If Geography was Greek... Part I

I admit, I am not a good regional geographer in the classical sense of Geography. I cannot tell you names of countries on a blank map. I am bad at reading maps and have no sense of direction. Even though I finally figured out Korea is really a peninsular attached to China, I am not really sure which part of Malaysia Negri Sembilan is. Yes, I am very much ashame of myself. What happened to the days in secondary school when we quizzed each other on the names of major and minor tectonic plates and continents before the exams? There was a time when I could even correctly identify all the states on the map of USA.

Thus, when I read this CNN report (CNN: Study: Geography Greek to young Americans, 2 May 2006) on a Geographic Literacy Study done by the National Geographic on 510 American youths aged 18-24 where "88 percent of those questioned could not find Afghanistan on a map", I realized, geez, I have no idea where Afghanistan is on the map either. It's amazing I could even spell its name without the aid of spellcheck!

How could I possibly graduate with a degree in Geography if I do not brush up on my Geography right? Therefore, it is with utmost urgency that I quickly inform myself as to the Geography of the Middle East and South Asia.

"The study, which surveyed 510 young Americans from December 17 to January 20, showed that 88 percent of those questioned could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia despite widespread coverage of the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 and the political rebirth of the country."

Do you know where Afghanistan is?



Afghanistan is between Pakistan and Iran, and south of the previous Soviet Union that has since become independent states such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. As you can see, it even shares a slight border with China! Looking at Pakistan, you should be able to guess India is nearby what with all that talk about the Pakistan-India Kashmir border. In fact, not too long ago, the Pakistan earthquake was right at this contested border.

"Two-thirds [of the respondents] didn't know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan."

"Forty-seven percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia."

Of course when I think about India I would think of Nepal and the below map would give a clear overview of South Asia or the Indian Subcontinent.


Click for enlarged image.

Really you know the "Middle East" isn't all that far off. If you continue west of Iran (refer to the first map; Iran is west of Afghanistan), Iraq is really just southwest of Iran!

"Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East."

This map (above) cannot be clearer as to the location of the war zone and how these countries were so easily embroiled in the same fight due to the proximity to one another. It is perhaps not that hard to imagine after looking at these maps that Saudi Arabia, the land of sheiks and all of the Arabian fantasies, is just south of iraq, land of mister saddam. Look, Kuwait and Iran is just round the corner. That really explained a lot.

"In the Middle East, 63 percent could not find Iraq or Saudi Arabia on a map, and 75 percent could not point out Iran or Israel. Forty-four percent couldn't find any one of those four countries."

It was especially interesting for me to look at this above map and find Yemen on the map. When we were kids, there were prepacked "exotic" stamps for collection and I always thought the Yemen stamps were a from an imaginary country, made to look exotic to cheat the money of us lil kids. Then I found out it was a real country what with my sister always travelling there. Indeed, it's actually just south of Saudi Arabia and not in Africa! Although, if you look carefully, Ethiopia is just across the Red Sea, below Sudan and Eygpt!

Did you know Eygpt is really in the North of the African continent and that Africa is really not a country, but a continent?

"Seventy-five percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East."

OK, I admit that despite reading a paper on Palestinian Merchant Market and writing in my exam as if I actually know that Palestine is not an actual political state in today's world but really a part of Israel, I cannot say I actually know where Israel is! Did you?



So how many of those countries could you locate prior to this crash course in Middle East Geography?

Now that you've attended Monkey's crash course in Geography of the middle east, try this CNN Geography Quiz and I can assure you that you will be able to get all the questions in the beginner quiz, possibly half the answers in the intermediate quiz and none at all in the advanced quiz! I should know because that's essentially how well I scored. Ah well, I guess it's back to the atlas!

Stay tuned for Part II for a crash course in US geography and more demythifying answers to the Geography Literacy study. Psst... You might need Part II if you weren't able to answer some of the questions in the CNN Quiz!

