jh-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="501jh-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="dnh54-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dnh54-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="dnh54-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">Researchers from the University of Exeter found in a 2008 study that most captive-born predators do not survive following release. The chances of carnivores such as tigers and wolves surviving freedom is only 33%, due to their lack of hunting skills and lack of fear of humans, and susceptibility to viruses and diseases. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="10st9-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="10st9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="10st9-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="3h6nj-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3h6nj-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="3h6nj-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">Conservation organisation Born Free Foundation also points out that wild tigers born in human-controlled environments such as wildlife reserves and zoos are unlikely to be successfully released and will often spend the rest of their lives in captivity. Part of the reason is genetics. There are not enough tigers in breeding programmes to sustain genetic diversity over a long period of time. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums tries to diversify captive gene pools by exchanging breeding animals between zoos, but genetic drift and genetic bottlenecks can still occur. Genetic weaknesses in breeding stocks can result in deadly diseases, as seen in India’s effort to breed the Asiatic lion. Captive breeding programmes should not take too many animals out of the wild for breeding programmes either, as it will remove their genes from circulation in the wild. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="3pdoo-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3pdoo-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="3pdoo-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="4ppni-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4ppni-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="4ppni-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">It takes over a year for tiger cubs to learn how to stalk, catch, and kill their prey from their mothers. According to conservation charity Flora & Fauna International, captive tigers, whether they have been hand-reared by humans or raised with their mothers, lack the vital exposure from wild and experienced mothers to be predators. There is also the risk that captive-bred wild tigers, even if raised with their mothers and other tigers, will associate humans with food and lose their fear of vehicles. Upon release, they could pose a bigger threat to humans and livestock than wild tigers, as they are less likely to avoid human habitation and farms. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="abbp1-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="abbp1-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="abbp1-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="ebc26-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ebc26-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="ebc26-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">Efforts around the globe to reintroduce captive-bred tigers into the wild has not been met with much success. After over 30 years of expert conservation efforts and successfully breeding over 1,000 Siberian tigers in captivity, China has still not been able to release even one of these tigers into the wild. Kazakhstan has been trying to reintroduce Amur or Siberian tigers into its Balkhash region but the project has not borne any results yet. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="3gjds-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3gjds-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="3gjds-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="45u5v-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="45u5v-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="45u5v-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">India successfully released Bengal tigers in the Panna and Sariska Tiger Reserves as part of its Tiger Reintroduction Project, but researchers unfortunately found that the released tigers were not breeding successfully, presumably due to stress caused by the presence of human activity near the tiger reserves. This strongly indicates that reducing human activity near wildlife habitats is still key to their protection and conservation. Being able to have enough living adult tigers to release into a designated area is not a measure of success. Success can only be said to be achieved when reintroduced tigers are able to survive, thrive, and breed. This means that we need to invest at least as much energy and resources in the protection of wild habitats as in the captive breeding of the Malayan tiger. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="76euo-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="76euo-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="76euo-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="8o6jt-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8o6jt-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8o6jt-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s Tigers Alive Initiative has pointed out that “reintroducing tigers is the easier part, protecting the site and prey base is even more complex”. Not only must captive-bred tigers be trained to hunt and survive in the wild, there must also be suitable prey and appropriate breeding partners in the area marked for their reintroduction. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="fvbp-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fvbp-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="fvbp-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="5psls-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5psls-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="5psls-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">Due to deforestation, habitat destruction, lack of prey species, and poaching, there are not many suitable habitats left in Peninsular Malaysia for tigers to be released into. There is not much use in creating a thriving captive population of tigers if we continue to clear primary rainforests for development and agricultural projects. To maintain a healthy wild tiger population, we need healthy ecosystems. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="8fc3n-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8fc3n-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8fc3n-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="h6ml-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="h6ml-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="h6ml-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">In addition, professionals in the field of tiger conservation agree that to stop the extinction of wild tigers, there must be comprehensive poaching prevention strategies. This is why the PDRM’s recent announcement of a stricter crackdown on the wildlife trade and firearm possession is such welcome news. The captive breeding of tigers cannot help to restore wild populations unless there is an end to poaching and the trade in tiger parts. There must be stricter law enforcement and harsher penalties for wildlife crimes, and Malaysia must play its part in helping to incapacitate wildlife trafficking networks. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="42sdh-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="42sdh-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="42sdh-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="4qaf6-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4qaf6-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="4qaf6-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">The resources allocated for this ambitious project to breed the Malayan tiger in captivity should instead be redirected to conserving and protecting wild habitats and the remaining wild tigers, and to the prevention of poaching and wildlife trafficking.</span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="95q5l-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="95q5l-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="95q5l-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="coikk-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="coikk-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="coikk-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="psae-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="psae-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="psae-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">WONG EE LYNN </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="enj8c-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="enj8c-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="enj8c-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;">PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR</span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="7dfjj-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7dfjj-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7dfjj-0-0"><span style="font-family: times;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="d6jhv-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="d6jhv-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="d6jhv-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e8utp" data-offset-key="eqvct-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></div>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-61765852481808365982020-09-05T10:21:00.004+08:002020-09-05T10:21:42.183+08:00Letter to the Editor: End Speciesism: For the Animals, Planet, and Human Health<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">LETTER TO THE EDITOR:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">END SPECIESISM: FOR THE ANIMALS, PLANET, AND HUMAN
HEALTH<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-IW9oe8d4at5HZlpT20HNqjwnHhcypxQNTTPgRiDpExj-U09JS_P5egqitDdIhM_69tTF78zABM685Fu6NnRT1dfttDwiZhWxoctqPi5pKptPWPYd0PM-2-5ZRut90QYwxxBFWSRQZEw/s565/WorldDayForTheEndofSpecisism.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="149" data-original-width="565" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-IW9oe8d4at5HZlpT20HNqjwnHhcypxQNTTPgRiDpExj-U09JS_P5egqitDdIhM_69tTF78zABM685Fu6NnRT1dfttDwiZhWxoctqPi5pKptPWPYd0PM-2-5ZRut90QYwxxBFWSRQZEw/s320/WorldDayForTheEndofSpecisism.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">If there are any lessons the recent Covid-19
pandemic has taught us, it is that deforestation, the exploitation and
consumption of wildlife, and intensive animal agriculture all increase the risk
of zoonotic diseases and threaten human health and well-being. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Human society is aware of this link between animal
exploitation and disease outbreaks, which is the reason why China announced a
ban on wildlife trade in an effort to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. In the US
and elsewhere, the sales of plant-based meat alternatives increased by over
200% during the coronavirus lockdown (Sources: US Food Navigator, the Financial
Times, Bloomberg). In the Netherlands, the mink fur industry went into an early
shutdown after minks were found to have contracted coronavirus and transmitted
the virus back to humans, and there are now calls to shut down mink farms in
Spain and the USA as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">It would be premature to celebrate these as
victories. Humans have short memories, and human desires and appetites are
often alarmingly disconnected from what the human intellect knows to be
beneficial to human health, social justice, and animal and environmental
well-being. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Humans in general rarely question their
relationship with non-human animals and the natural world, and this is
attributable to speciesism, that is, the assumption of human superiority and an
inherent ‘right’ to use, exploit, and consume animals. In spite of the fact
that scientific evidence and historical data strongly indicate that 6 out of 10
known infections and 3 out 4 emerging infectious diseases originate from
animals, there is still widespread resistance against ending animal agriculture
and the breeding of animals for the pet, sport hunting, entertainment, and fur
industries, with supporters of these industries arguing that it would put too
many people out of work and cause economic loss. We know from the study of
human history and civilisations that human society is resilient and adaptable,
and that industries and occupations that become obsolete have died out in the
past without causing significant or lasting damage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Racism is what makes Western society believe that
China ought to be pilloried for its wildlife trade and live animal wet markets,
but that it is perfectly alright to confine calves in small solitary enclosures
and induce iron deficiency to produce veal, and to confine and force-feed ducks
and geese and induce liver disease to produce foie gras. Speciesism is what
makes human society understand that animal agriculture puts a huge strain on
the Planet’s resources, that animals in farms and laboratories suffer in ways
that is never considered acceptable for even the worst of humans to suffer, and
that humans can live healthy and productive lives without eating or exploiting
animals, and yet still choose to eat meat and maintain the status quo. Speciesism
is also the reason why people throw birthday parties for their dogs and cats
and raise funds for tapirs and pandas, but think nothing of paying someone else
to deplete our oceans and commit deforestation so that one can eat fish and
steak, because the lives of certain species are valued over that of others.
Humans know that in order to prevent pandemics and environmental disasters, we
need to stop exploiting and interfering with animals and the natural world, yet
our speciesist bias means that we are unwilling to give up the pleasure that
comes with eating and confining animals, destroying wildlife habitats, and
using animals for clothing, entertainment, and sport. Humans’ sense of dominion
and desire to maintain the appearance of being the “master species” means that we
continue to normalise violence and cruelty to animals and trivialise their pain
and suffering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">To move forward into a cleaner, healthier, greener,
and kinder future, we need to ask ourselves some hard questions about our
relationship with other species. For too long, we have relied on the
appeal-to-tradition fallacy that “humans have always eaten meat” as a
justification to continue doing so. Just because something has always been done
does not make it moral. We can agree that no amount of normalisation can make
slavery, domestic violence, or human trafficking moral acts, so we are also
capable of making the connection that just because we have always eaten and
exploited animals, it does not make these acts moral, justifiable, or even
essential to human health and survival. Further, it is true that humans have
always eaten meat, but it is also true that pandemics in the past have also
been linked to the consumption and exploitation of animals. The 1918 Spanish
Flu arose from the farming and consumption of pigs. Rabies in South America was
transmitted by vampire bats to cattle who then transmitted it to humans. The
Nipah Virus became an outbreak because virus-infected fruit bats transmitted
their virus to farmed pigs. Scientists believe that HIV has its origins in the
hunting of primates in central African forests, while Ebola has been associated
with hunting in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Where there is the consumption
of meat and the destruction of the natural world, there will be disease
outbreaks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">We need to question not only animal agriculture and
meat consumption, but also the frequency and volume of meat consumption. As
incomes and standards of living rise in Malaysia, our meat consumption also
rises. Between 1981 and 2015, consumption of beef in Malaysia rose from 23,000 metric
tons to 250,000 metric tons. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Between 1996 and 2015, consumption of
poultry rose from 666,000 metric tons to 1.59 million metric tons. Even if meat
consumption was not a moral issue for people who lived 2-3 generations ago, it
is imperative for us to ask ourselves now if it is necessary, appropriate,
moral, and harmless for us to continue to consume so much resources and inflict
so much suffering, pain, and death. The more meat we eat, the more intensive
and cruel the animal agriculture industry has to become in order to be
efficient and profitable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">The technology already exists for us to consume
meat that does not cause animal suffering or harm our health or the
environment. ‘Clean meat’, grown from harvested stem cells, is now reaching the
scale of production in which it will soon be as affordable as animal-based
meat. Producing meat in laboratories would require less water, land, and grains
than livestock farming, and would significantly reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Plant-based meat alternatives have already been in the Malaysian
market for many years, and most of these products have obtained halal
certification and can be safely enjoyed by everyone. Further, thanks to
advances in technology, much of the world including Malaysia has access to a wide
variety of fruits, grains, and vegetables, which can meet human dietary needs
inexpensively. Considering that we can get all the dietary nutrients and
calories that we need from non-animal sources, what’s stopping us from making
the transition?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">There is a growing population of vegans and animal
rights advocates who hold the strong moral view that there can be no
justification for harming animals. But even holding the moderate view that we
should kill fewer animals for food, and choose products and services that do
not harm or exploit animals, will reduce the number of animals who suffer great
pain and misery and who are killed to satisfy human appetites. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">Evolution has equipped all of us – humans and
non-human animals alike – with an instinct to survive, thrive, procreate, and
avoid pain and misery. This provides us with a scientific foundation to argue
that reducing the pain, suffering, and misery of others – not only humans – is
the moral, appropriate, rational, and prosocial thing to do. If we can live
happy, healthy, and productive lives without harming others, why wouldn’t we?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">August 29 is observed as the World Day for the End
of Speciesism. It is a day for us to reflect on, and challenge, our long-held
beliefs about the superiority of humans and how to relate to and regard
non-human species. SPCA Selangor, which has long been seen as an organisation
working to protect and improve the welfare of companion animals such as cats
and dogs, have since expanded its work to include advocating for improvements
to farm animal welfare and for a plant-based lifestyle and ethics. On this day
of observance, we would like to encourage everyone to change how we view and
treat other species, take measures to reduce the suffering of other species,
reduce the consumption of meat and animal products even if one cannot make the
full transition to a vegetarian or vegan diet, support higher welfare standards
for farm animals that remain in the animal agriculture system until the system
can be reformed or abolished, question traditions and practices that exploit or
harm animals, and choose products, services, and practices that cause the least
harm to others possible. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">WONG EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">FARM ANIMAL WELFARE PROGRAMME MANAGER<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY;">SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS,
SELANGOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-9931948689609659212020-08-22T06:43:00.000+08:002020-08-22T06:43:40.964+08:00Letter to the Editor: Crackdown on Wildlife Trade Sorely Needed and Appreciated<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">LETTER TO THE EDITOR<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">CRACKDOWN ON WILDLIFE TRADE SORELY NEEDED AND APPRECIATED<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUNmu4wB23xizgbz-QNugQuKKlrurNaty_uwgH6CO89P1LDCMhXbKNYir7MoLOPpXjpaWejhbhYDgn3jxrZsfPT2oF3pxS8GlM4Rfx_GY03AYlg1uN5ihnrFlz3fyVaYR6QQx19fc8rR0/s960/MYCAT+Wildlife+Crime+Hotline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="679" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUNmu4wB23xizgbz-QNugQuKKlrurNaty_uwgH6CO89P1LDCMhXbKNYir7MoLOPpXjpaWejhbhYDgn3jxrZsfPT2oF3pxS8GlM4Rfx_GY03AYlg1uN5ihnrFlz3fyVaYR6QQx19fc8rR0/s640/MYCAT+Wildlife+Crime+Hotline.jpg" /></a></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is with relief, hope, and gratitude that environmentalists
received the welcome news that Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul
Hamid Bador has directed that all District Police Chiefs will have to report on
wildlife trade in their jurisdictions within a month (19 Aug 2020). This is
consistent with the IGP’s earlier pledge in October 2019 to crack down hard on
wildlife crimes and push for harsher penalties for those convicted of wildlife
crimes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We further commend the Royal Malaysian Police
(PDRM)’s decision to revoke the firearm licenses of licence holders who are
found to have engaged in the hunting of wildlife, and hope that PDRM will
continue to investigate licence holders, and revoke licenses and confiscate
firearms where necessary. This is not only an important move to curtail
wildlife hunting and to prevent the killing of wildlife in situations where the
wild animal does not pose an actual and immediate threat to human lives and
safety, but also to preserve national security and reduce firearm-related
accidents, injuries, and deaths. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our IGP’s commitment to protecting Malaysia’s
wildlife is applauded, as is the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of
Peninsular Malaysia’s (Perhilitan) recent operations which resulted in the arrest
of poachers and the timely rescue of live animals and recovery of wildlife parts
and products. The public is, however, understandably concerned that many such
operations succeed in the arrests only of rural and indigenous hunters and
couriers and other bit-players in wildlife crime networks, while the kingpins who
fuel demand and create supply in the wildlife trade manage to avoid detection
and arrest. This is why recommendations such as a shoot-on-sight policy will
not work – not merely because it goes against human rights and the due process
of law and may lead to abuse of power and extrajudicial killings, but because
it unfairly targets the pawns in wildlife trade, and may even delay or hinder the
discovery and arrest of wildlife kingpins. What we need is for our enforcement
agencies to work together with INTERPOL, conservation groups such as TRAFFIC
Southeast Asia and MYCAT, and governmental and intergovernmental agencies to
gather incriminating evidence against these ringleaders and masterminds and
bring them to justice. Without the incapacitation of these wildlife trade
syndicates and their leaders, there can be no effective and lasting justice for,
or protection of, wildlife.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Malaysia’s wildlife species have been declining
rapidly due to poaching, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and
human-wildlife conflict. Hardly a week goes by without another news report of
elephant or tapir deaths due to traffic accidents or poisoning, or tiger deaths
due to poaching or as revenge for eating livestock. For years, concerned
members of the public and conservation NGOs have been alerting the police and Perhilitan
to the presence of pet stores, traditional medicine shops, restaurants, and
online traders selling wildlife and wildlife parts, only to experience frustration
and dismay when these reports did not result in arrests or consequences. Conservationists
have long urged for swift and decisive action to be taken against wildlife
offenders and for harsher penalties to be meted out, but progress has been slow
and inconsistent. It is an open secret that VIPs and people in positions of
power and influence are often involved in wildlife crimes and often get away
unpunished. The ‘soft approach’ to tackling wildlife crimes has not worked. Too
much resources and manpower have already been poured into education and
awareness programmes, yet at the end of the day when all the posters have been
painted and the prizes given out and the mascots have done song-and-dance
routines in schools and shopping malls, the wildlife trade has not only continued
unabated but flourished, because the financial rewards are significant, and the
penalties lenient and derisory. The time for diplomacy and coercion is over,
and the time for concrete action is long overdue. For too long, wildlife and
environmental crimes have been perceived as being victimless, or less serious
than crimes against fellow humans or property, which explains why the penalties
are frequently inadequate. Today, we know this is not true. The wildlife trade
is a lucrative one, and it finances and is linked to human trafficking, the
drug trade, organised crime, governmental corruption, and terrorist activity.
