Nov 8, 2009Comments

APEC: Asia-Pacific most affected by climate change

Categories: Environment Tags: APEC

SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific region has become the largest victim of climate change as roughly 70 percent of the natural disasters, believed to be caused by global warming, struck this region, a regional forum report said Sunday.

Climate change is believed to contribute to the increasing number of natural disasters, with developing nations experiencing the most adverse effects, the Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) said in a report released here at the opening of the forum’s annual Leaders’ Meetings. But it did not give the timeframe in which it conducted the research.

Source: China Daily

APEC leaders are widely expected to call for further cuts in energy consumption amongst themselves at this year’s summit. In 2007, APEC leaders proposed a regional goal to reduce energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030. The Secretariat said APEC economies account for approximately 60 percent of the world energy consumption, which is expected to continue to rise as the region becomes increasingly industrialized and more people move from the countryside to cities.

A related priority should be to get the Indonesians to cut down on their forrest burning. The failure of the Indonesians has the most direct and immediate impact to region. While Indonesia has laws to protect forests and limit agricultural burning, they are poorly enforced. Forest management in the country has long been plagued by corruption and lack of political commitment. Underpaid government officials combined with the prevalence of disreputable businessmen and shifty politicians, has traditionally meant that logging bans go unenforced, trafficking in endangered species is overlooked, environmental regulations are ignored, parks are used as timber farms, and fines and prison sentences never come to pass.

Even if Indonesia agrees to cut down on energy consumption, will there be less burnings? I think not. Unless much more wealth trickles down to the rural folks, the government will not be able to stop the hungry from doing what it takes to feed their families. Even if it means destroying the earth.

Mar 23, 2009Comments

Inuka’s Sacrifice

Categories: Activism, Environment Tags: polar bear

Potentially fatal to the polar bear, global warming has already left its mark on the species with smaller, less robust bears that are increasingly showing cannibalistic tendencies… The melting ice means not only shorter hunting seasons, but it also means the bears, who number some 20,000 to 25,000 worldwide, have to cross greater distances to reach their icy hunting grounds. This has led to a deterioration of the bears’ health, impacting their reproductive capacities and the cubs’ chances of survival, experts warned.

Source: AFP

This report reminded me of the plight of our 2 polar bears housed at the Singapore Zoo. The fact that Singapore’s tropical climate is totally unsuitable for polar bears and that they live in a small, barren, open-air enclosure means that Inuka and Sheba are subjected to living in a stressful environment. As reported by the Animal Concerns & Research Society (ACRES), Inuka and Sheba have been seen to display behavioural (abnormal behaviours, including stereotypies) and physical (loss of lean muscle mass and fur) signs of distress, as well as signs of heat stress. The zoo had said in 2006 that Inuka would be moved to a country with a temperate climate after his mother dies, following ACRES’ report that the bears were showing signs of distress.

Unfortunately, the zoo reversed its decision in May 2007, stating that its animal welfare and ethics committee had recommended that Inuka, the 17-year-old bear, remain at the Southeast Asian zoo because of the risks involved in moving it. It seemed a case of too late too little. The good thing though, is that the Singapore Zoo has decided not to import any Arctic animals in the future. Inuka has paid the sacrifice so that no more arctic animals need to suffer in tropical Singapore.

Although this comes very late, I applaud ACRES for its effort. Strategy-wise, it chose to conduct a study so as to have facts on hand to convince the zoo authority (compare this to the greenpeace protests we oft read about). How else could the zoo respond when faced with irrefutable facts? There is something for us to learn from this.

Mar 16, 2009Comments

“NO” to Whale Sharks in Sentosa

Categories: Environment

“We will only conserve what we love. We will only love what we understand. We will only understand what we are taught.”
- Baba Dioum, environmentalist

That’s the fundamental principle behind Georgia Aquarium’s decision to house Whale sharks. To understand these gentle creatures so that they can be better conserved. According to their website, the Georgia Aquarium is committed to advancing the cientific community’s understanding of whale sharks and growing public awareness of whale sharks as an ambassador species for sharks. By housing whale sharks, the Aquarium is able to “participate in ground-breaking scientific research and educate millions of people about the animals, both of which encourage and promote the conservation of the species.”

And what is Resorts World at Sentosa’s purpose of housing the sharks (apart from ‘entertaining’ visitors)? According to reports, it defended plans to include whale sharks in the oceanarium, saying “the threat the animals faced makes the role of aquariums in their conservation all the more crucial”. The Marine Life Park’s goal is to “help protect the species’ wild population from disappearing” and it has worked closely with marine experts to give the animals “top-class care”, it said.

So clearly, it seems like it is only ‘caring’ for the whales so that visitors can gawk at their magnificence. I don’t think Resorts World can understand the Whale Sharks. And without the love for these critters, conservation is furthest from their minds. So do your part – www.whalesharkpetition.com

Mar 14, 2009Comments

Against whale sharks in captivity

Categories: Activism, Environment Tags: petition, shark

We agree to keep whale sharks away from captivity.
Sign the petition.

We help ourselves. Don’t expect others to help

Tom Wright painted a bleak picture of Singapore’s property sector going forward at The Wall Street Journal. His article ended with the following:
“I’m yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel [for Singapore],” says Mr. Tan, the high-end broker.
We would expect people to continue to dig the dirt and tell it to [...]

Our skin isn’t as thick as it should be

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organised a seminar on March 4 to discuss Singapore’s political blogosphere. Tan Tarn How, Senior Research Fellow and Research Assistant Tan Simin presented their paper on trends observed in the blogosphere. As reported in the TOC, the researchers identified the following limitations:

The online-offline firewall, while somewhat alleviated by offline [...]

Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew – The answer to the African problem?

Recently, I followed a thread “Democracy and Economic Growth” which started in PoliticsForum.org. Apparently, members there often question the role of democracy in a developing nation. “During the wave of democratization in Africa during the 90s, many people had renewed hope for the continent, immediately equating newly established democracies to economic growth. Are these democracies [...]

Tell Singapore government: Ask them a question or give a suggestion

We informed people about the “Tell Singapore Government” subsite and have received some interesting reaction at some forums.
See: 3in1 Kopitiam, Sam’s Alfresco Coffee, Singapore Kopitiam, SgForums
Our responses to some of the comments are listed below. If we are not answering some other specific questions, that is because we do not know how.