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Geography

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My First Rally

First time ralliers at East Coast on Labour Day.
Sorry for the bad rez, my cam is dying

Despite my exams, when Joe asked me if I wanted to go to a Workers Party Rally at middle of no where east coast yesterday evening at 7pm with her and mrs duck, I did not hesitate for too long.

Neither did I regret it afterwards.

See more photos from the Workers Party Rally for Joo Chiat on May 1 2006

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Singapore Elections

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How to protest in Singapore

Honestly, I was shocked.

And I was wondering how come we never see any protests like in Hong Kong when there are big IMF / WTO and the likes having their meetings here. So this is how....

But then as I read on the article and it quoted Wong Kan Seng saying that there are no "illegal gathering of more than 4 person" ... haha i just wanted to laugh my ass out loud because in Singapore we are so so so used to that! Remember the NKF-CPF Silent protest? It's just classic.


Overseas protestor needs to learn a thing or two from these 4 brave folks. this is the trend to all future protests in Singapore

Oh well those poor civil groups, i know they're make a big hoohaa about how there are no rights in singapore yada yada yada but you know i guess... i'm sort of glad. maybe because im a chicken bred by singapore but then its gonna be so chaotic if there were ritual suicides like the korean farmer (left; below photo) in Cancun Mexico. No need for such drama here my friends.


Caption: Korean farmer Lee Kyung-hae (L) shouts slogans as he sits atop a barricade, blocking access to the road to Cancun's hotel strip, which is hosting a World Trade Organization ministerial meeting, September 10, 2003. Lee later stabbed himself in the chest shortly afterwards and died of his wounds in hospital. A friend said his suicide was an 'act of sacrifice' to show his disgust at the WTO and its policies. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

The protesters in HK were only just recently released. One thing though, I actually know people in SB that goes all over the world to protest the WTO like Katie... *cough* lol but it's interesting to read this article and try to put ourselves in their shoes. I must say I do very very much support their cause but then I guess since being so used to the singapore laws, I'm not as outraged as they are about this. Think of that bear who campaigned for anti-fur causes during the the queen of england's visit to Singapore. At least she was creative.


The bear in question, literally.

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Activists Concerned over Singapore's "Caning" Threat
by Emad Mekay

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (IPS) - Concern is brewing among advocacy groups and civil society organisations that monitor the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, a staple of protests during the annual meetings of the two organisations, after Singapore threatened a crackdown on some of their activities.

A number of international civil society groups are drafting a letter to the government of Singapore to dissuade the country from vows that its chief security official made against their activities.

Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng had reportedly said that certain civil society actions may "attract severe punishment, including caning and imprisonment" in this southeast Asian country where a political gathering of more than four people requires a security permit.

Activists interpreted this as a more or less veiled threat towards civil society organisations and wrote a letter to be sent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, possibly later this week, asking him to roll back the warning and allow full access to the groups during the Sept. 19-20 meetings.

"Many groups are concerned about these threats and intimidations, but are determined not to let such threats undermine actions being planned," said Rukshan Fernando of the Bangkok-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in an email message to IPS.

The 184-member IMF and the World Bank will hold their annual meeting amid what is expected to be highly tight security in the wealthy city-state, where public demonstrations are banned and the last police licence for a demonstration in Singapore was issued in the late 1980s.

The annual meetings, held outside of Washington D.C. once every three years, are the largest and most comprehensive gathering of global financial representatives in the world. They are expected to draw about 16,000 visitors this year.

Organisers in Singapore, a country of 4.5 million people, expect some 300 to 500 non-governmental organisations to be accredited by the IMF and World Bank for the meeting.

Meetings for international financial and trade institutions, which often discuss the course of global economic development and plan the underpinning policy strategies, have attracted heated activities from advocacy groups along with street protests, some of them marred by violence.

Around 30,000 demonstrators turned up for the 1999 World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Seattle in the United States, and more than 20,000 protested against the Bank and Fund in Washington the following year. However, fewer numbers have protested since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Some critics have pointed out that these institutions have been holding their meetings in tightly controlled countries, including the last IMF/World Bank meeting outside Washington, held in Dubai. In 2001, the WTO organised its ministerial conference in Doha, the capital of Qatar, ruled by an authoritarian regime with close military ties to the United States.