The punishment for wildlife offences must therefore be commensurate with their gravity
and the damage and harm they cause to the environment, biodiversity, and human
society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are amendments being proposed to the
Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 to increase the minimum penalty for wildlife
poaching to a minimum fine of RM1 million and 15 years’ imprisonment. I believe
I speak for all right-thinking and responsible Malaysians when I urge all Members
of Parliament to vote in favour of these harsher penalties. Any MP who votes
against these proposed harsher penalties should be investigated for any
possible links with the wildlife trade industry, as it is inconceivable that there
could be any good reason to oppose such a proposal. A vote for a harsher sentence
is therefore a vote against corruption, cruelty, and the sheer idiocy of unscientific
practices such as the consumption of wild animals for their ostensible medicinal
value. A vote for a harsher sentence is not only a vote for the continued
survival of wild and endangered species, but a vote for a safer, better, and
healthier country and planet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">WONG EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">PETALING JAYA<o:p></o:p></span></p>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-65256532385317348082020-07-17T10:52:00.001+08:002020-07-17T11:11:51.381+08:00Letter to the Editor: Make A Stand Against Racism and Sexism<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:</div>
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MAKE A STAND AGAINST RACISM AND SEXISM </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu26mPTNyhpQNUkMoU3yieUEOtULn9W0JVRH8N02liRvFcFV5Hfp-klZZSExsNAY5BVmWB6a-APtp3ogEOxE5j5jfg2EKNgSWF1jJYDSdJqx8pp_GyVvSCv-uuNrDrILj6w4hO4N8cNHx0/s1600/KasthuriPatto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="600" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu26mPTNyhpQNUkMoU3yieUEOtULn9W0JVRH8N02liRvFcFV5Hfp-klZZSExsNAY5BVmWB6a-APtp3ogEOxE5j5jfg2EKNgSWF1jJYDSdJqx8pp_GyVvSCv-uuNrDrILj6w4hO4N8cNHx0/s320/KasthuriPatto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It is correct, proper, and just that the honourable Speaker of the House Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun demanded that Baling MP Abdul Azeez retract his racist and sexist comments made on 13 July against Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto. The decision should have been made more swiftly and decisively to prove Parliament’s unambiguous stand against racially and sexually derogatory language and conduct, and commitment to upholding a certain standard of decency and fair play. </div>
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The purpose and intent of the doctrine of parliamentary privilege is to protect the freedom of parliamentarians to discuss sensitive or controversial issues that may affect laws or the running of a country. It is not intended to protect offensive and persecutory language designed to harass or intimidate political opponents and stymie actual debate and discussion. </div>
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An elected representative who is a repeat offender should therefore face harsher sanctions than a mere retraction of the last offensive statement made. </div>
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Abdul Azeez’s conditional apology is not an apology but an attempt to deflect blame and paint himself as a victim. His claim that he could not possibly be racist or be discriminatory against someone of dark complexion because he is himself of dark complexion cannot be accepted as sincere or truthful. Racism and colour discrimination can be internalised even by those from ethnic minorities or of dark complexion, just as misogyny can be internalised by women through years of social conditioning. </div>
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His claim that he did not intend to be racist also cannot be accepted by any rational person. What other purpose could he have for heckling another elected representative by making fun of her skin colour? If it were indeed true that the seat Kasthuri Patto was sitting in was dimly lit, and Abdul Azeez had no intention of practicing racism or colour discrimination, he would not have asked her to “put on some powder”, but would instead invite her to step forward or present her views from a more brightly-lit area. Instead, his comments that she is “too dark and cannot be seen” and that she should “put on some powder” in order to make herself visible are malicious and intended to ridicule, humiliate, and intimidate a female elected representative as she was raising the very pertinent issue of the lack of female representation in the Select Committee. </div>
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The question to be asked is not whether: “Is Abdul Azeez also of dark complexion?” but “Would he have uttered a similarly disparaging remark to someone of a fairer skin colour?”. The answer is necessarily no, because fair skin is not an object of ridicule and would not have the intended effect of silencing and humiliating the person being teased. </div>
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The next question is “Would he have uttered similar words to another man, that he should somehow alter his physical appearance to make himself more attractive or visible?” The answer is again, no. Men have a long history of talking over women and interrupting or attempting to silence women with offensive and derogatory words often irrelevant to the issue at hand, designed to attack women’s femininity or physical appearance, to make women feel unwelcome and disrespected. This is simply not done to other men, except men who are disabled or who are seen as less masculine than the average man. </div>
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The third question would be “Would he have uttered such words to someone belonging to a majority ethnicity or group, or someone who holds more political or social power than he does?” The answer again is no, because there would be grave repercussions for doing so, and Abdul Azeez’s history in politics indicates that he does not pick on those who hold the majority of support and power. Thus his words and conduct clearly constitute an act of punching down. Parliamentary privilege should never be extended to acts of punching down designed to harass and intimidate other elected representatives and stop useful and constructive debate. </div>
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Elected representatives need to face serious repercussions for hate speech and offensive and discriminatory language and conduct. We have the right to hold them to a higher moral standard because we elected them to represent our values and interests. They should be subjected to greater scrutiny than the average citizen and be made accountable for their words and actions. </div>
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Other elected officials should demonstrate that they are good allies who are capable of making a stand against injustice, inequality, and discrimination, by speaking up against racism and sexism, and standing up for another person facing bullying and unfair attacks, no matter which political party he or she is from. This is not because the tables could be turned one day and you could find yourself sitting on the Opposition bench, but because standing up for someone who is unfairly treated is the decent, just, and responsible thing to do. Your political views can differ from that of someone else, but you need to stand up for someone who is being unfairly treated or ridiculed based on his or her gender, race, faith, skin colour, physical attributes, or other vulnerability. This will persuade us that we, the electorate, have made the right choice in electing and supporting you, and that you are a representative who will protect and assist everyone, especially the marginalised and vulnerable. </div>
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We need to take a stronger and more decisive stand against racism and sexism as a society. We know that it happens to women and people of different races in different settings – when it comes to the hiring of workers, the selection of tenants, or the treatment of employees and customers, for instance. We know that some categories of people are more susceptible to discrimination and unfair treatment than others, and we need to make it clear that it is unacceptable and we will not participate in the discrimination. We need to have the courage to say to someone in a position of power or privilege: “That sounded rather unkind”, “That doesn’t seem fair to me”, “It is only fair that we meet this applicant and interview him/her first”, “She/he is not done talking, please let her continue”, “She/he has a point, let’s hear it from her/him.” We need to centre and amplify the voices of those who are not heard and who had not enjoyed the same privileges and opportunities that we had. Just because we are not participating in the act of bullying or discrimination does not mean we are not complicit in systemic sexism, racism, and discrimination against those who hold less political and social power than we do. It is time for all of us to listen, learn, and change. And this change includes rejecting and voting out politicians whose values are not consistent with those of an equitable, just, and progressive society. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-79494521132797052942020-06-25T18:06:00.000+08:002020-06-25T18:06:03.269+08:00Letter to the Editor: Short-Term Thinking Is Destroying Malaysian Rainforests<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR </div>
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SHORT-TERM THINKING IS DESTROYING MALAYSIAN RAINFORESTS </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kcAC4n2oTDg4GGjBIQPOm2FAL87udaNG6lWW1JSNr5-x0aK_eH9gE77Uz1E0aFTgsFe05gwLViyK3D_VzO7wWklCngvZ0SzAEhJgIUE6O8XJRyBTne_uG7PWCk0Z4Kpg4O0kIft6NBw6/s1600/180522_Save_Ulu_Muda+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="1191" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kcAC4n2oTDg4GGjBIQPOm2FAL87udaNG6lWW1JSNr5-x0aK_eH9gE77Uz1E0aFTgsFe05gwLViyK3D_VzO7wWklCngvZ0SzAEhJgIUE6O8XJRyBTne_uG7PWCk0Z4Kpg4O0kIft6NBw6/s320/180522_Save_Ulu_Muda+%25281%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Kedah State Government’s rush to resume logging activities in the Greater Ulu Muda Forest and the Terengganu State Government’s decision to degazette the Belara Forest Reserve to make way for plantations are proof that politicians are incapable of thinking of the long-term consequences of their decisions or prioritising the future of the Planet and country. </div>
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Upon the conclusion of each General Election, politicians and state governments proceed with indecent haste to degazette and log forested areas and exploit natural resources before they get voted out in the subsequent elections. Clearly the lessons taught by the COVID-19 pandemic on the importance of preserving ecological balance and biodiversity are lost on Malaysian political leaders, who are wired for instant gratification and not long-term thinking. </div>
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In theory, logging may appear to be a sustainable activity and timber may appear to be a renewable resource. However, this is no longer the case in countries such as Malaysia due to diminishing forests and the overexploitation of forests and forest products. </div>
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The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations reports that Malaysia has seen a 60% decline in log exports since 1980 due to the decline in harvestable forest products. Surely there are enough clear indicators that the overharvesting of timber and forest products in the short term will lead to a greater loss of potential earnings in the long run, while increasing the risk of environmental disasters. </div>
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In spite of the fact that forests are made up of flora and fauna that are capable of propagation and regeneration, tropical rainforests are hardly the renewable resources that politicians take them for. Primary forests are complex and fragile ecosystems. Once disturbed for logging, quarrying, or agricultural activities, secondary forest species and recolonisers such as fast-growing climbing plants and epiphytes grow in the clearings created by human activity. Over time, these recolonisers overtake the primary rainforest species in their numbers and affect the composition and biodiversity of a forest, changing its very nature, and increasing the risk of mass extinction of thousands of species. </div>
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Disturbed and cleared rainforests, even if fortunate enough not to be clear-cut and converted into plantations, quarries, or dams, end up becoming unproductive wastelands that are incapable of supporting wildlife or providing the same variety of ecosystem services, such as flood mitigation and carbon sequestration, as primary rainforests. The reduced ability of a cleared or decimated forest to absorb solar energy and release water vapour leads to higher temperatures and a decline in rainfall.
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The Greater Ulu Muda Forest, for instance, is a critical water catchment area for the northern states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang and supplies water to, among others, the Ahning, Muda and Pedu Dams. Ulu Muda further provides economic and sociocultural services which include ecotourism, the harvesting of forest products, and a home for indigenous and rural communities. According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia, the Ulu Muda forest complex supplies as much as 96% of Kedah’s, 50% of Perlis’ and 80% of Penang’s water supply. In addition to providing water for domestic, industrial and agricultural use, Ulu Muda also provides vital ecological services such as climate regulation, soil erosion prevention, biodiversity conservation and maintenance of soil, water and air quality. </div>
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The 2016 drought affecting the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia is directly linked to logging activities in the Ulu Muda forest complex, which affected climate and water cycle patterns, resulting in a massive decline in dam water levels and a postponement of the paddy planting season.
