Unmanned checkpoints must be outlawed

It is a sad Sunday morning when I read of this tragic event in Kuala lumpur Mum and Child perish in fire :-( but what utterly dismayed us was the statement made by the Fire Department that the rescue vehicle "could not pass the barrier at the unmanned security checkpoint of the residential area. “Precious minutes were lost as we had to cut off the chains to proceed to the burning house,” ... This immediately brought to my mind those oil drums and barriers that I have seen across many roads in PJ SS2 and Damansara Jaya areas, to name just but a few. Will these obstructive objects placed across residential roads be a hindrance to emergency rescues like the ambulances, police cars and fire engines, in the event of an emergency arising, and where a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death? We have to seriously re-think our way of making residential areas safe, but having roads barred BUT unmanned is not one of them.

Likewise, I think the local councils should also monitor businesses in their respecitve communities who choose to use their backlanes to do their chores like the washing of food and plates, and the parking of company vehicles throughout the night. A cluttered backlane can also be a deathly hindrance in the event of a fire.

Unmanned checkpoints must be outlawed

Addicted to online Gambling.....

After reading the news in The Star (World Update) that a Chinese man dies after 3 days of continuous gambling on the Internet I feel that this is a timely reminder to the Government not to be lax in its surveillance on those "internet" cafes that mushroom in our cities.Especially those who insist on having dark tinted glass doors and frontage, indicating that there is much to hide from the authorities and the public.

If we are seriously concerned that a growing number of housewives and reitrees are succumbing to the lure of freebies in order to gamble in casinos in a neighbouring country, we should be petrified at the number of rogue Internet or Cybercafes that have sprung up in our neighbourhood.

We must forever remain vigilant against such a scourge.

Be wary of rogue cybercafes!

global economic landscape has changed after the 2008 financial crisis

I have always looked forward to your articles as they present a good insight into World conditions without the hyperbole. Reading the latest,The global economic landscape has changed after the 2008 financial crisis, and the New Normals I have several question to ask your view. The global economic strategies for ALL countries big and small have always been based on the assumption of continued growth, and even 'new normal' economic landscapes are discussed premised on different patterns of growth. Balanced budgeting and stagnation are 'dirty words'

In the current era of rising oil, food and commodity prices, depleting forests and rare earth resources, irreversible global warming and climate change resulting in great floods and severe drought occurring at the same time, it seems to me that Global economic modeling based on continuous growth in our World of finite resources (unless we have found a way to mine the Moon?) is, to put it mildly, a very irresponsible act. Can we afford to assume that the world's economic systems can grow continuously without reaching its 'peak'? A peak situation in any resource or commodity means the stage where consumption or demand exceeds supply. Are Governments and the United Nations turning a blind eye to this imminent catastrophe?

Instead of discussing World economy based on 'eternal growth' demands, economists and politicians should begin to chart economic situations based on "peak" conditions, ie, for each resource, asset or commodity, declare when that peak situation will be reached, what will its maximum productivity be, is there a sustainable way to maintain growth in this area, what are the alternatives if a certain resource is completely depleted, etc etc. Peak Oil has been extensively discussed already, but have we wondered for example, can we survive without forests, if timber and wood based companies continue to chart continuous growth in forest products? Or, what is the maximum number of vehicles we can put on Earth without permanently and fatally clogging our systems, and what can we do if Rare Earth resources are depleted?

Because we lack the political will to do the right thing (eg Pres Obama refused to let GM, Ford and Chrysler "die", and we allow oil and food prices to be speculated on), we are now seeing a world of continuous strife, where in some countries today, the proverbial straw has broken the camel's back (Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen). Expect to see more trouble ahead of us in 2011.

Human Greed will be the death of Earth.

Rising food prices may spark riots across the world

Finally someone has said the correct thing, the one issue that will see the end of the "orderly world" as we know it... Rising food prices may spark riots across the world (also appeared in Star World News today)

Quote: "It is unacceptable that there is speculation that aggravates the problem of volatility, which is already dangerous for some countries in the world. Therefore there should be a better regulation of the basic commodities markets."

There is no dearth of reports and analysis in the Internet that rising food prices and wild speculation, fueled by greedy bankers and Fund managers, will create a catastrophic World, but is anyone going to do the correct thing, ie, remove food away from being speculated on. I don't think so, and so I now will predict the next thing that Governments will do that will 'tip the world into disarray'; Governments in order to try and save themselves from a situation that is now happening all over the Middle East, will try and "corner" food supplies so that they will not be overthrown by hungry citizens. Grain exporting countries will be exporting less and less, exacerbating the already emotive problem. Will countries then use violence to secure their food supplies? It's not far fetched, as we have seen how far America will go to secure its oil supply. Only this time, everyone will be fighting for survival, thus ensuring the end of the world will come within the next 50 years..

God Save Us,,, and people are worried if their stiletto heels are high enough for Valentine's Day....

Don't log out the forest in Sarawak

In view of the letter that appeared in The Star today, "Don't log out the forest in Sarawak" and also the business news " Norway fund excludes Lingui,citing the timber company's contribution to “severe environmental damage " it is clear that most timber companies in Malaysia are not truthful about their Corporate responsibility messages that they have posted on their websites. The statements regarding sustainable forest management, and selective harvesting and Natural regeneration, viewed from the light of the Norway Sovereign Fund's rejection of the company, do seem to be merely a pack of lies.

