Malaysia 12th election was ended last month. I stayed up until 4am watching the live telecast of the election result.
While BN still remains in control, it suffered the biggest lost ever. UMNO may be surprised at the result but the writing is on the wall many months ago. Pak Lah was a popular PM when he took over Dr. Mahathir in 2003. He led a landslide victory for BN in 2004, 90% seats, the highest ever.
His slow and steady approach handling matters is a refreshing change for Malaysians but after the first two years of “honeymoon”, many Malaysians have called for results. Promises of more developments, opportunities, less red-tapes, and fighting corruptions has nothing to show for. Instead, Malaysians got murder, sex and corruptions scandals.
The V.K Lingam Video is a prime example of what went wrong in Malaysia. When questioned by the Royal Commission, former Chief Justice Eusoff Chin strongly denied that V.K Lingnam and his family arranged the New Zealand vacation together. Even with evidences of receipt and acknowledgment from travel agency, he insist they merely chance upon each another when they are in New Zealand. A while later, the ex-secretary of Lingnam testified “I arranged Kiwi trip”.
Scandals happens. What is more important is how people behave when it happens. Here is a formerly Chief Justice and a top lawyer who potentially lied in front of a Royal Commission and they think can get away with it.
Furthermore, as UMNO fights against PAS, a more radical Islamic party, over support from the Malay/Islam voters, UMNO has taken a more radical stand in many issues, that alienate the non-Malays and more importantly the majority of the moderates Malays. Ironically, PAS become more moderate in the process.
In year 2006, a keris (a Malay sword/dagger) was brandish at a political gathering by Chief of the Youth UMNO,Datuk Hishamuddin yelling “defend Malay rights”. Obviously thats going to make non-Malays uneasy. Many remembered the racial riot and killings in 1969. Maybe you can do these if you are an uneducated street hooligan but not when you are the Chief of the Youth UMNO.
Race is a dangerous card to play. You play with fire, you will lose.
The result of this election is a clear message to the BN, the ruling coalition, that Malaysians have enough!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Causes and Effects of Deforestation
In “deforestation Rates in Malaysia”(n.d.), it was shown that 63.6% or about 20,890,000 hectares of Malaysia is forested. Among this forested area, 18.3% or roughly 3,820,000 hectares are classified as primary forest. The coverage of the forest in Malaysia is still considering high as compare to other developed countries like Japan and Singapore. However, the rate of deforestation is getting higher and higher for these past few years. If this problem do not control very well, the effects by deforestation will become more significant.
There are many causes and effects of deforestation that everyone needs to know in order to protect the nature efficiently. Firstly, the main cause of deforestation in Malaysia is the increasing population. The Malaysia government’s population policy stated that Malaysia is aimed to achieve total population of 70 million people by year of 2100. This policy encourages more families to have more children. As the result, many forests need to be cleared to build more housing estates to satisfy the need of people. The increase in population also leads to the process of urbanization. More and more lands are cleared for this purpose.
Secondly, the deforestation problem is also caused by the forest conversion for plantation especially palm oil plantation. Ron Mahabir (2007) stated that agriculture is the main contributor to the economies growth of Malaysia in the past few decades.Recently, new invention of palm oil to new fuel source has benefited palm oil industry in Malaysia as this country is one of the main palm oil exported country in the world. As a consequence, the price of the palm oil is getting higher and higher for these past years and it is still strongly believe by everyone that the price will still keep increasing for next few years. More and more plantation companies like Sime Darby are prefer to develop the palm oil plantation rather than others form of plantation. For example, the palm oil plantation in Johor has increased very rapidly and most of the forests along the North-South Highway are cleared to become palm oil estates. There is also high demand of palm oil as cooking oil and ingredient in food. The consumption of palm oil is getting more and more popular because of it’ s low cost of production as compare to other vegetable oils and it’s low cholesterol.
One of the main effects caused by deforestation is soil erosion. When the forests have been cut down, most of the important nutrients are washed out from the land and they are exposed to erosion. The soil will lack of nutrients and the land is not suitable for the plants to survive. Morgen (2006) stated that many trees are cut down for the sake of money which caused Bangladesh suffers from severe floods that sacrifice many lifes every few years. The same case happened in Malaysia. The tragedy of Genting Highland land slide in June 1995 caused 21 deaths and 22 injuries ("East-West Highway," n.d. ). This is all because of the unbalanced development of the area and preserving the nature. Vijayan (2007) stated that a series of floods also hit the southern part of Malaysia like Johor, Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan in year 2006 and 2007 .This is because of the soil erosion as a result of deforestation. Everyone learns how important to preserve our nature from this tragedy.