Logging in Ulu Muda would affect the survival and food and water security of a significant percentage of the population of Northern Peninsular Malaysia. Is the Kedah State Government prepared to deal with the environmental and economic fallout of the deforestation of Ulu Muda? </div>
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As for the Belara Forest Reserve, this lowland tropical rainforest which is home to Great Hornbills and other vulnerable and endangered species was surreptitiously degazetted to make way for palm oil plantations. We can already foresee some of the immediate adverse impacts of the degazettement and deforestation. Orchard owners whose fruit orchards surround the Belara Forest Reserve will see reduced yield, and more contamination of soil and water due to the agricultural chemicals used in conventional oil palm cultivation. When forests are cleared, malaria and dengue infections will rise. Landslides and flash floods will be a common occurrence, as ground cover crops are eliminated in monoculture plantations. Perhaps there will be another disastrous flood, more severe than the one that destroyed much of the East Coast in the monsoon season of 2014-2015. Is that the price the people of Terengganu are willing to pay for a few extra jobs that come with the opening up of new plantations? Is the Terengganu State Government willing to bear the healthcare costs of mosquito-borne diseases and respiratory illnesses arising from haze and poorer air quality? Does the State Government have plans to deal with increased human-wildlife conflict and water and food insecurity following deforestation, floods, drought, and haze? </div>
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Until State Governments can explain such plans to us in detail and persuade us that they are equipped to handle the loss and damage arising from the loss of forests, they cannot be said to be acting in the best interests of the state or its citizens, and their actions therefore lack moral and political legitimacy.
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Politicians need to be able to look beyond the next 5-10 years and think about the future of the country in the next 50-100 years. Politicians who put short-term personal benefits above long-term environmental protection and the well-being, health, and safety of its citizens have no place in a responsive and democratic society. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-58667504062323784712020-03-30T17:02:00.001+08:002020-03-30T17:02:41.338+08:00Letter to the Editor: Keep Forests Intact To Prevent Disease Outbreaks<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: </div>
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KEEP FORESTS INTACT TO PREVENT DISEASE OUTBREAKS </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJSdqeSgv7G8-Lm6eJmZTy71tOJOcBL5SeBq_dFsKz9ed507cToI664A6LfnogG6pEunK5HxpCmjff3af1q2lXUkVdGmE8BvxVoI3dtwW7DCht-80nFfQusnZAyRAZ2jUFi3Gml9GiDzk_/s1600/Deforestation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJSdqeSgv7G8-Lm6eJmZTy71tOJOcBL5SeBq_dFsKz9ed507cToI664A6LfnogG6pEunK5HxpCmjff3af1q2lXUkVdGmE8BvxVoI3dtwW7DCht-80nFfQusnZAyRAZ2jUFi3Gml9GiDzk_/s320/Deforestation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For years, scientists have been trying to warn us that deforestation will unleash infectious diseases onto human populations, but this has been conveniently ignored by politicians wanting to make a quick profit from issuing licences for logging and agricultural expansion.
Scientists from all over the world, including disease ecologists at Ecohealth Alliance who are studying malaria in East Malaysia, warn that human activities in forested areas, such as forest-clearing, road-building, mining, hunting, and logging, cause major disruptions to ecosystems, which then causes diseases to spread from their natural wild hosts to new hosts, including humans. International travel then helps some of these diseases spread to other countries and continents, causing significant damage to human health and economies. </div>
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It is not merely the act of killing and consuming wildlife that contributes to the rise of zoonoses, namely, diseases that jump species from animals to humans. The mere act of rapid forest clearing, even without the hunting and poaching of wildlife that usually accompanies encroachment into forests, is enough to trigger chains of events that create the right conditions for deadly infectious diseases to spread to domestic animals and nearby human populations. </div>
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Even as far back as the 1990s, epidemiologists at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute found a link between forest clearing in the Peruvian Amazon and the rise in malaria cases. The Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases has documented the steep increase in malaria cases in areas in East Malaysia where forested land has been cleared for agriculture. Mosquitoes and other pathogens proliferate in forest edges where the boundaries between human habitation and forested areas become blurred, and primates and other disease carriers wander into human habitation. </div>
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There are countless examples of direct pathogen spillover from wildlife to humans arising from forest clearing, hunting, poaching, and encroachment of agriculture and farmed animals into forests. Deforestation in South America is a factor in the transmission of rabies by vampire bats to cattle and humans. The Kyasanur Forest disease outbreak came after the encroachment of cattle and farms into Indian forests. The clearing of forests in Liberia for oil palm cultivation attracted forest-dwelling mice which then gave rise to the Lassa Virus when humans came in contact with the faeces or urine of the mice. The Nipah Virus outbreak in 1999 was caused by rampant deforestation in Indonesia which resulted in fruit bats losing their forest habitat and venturing into farms in Malaysia, where they inadvertently spread the virus to pigs, which then jumped species to humans. HIV is believed to have arisen from the hunting of primates in central African forests. Ebola has been associated with hunting in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. </div>
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This does not mean that we need to clear forests and kill wildlife in order to eradicate disease. Many of these viruses exist harmlessly with their forest-dwelling host animals, because the animals have co-evolved with these viruses. It is human activity that make humans unwitting hosts for these viruses and other pathogens. </div>
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To protect national and global biosecurity, it is imperative that we protect our forests and keep forests intact. Intact forests protect watersheds and water quality, are more resistant to fire and drought, regulate climate and weather patterns, provide habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna, and prevent wild species from crossing into human habitation and spreading both known and new diseases to domestic animals and humans. </div>
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Keeping forests intact provide more economic benefits over the long term than clearing forests for agriculture and timber extraction.
The economic benefits of logging are short-lived and can sustain only 1-2 generations at most. Intact forests absorb approximately 25% of the world’s human-generated carbon emissions and sequester far more carbon than logged, degraded, or planted forests. For generations, forested ecosystems have provided society with medicinal plants and compounds, and these medically-relevant species are often lost when forests are cleared, fragmented, or replaced with farms and monoculture plantations. Cleared and fragmented forests are less resilient to fire and drought, and the haze caused by forest and peat fires cause governments grave economic loss and increase healthcare costs. </div>
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A 2016 Harvard University study published in Environmental Research Letters reported that the 2015 human-caused forest fires in Indonesia caused more than 100,000 premature deaths across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Can Malaysia keep on bearing the loss of human lives and increased healthcare costs arising from forest loss and declining air quality? </div>
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Ecohealth Alliance calculated that the Malaysian government spends around USD5,000 to treat each new malaria patient in East Malaysia. The healthcare costs of testing and screening individuals for COVID-19 and of hospitalizing and treating COVID-19 patients in Malaysia have not been disclosed yet, but we can assume it is tremendous, even before taking into account economic stimulus packages and financial aid for vulnerable groups. Can Malaysia bear the healthcare and socio-economic costs of managing and mitigating future zoonotic outbreaks arising from deforestation and human-wildlife interactions? </div>
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We know the answer is no, yet the continued destruction of Malaysia’s tropical rainforests and natural environment indicates that our leaders have not learned their lesson. State governments continue to degazette forest reserves and issue logging permits with impunity, and politicians from both sides of the political divide rush to fill their personal coffers before they get voted out at the next General Elections with nary a thought for the environment, wildlife, or rural and indigenous communities.
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Even as the nation is still reeling from the economic shock of the Movement Control Order, and COVID-19 infection rates and deaths continue to increase daily, the Selangor State Government has decided to proceed with the degazettement of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve without giving environmental organisations and the affected local and Orang Asli communities the opportunity to consult, discuss, provide feedback, and prepare for a public inquiry on the degazettement proposal. Such cavalier disregard for the environment and for the voices of concerned citizens show how little our political leaders care about protecting biodiversity, safeguarding biosecurity, and mitigating climate change. This will return to haunt us in the form of droughts, floods, water and food insecurity, increased carbon emissions, poorer air quality, more human-wildlife conflicts, and the rise in tropical diseases. </div>
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As a propitiatory gesture, the Selangor Menteri Besar has offered to replace the degazetted area with a ‘bigger area’ in Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, and Hulu Selangor as a substitute forest reserve. This mindset is problematic, as the biodiversity and complexity of natural forests and the ecosystem services they provide cannot be replicated or replaced so easily. We are rapidly losing forested areas to agriculture and development, and states will soon run out of suitable sites to gazette as replacement forest reserves. Tree-planting activities and the gazettement of secondary forests and degraded land cannot be a substitute for the protection of natural and intact forests for all the reasons listed above.
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Science News and Global Biodefense have already identified Malaysia as the next ground zero for malaria infections. Global disease surveillance network USAID PREDICT has in 2017 identified at least 48 new viruses in Malaysian rainforest species, and only time will tell which of these viruses will be the next to jump species to humans. Considering the current rate of deforestation, our country will be susceptible to many types of tropical and zoonotic diseases. Malaysia is currently still doing its best to contain the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. It will take us months to deal with the socio-economic fallout of COVID-19. If we don’t move fast to halt deforestation and protect our natural forests, we must then prepare to face the next zoonotic outbreak, and the ones after, that will arise from our callous disregard for the environment. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR </div>
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(Photo credits: <a href="http://wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia.org</a>)
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-36797341317362874252020-02-10T09:07:00.019+08:002021-08-16T09:13:02.620+08:00Film Review: Parasite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSI29FmoWpdjaaJUluoS4SgqOGHwPRJHnamdMi-YHDOx49RQvS1BWzCrSL3qP46wtNuS3thN_JvyxHjjPdDHX6d1REBzorAkurnMVUyeAJu5Z3oIsKx8O02mBgoRKCM9Hzyvou6g-RoEA/s960/Parasite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="960" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSI29FmoWpdjaaJUluoS4SgqOGHwPRJHnamdMi-YHDOx49RQvS1BWzCrSL3qP46wtNuS3thN_JvyxHjjPdDHX6d1REBzorAkurnMVUyeAJu5Z3oIsKx8O02mBgoRKCM9Hzyvou6g-RoEA/s320/Parasite.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To me, Parasite’s best quality is that it doesn’t try, as many other films do self-consciously and ostentatiously, to be an art film. It doesn’t try to be too clever, but still ends up being perfectly brilliant all the same. It just has an effortless feel about it, as if all it aspires to be is a great story. And it is one. You won’t be able to stop thinking about it for a few days after watching it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All the characters are flawed yet likeable in their own way, from the highly-strung, self-involved Mrs. Park who is incompetent and clueless in the way only the very rich are, to the scheming and ambitious Ki-Woo with his Gatsbyish resolve to transform his dreams into reality. And all of them are victims in their own way, like Shakespeare’s characters who are more sinned against than sinning. The isolated and detached yet inoffensive Parks with their nannied, tutored, and indulged children are as much victims of capitalism as anyone else. Incapable of handling routine tasks and the vicissitudes of parenting without outsourcing the work to hired help, incapable of being forthright with the hired help out of fear of ‘losing face’, and doomed to always evaluate hired help according to whether the latter is discreet enough not to “cross the line” into familiarity and presumptuousness, the wealthy too are imprisoned by their wealth and social status. The poor who have to deal with the ignominy of urinating drunks and overflowing toilets and flooded subterranean homes are the obvious victims of capitalism, and in this category we find the close-knit Kim family whose only sin is to have the hubris not to obey and stay within their social station. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrpeFEhgMYZl5aMUoDa9DvAJF_6YC_IEZD5NCsCNFtWrAf-sYrtSwo1JlIbuGiucOw8Z22DXn4bsZg9Tswvd55p20MNa3OcxAvNcM1c_47NlyWFZY56m04zSmeMVrxXoO-qFyWhaZMC78/s526/Parasite2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrpeFEhgMYZl5aMUoDa9DvAJF_6YC_IEZD5NCsCNFtWrAf-sYrtSwo1JlIbuGiucOw8Z22DXn4bsZg9Tswvd55p20MNa3OcxAvNcM1c_47NlyWFZY56m04zSmeMVrxXoO-qFyWhaZMC78/s320/Parasite2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cursed with a scholar’s rock they could neither eat nor have a use for, tainted by the smell of radishes and poverty, stoically leaving socks hung up to dry before a window through which very little sunlight or hope enters, the Kim family's desire for upward mobility eats away at them, consuming them from within like an insatiable parasite. As the movie progresses, the viewer cannot help but question who the real parasites and bottom-feeders of society are. Yet this is a movie without clearly defined heroes or villains. One of the underlying themes of the movie is the idea of ‘fitting in’, and whether the impoverished Kim family that has ingratiated its way into employment in the wealthy Park home fits into its role and the social strata its members found themselves in. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the factors that made this movie such a success (apart from the brilliant screenwriting and directing, I mean) is the way all the thespians fit into their characters and played their roles so credibly and convincingly. That ‘Parasite’ swept virtually all the awards at Palme D’Or, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscars is definitely fitting. 5 stars out of 5! Catch ‘Parasite’ while you still can!</div>~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-50066939073405695132020-02-01T09:08:00.002+08:002020-02-01T14:17:02.590+08:00Letter to the Editor: Zoonoses and Disease Outbreaks - It's Time We Take A Closer Look At Animal Agriculture, Not Just The Wildlife Trade<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR</div>
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ZOONOSES AND DISEASE OUTBREAKS: IT’S TIME WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT ANIMAL AGRICULTURE, NOT JUST THE WILDLIFE TRADE </div>
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The international community heaved a collective sigh of relief when China announced a ban, albeit temporary, on wildlife trade in an effort to contain the 2019-nCoV coronavirus (Jan 26).
Environmental and wildlife conservation groups both outside and within China wasted no time in urging China to make the ban permanent, citing the protection of human health, biodiversity, and wildlife populations as the reason. </div>
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It would be commendable if China were to codify and enforce a permanent ban on wildlife consumption and trade, but in the meantime, a temporary ban would help contain further spread of the virus and give some measure of protection for wildlife. Yet the recent plaudits for China’s bold move is marred by the fact that until the announcement was made, the outrage and vitriol directed at China by the media and international community smacks of double standards, hypocrisy, racial malice, and schadenfreude. </div>
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The media and international community persuaded itself that China’s predilection for consuming wildlife and exotic meats is the reason why it does not deserve its recent wealth and rise as a world superpower, and that its citizens deserve to suffer for their barbarism and dirty and uncivilised ways.