Singapore, however, where people are penalised for failing to flush a public lavatory, for instance, had to accept a request by the IMF and World Bank to allow demonstrations during the meeting in order to be able to host the gathering, which usually attracts finance, trade ministers and central bank governors from around the globe.

But activists say that if implemented, the threats from Singapore to place restrictions on the activities of civil society groups could in fact impede their engagement during the meetings on strategic issues such as trade, aid, debt and sustainable development.

"Thus, we would like to highlight the importance of spontaneous and unrestricted civil society actions before, during and after the WB-IMF meeting," the groups said in their draft letter to the Singapore government.

Dozens of organisations have endorsed the letter so far. These include Focus on the Global South, the Halifax Initiative Coalition in Canada, the Think Centre, and Jubilee South.

Singapore says that the IMF and World Bank have an 'established process' to engage these civil society groups, including having them take part in activities throughout the annual meetings.

The groups said they expect that even the regulated processes, agreed upon by the IMF and the World Bank with the government of Singapore, will likely follow previous patterns where participation has been selective and exclusive, and has provided limited opportunities for the expression of civil society voices.

But a spokesperson for the IMF told IPS that the security issue for the meeting is under discussion with the government of Singapore and said his institution will press for the full participation of civil society groups.

"The bottom line is that we want to have an inclusive meeting, with active and open NGO participation. That's the whole plan," said William Murray of the IMF. "I am not aware of any desire by anybody to cane anybody. This is a hypothetical situation and frankly security is an issue of ongoing discussions."

Civil society groups have long criticised the IMF and the World Bank, both dominated by industrialised nations, for placing the interests of international corporations, the rich and local elites before the middle classes and the poor around the world.

Another point of alarm for civil society groups were statements by the government that it would only allow peaceful protests by foreign organisations - waiving the rules that normally apply in Singapore û and that local groups will not be able to participate

The activists said that peaceful protests are universal rights that should be extended "to all people, including Singaporean people and organisations."

Earlier in January, the Consumers Association of Penang and Friends of the Earth Malaysia called for a boycott of Singapore Airlines, the national carrier, to protest the warning issued by the Singapore government that it is prepared to "cane" or imprison protesters.

"Imposing restrictions on demonstrations by civil society to express their outrage at the brutal policies of the IMF and World Bank that impoverish societies and destroy the environment, is indeed a restriction on the freedom of expression and the right to dissent against unjust policies", said Mohd Idris, who heads the two groups.

Activists fear that Singapore's vow to place restrictions on civil society groups is likely to be translated into unwarranted screening of participants in the events and anyone who enters Singapore during that period.

The Singapore government has been keen to use the opportunity to promote tourism and showcase the country as a leading financial centre.

During the last annual meetings in Washington, it set up a colourful booth to advertise its housing in 2006. It has already launched a website in anticipation of the event that touts the country's glittering skyscrapers and thriving port. Singapore says it has also prepared a visual arts extravaganza that will take place for the first time in Southeast Asia. (END/2006)

Source: TargetWTO

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McGovern kena governed

Recently I've been quoting this one guy from the TWN article about food security alot. I even used it in my exam. Savage said it's a good quote and I agree.

"Food security in private hands is no security at all!"
- Senator McGovern of the US Senate [TWN]

Today while I was reading Wonkette, I saw this shocking photo and caption.


Jim McGovern (D-MA)* becomes the first congressman arrested this year for reasons other than corruption. (AP)

ARGH! so I have been quoting a crime-doer?

Well apparently not! 4 US congressmen were protesting outside the Sudanese embassy in the US for them to stop the genocide in Sudan. They were prepared to be arrested by the Secret Service and one of them even sent out a press release beforehand saying they will be arrested! Besides, they were booked at the police station then released with $50 fines. O_O" Don't even need to call people to bail them out! I guess this is the good part about being lawmakers instead of lawbreakers.