In addition, global warming is the most common effect of deforestation. Henson (2006) stated that the canopy of the trees traps moisture so that the air can evaporate slowly and cool down the temperature of the land. Trees are very useful in cooling down the temperature of the Earth. They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen which is needed by every human beings. If large areas of forest are being burning up, they will release huge amounts of carbon dioxide adding the load to the atmosphere. It might take many years for the nature to balance the content of the gases through the steady growth of secondary forests that pull carbon dioxide out of the air. The unwanted carbon dioxide trapped the hot air and acted as an insulator on the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change.
In a nutshell, the main causes of the deforestation are increasing of population and forest conversion while the main effects of it are soil erosion and global warming. There are still many existing problems that human society needs to overcome to preserve our mother nature. A long-term plan that involves the whole world should be established to prevent the nature being destroyed again. Solving this problem involves a long process, but it is worth to inculcate the spirit of saving our world! Everyone has the responsible to take care our badly sick Earth!
References:
Deforestation Rates in Malaysia (n.d.). Retrieve March 10,2008,from
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/stats/Malaysia.htm
East-West Highway.(n.d.). Retrieve March 16, 2008,from
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/cameronhighway.html
Henson R. (2006). Climate Change. New York : Rough Guides.
Mahabir R. (2007,August 14). 2006 Malaysia Palm Oil Market Summary. Retrieve March 11,2008 from
http://asiacleantech.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/2006-malaysian-palm-oil-marketsummary/
Morgen B. (2006). Planet Earth : A Journey from Pole to Pole. London : Sandcastle.
Vijayan M. (2007,December 12). Johor's 3rd flood fatality. The Star Online. Retrieved April 7,2008,from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.aspfile=/2007/12/12/nation/20071212120559&sec=nation
There are many causes and effects of deforestation that everyone needs to know in order to protect the nature efficiently. Firstly, the main cause of deforestation in Malaysia is the increasing population. The Malaysia government’s population policy stated that Malaysia is aimed to achieve total population of 70 million people by year of 2100. This policy encourages more families to have more children. As the result, many forests need to be cleared to build more housing estates to satisfy the need of people. The increase in population also leads to the process of urbanization. More and more lands are cleared for this purpose.
Secondly, the deforestation problem is also caused by the forest conversion for plantation especially palm oil plantation. Ron Mahabir (2007) stated that agriculture is the main contributor to the economies growth of Malaysia in the past few decades.Recently, new invention of palm oil to new fuel source has benefited palm oil industry in Malaysia as this country is one of the main palm oil exported country in the world. As a consequence, the price of the palm oil is getting higher and higher for these past years and it is still strongly believe by everyone that the price will still keep increasing for next few years. More and more plantation companies like Sime Darby are prefer to develop the palm oil plantation rather than others form of plantation. For example, the palm oil plantation in Johor has increased very rapidly and most of the forests along the North-South Highway are cleared to become palm oil estates. There is also high demand of palm oil as cooking oil and ingredient in food. The consumption of palm oil is getting more and more popular because of it’ s low cost of production as compare to other vegetable oils and it’s low cholesterol.
One of the main effects caused by deforestation is soil erosion. When the forests have been cut down, most of the important nutrients are washed out from the land and they are exposed to erosion. The soil will lack of nutrients and the land is not suitable for the plants to survive. Morgen (2006) stated that many trees are cut down for the sake of money which caused Bangladesh suffers from severe floods that sacrifice many lifes every few years. The same case happened in Malaysia. The tragedy of Genting Highland land slide in June 1995 caused 21 deaths and 22 injuries ("East-West Highway," n.d. ). This is all because of the unbalanced development of the area and preserving the nature. Vijayan (2007) stated that a series of floods also hit the southern part of Malaysia like Johor, Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan in year 2006 and 2007 .This is because of the soil erosion as a result of deforestation. Everyone learns how important to preserve our nature from this tragedy.