If the international community were really so concerned about wildlife conservation and biodiversity, we would see the same level of outrage over fox hunting in the United Kingdom, the USA’s trophy hunting industry, the systematic hunting of minke whales by Norway, Australia’s kangaroo meat industry, and Canada’s annual slaughter of seals and sea lions. Yet for the most part, these countries have been able to carry on exploiting and killing wildlife with relative impunity, and these activities are passed off as being civilised, sophisticated, or an economic or environmental necessity. </div>
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The fact that some countries with a longstanding culture of exploiting, killing, and consuming wildlife have managed to avoid being the country of origin of zoonotic disease outbreaks, while other countries suffer huge losses from the same, indicates that there is more we have yet to learn about the wildlife trade, the spread of pathogens, and ways to contain and control disease outbreaks. </div>
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It would be neat and convenient indeed if the blame for the 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak could be placed squarely on Wuhan’s wildlife markets. However, scientists are still struggling to pinpoint the original host of the virus and how it first infected people. The premature blaming of snakes and bats as the original hosts of the virus shows us how truly novel this coronavirus is and how little we know about it, and indeed, about other zoonotic diseases. Until today, the scientific and medical community have yet to be able to confirm that Ebola originated from bats. </div>
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This leaves us with two issues to be addressed, namely, that: </div>
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(1) Wildlife needs to be protected in and of itself, and measures must be taken by all countries to end wildlife trade, ban the exploitation and killing of wildlife, and halt the destruction of wildlife habitats, whether or not the killing of any particular species or population has an adverse impact on human health and safety; and </div>
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(2) In order to protect human health, we need to protect animal health and welfare. To do so, we need to stop scapegoating citizens of developing nations who consume wildlife and bushmeat, and instead, examine how intensive animal agriculture and low animal welfare standards have directly resulted in threats to human health, safety, and well-being. </div>
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Following China’s official announcement linking the virus to Wuhan’s wildlife markets, social media was rife with comments such as “Why can’t they just be civilised and eat domestic farmed animals like the rest of us?”, “Serves them right for eating endangered animals instead of animals raised for food!”, and even “Eat more chicken and beef!”, as if eating farmed meat could miraculously inoculate humans against zoonotic diseases. </div>
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History has shown us repeatedly that not only does eating farmed meat not inoculate humans against diseases, but that intensive animal agriculture is a major driver of zoonosis and disease outbreaks. </div>
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If zoonotic diseases such as SARS, Ebola, West Nile Virus, Nipah Virus, Avian Influenza, and 2019-nCoV were merely transmitted to those who directly handle and consume wildlife, they would not have had the pandemic effects that they did. But wildlife diseases can and do afflict domestic animals, and cross species to humans with alarming rapidity. Farm animals frequently become intermediate or amplifier hosts for pathogens. </div>
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Researchers, including those from the Centre for Global Health Science and Security of Georgetown University, Washington DC, estimate that 70% of zoonotic diseases come from wildlife, and then made the leap from wildlife to humans. Deforestation and human encroachment into previously forested areas for agriculture have been identified as factors in the spread of zoonosis, as farm and domestic animals come into contact with wildlife and wild birds. The crowded and unhealthy conditions in factory farms then expedite the spread of viruses such as Avian Influenza, and bacterial pathogens, such as E. coli, Campylobacter and salmonella.
The Japanese Encephalitis Virus, for instance, was transmitted by the Culex mosquito (which usually feeds on wild birds and mammals) to farmed pigs, which became carriers for the virus and then amplified these infections in humans. The Nipah Virus became an outbreak because virus-infected fruit bats transmitted their virus to the farmed pigs via the consumption of fruit contaminated with bat saliva or urine. In the case of the Nipah Virus outbreak in Malaysia, there was no evidence of direct transmission from bats to humans, and almost all the human cases had direct contact with the infected pigs. Clearly abstinence from hunting, poaching, and wildlife products would have made no difference at all in the case of the Nipah Virus. </div>
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Intensive animal farming is usually characterised by high animal population density and low genetic diversity, both of which are factors that promote increased pathogen transmission and adaptation. Farmed poultry live in conditions that suppress their immunity and make them more susceptible to infections. Avian influenza virus is reported to be “subclinical or of low pathogenicity in wild birds”, yet become highly pathogenic when transmitted to domestic poultry. A 2010 study published in Veterinary Record reports that a large-scale UK survey found that battery-cage poultry farms are 6 times more likely than cage-free farms to be infected with the strain of salmonella most commonly associated with food poisoning. </div>
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The risk of zoonotic diseases must be managed through improvement in farm animal welfare standards, and disease management and control measures. These can include mitigating measures such as using slower-growing animal breeds, creating diets and management conditions that minimise stress to animals, increasing surveillance and vaccination to monitor and minimise the spread of disease, limiting live animal transportation time to reduce stress and cruelty, investing more in research and knowledge transfer to improve farm animal health and welfare standards, reducing non-therapeutic antibiotic use to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance, and encouraging consumers to eat less or no meat products or replace conventional meat products with higher welfare animal products such as grass-fed beef or free-range or certified humanely raised poultry. </div>
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On a personal level, we can reduce and mitigate the risk of zoonotic diseases and infections by choosing a plant-based diet and limiting our exposure to wildlife, which should remain wild and protected against unnecessary human contact. At an institutional level, those with the political and economic leverage must reduce and mitigate the said risk by disallowing deforestation and expansion of agricultural activities into forested areas in order to minimise wildlife-to-domestic-animal and animal-to-human viral spillover, tightening biosecurity controls in farms and places that process or handle animal products, improving animal health and welfare standards, replacing factory farming systems with more humane and sustainable systems, setting restrictions and guidelines on the transportation of livestock and poultry, and removing barriers and creating incentives for the development, production, and consumption of plant-based foods and lab-grown meat to replace and eventually phase out conventionally-produced farmed meat. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-89695829041814746692020-01-16T14:08:00.003+08:002020-01-16T14:08:49.632+08:00Letter to the Editor: Cease Feeding of Wild Birds and Other Wildlife<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">CEASE FEEDING WILD BIRDS AND ANIMALS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am surprised by the advice offered by the Taiping
Zoo and Night Safari director Dr. Kevin Lazarus to tourists not to overfeed wild
Brahminy Kites (‘Don’t overfeed brahminy kites’, The Star, 15 Jan 2020). I
would have expected an expert like him to strongly object to the practice of
feeding wild birds and other wild animals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The advice given not to ‘overfeed’ the Brahminy Kites
is also difficult to measure and act upon, because tourists and tour boat
operators are not veterinarians or wildlife ecologists and are not able to
estimate how much food to give and what would constitute overfeeding. They
would not know if other tour boat operators or tourists who had come earlier in
the day have already fed the birds. It is difficult, if not impossible, to draw
up guidelines on appropriate and sufficient feeding of wild birds and expect
tourists and tour boat operators to adhere to these guidelines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Further, tour boat operators in Pulau Langkawi, Kuala
Sepetang, and similar areas provide the Brahminy Kites and eagles with the
cheapest food possible, namely, chicken skin, entrails, and gizzards, which are
sourced from broiler farms that use antibiotics and growth promoters, and this
will have an adverse impact on the wild birds’ health and immune systems in the
long run. As the good doctor himself acknowledged, feeding the wild birds with
chicken skin and fat will result in calcium deficiency, obesity, and ultimately,
population decline as the wild birds’ eggs may break during incubation due to
the aforementioned calcium deficiency. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The well-being of wild birds and other wildlife should
be given priority over the trivial whims of tourists who wish to be
entertained. Wildlife experts and the authorities should be very firm about not
permitting the feeding of any kind of wildlife. The practice of feeding wild animals
cause more harm than good and should be prohibited. PERHILITAN and the Forestry
Department should apprehend and fine offenders who ignore signs not to feed wildlife.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Feeding wild animals alters their natural behavior and
makes them less afraid of humans. This could expose them to greater risk of
being trapped, poached, or poisoned. Almost every human-wildlife conflict
incident that we read of starts with the narrative of well-intentioned people feeding
wild monkeys, boars, bears, sharks, or other animals, and ends with a dead or
injured human or animal. Fed animals also end up killed when they enter human
territory for more food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diseases and pathogens also spread more easily among wild
birds and animals when they congregate to feed. Animals that are usually
solitary or who socialize only with their own species end up having increased
inter-species contact when they congregate at feeding sites, and may contract
salmonella and other pathogens when they come in contact with other animals’
saliva and feces. This is what happened to the White Ibis population in Georgia
(USA), and we should make every effort possible to ensure this does not happen
to our own wild bird and animal populations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am aware that tour boat operators rely on activities
such as the feeding of Brahminy Kites and White-Bellied Sea Eagles to give
their business a competitive edge and provide an interactive experience for
their clients. It is only natural that tourists would want to feel as if they
have had close contact with a wild species, or have ‘helped’ a local species by
providing food. I propose setting up hatcheries to increase native fish stocks,
and then getting tourists to pay to release the fish fry or fingerlings into
the sea. This will not only replenish native fish populations but also provide
job opportunities for local communities. Tourists like to feel that they are ‘giving
back’ to the local community and wildlife, and releasing fish fry may be a
feasible alternative to feeding wild birds with inappropriate food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">WONG
EE LYNN<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">PETALING
JAYA, SELANGOR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-58615594031648961992020-01-03T19:36:00.000+08:002020-01-03T19:36:04.349+08:00Sunday Byline: Season of Giving - Tis the season to redefine true charity and volunteerism<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was invited to write a byline for the <a href="http://www.nst.com.my/" target="_blank">New Straits Times</a> on the topic of volunteering and donating to charity. This byline was published on Sunday, 22nd December 2019. You can find a link to it here: <a href="https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2019/12/549916/tis-season-redefine-true-charity-and-volunteerism">https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2019/12/549916/tis-season-redefine-true-charity-and-volunteerism</a> </div>
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<b>SEASON OF GIVING</b> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLC7IRmk7PrvNhT8XCCYP7trvbwQxTpxzLaSeazSIfLo92K9lU2rdRVXC1h9gK_G43ZPOVp-Exw3BLdFW0v8cmfLNWzGZuy_Xdl6u3rCiiG6WPAXuuy5Xmedy-kLhNQaAf0i-xVcNjSBj/s1600/ShoeboxProject1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLC7IRmk7PrvNhT8XCCYP7trvbwQxTpxzLaSeazSIfLo92K9lU2rdRVXC1h9gK_G43ZPOVp-Exw3BLdFW0v8cmfLNWzGZuy_Xdl6u3rCiiG6WPAXuuy5Xmedy-kLhNQaAf0i-xVcNjSBj/s320/ShoeboxProject1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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True charity and volunteerism begin with the desire for change, writes <i>Wong Ee Lynn</i> </div>
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‘Tis the season to fill the needs of others, as well as to simplify and declutter — mostly our hearts, but also our homes. But before you throw the junk lying around your house into a big bag to donate locally or overseas, pause and think for a moment about what you’re giving and why. </div>
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Every holiday season, requests pour in from members of the public who usually want to do one of three things: </div>
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1. They have spring-cleaned their homes and want to 'donate' their cast-off clothing and other items to charities; </div>
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2. They want to do a one-off festive meal, party, or programme with vulnerable or disadvantaged communities, usually with children living in children’s homes or shelters;
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3. They want to do a one-off 'volunteering' session or visit, often with children in tow, to teach their children to be 'grateful'. </div>
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Donating to charity and volunteering are meant to be life-enhancing experiences which give people the chance to improve the world in their own small way. You’re dedicating your time and resources to people that may have less than you, helping to build communities and strengthen bonds between people. </div>
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But should charity projects and volunteering sessions just be limited to donating your discards or turning up, doing the job, taking heart-warming photographs and going home? Are you doing more harm, in the pursuit of doing ‘good’? </div>
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<b>DONATING YOUR THINGS </b></div>
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While you may feel ‘generous’ for giving away your extras, donating your discards may not be a charitable act at all.
You’d be surprised to see the amount of scribbled-on and torn books, tattered and stained clothing, broken toys and ornaments, and broken appliances and gadgets received simply because people feel that poor and vulnerable communities "have nothing" and should therefore be grateful to get anything at all. </div>
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This is unfair to volunteers, who then have to waste their time, energy and fuel sorting through rubbish and transporting unsuitable items to the rubbish or recycling bin.
We need to remind ourselves that the poor and minorities are not our landfill, and volunteers are not our rubbish pickup or waste sorting service. </div>
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We need to think not only about what we give and how we give it, but also why we give it. Just because it makes us feel better (and cleans out our houses at the same time), doesn’t mean it is what is needed or wanted by vulnerable communities. </div>
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Perhaps we should look a little deeper into our hearts and wallets when we claim, “I don’t have money to give to the poor, but I have a lot of stuff to give away”. Maybe this means examining how we spend and save, so we can prioritise giving regularly to worthy causes, and donating money and necessities instead of just our discards. </div>
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<b>What you should do</b> </div>
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Please go through the items you are giving away and ensure that they are all clean, usable, and functioning. Get items repaired before donating them. Redirect donations to the relevant charities: Wearable clothes can be sorted according to category (men's, women's, and children's) for relevant organisations, and faded, tattered, and stained clothes should go into the Kloth Cares fabric recycling bins (<a href="http://www.kloth.com.my/">www.kloth.com.my</a>). </div>
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If you are getting your children to help with the collection and donation process, ask them: "Imagine you are giving this to a friend. Would your friend be happy to receive this? Would YOU be happy to receive this?' Use this as a teachable moment to teach children what generosity and kindness really means. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrrr2ucb0dOPiWICguZsuZFBNI1S328kKCQhor7TAyBWaYXevFP-ixnT91dV2K1sR3cLcOFZ3x0XsfAPWSY1WvYXiFyNtBN3FBQxUp2LV2sW6zUcbKvfsisC7Kfo5gfOxCXuzpqd_Iafa/s1600/ShoeboxProject2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrrr2ucb0dOPiWICguZsuZFBNI1S328kKCQhor7TAyBWaYXevFP-ixnT91dV2K1sR3cLcOFZ3x0XsfAPWSY1WvYXiFyNtBN3FBQxUp2LV2sW6zUcbKvfsisC7Kfo5gfOxCXuzpqd_Iafa/s320/ShoeboxProject2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>FESTIVE MEALS AND PARTIES</b> </div>
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When the festive seasons roll in, welfare homes and organisations receive many requests from well-wishers to conduct ‘parties’ and ‘visits’ for the residents or beneficiaries so that they could experience a little of the festive ‘joy’ that they purportedly lack. </div>
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Junk food pour in, as do toys and gifts.
