Thumbs-up for Penang government

As expected, there is hue and cry over the decision of the Penang State Government to further ban the use of plastic bags next year, No Plastic rule may cost jobs.. but for once, i am happy to see that there is political will to do something right, for the long term good of the nation

Such unpopular decisions will come at a "political cost" but it is good to see that there are politicians willing to take the risk for the betterment of the nation. We cannot always fall back on the reason that people will suffer through the loss of jobs and employment opportunities, and even the closure of some businesses, just so that we can continue destroying the nation, and deplete it of natural resources that should be saved for future generations.

Our Government cannot maintain that it's striving to achieve a "green" status, but at the same time turn a blind eye to unethical practices and protests by selfish businessmen who will only look at short term profits and nothing else. Collectively, as a nation we must be proud to feel "ownership" of the country and must realise that hard work and sacrifice are needed to keep it safe and healthy for generations to come.

In this context, politicians must also not think parochially, but must react above political constraints and mutually agree to make further decisions to ensure all Malaysians enjoy living healthy and dignified lives. Some of the "unpopular" decisions that have to made are

• Reduce or stop the use of foreign menial labour in the country; encouraging such low wage earning labour (in many instances illegally acquired) only serve to pollute the environment, cause social problems, and cause our nation to be branded a "human trafficking" hub
• Promote the use of Internationally approved type of incinerators to dispose off and manage our waste; at the same time ensure all local councils enforce a uniform recycling policy for household and industrial waste
• Implement a National Forest Strategy to demarcate the size of our depleting Forest Reserves; the Policy must include independent and internationally verifiable procedures to ensure the Designated Forest Reserve Areas WILL NEVER be trespassed. This policy will elicit loud protests from many parties, not least among them timber tycoons and 'connected' politicians, but can we allow our dwindling reserves and Water Catchment areas to be abused anymore. The annually increasing severity of floods is testimony that we cannot flinch from our sacred duty to protect our nation and our forests.
  

Of course, there are many more areas that the governments can look into, many more unpopular decisions that will have to be made, but if the leaders of out nation believe in what they are doing, let the 'plastic bag ban' be the first step towards making our country great again...

Thumbs up for Penang Govt.