In addition, global warming is the most common effect of deforestation. Henson (2006) stated that the canopy of the trees traps moisture so that the air can evaporate slowly and cool down the temperature of the land. Trees are very useful in cooling down the temperature of the Earth. They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen which is needed by every human beings. If large areas of forest are being burning up, they will release huge amounts of carbon dioxide adding the load to the atmosphere. It might take many years for the nature to balance the content of the gases through the steady growth of secondary forests that pull carbon dioxide out of the air. The unwanted carbon dioxide trapped the hot air and acted as an insulator on the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change.
In a nutshell, the main causes of the deforestation are increasing of population and forest conversion while the main effects of it are soil erosion and global warming. There are still many existing problems that human society needs to overcome to preserve our mother nature. A long-term plan that involves the whole world should be established to prevent the nature being destroyed again. Solving this problem involves a long process, but it is worth to inculcate the spirit of saving our world! Everyone has the responsible to take care our badly sick Earth!
References:
Deforestation Rates in Malaysia (n.d.). Retrieve March 10,2008,from
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/stats/Malaysia.htm
East-West Highway.(n.d.). Retrieve March 16, 2008,from
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/cameronhighway.html
Henson R. (2006). Climate Change. New York : Rough Guides.
Mahabir R. (2007,August 14). 2006 Malaysia Palm Oil Market Summary. Retrieve March 11,2008 from
http://asiacleantech.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/2006-malaysian-palm-oil-marketsummary/
Morgen B. (2006). Planet Earth : A Journey from Pole to Pole. London : Sandcastle.
Vijayan M. (2007,December 12). Johor's 3rd flood fatality. The Star Online. Retrieved April 7,2008,from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.aspfile=/2007/12/12/nation/20071212120559&sec=nation
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Timed Paragraph Practice
1.Briefly compare and contrast any two waste disposal schemes ( e.g. zero waste and landfilling, landfilling and using incinerators or any other methods you know ) and decide which one might be more suitable for your country.
According to Bath councillor Roger Symmonds, "zero waste is a grassroots movement from local authorities and people". This waste disposal scheme is to increase the percentage of recycling from the waste produced. This process may take a very long time in Malaysia to pratice. It is because of the environmental consciousness of the Malaysian public still very low. The government needs a lot of of time to educate the public about the serious environmental problems we face now. This zero waste scheme is good for the long term as the amount of undisposable waste can be reduced. Reducing the use of paper by using the electronic products such as computer to replace the paper works is advisable. This can minimise the logging problem. Recycling is the most important aspect in zero waste scheme. Recycling can reduce the loss of energy as energy is needed to convert the nature source to a product. However, this scheme needs the coorperation of all people to show the result of zero waste scheme.
For the landfilling scheme, it is very effective in the short term. However, after some time, it will show many negative results. Firstly, the land might be polluted by the chemical waste and this can cause the land to become useless and not suitable for agriculture. Then, the health of the residents around the landfilling area might be affected. The unpleasent smell of the waste will cause many health problems of the residents. Ground water and rivers are also being polluted and there are no clean water sources for the people anymore. Although this scheme has shown negative impact to the people , the Malaysian government is more favoured to use this method than zero waste scheme. It is very hard to expect all Malaysians to recycle the waste. Maybe the government can develop a new policy : charge the waste that are thrown by taking the weight of the waste. Therefore, currently, the landfilling is still more practical for Malaysia to manage the waste. However, the Malaysian government should work harder to promote the zero waste scheme now to ensure the quality of life of all Malaysians in the future.
Friday, March 7, 2008
My opinion...
The article 'Saving Nature,But only for Man' has drawn my attention to the realistic of the world nowadays.The writer,Charles Krauthammer has revealed the negative side of the countries to reserve the nature.The opening of this article very interesting."Environment sensitivity is now as required an attitude in polite society as is,say,belief in democracy or avesion to polyester",the writer use 'polyester' to describe the environment problem and it do attract my attention to start to read the whole passage.
I strongly agree that the environmentalism does it not for nature's sake but for our own.Forests are cleared to satisfy the need of the human.No forest clearing,no development.There are no high coverage of the forest in a developed country although the goverment tried to preserve the area of the forest.For an example,in paragraph 11,"If the cost of preserving the spotted owl is the loss of livelihood for 30000 logging families,I choose family over owl",the writer has emphasised that the priority of human come before the nature.Same case in Malaysia also.It is impossible to preserve the golden triangle of the city of Kuala Lumpur--Bukit Bintang area.It is because of the high value of the area around that region.The developer rather build high class shopping mall than preserve the land as the natural reserve.This is true.