In the age of social media, many corporations and groups have opted to hold their celebrations in children’s homes, hospitals, or with homeless or other vulnerable communities. </div>
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While the intention to bring some joy to the needy is a noble one, one wonders whether these parties are done for the benefit of the donors or the recipients. It can appear to onlookers and beneficiaries that the donors are doing it to make themselves look good, and because throwing holiday parties for the needy is the “in” thing to do. Some beneficiaries may not share your excitement for a particular holiday, and it can even make the difference between the haves and the have-nots even more glaring and stark. </div>
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It is not only the adult recipients who feel embarrassed at being treated like ‘charity cases’. I remember volunteering at a children’s shelter years ago when the children told me we had to end lessons half an hour early so they could get ready for some visitors who had come to celebrate their child’s birthday at the shelter. While the younger children were understandably excited about this break in their daily routine, one of the older boys’ voice was dripping with sarcasm and resentment when he told me: “Yes, they are coming to show us how rich people party. To show us we have nothing, no mother and father.” </div>
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There is further the risk that these events and one-off ‘volunteering’ sessions provide strangers with access to vulnerable children who may be recovering from abuse and trauma.
I remember an incident in which a child started crying during a colouring session with volunteers. The other children started shouting at the crying toddler to be quiet or the ‘big brothers and sisters’ will not visit again, and said it was probably the reason why the previous batch of ‘big brothers and sisters’ never returned for a visit.
The reality is that the volunteers probably did not return because it was a one-off CSR project, but the children assumed that it was because they were ‘naughty’ and they were left blaming themselves and each other.
What you should do </div>
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When planning festive meals, parties, and programmes, ask the organisation first if that is what they really want. Find out an organisation's needs, which usually extends to the rest of the year. An organisation might inform you that instead of a fast food meal or plastic toys for the children in their care, what they really need is a maths tutor. </div>
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Respect and understand the wishes of the organisations and beneficiaries, and take time to ask and listen. Instead of having 40 volunteers play games with children for just one day a year, you could arrange for volunteers to take turns tutoring children and helping them with homework for 40 weeks of the year. </div>
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You also need to check with the organisations first if the proposed programmes are acceptable. A friend once informed me that they failed to check with the administrators of a school for refugee children if the games they would be playing are appropriate for the children. The party organisers had ‘Pin The Tail On The Donkey’ lined up as one of the games, but the children were reluctant to play, and the administrators of the school had to quickly explain that blindfolding can bring back flashbacks of being arbitrarily blindfolded and taken away by the military. Faux pas such as this one could be avoided by checking with the organisation or administrators in advance. </div>
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There may be privacy and safety concerns which means that the beneficiaries are not okay with being photographed. And some of the children may have experienced abuse and have trust and attachment issues, so having people visit them once, play with them, and never return will feel too much like abandonment. </div>
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Come and volunteer with underprivileged communities only if you have something meaningful or important to contribute, if you have special skills to share (e.g. you can help repair and repaint their home), or if you are able to commit to regular volunteering and service.
Seasonal parties and special meals for the underprivileged are not unequivocally a bad thing. It often provides a welcome break from routine and plain meals. But you need to also find out the actual needs of organisations and their beneficiaries, and find ways to keep the momentum going for the rest of the year to meet these needs the best you can. </div>
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<b>ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE? </b></div>
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Stop asking volunteers if you and your children can come "visit" the individuals who will be receiving your donations. Vulnerable communities are not your petting zoo.
I’ve witnessed beneficiaries being forced to shake hands, receive hugs awkwardly, and pose for photos. It makes them feel even more powerless and self-conscious. Nobody likes to feel like they are charity cases or are there for other people to stare at. </div>
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There are also parents who want their children to see "poor people" firsthand so they can "be grateful for what they have" and see what might happen to them if they fail to work hard, study hard, or listen to one's parents. This is unacceptable because you are teaching your children to make assumptions about people who are already struggling.
Not all who are poor are lazy or have done bad things. Many were disenfranchised and disadvantaged from the beginning and don't have the same opportunities you did. Truth be told, many people who are lazy, selfish, unscrupulous and unethical end up in positions of wealth and power anyway. </div>
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Visiting welfare homes and homeless communities to teach oneself or one’s children ‘gratitude’ is still essentially a selfish act — the focus is still on the giver, not on the recipients. Gratitude does not cultivate empathy. Gratitude makes the giver feel morally and materially superior, it does not make the recipient feel understood, heard, and seen. </div>
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<b>What you should do</b> </div>
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People who are grateful that their lives are not as hard as that of the recipients are rarely the same people who feel motivated to fight inequality and injustice. Instead of saying to yourself: “I am grateful I at least have a roof over my head and good food to eat”, ask yourself: “What are the systems that created this injustice and inequality in the first place? What am I doing to contribute to these systems? How can I help address these injustices? Which organisations and individuals are working on creating long-term solutions, and how can I help them?” </div>
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It’s time we stop feeling content with merely handing out a largesse of toys and food during the festive season, and instead aim to use our talents and resources to make the biggest possible positive difference to society. </div>
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Most of the volunteers and donors you see out there didn’t start off as full-time humanitarians or millionaire benefactors. They started small, and acquired more skills and experience and increased their capacity to give and to volunteer along the way. We should all aim to do the same - start by choosing the causes we are passionate about, and devote a certain amount of time and resources to it consistently. Doing good shouldn’t be just for a season. </div>
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It’s time we turn the ‘season of giving’ into a lifelong journey of becoming a truly compassionate, just, and socially responsible nation. </div>
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<i>Wong Ee Lynn has over 20 years of experience volunteering for various causes, from environmental and animal protection to working with urban disadvantaged children and homeless communities.</i></div>
~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-76990851038179686232019-12-11T23:17:00.000+08:002019-12-11T23:17:17.155+08:00Letter to the Editor: Mosquito Fogging Is Ineffective, Even Harmful<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
MOSQUITO FOGGING IS INEFFECTIVE, EVEN HARMFUL
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Following close on the heels of the rainy season are the mosquito fogging operations carried out by contractors engaged by the Ministry of Health and State Health Departments. We put up with these malodorous operations even though we can already see for ourselves that fogging is ineffective and provides only a false sense of security. </div>
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Fogging continues to be a popular way of mosquito control because it is visible and creates the impression that the relevant authorities are doing something to combat mosquito-borne diseases, but studies have shown that fogging is effective only when the chemicals come in direct contact with the mosquitoes. I have witnessed for myself how the mosquitoes fly up to my apartment window screens when fogging is carried out at ground level, and cunningly fly back down when the coast is clear. There are concerns that frequent fogging may even increase mosquitoes’ resistance to insecticides, giving rise to strains of super mosquitoes that are hard to destroy. </div>
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Fogging does not reduce mosquito populations because it does not kill mosquito larvae or pupae. If fogging were an effective mosquito control method, we would see a decrease and not increase in dengue cases in Malaysia. </div>
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Fogging is not only ineffective in controlling mosquito populations, but potentially harmful to human health. The chemical pesticides used in fogging and spraying are neurotoxins that can adversely affect the nervous systems of humans, companion animals, and birds, among others. Fogging also kills beneficial insects such as ladybirds, and pollinators such as butterflies and bees, and frequent fogging operations can harm biodiversity and cause ecological imbalance. </div>
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There are inexpensive and pesticide-free methods of mosquito control advocated by biologists and researchers, and these often involve getting premise owners and cleaning contractors to identify and eliminate mosquito breeding sites, including less-expected breeding sites such as the bracts of flowers and plants, septic tanks, gutters, and damp bathroom floors. Increasing biodiversity in parks and gardens by bringing in native fish, frogs, dragonflies, and bats that feed on mosquitoes and their larvae can help to reduce mosquito populations and restore degraded ecosystems. </div>
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The release of genetically-modified mosquitoes to either suppress pathogen infection or mosquito reproduction also seems to bear promising results, although it may be a few years before we can conclusively attest to their safety and effectiveness, and assess their impact on ecosystems. In the meantime, the best and safest method of mosquito control is still the elimination of breeding opportunities. </div>
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I conduct community clean-ups and often find municipal rubbish bins, recycling bins, and construction waste bins filled with stagnant water and mosquito larvae. There should be a requirement for all such bins to have drainage holes at the bottom to allow water to flow out. Local councils should ensure that abandoned vehicles are removed, and construction sites and illegal dumpsites are cleared regularly as these spaces often trap water and create places for mosquitoes to breed. </div>
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The elephant in the room that few want to address is the role of single-use plastics and other disposable packaging in creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes, besides being a blight on the environment. While our government continues to hem and haw over whether or not to ban single-use plastics, mosquitoes continue to breed in discarded cups, bottles, plastic bags and food takeout containers. A ban on single-use plastics combined with a bottle and can deposit system would go a long way towards reducing litter, encouraging recycling, and keeping these mosquito nurseries out of the environment and landfills, but there seems to be no political will to implement it in Malaysia. </div>
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The other elephant in the room is the link between deforestation and the rise in mosquito-borne diseases. <i>The Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases</i> has documented the steep increase in malaria cases in areas in East Malaysia where forested land has been cleared for agriculture. Larvae-sustaining puddles are formed where there are no longer tree roots to control soil erosion and water runoff, and mosquitoes and other pathogens proliferate in forest edges where the boundaries between human habitation and forested areas become blurred and primates and other disease carriers wander into human habitation. To protect citizens from mosquito-borne diseases, the government needs to look at all the different factors contributing to the rise in mosquito-borne diseases, and implement agricultural policies that may include banning the clear-cutting of forests, practicing shade and mixed cultivation, and increasing biological pest control measures such as bringing back native fishes, frogs, bats, and birds to degraded areas. </div>
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We need a responsive and responsible government that focuses on disease prevention and implements measures to identify and eliminate mosquito breeding sites and opportunities. Fogging is, at best, a piecemeal attempt at appeasing local communities after a dengue outbreak. These disruptive fogging sessions cannot be allowed to continue at the expense of our comfort, health, and safety. Citizens already know that mosquito fogging operations harm nothing but taxpayers’ wallets. It’s time we stopped pretending they are effective and redirect our resources to actual solutions. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR </div>
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(Photo Credits: Sze Huei Yek)</div>
~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-27065701174918384152019-11-11T16:58:00.003+08:002019-11-11T16:58:43.889+08:00Letter to the Editor:Environmental Education Not A Substitute For Real Action<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR </div>
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ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL ACTION </div>
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Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir’s recent announcement that Kedah will soon establish 36 eco-schools is one that would be received with good cheer by most Malaysians, as this move appears to affirm Malaysia’s position as a country that is pro-science, pro-environment, and serious about climate change. </div>
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As we applaud this initiative, we must remember that environmental education can never be a substitute for real action. Those with the economic and political leverage to make a difference and to improve the state of Malaysia’s natural environment are not taking the necessary climate change preparation and mitigation measures, but are instead merely investing more in awareness and education programmes. </div>
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The trouble with the lopsided focus on environmental education as a climate change mitigation strategy is that we are assuming we have 20 years to sit around and wait for the younger generation to graduate and solve environmental problems. We do not have the luxury of time. There is growing consensus among climate scientists that we have no more than 18 months to ensure that global emissions of carbon dioxide peak by 2020 to keep global temperatures within the safe limit. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius this century, carbon emissions will have to be cut by 45% by 2030. Since countries usually develop strategies in 5 to 10 year blocks, this would mean that the next 12 to 18 months are critical for the international community to develop firm and binding strategies to cut carbon emissions. It is unfair and irresponsible to expect the younger generation to clean up the environmental mess created by adults and governments. Creating an environmental curriculum and putting out more public service announcements while climate change is threatening food security, political and economic stability, and human health and safety is nothing short of an abdication of governmental environmental responsibility. </div>
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Malaysia has been stuck in the ‘awareness’ and ‘education’ phase for over two decades. As someone who has been active in the environmental movement for that length of time, I regret to report that most governmental environmental education initiatives fall into the category of Arts and Crafts activities such as poster contests, stage plays, recycling competitions, and cute public service announcements, and do not constitute actual solutions. </div>
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Instead of legislating and banning single-use plastics and getting manufacturers to commit to waste reduction targets, we are teaching children to stuff plastic wrappers into PET bottles, and to build structures nobody wants or needs with these ‘Eco Bricks’. We are still playing into the hands of the powerful plastics industry lobby by refusing to stem the tide of single-use plastics, and instead pretending that the problem is littering and lack of recycling. </div>
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We are teaching children about the benefits of clean renewable energy, but not providing them with options to purchase electricity from clean energy providers. TNB’s monopoly in the Malaysian electricity market ensures that only those wealthy enough to own landed property and install solar photovoltaic panels can afford to switch to renewable energy. While other countries such as the Republic of Ireland and Norway are divesting from fossil fuels, and university student-led fossil fuel divestment campaigns resulted in universities and companies making commitments to replace fossil fuels with clean renewable energy, 96-97% of Malaysia’s energy consumption still comes from fossil fuels, and the fossil fuel industry still forms a powerful lobby, so powerful in fact that they are allowed to claim in educational materials and science discovery centres that petroleum has not only promoted economic growth but also environmental safety and food security. The Economist Intelligence Unit reported in September that Malaysia aims to increase its total electricity supply output from renewable sources to 20% by 2025, but this goal is too small and unambitious compared to that of Singapore, the Philippines, and other countries in the region. There are also concerns that judging by current consumption trends, it would simply mean that Malaysians will consume more of everything – more fossil fuels, more renewable energy, more private vehicles, more driving, and more air travel. </div>
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We teach children about the benefits of taking public transport and carpooling, but we fail to provide an affordable, reliable, and punctual public transport service to those outside of areas served by RapidKL. We claim to care about the natural world and wildlife, yet we continue to approve and construct more highway projects through environmentally-sensitive areas, and have commenced the production of a third national car that nobody had really asked for, thus effectively encouraging more private vehicle ownership and more driving. </div>
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We teach children to take shorter showers and to turn off the tap when brushing their teeth, but we don’t tell them that non-revenue water loss in Malaysia is calculated to be at the rate of 5,929 million litres per day of treated water, through no fault of children or ordinary consumers. We tell children that water shortage and drought is the result of climate change, but we don’t tell them that in Malaysia this is usually due to the logging and destruction of tropical rainforests, which serve as vital water catchment areas. We don’t tell them that the government has repeatedly failed to gazette and protect watersheds, or has been slow to replace leaking and unsafe water supply pipes. </div>
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We teach children to plant vegetables in their school gardens, but we don’t take significant and decisive action against farmers who use excessive amounts of pesticides and herbicides, thus threatening food safety and human health. The rivers in Cameron Highlands are severely polluted due to agricultural activities, and three of the rivers are declared biologically dead, and no number of mini gardens in school yards can restore the ecosystem of these rivers or produce enough safe food to meet the nutritional needs of Malaysians. </div>
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We teach children to plant trees in parks and school compounds, despite knowing that a tree will only begin to be effective in absorbing carbon in its tenth year, despite knowing that the carbon sequestered through tree replanting is almost negligible. At the same time, we continue to clear and log forests for development, infrastructure projects, and plantations. </div>
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We teach children to ‘love our forests’, but when schoolchildren put up a play linking deforestation to oil palm cultivation, they faced harassment and intimidation from government ministries. Malaysia has lost 7.29 million hectares of tree cover to oil palm cultivation between 2001 and 2017 alone, and oil palm expansion is linked to the human-wildlife conflict, wildlife deaths, and the loss of indigenous lands, yet any call to produce palm oil and agricultural products without deforestation is met with hostility and allegations of treachery and lack of patriotism. Students are permitted to love our forests only as long as this love does not challenge our government’s stand on environmental issues. We cannot expect children to grow up to be problem-solvers if they are not allowed to think critically and question the status quo. </div>
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We teach children that we need to cut down on carbon emissions if the Planet is to survive, but we in Malaysia are coy about letting people know the truth about animal agriculture and climate change. While entire schools in Brazil, Sweden, the USA, and the UK have gone fully vegan, students in Malaysian educational institutions have difficulty finding vegetarian and vegan options, and some have reported of being actively denied or refused vegan food in order to protect the business interests of school caterers and canteen operators. We pretend that abstinence from meat is a religious practice and that eating meat is a religious and cultural right, without providing citizens and students with objective and truthful information about the unsustainability of livestock and poultry farming, and the depletion of our oceans due to overfishing. At environmental events organised or hosted by government departments and agencies, guests continue to be served non-vegetarian food and bottled drinking water, despite requests from environmental organisations for vegetarian and planet-friendly food and beverages. We let our taste buds overrule our conscience, and we make decisions that are damaging to the environment against our better judgement in favour of temporary whims and desires.