Generally speaking, I think all timber companies cannot fall into the category of "socially responsible" companies, no matter what they expound in their websites. It is time the Securities Commission conduct a study on such companies to determine if they are indeed 'green' and are really really practicing environmentally responsible procedures in their core businesses.

i repeat my long held view that there is no such thing as "sustainable forest management" as it is just a phrase coined by spin doctors. How can anyone replace, for example, a Virgin 100-year old tree that has been logged and "selectively harvested" by growing a sapling in its place? How can we replace the 'soul' of that place, mangled and mutilated by heavy machines brought in to cut the tree? How can?

Covert release of GM mosquitoes

I always feel that genetically modified plants and insects engineered to increase productivity and to reduce disease.. Covert release of GM mosquitoes is a good thing, and sometimes the NGOs complain just because this is something to do. But what I did not like was the way the Ministry tried to justify itself by putting up silly excuses to pacify the NGOs. I remember reading in your paper during the week, that the Minister said that the area will be fogged after the trial.. Is he serious? What the heck do we do the research and release those mosquitoes, when we kill them immediately? Are we not supposed to monitor the subsequent growth and numbers of all mosquitoes in the researched area? Fogging them after all the trouble? And does the Minister think that the GM mosquitoes will stay qiuetly in the designated area, and not fly more than 200 meters away?

He must think the rakyat are brain impaired

Latvia's Pulp Fiction, or, How the UK help to destroy Latvia's pristine forests.....

Latvia's Pulp Fiction, or, How the UK help to destroy Latvia's pristine forests.....

• It takes just 2 minutes to fell a 100-year old tree, and a few more minutes to process them into sawn timber
• UK is the largest importer of Latvian wood
• Sustainable forest development is an Oxymoron. Can you wait another 100 years to fell a replanted tree?
  
• Governments, AND governing bodies, close one eye to activities, where the money is "right"

A "green government" is also an oxymoron.. So looking at this video from Al Jazeera, can we ever beleve anything that is being said by Governments and Big Timber companies? Is the World turning a blind eye to its own destruction? What's all that stuff about being "Green"?

Scramble to stockpile rice has started.. the beginning of the end of an orderly world.

If we read these two reports that appeared in The Star Biz section today,Scramble to stockpile rice has started {StarBiz} and Wheat jumps to highest in three years.{StarBiz & Bloomberg}. we notice that World governments are waking up to the fact that, though their citizens can stand a lot of nonsense dished out by corrupt leaders and avaricious businessmen, empty stomachs and the loss of hope will drive them mad. Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, are ongoing examples of people asking for their basic rights to affordable food and shelter and hope for dignity in life. You now see Governments scrambling to stockpile rice and grains to prevent rises due to immoral speculation by bankers and hedge funds.

But they will fight a losing battle, as bankers and "investors" contrive to make money in a market that will soon be driven by reducing food production caused by increasing population and inclement weather. Like oil, rice and wheat will very soon be unaffordable to the poor and downtrodden, and what are the politicians and governments doing about this? Stockpiling is only a short term and temporary solution; we need to a new world economic order, one that is not based on profits but on surviving together in the only planet that is known to harbour life.. Of course that is an impossible dream, and so the end of an "orderly world" as we know it will soon come to confront us.

The UN Secretary General hit the nail on the head, when he recently said that maintaining the present economic model is committing environmental suicide
Sadly, some of us maybe still alive when "all hell breaks loose" ...

When will Sarawak run out of Forest Reserves

Reading this piece of business news, Sarawak log exports rise on strong demand, discerning Malaysians will really wonder if our Government is serious in its objective to maintain sustainable development, protect the environment and reduce the carbon footprint of our nation. Details that can be gleaned from the report:

• Sarawak's 2010 production was 10.15 million cu m, of which the State exported nearly 3.94 million cu m of logs worth RM1.96bil to eight countries in 2010

• Last year's production was made up mostly of hill species (9.86 million cu m), with Meranti contributing the bulk (3.7 million cu m). The other main species were Kapur, Keruing, Selangan Batu, Bindang and Nyatoh. Some 290,000 cu m of swamp species were harvested, and the main ones were Meranti, Alan, Kapur, Jongkong and Ramin,
  
• India, China, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea were the major importers of Malaysian timber in 2010. It was also reported that the demand from some of these countries (India, China and Vietnam) are insatiable.
  

Some of the questions that come to mind are:

1. Except for Japan, the major log importing countries are developing nations with large populations; India is one of the countries that have banned domestic logging of its forests, and China has a strictly monitored reforestation programme. Is Malaysia then, so lax in its conservation laws that it prefers to earn short term profits at the expense of its remaining forest reserves? We all know that Sarawak has one of the few really pristine forest reserves remaining on Earth, and are we really making sure they remain our priceless assets for out future generations?
2. The 2010 production of over 10 million cu m.. are these all taken from reforestation schemes, or are most of the timber extracted from 'virgin' forest reserves? As it was reported that the production was mostly from the 'Hill species', it would seem to a layman like me, that most of the timber are from forest reserves? Have the swamp species been extracted from coastal areas, and will it have a deleterious effect on our environment, like the destruction of our natural fish breeding areas and affect the livelihood of fishermen and farmers living in the localities? is there in place a reforestation programme for the swamp species?
3. The Sarawak timber industry of course will be planning for continuous expansion of their export business and based on this report, not less than 10 million cu m of timber will be logged each year, just to maintain profits. On this assumption, and knowing that the reforestation programme will be woefully adequate to feed such avarice, can anyone let the public know, how many years will it take for the Sarawak Government to denude the State of its single most valuable asset, ie the forest reserves?
   

Human greed and political bigotry will be the death of Mother Earth

DON'T LOG OUT THE FORESTS