In conclusion,although there are many people have shown their care to preserve the nature,but the priority of the human is the most important aspect.
I strongly agree that the environmentalism does it not for nature's sake but for our own.Forests are cleared to satisfy the need of the human.No forest clearing,no development.There are no high coverage of the forest in a developed country although the goverment tried to preserve the area of the forest.For an example,in paragraph 11,"If the cost of preserving the spotted owl is the loss of livelihood for 30000 logging families,I choose family over owl",the writer has emphasised that the priority of human come before the nature.Same case in Malaysia also.It is impossible to preserve the golden triangle of the city of Kuala Lumpur--Bukit Bintang area.It is because of the high value of the area around that region.The developer rather build high class shopping mall than preserve the land as the natural reserve.This is true.
In conclusion,although there are many people have shown their care to preserve the nature,but the priority of the human is the most important aspect.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
paragraph 1
Urbanization,agricultural fires and forest conversion for oil-palm plantations and other forms of agriculture are the main catalysts for climate change in Malaysia.The Malaysia government's population policy cause many forests are cleared to satisfy the need of people.The increase of the price of oil-palm causes more deforestation to convert forests to oil-palm plantation.Besides that,the increase in population also causes more serious pollution in this country.More Carbon dioxide is released as the population keeps increasing.Malaysia is a developing country,more factories are set up to boost up Malaysia's economy.Therefore,more polluted gases such as carbon monoxide and CFC will be released.these gases will cause very serious environment problem and the climate change in Malaysia.The climate changehas caused very serious flood problem in Malaysia.For example,serious flood in Johor has caused a great lost to the economy of the Johor state.Houses and roads are destroyed by this rare flood.Some people even sacrifice their life.Besides that,global warming raise the sea level of the whole world.The area of country will decrease.As a result,some cities will disappear forever on the world's map.The Bakum Hydroelectric Project in Sarawak,Malaysia put 700km square of land under water-equivalent to the size of Singapore.The rainforest of this part of South east Asia has some of the highest rates of plant and animal endemism,species found there and nowhere else on Earth.This dam has done irreparable ecological damage to the region.
Monday, February 11, 2008
My Chinese NEw year Diary..
Days Before Chinese New Year
5th Feb 2008(2 days before Chinese New Year)
As usual,I wake up quite early to enjoy my last breakfast in Raffles Hall before I went back to my hometown.I had my favourite fried rice and a half boil egg.Looking around,I noticed that there are less people having their breakfast in the Hall as some of them have gone back to their hometown.Wei Jian and Jing Jie have gone back to Penang and Tampin last Saturday respectively.And today,is my turn to go back~~hippie!!
I skipped my MA1506 tutorial class to pack up all my things that need to bring back.I have bought some Ferrero Rochers to bring back as the new year snacks.I used almost 2 hours to pack my luggage and cleaning my room before I go.I went for my EG1109 lecture but I dind’t pay any attention at all.My mind is fulled with my family and friends and of course my hometown most popular food—‘Otak Otak’.
2pm,I left Raffles Hall to Johor Bahru.I said goodbye to my friends.Poor LeeHong,he couldn’t go back Sabah to celebrate this new year,so I promised him I will buy some new stuffs to him.He quite delighted.I took SBS 170 bus to Johor Bahru.After an hour of journey,the sign board ‘Selamat Datang ke Johor Bahru’ told me I have reached the Sourthen gate of Malaysia.As it was still early,I went to the nearest shopping centre,City Square,I bought myself some new year clothes there.Then I went to the Larkin Bus Terminal to take express bus back to my hometown—Muar.
The traffic along the North-South Highway was quite heavy.I spent almost 3 hours to reach my home.By the time I reached my home,it was already 9pm.My mother was alone in home,making the ‘spring rolls’ for the dinner of new year eve.I was very tired after a long journey and I immediately fall asleep on my bed.
6th Feb 2008(Chinese New Year Eve)
When I woke up,I already saw my mother busied in the kitchen.She is always so busy for this home.She cooked quite simple for this new year eve dinner because some of my family members were not managed to come back for this reunion dinner.My sister was busied to take up a new year part time job to earn some extra money.I also needed to help my brother to take care his shop after the dinner.I didn’t enjoy the reunion dinner very well.Only my mother,brother and me in this reunion dinner.