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As adults and leaders, what we do must be aligned with what we say. We cannot solve the climate crisis by organizing poster displays and colouring contests. Environmental degradation is outstripping the pace of environmental education by a hundredfold. Environmental education cannot cope with the scale and rapidity with which the environmental crisis is growing. We cannot expect to mitigate and reverse the environmental harm caused by our political inertia by doing the bare minimum and encouraging children and citizens to make personal lifestyle changes, when the onus is on those with political and economic leverage to make firm decisions to secure the future of our planet. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA </div>
~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-63914070890730958112019-08-28T17:32:00.001+08:002019-08-28T17:32:06.461+08:00Letter to the Editor: Plantations Are Not Forests<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
PLANTATIONS ARE NOT FORESTS </div>
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It was with bewilderment that I read the letter, “<a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2019/08/26/oil-palm-plantations-are-jungles-too" target="_blank">Oil palm plantations are jungles too</a>” (26 August 2019) and my bewilderment grew when I realised that the writer, a purportedly educated man, was not being sarcastic but in earnest. </div>
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Plantations cannot fall into the category of ‘jungles’, or more accurately, forests, because they consist of monoculture crops, that is, only one type of crop in a given area at the same time. A diverse forest ecosystem provides natural checks-and-balances to keep soil and plants healthy. In contrast, a monoculture plantation has to use large quantities of synthetic herbicides, insecticides, bactericides and fertilisers to replicate some of the ways nature uses to protect crops. Over time, pests, weeds and fungus evolve to be resistant to chemicals, and farmers end up applying more and more chemicals to monoculture crops, and this in turn adversely affects natural ecosystems and human health. </div>
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In a monoculture plantation, there are no varieties of plant that naturally provide nutrients to the soil, such as nitrogen-fixing legumes, or ground cover crops that improve the nutrient content of the topsoil, or a variety of plants with different root depths to reduce erosion. There are fewer species of microorganisms and beneficial bacteria in the soil, and no range of insect species to ensure that a single population does not get too large and damage too many plants. </div>
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Plantations are a direct threat to forests. In monoculture plantations, ground cover crops are eliminated, so there is no longer any natural protection against soil erosion. Degraded soil becomes unusable for agriculture after a few years, so it is a fallacy that plantations are sustainable because you can grow crops on the same piece of land over and over again. Forests are then cleared to provide new agricultural land, starting the damaging cycle all over again. Published scientific studies show that up to 300 football fields’ worth of actual forest are cleared every hour to make room for oil palm plantations. </div>
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Without topsoil to improve moisture retention in the soil, monoculture plantations require huge amounts of water to irrigate the crops. This means that water is pumped from rivers, lakes and other water sources to irrigate plantations, depleting natural water sources. This is on top of the pollution of water sources by agricultural chemicals. A forest, in contrast, serves as a watershed area and improves water quality by minimising erosion and filtering pollution. </div>
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The writer claimed in his letter that ‘critics say that plantations contribute to climate change’. This is not merely a claim by ‘critics’ but backed up by science. Plantations don’t just appear out of wastelands, forests are cleared to make way for plantations. Between 2001 and 2017 alone, Malaysia has lost 7.29 million hectares of tree cover to oil palm cultivation. Not even comparing our ‘superior’ plantations to the grasslands and wheat fields of Europe can change the fact that plantations are a main driver of deforestation. </div>
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The writer also claims that 54% of Malaysia is ‘virgin jungle’. Not even our Prime Minister would dare to corroborate such an outrageous claim. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation reported Malaysia’s primary forest to be at 18.7% in 2010. The writer’s claim that oil palm and rubber trees are ‘jungle trees’ is also grossly inaccurate as these are introduced species that would not support local wildlife, birds, and plant diversity. Further, a monoculture plantation, even of local species such as durian and merbau, can never qualify as a forest because of all the factors explained above. </div>
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The writer praised plantations as being “sustainable sources of food, rubber, timber and employment” without understanding the meaning of the word “sustainable”. Because plantations deplete and pollute water supply and degrade the soil, more and more land and water are required for the next round of planting, and abandoned plantations never fully recover. The average life of an oil palm plantation is 25 years, after which the abandoned plantation is practically a desert. There is also no ‘sustainable employment’ in plantations when there is widespread abuse and exploitation of workers, many of whom do not have formal employment contracts and are unaware of their rights as workers.
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Plantations are net emitters of carbon, and not absorbers of carbon as alleged by the writer. Old-growth forests store carbon for centuries, whereas plantations are actually net emitters of carbon due to disturbance of the soil and the degradation of the previous ecosystem. Scientific studies show that oil palm plantations store about 50-90% less carbon over 20 years compared to the original forest cover. The impact is even worse if the plantation is established on peat lands, which store vast amounts of carbon that are released when the peat is drained. If the use of fertiliser and emissions from processing crops are factored in, the climate impact of converting natural forests to plantations is even more devastating. </div>
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We have to admit that monoculture crops, especially oil palm, have a problem, and the problem isn’t just one of image. Oil palm can be cultivated without deforestation, peat development, or worker exploitation, but it will cost more, and the international community can help palm oil producing nations protect their forests and human rights by paying a fair price for certified sustainable products. The Malaysian government, plantation owners, and consumers will need to work together to protect our remaining peat lands and natural forests, and develop a credible supply-chain tracking mechanism and certification process for palm oil and other agricultural products. Agriculture is inevitable, but there are many ways of making it more sustainable. And it starts with recognising that plantations should not be passed off as forests. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-24011296863801374442019-07-29T22:52:00.001+08:002019-07-29T22:52:24.761+08:00Letter to the Editor: Consider Alternatives To Groundwater Extraction<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES TO GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION
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Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources Dr. Xavier Jayakumar’s proposal to tap into Malaysia’s groundwater supply to meet growing water demand is baffling, considering that there are many other less costly and destructive means of meeting our country’s water needs. </div>
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That the Minister reported of forests in Kedah catching fire due to drought is precisely what environmentalists and concerned citizens have been warning the authorities about for years – protect water catchment areas, gazette the Ulu Muda Forest Complex, and end deforestation, or we will face a water crisis. </div>
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A fully-grown tree releases 1,000 litres of water vapour a day into the atmosphere. Thus logging leads to higher temperatures and a decline in rainfall due to the reduced ability of a cleared or decimated forest to absorb solar energy and release water vapour.
The 2016 drought affecting the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia is directly linked to logging activities in the Ulu Muda forest complex, which affected climate and water cycle patterns, resulting in a massive decline in dam water levels and a postponement of the paddy planting season. </div>
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Now that a water crisis is imminent, the Minister has made the alarming proposal to drain other sources of water, rather than manage the resource that best ensures a sustainable and consistent supply of water – our tropical rainforests, which act as vital water catchment zones.
It is essential that we protect our remaining forests and maintain the health of our rivers, wetlands and water catchment areas to ensure that water resources are safe for us and can be sustained for future generations.
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Tapping into our groundwater supply while failing to protect water catchment areas, manage water demand, and end non-revenue water loss, is like withdrawing funds from an already overdrawn bank account.
The sustained pumping of groundwater can lead to groundwater depletion and deterioration of water quality. As water levels in lakes and rivers are also linked to groundwater seepage, the excessive drawing of groundwater can result in a decline in the water levels of lakes and rivers and the loss of riparian vegetation and wildlife habitats. </div>
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When groundwater is continually pumped out of the earth, it can result in land subsidence, namely, the collapse and sinking of soil. This can result in disasters such as the opening up of sinkholes and surface cavities such as in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the tilting and cracking of buildings such as in Mexico City, and severe flooding such as in Bangkok. Studies have shown that land subsidence can continue for decades even after groundwater pumping has been stopped, as was observed in Arizona. </div>
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The Minister should instead seriously consider water conservation measures while options are still available to us, before our water supply has dropped to crisis levels. </div>
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We can learn from the example of the State of California, which faced a drought and water crisis in 2015. In April 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown ordered a 25% reduction in urban water use. Amazingly, within one month of the water reduction law being implemented, California's water usage went down by not merely 25% but 29%.
Their water conservation measures included emergency adoption of building codes to conserve water, rebates for water-saving devices and landscape conversion and irrigation, water-efficient landscaping, imposing a fine for water wastage, local outdoor watering restrictions, statewide regulations requiring businesses to serve water to customers and launder linens and towels only when specifically requested, and hefty penalties for farmers who pump water from drought-stricken rivers. In a world where clean water is becoming increasingly scarce, it is important that we adopt the best and most cost-effective water conservation practices from around the world such as those implemented by the State of California. </div>
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The solution to our country's water problems lies not in tapping into underground water reserves, the construction of an infinite number of dams, or in water rationing for domestic users, but in protecting vital watershed areas, repairing and maintaining the existing water supply infrastructure to minimise non-revenue water loss, and to promote and enforce more efficient water use. </div>
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By the Minister’s own admission, non-revenue water loss in Malaysia is calculated to be at the rate of 5,929 million litres per day of treated water, which is sufficient to meet the water demand in both Selangor (3,316 million litres a day) and Johor (1,320 million litres a day). Surely the priority of the Minister should be replace leaky and damaged water infrastructure and end water theft, rather than to extract water from an ever-increasing number of natural sources? </div>
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As for the argument that watershed conservation, water-saving measures, and the replacement of old pipes and water supply systems to plug non-revenue water loss will burden the rakyat, it is submitted that constructing yet more dams and groundwater extraction infrastructure will cost taxpayers even more. Given the choice between paying for a temporary solution to water shortage issues (i.e. dams and groundwater wells that will result in environmental destruction or will eventually dry up) and a more durable solution to protect water security (i.e. protection of watersheds, replacement of unsafe and leaking water supply pipes with safer and sturdier pipes, tiered pricing system to penalise only water wastage and heavy water use), I believe most taxpayers and consumers would make the rational decision to spend their money on the latter. </div>
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A responsible government is one that makes decisions that will protect the safety, health, and food and water security of its citizens, and environmental and ecological integrity for generations to come, regardless of who will hold political power then. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-85894649080368721252019-07-05T18:01:00.001+08:002019-07-05T18:06:55.413+08:00Letter to the Editor: It's Time To Get Serious About Single-Use Plastics<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
IT’S TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT SINGLE-USE PLASTICS
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The purported plastic straw ban has been in effect in KL, Putrajaya, and Labuan since Jan 1, and in Selangor since July 1. Yet, apart from signs in eateries stating that straws are only available upon request, there has been no marked decline in the number of straws used and disposed of. In many eateries, straws are given by default, and when I asked the eatery staff why plastic straws continue to be inserted into beverages by default, the response is that customers often scold the eatery staff and demand straws, so inserting straws by default will save them the additional trip back to the drinks counter. </div>
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This clearly shows that the purported straw ‘ban’ is not a ban but merely an advisory. It will have no actual impact on reducing plastic production, consumption or waste in Malaysia, and is merely a publicity exercise by governmental agencies to create the impression that they are doing something about the issue of plastic waste. There is no binding force to this advisory, no enforcement of the restriction against plastic straws, and no penalties or charges for those who wish to continue using plastic straws. It neither reduces the demand for plastic straws nor increases the demand for reusable alternatives such as steel or bamboo straws or compostable alternatives such as plant-based or paper straws, since no alternatives to plastic straws are offered at eateries, and no fee is charged for those who insist on being given straws. </div>
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The risible advisory is also ineffective because plastic straws, as well as other single-use disposable plastic and styrofoam products, are still available for sale in retail outlets and supermarkets. Further, the purported ‘ban’ does not extend to cover hawker stalls, catering services, or even beverage shops such as the mushrooming bubble tea shops.