I went to my brother shop after the dinner after having my dinner.There was a lot of people.Many families came out to buy the new year stuff or just window shopping.I helped my brother until 11pm and I went back to home to relax myself by watching the Chinese New Year Eve special TV programme.
‘5..4..3..2..1..HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!’.Finally,the ‘rat’ sent the ‘pig’ home and the year of rat has come!!!Kids played the fire crackers,adults busied decorate their house.I wish all my friends has a wonderful and propestive new year!!Gong Xi Fa Cai!
5th Feb 2008(2 days before Chinese New Year)
As usual,I wake up quite early to enjoy my last breakfast in Raffles Hall before I went back to my hometown.I had my favourite fried rice and a half boil egg.Looking around,I noticed that there are less people having their breakfast in the Hall as some of them have gone back to their hometown.Wei Jian and Jing Jie have gone back to Penang and Tampin last Saturday respectively.And today,is my turn to go back~~hippie!!
I skipped my MA1506 tutorial class to pack up all my things that need to bring back.I have bought some Ferrero Rochers to bring back as the new year snacks.I used almost 2 hours to pack my luggage and cleaning my room before I go.I went for my EG1109 lecture but I dind’t pay any attention at all.My mind is fulled with my family and friends and of course my hometown most popular food—‘Otak Otak’.
2pm,I left Raffles Hall to Johor Bahru.I said goodbye to my friends.Poor LeeHong,he couldn’t go back Sabah to celebrate this new year,so I promised him I will buy some new stuffs to him.He quite delighted.I took SBS 170 bus to Johor Bahru.After an hour of journey,the sign board ‘Selamat Datang ke Johor Bahru’ told me I have reached the Sourthen gate of Malaysia.As it was still early,I went to the nearest shopping centre,City Square,I bought myself some new year clothes there.Then I went to the Larkin Bus Terminal to take express bus back to my hometown—Muar.
The traffic along the North-South Highway was quite heavy.I spent almost 3 hours to reach my home.By the time I reached my home,it was already 9pm.My mother was alone in home,making the ‘spring rolls’ for the dinner of new year eve.I was very tired after a long journey and I immediately fall asleep on my bed.
6th Feb 2008(Chinese New Year Eve)
When I woke up,I already saw my mother busied in the kitchen.She is always so busy for this home.She cooked quite simple for this new year eve dinner because some of my family members were not managed to come back for this reunion dinner.My sister was busied to take up a new year part time job to earn some extra money.I also needed to help my brother to take care his shop after the dinner.I didn’t enjoy the reunion dinner very well.Only my mother,brother and me in this reunion dinner.
I went to my brother shop after the dinner after having my dinner.There was a lot of people.Many families came out to buy the new year stuff or just window shopping.I helped my brother until 11pm and I went back to home to relax myself by watching the Chinese New Year Eve special TV programme.
‘5..4..3..2..1..HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!’.Finally,the ‘rat’ sent the ‘pig’ home and the year of rat has come!!!Kids played the fire crackers,adults busied decorate their house.I wish all my friends has a wonderful and propestive new year!!Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Answer!!!!!!!
Declining forest cover in malaysia results primary from urbanization,agricultural fires and forest conversion for oil-palm plantations and other forms of agriculture.However,recent report showed that the population of Malaysia has increased to 27 million people and this can cause very serious problems to the biodiversity as there are more and more forests need to be cleared to built the housing estates.
One of the main effects of deforestation to biodiversity is erosion.The soil erosion is caused when the forests have been cut down,essential nutrients are washed out of the soil all-together.When there are no trees to keep the soil in place,the soil become ripe for erosion.It dries and cracks under the sun's heat.Furthermore,rainfall washes remaining nutrients into rivers.As the result,the soil might be completely stripped of essential nutrients and the land will be useless.
Flooding is a quite serious consequence of deforestation.Clearing the forest dramatically increases the surface run-off from rainfall,mainly because a greater proportion of the rain reaches the ground due to a lack of vegetation which would suck up the excess rainfall.In areas where there is little vegetation will cause the flood.
Deforestation will also destroy the habitat of the rainforest in Malaysia and lead to the problem of animal extinction.Animals are forced to move to another place to survive.They will fight among each other and of course,the weakest will be eliminated.It is quite often to see some rare animals running over the streets looking for food in Malaysia big cities nowadays.You can easily find a squirrel looking for food in the garbages.Many animals will extinct because of this bad conditions.
My blog buddy was steve :-)
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