A March 2019 survey by <i>YouGov Omnibus</i> reports that although 91% of Malaysians expressed the opinion that environmental conservation is important, 22% admitted to using plastic straws daily and 24% use plastic bags daily. From the survey, it is also clear that although the survey participants were aware of the need to reduce the use of single-use items such as plastic bags and straws, 44% believe that the onus is not on them but on the government to protect the environment. This survey, as well as the findings from outreach work done by various environmental NGOs in Malaysia, reveals that there is no lack of environmental awareness in Malaysia, only a lack of a sense of responsibility. Knowing this to be the predominant mindset amongst Malaysians, the government’s half-hearted attempt to limit the use of plastic straws is doomed to fail. </div>
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However, recalcitrant and apathetic consumers are not even the main reason the ‘no plastic straw’ campaign is doomed to fail. This campaign, like the one against the free distribution of plastic bags, is and will remain ineffective because the focus is almost entirely on consumers and end users. The onus is on consumers to give up straws and single-use plastics and find their own alternatives. Compliance is higher among urban and educated populations, but for lower income individuals, any charge or ban on plastic bags and straws is seen only as another burden. </div>
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In the battle against plastic waste, the government’s focus needs to shift from the end users to producers and businesses. There is currently insufficient pressure on plastics manufacturers to declare their plastic use, set plastic reduction targets, and redesign products and packaging to use less plastic. The existing governmental campaigns have no effect on plastics manufacturers’ production levels or profit margins. </div>
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Plastics manufacturers love these types of ‘awareness’ and ‘voluntary reduction’ campaigns, because there is no obligation on them to reduce production. If a campaign or initiative fails, they can blame consumers for failure to comply with advisories, for littering, for being ignorant or recalcitrant, and for not recycling enough. Plastics manufacturers also love initiatives such as beach cleanups and recycling drives, because it creates the impression that they are doing something to address the issue of plastic waste without actually reducing production or changing the way they do business. More and more resources will then be poured into awareness and education campaigns and recycling drives in schools, when the crux of the problem is that our planet cannot cope with the amount of plastics already in the biosphere and the amount of plastics that will continue to be produced. </div>
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The <i>World Economic Forum</i> reports that we use 20 times as much plastic as we did 50 years ago, and this will continue to rise with incomes and industrialisation. Worldwide, plastic production and use is growing at a 10% rate, but in the developing world and most Asian countries, it is growing much faster than that, and this is more than the existing waste management infrastructure can handle, leading to over 9 million tons of plastics dumped into the oceans each year.
What the plastics industry does not want us to know is that recycling is not the solution, because most single-use plastics are never designed to be recycled. They are designed for low cost, light weight and convenience. As a result, even the best global efforts can only achieve a 10-20% recycling rate. Even when collected and separated for recycling, the low grade and low recyclability of these single-use plastic items means that they will be landfilled and burned. Existing recycling technology isn’t good enough, largely because of limitations in how plastics can be sorted by chemical composition and cleaned of additives. Most plastics that are recycled are shredded and reprocessed into lower-value plastics, such as polyester carpet fibre. Only 2% are recycled into products of the same quality. As long as decision-makers keep the focus on consumer behaviour, plastic manufacturers can continue carrying on business as usual and flooding the market with more and more low-grade, non-recyclable plastic packaging and products. </div>
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The Pakatan Harapan government started off their term saying the right things and showing determination to end the scourge of plastic waste in Malaysia. Despite many promising-sounding announcements, there has been no concrete and measurable action taken to reduce plastic production and waste in Malaysia apart from yet more ‘awareness’ campaigns. For awareness and educational campaigns to work, there must be a corresponding ban on the production, import, sale and use of single-use plastic packaging, a higher focus on and incentive for switching to reusable and compostable alternatives, and a setting of reduction targets for manufacturers and businesses. </div>
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<i>Science</i> journal reported in 2015 that Malaysia is among the top 8 highest offending ocean plastic polluters globally. Malaysia then signed the December 2017 UN Resolution on microplastics and marine litter, but has not really treated the issue with urgency or done anything with measurable outcomes to date. Consumer awareness campaigns and “request a straw only if you really need one” advisories are not measurable because no targets can be set or measured for such campaigns. Holding X number of roadshows and issuing X number of public service announcements cannot be translated into X tonnes of plastic waste reduced. </div>
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One of the most effective ways to bring about an actual, measurable reduction in plastic waste within a definite timeline is to get manufacturers and businesses to set and meet reduction targets. Due to consumer and investor demands, many companies including Nestle and Pepsico are under pressure to disclose their annual plastic packaging use, set reduction goals, and transition to recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging and products. Nestle and Unilever have already pledged to make its plastic packaging fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, Adidas and Dell are manufacturing products and packaging using recycled ocean plastics, and new start-ups are introducing everything from edible cutlery to sauce and seasoning sachets made of seaweed that will dissolve in water. Companies should not just be focusing on facilitating and encouraging recycling, but on reducing the amount of plastics used and designing their products and packaging out of recycled plastics or compostable materials in the first place. This is the kind of measurable reduction target we want to see in Malaysia. We should incentivise these kinds of innovation, by increased consumer support, or through governmental tax rebates and Research and Development funds. </div>
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We have only a small window of time left to deal with plastic pollution and its harmful impact on biodiversity, climate, human health, and the economy. Malaysia cannot achieve pollution and waste reduction targets by waiting for consumers to do the right thing and by protecting manufacturers and the plastics industry. Karnataka State in India has banned several types of single-use plastic items and banned manufacturers from producing these products. Kenya has implemented a nationwide ban on plastics bags, which also covers distributors and producers. Vanuatu has outlawed plastic bags and many single-use plastic items, and is moving towards banning disposable diapers. Malaysia must move beyond advising customers to ask the waiter or go to the counter if they need a straw, and calling this measure a ‘ban’. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-91953993286822147642019-05-18T08:56:00.000+08:002019-05-18T08:56:03.207+08:00A Farewell to S.M. Mohamed Idris, A Man of Principle<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
A FAREWELL TO S.M. MOHAMED IDRIS , A MAN OF PRINCIPLE. </div>
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S.M. Mohamed Idris stands out in the memory of most Malaysians not merely because he was at the forefront of two leading grassroots organizations, namely, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), but because he is a man of principle who never put personal interest before the environment, workers’ rights, and consumer rights. This is unusual indeed in a society where politicians and activists can be bought and sold like so many commodities, and where campaigns often descend into a tangle of personal attacks. </div>
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I was first introduced to the noble work of S.M. Mohamed Idris as a child in the 1980s through Utusan Konsumer, the official newsletter of CAP, of which my father was a subscriber. I read the newsletter diligently, and it cultivated in me an awareness of local environmental issues, consumer rights, and workers’ rights. I never failed to observe how S.M. Mohamed Idris backed up his assertions with solid facts and figures, rebutted arguments objectively and fairly, and stayed the course in relation to the issues he was championing regardless of criticisms and setbacks. He never wavered, and never apologised for putting the environment and human rights first. </div>
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I remember the role S.M. Mohamed Idris played in the evolution of Malaysia’s tobacco control laws, which eventually resulted in the banning of tobacco advertising, including the sponsorship of competitions and sporting events. Although as a teenager I was disappointed that I could no longer watch tobacco-sponsored telecasts of NFL and NBA games, I came to appreciate that stringent prohibitions against tobacco advertising and marketing are essential to protecting public health and creating a cleaner, healthier future for all, and this objective must come before our personal comfort and convenience. </div>
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Although I never had the privilege of meeting S.M. Mohamed Idris in person, I learned from those who have worked with him that he is an incorruptible, honourable man – steadfast in his principles and contemptuous of the “close one eye” mindset of many Malaysian enforcement bodies. He spoke up courageously and impartially for the environment, consumer rights, labour rights and good governance, regardless of who is in power, or who the government of the day is. His mind remained sharp and his reasoning sound until the very end, speaking up against all forms of harm and injustice, from monoculture plantations to extravagant infrastructure projects that did not benefit the people. S.M. Mohamed Idris was not against development, only against corruption, wastage, and the irresponsible use of public funds. He was not against harmless fun, but illuminated how advertising could manipulate impressionable minds. </div>
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S.M. Mohamed Idris could have capitalised on his perspicacity and eloquence to become a very rich man, but chose to devote his life to protecting the vulnerable, whether it is the environment, consumers, or workers. He was wealthy in knowledge and spirit and lived an ethical life. Through his example, I learned, as I am sure many other activists and volunteers did, not merely to serve and contribute until we have exhausted all our resources, but to try to change the status quo, to try to reform the laws and systems that perpetuate social and legal injustice and environmental destruction. For his efforts in educating the public on their rights, he has done more for democracy and nation-building than many politicians and self-proclaimed patriots. </div>
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It would be a fitting tribute to this great man if more Malaysians were to take up the cause of environmental and social justice, to protest corruption and abuses of power, to call out governmental authorities on destructive and wasteful development and infrastructure projects, and to educate the disenfranchised on their rights and options. He dedicated his life to educating us on our rights that we may carry on his work of creating a better Malaysia and better world. </div>
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S.M. Mohamed Idris lives on in the lives he has changed, including mine. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR </div>
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-82208688588549559072019-03-20T23:07:00.002+08:002019-03-20T23:07:29.499+08:00Letter to the Editor: Walking The Talk on Sustainability the Only Way<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>LETTER TO THE EDITOR</b></div>
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<b>WALKING THE TALK ON SUSTAINABILITY THE ONLY WAY </b></div>
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Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok’s call to manufacturers to add a “Love MY Palm Oil” label to local palm oil products and for Malaysians to consume more palm oil (13 March 2019) is no solution to the European Union’s proposed ban on palm oil biodiesel linked to deforestation. </div>
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The Minister’s argument that 40% of Malaysians in the palm oil industry are smallholders is also unlikely to move European parliamentarians. </div>
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The issue is not that the European countries are unaware that the ban would disrupt the economy of the country and livelihood of smallholders. The European Union and its member states are proposing the ban precisely because they know economic pressure is the only way they can get palm oil producer nations to stop deforestation and prioritise environmental protection. Diplomatic persuasion has not worked, and voluntary consumer action takes too long to bear results. The proposed ban is their last resort in trying to influence environmental policies in palm oil producing countries. </div>
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It is not disputed that palm oil is cheaper and more resource-efficient than other vegetable oils. Alternative vegetable oil crops such as rapeseed and soy may use up to 10 times more land than oil palm. However, merely pointing out that other vegetable oil crops are just as damaging and destructive as oil palm, and alleging victimisation and protectionism on the part of European nations is hardly going to influence European nations’ and consumers’ perception of Malaysian palm oil. We can only remove the stigma of deforestation by actually ending deforestation, not by pointing out that deforestation also occurs elsewhere. </div>
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The appropriate response to the proposed ban is to take transparent, credible, and measurable steps to reduce deforestation and other environmental and human rights impacts of palm oil.
The problem with both the Roundtable For Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification systems is that the international scientific and environmental communities do not endorse either certification as being trustworthy. </div>
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The main criticism against the MSPO is that the organisation playing a vital role in its formulation and moderation is the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), which clearly is invested in oil palm cultivation and expansion, thus giving rise to allegations of conflict of interest and lack of independence and impartiality. </div>
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As for the RSPO, only in late 2018 did it adopt new standards prohibiting the clearing of any type of forest for oil palm cultivation. Previous standards did not protect peatlands or landscapes with High Carbon Stock. Reports exist to support the claim of malpractice and corruption by RSPO auditors. Considering that the RSPO, which is the world’s only global palm oil certification system, is unable to achieve what it is set up to do – namely, ensure sustainability, human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and respect for the law – it is highly doubtful that the international community would perceive the MSPO as having higher standards of transparency and effectiveness in protecting the environment, indigenous communities, and wildlife than the RSPO. In fact, the findings of environmental organisations confirm that MSPO scores even lower than RSPO on safeguards pertaining to the fair treatment of smallholders, protection of indigenous communities and access to remedies. How is the MSPO labelling expected to inspire consumer confidence when its standards are even lower than that of the RSPO? </div>
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Malaysia should instead adopt the independently verified standards that are being trialled by producers in the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), a collection of NGOs including Greenpeace and progressive producers that aim to provide independently verified, responsibly produced palm oil. These standards use the RSPO as a basis, but establish additional requirements on palm oil producers including to assess and protect peatland and forested areas in their concessions. </div>
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The call to clean up the Malaysian palm oil industry is not a form of bullying or green protectionism or an attempt to undermine and destroy the Malaysian economy. Environmental organisations and indigenous communities should not be harassed and ignored in our attempts to highlight the environmental harms linked to oil palm cultivation. Environmental organisations are not calling for a halt on economic growth or the loss of employment opportunities, but the proper management of natural resources and protection of forests, wildlife, labour rights and indigenous rights. Malaysia has to recognise that there is a problem, not merely that of image or marketing, and rise up to be part of the solution. </div>
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Satellite data does not lie, and reveals that logging and deforestation continue to take place wherever there is oil palm cultivation and expansion. Between 2001 and 2017 alone, Malaysia has lost 7.29 million hectares of tree cover to oil palm cultivation. Even local media does not shy away from reporting on wildlife deaths, including those of charismatic species such as tigers and elephants, linked to oil palm cultivation. And as recently as today (20 March 2019), news reports have surfaced of conflicts between indigenous communities in Sarawak and an oil palm company that was issued a permit to carry out logging next to the Mulu National Park. </div>
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Until there is clear, solid and reliable evidence to support our claims of environmental sustainability and protection of human rights, no amount of labelling and marketing can alter how the international community perceives the Malaysian palm oil industry.
Instead of issuing ultimatums and threats to European nations and trying to increase the domestic consumption of palm oil, Malaysia needs to prove to the world that oil palm can be grown and produced responsibly and make a genuine contribution to the Malaysian population and environment. A willingness to acknowledge the need to improve and to make sincere and genuine efforts to protect the environment, wildlife and human rights is a better indication of patriotism than merely a willingness to consume more locally-produced palm oil. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY, SELANGOR BRANCH </div>
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-33579899097342828482019-02-23T11:12:00.000+08:002019-02-23T11:12:11.088+08:00Letter to the Editor: Bauxite Mining Still Poses Clear and Present Danger<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:</div>
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BAUXITE-MINING STILL POSES CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER </div>
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(Photo credits: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=425569500969958&set=pcb.425569554303286&type=3&theater&ifg=1" target="_blank">Fuziah Salleh</a>)</div>
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Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Selangor is disappointed that the Ministry of Water, Land, and Natural Resources has made the decision to lift the moratorium on the extraction and export of bauxite in Pahang (18 Feb). </div>
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The primary motivation for the decision appears to be the high market demand for bauxite and the economic gains to be made from it. The environment and public health and safety are merely secondary considerations. </div>
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Although the Minister has indicated that there will be new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and tighter regulations in place, the public has yet to be informed of what these SOPs are and how they compare with previous and existing safeguards, and how transparent and effective the monitoring and enforcement measures will be. </div>
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Even as far back as 2016, SOPs such as requiring bauxite to be transferred via safer pakamatic lorries, rerouting lorries to avoid heavily populated areas and setting up a designated bauxite stockpiling centre failed to stop industry players and enforcement agencies from flouting the regulations with impunity. What assurance is there that this time the same industry players and monitoring and enforcement agencies will not put personal interest and profits before the environment and people? </div>
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Further, the proposed fine of RM500,000 and three months’ imprisonment under the Pahang State Mineral Enactment 2001 appears to be too lenient for such a lucrative industry. There appears to be no prerogative afforded to the enforcement bodies to shut down and ban industry players found to be flouting the SOPs. </div>
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We must not lose sight of the reasons why the moratorium was imposed in the first place. Intensive bauxite mining and processing activities caused major contamination of water sources, air and soil pollution, and an increase in health complaints, particularly respiratory-related, from the local residents. The environmental and scientific community had also reported that bauxite mining and processing had resulted in the leaching of toxic heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead and chromium into river systems, poisoning fish and aquatic life and posing a danger to the fishing and coastal communities. </div>
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The public has so far not been informed of how wastewater and other waste materials from the bauxite mining and processing activities will be treated and disposed of, and from where the water for bauxite washing will be sourced. This raises concerns that there will be a growth in illegal dumping grounds for the waste generated from the resumption of bauxite mining and export activities. </div>
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News reports indicate that the Pahang Mineral Operators Association would be regulating its own members and activities. This again will raise the question of how objective, neutral and effective they will be, considering that they have not demonstrated exemplary commitment to environmental protection and public health and safety in 2015 and 2016 prior to the moratorium. There must be greater opportunity and space for neutral civil society groups and environmental organisations to participate in the monitoring and reporting process, and independent environmental auditors must be engaged to inspect and report on the bauxite mining and exporting activities without fear or favour.
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MNS Selangor is not against development or state governments managing their natural resources to maintain economic growth. We are, however, in favour of the responsible management of natural resources and greater transparency and accountability. Economic growth cannot be sustainable or legitimate if it comes at the expense of the environment and public health and safety. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY (MNS) SELANGOR
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-60706154991088323272019-01-17T23:52:00.000+08:002019-01-17T23:52:18.930+08:00Letter to the Editor: Orang Asal Communities Deserve Greater Voice and Representation<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: </div>
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ORANG ASAL COMMUNITIES DESERVE GREATER VOICE AND REPRESENTATION</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2y2l8zgR60eA943qXcQkH9GHjmWvM1Igdven9N_7paRHtBWmldGW1vMZh4oiC1ACgB9OlYcyb_EJCm0F7WRd-C700Tlsk68roRG2ohemr1SQaUDdK242PrfhzT9nfaKYBI7-9wFruOFLi/s1600/OA+Children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="576" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2y2l8zgR60eA943qXcQkH9GHjmWvM1Igdven9N_7paRHtBWmldGW1vMZh4oiC1ACgB9OlYcyb_EJCm0F7WRd-C700Tlsk68roRG2ohemr1SQaUDdK242PrfhzT9nfaKYBI7-9wFruOFLi/s320/OA+Children.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran’s statement that the Malay community “would not even buy kuih from the Orang Asal, let alone vote for an Orang Asal candidate”, may be tactless and distasteful, but is less of a denunciation of the Orang Asal communities than an attestation that our society has unequivocally failed Orang Asal communities. </div>
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That a significant percentage of mainstream society would not vote for an Orang Asal candidate is not a sign that the candidate is unqualified or incapable, but a sign that we as a society have so systemically marginalised and ‘othered’ the Orang Asal that we mistake injustice and a denial of rights for protection and concern. We have normalised paternalism and oppression, and passed it off as safety and stability. </div>
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That a significant percentage of mainstream society “would not even buy kuih from the Orang A(sal)” is not a sign that the Orang Asal are not capable of running their own businesses, but a symptom of the pervasive religious indoctrination that depicts non-believers as unclean and uncivilised infidels. </div>
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That Pakatan Harapan senator Bob Manolan Mohamad’s threat to stop the payment of stipends to the Tok Batin of Orang Asal communities had sparked public indignation is not a sign that the Orang Asal communities are unable to survive without governmental handouts and public donations, but a sign that the government has denied the Orang Asal self-determination and self-sufficiency and offered them handouts as a miserable compensation for the same. It is a sign that protectionist laws, policies and government agencies have disenfranchised the Orang Asal and given them welfare in the place of rights. Land and property laws and policies have demoted the Orang Asal from the position of stewards and guardians of their customary land to the position of squatters and tenants-at-will, to be evicted by property developers and state governments and displaced and relocated at the convenience of the authorities. </div>
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Our Orang Asal are not living museum pieces to be objectified and ogled at by tourists and anthropologists, or passive recipients of government handouts. Orang Asal communities do not need our condescension, interference, religious proselytisation or cast-off clothing and toys. They need representation, the right to be heard and the right to control their own destiny. They cannot continue to be patronised and treated as wards of the government and mainstream society, but must instead have the opportunity to exercise their autonomy, structure their own solutions and make decisions related to their land rights, political rights and the fate of their communities. </div>
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Our Orang Asal are not a homogenous cultural group but consist of many different ethnic subgroups with distinct languages and cultural and religious beliefs and practices. Therefore, what is needed is more Orang Asal representatives to bridge the divide between Orang Asal communities and government decision-makers, and more Orang Asal activists speaking up for each community and their specific needs. What Orang Asal communities need and deserve are representatives in parliament, governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations who can advocate for their communities and make decisions without fear or favour and without being coerced into converting their religion or becoming sycophants for political parties. </div>
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Fielding and voting in more Orang Asal candidates would create opportunities for the Orang Asal communities to participate in decisions that would affect their rights, lives and fates. If there were actual and adequate representation and autonomy for Orang Asal communities, they would not have to resort to measures such as blockades and petitions just to get their voices heard. Nobody enjoys having to participate in blockades and marches to Parliament – farms, families and villages have to be left unattended when Orang Asal activists are away and income is lost.
Fielding just one Orang Asal candidate does not make us an inclusive and diverse society any more than giving handouts to Tok Batins of Orang Asal communities make us a caring and compassionate society. That we are not fielding more Orang Asal candidates is not an indication that the Orang Asal communities are uninterested in politics or that there are insufficient qualified candidates, but an indication that we as a society have been deaf and blind to the rights, needs and concerns of the Orang Asal for too long.
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The first step to recognising the rights of the Orang Asal for us as a society is to prioritise the security and control of the Orang Asal over their native customary lands, and to include and consult the Orang Asal in any discussions on land use and any development and education processes and policies that affect them. We need to implement and enforce laws to ensure Orang Asal land rights are protected. We need to recognise the Orang Asal communities’ role in conservation and learn from them. Until we have more Orang Asal voices in positions of leadership, the fielding of token Orang Asal candidates by political parties and coalitions amount to nothing more than insincere and empty gestures. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4037275061245964811.post-81692064649090605572018-12-31T14:04:00.001+08:002018-12-31T14:04:11.100+08:00Letter to the Editor: Much Still Needs To be Done To Protect Environment<div style="text-align: justify;">
LETTER TO THE EDITOR </div>
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MUCH STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT </div>
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The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Selangor Branch would like to congratulate the Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change YB Yeo Bee Yin on being recognised as one of Nature Journal’s top ten people who made a difference to the environment in 2018 (<a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/20/science-journal-hails-yeo-bee-yin-as-a-force-for-environment/" target="_blank">The Star, 20 Dec 2018</a>). </div>
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MNS Selangor along with other local environmental organisations have long lobbied the Malaysian government for better energy, water, land and waste management policies, and stronger laws against single-use plastics.
While we are heartened by YB Yeo’s pledge to phase out single-use plastics in Malaysia, we are concerned that the 12-year timeline is simply too long to be effective in dealing with an issue as urgent as marine plastic pollution. Kenya took drastic action to ban plastic bags over a year ago, while Bali is set to ban plastic bags and other single-use plastics by next year. </div>
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Malaysia should not be lagging behind our neighbours in taking decisive action to cut down on the manufacturing, consumption, use, distribution and disposal of single-use plastics. This is especially so after we have witnessed how inadequate our recycling and waste management systems are in dealing with the world’s plastic waste that was foisted on Banting, Klang and other Malaysian towns following China’s refusal to accept any more plastic waste from developed nations for recycling. </div>
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A 5-year roadmap would be a better testimony of the government’s seriousness and sincerity in dealing with the issue of single-use plastics and plastic pollution. </div>
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Much more needs to be done to conserve Malaysia’s environment, biodiversity, wildlife and natural resources, and unfortunately we have not seen very much concrete action or moral courage on the part of the relevant authorities, enforcement agencies and government ministries. </div>
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The Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), Ministry of Works and Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources have been conspicuously and alarmingly silent, for instance, on the issue of hill slope development in Penang, the encroachment into native customary lands by plantation companies, and the clearing of green lungs for development projects in Taman Bukit Kiara and Bukit Lagong, among others. </div>
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The issues of the degazettement of forest reserves, deforestation and development and infrastructure projects in previously forested areas should not fall within the purview of State governments or the Ministry of Federal Territories alone. It is not enough to say that a particular piece of land is under state ownership and management, and the public or other government ministries and agencies are therefore not authorised to discuss, question or challenge any development plans in green lungs and forest reserves. It is not enough to claim that the cost of cancellation or need for housing are too high, and therefore environmental protection must be relegated to the back burner. It is not enough to argue that the issue of deforestation and degazettement of forest reserves fall within the purview of the Forestry Department and the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources, as deforestation has an impact on climate change and should therefore be inconsistent with MESTECC’s climate change mitigation policies. </div>
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Deforestation and development projects in forested areas, especially ecologically sensitive areas with high biodiversity and high conservation value, affect more than just the value of neighbouring properties. Increased disasters such as landslides, flash floods, and drought, and increased air, water, noise and light pollution, will have an adverse impact on climate and environmental quality, and will affect human and animal quality of life and a particular community and ecosystem’s ability to sustain itself. Wildlife populations may end up unable to breed, find food, or avoid conflict with humans. Highway and development projects may end up bisecting or fragmenting wildlife habitats and lead to an increase in wildlife roadkills. New roads and highways may create access for illegal loggers and poachers where there was none before. </div>
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The degazettement of forest reserves and destruction of the natural environment are taking place on the watch of those entrusted to protect the environment. Those of us in environmental organisations are fully aware of the need to balance environmental protection with economic needs. However, in many instances, there is no actual pressing social or economic need resulting in a genuine conflict, and there should be no compromise on environmental protection. </div>
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For far too long, the Malaysian authorities have been defending environmentally destructive projects that benefit only a selected few with economic and political leverage. Environmental organisations and citizens’ action groups with no ulterior motives or hidden agendas other than to speak up for the natural environment are treated as adversaries, instead of as valuable and impartial allies. </div>
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Hill slope development is clearly dangerous, unsustainable and indefensible especially after so many disasters and loss of lives, yet hill slope development projects continue to be approved. The continued destruction and acquisition of native customary lands and the oppression of indigenous communities by corporations, developers and plantation owners cannot be allowed to proceed unchecked. The gazettement of forest reserves becomes meaningless if degazettement and forest-clearing can take place at any time with impunity. </div>
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All of us have only a small window of time to help protect natural spaces and vanishing species. Politicians’ windows of time are even smaller. While praise and credit must be given where it is due, we must remember that environmental conservation in Malaysia is an uphill battle and many issues are not afforded the urgency and importance they deserve. We need to prioritise the environmental challenges with the highest stakes and greatest potential for lasting and irreversible damage. </div>
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Environmental organisations are always ready to meet with the government to discuss solutions. Environmental organisations are not trying to win a popularity contest against governmental agencies, we are racing against time to prevent the annihilation of the natural world. </div>
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It is wonderful that Malaysia has a Minister acknowledged by a prestigious science journal to be a champion for the environment. It would be more wonderful still if we could have all the relevant government ministries work together with each other and with environmental organisations and citizens’ action groups to expeditiously and courageously take action to protect Malaysia’s natural environment and deliver environmental justice. </div>
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WONG EE LYNN </div>
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MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY </div>
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SELANGOR BRANCH
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~CovertOperations78~http://www.blogger.com/profile/05533605886607468773noreply@blogger.com0