OK, this only just totally increased my admiration for this man. Not only does he stand strong against food corporatization but he also goes about in protests just like college kids. I mean this is really amazing because they put themselves out there to make a statement without care of being arrested or tarnishing their reputation. Instead they are using their standing to make a bigger and louder statement.

On top of that, got to really thank Wonkette for bringing the genocide in Sudan to this ulu monkey's attention since the elections started, all war crime and life has apparently stopped in this world.

Besides, even if it didn't, I doubt CNA will ever report about these things. *sigh*

* (D-MA) = Democrat-Massachusset

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Local Wildlife Immortalized

Did you know that many of our natural heritage are featured in our currency?

Before the whole president series, our dollar bills were MUCH MUCH more interesting. Just the other day such a bill came to my hands and I had to look at it for very long because I had not seen something like that for at least 15 years!


Check out the fish in its beak! Looks almost like a mudskipper! But interestingly this is an urban bird as seen regularly in NUS and St Andrews Cathedral!
This blog does not support scanning of currencies but this is... for educational purposes!!! Photoshop actually warns of this too. Interesting.

It was a red $10 bill with a blue kingfisher on it! A colorful dollar note! How interesting! The collared kingfisher looks particularly vivid on it. It was a beautiful piece of currency unlike our plastic feature right now.


This blog does not support scanning of currencies but this is... for educational purposes!!!

Of course many of us know about the tembusu on the green $5 bill. I myself have used it everytime I guide on Ubin when we introduce Fagraea fragrans to the participants. Even Prof Leo Tan mentioned it recently in his speech at the HSBC NYAA award and opening of the heritage tree register! Yes that tree on the $5 note is most probably a heritage tree.

On an aside, if you visit Changi, you will see many signboards along the road and those identify the magnifique heritage trees that was part of a large dipterocarp forest in Changi!

So I did a little search and found out there are more of such wildlife dollar notes from Singapore! In fact, theres a website in the US that actually list all the "animal coins" in the world. I guess there are lots of people out there who like animals on their greens.

Here's more animal money:

Sea Eagle, Singapore 10 dollars
Oriental Darter, Singapore 5 cts
Rabbit, Singapore 10 dollars
Rat, Singapore 1984 50 singold
Sumatran Tiger, Singapore 10 dollars
Lion, Singapore 1 dollar
Boar, Singapore 10 dollars
Yellow Seahorse, Singapore 10 cts
Swordfish, Singapore 20 cts
Lion Fish, Singapore 50 cts
Pomfret, Singapore 5 cts

I mean this is just incredible! The 10 dollar note seems to have a freaking zoo parade past it in the history of Singapore currency. I don't know how real this list is because I sure as hell has never seen these before. Rest assured, I will hunt them out. Maybe the Mint will give me a better clue. Of course these are only the ones that the website has. Maybe there are more!

I think a trip to the Singapore Mint Coin Gallery is a must. I went to their website but I'm not sure if it's my browser blocking the scripts or what but I could not see the content. Anyways, the good news is, I can now verify that there was most likely rabbit and rats on the curency because it seems part of the zodiac sign and here's one with the rooster (my year!) :)


Picture taken from Visit Singapore

Check out the Mint's website and read about the currency evolution of Singapore. It claims to have all the currency since 1819 listed on the website!

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Natural Heritage

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Why eat local?

Everyday Worstedwitch throws me a tidbit for my greening soul.

An abstract from her post "Everybody's Doin' the Localmotion":

"'Eat local' is a mantra I’ll never tire of pimpin’ for a myriad reasons, the principal of which is the concept of “food miles,” a measure of the distance your food travels to get from the farm to your plate. (The minimum distance that North American produce typically travels is 1,500 miles. Grapes can clock 2,143 miles to get from vineyards in California to markets in Chicago.) Because of the proportional increase in oil consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, the higher the mileage on your food’s odometer, the greater its (and by extension, your) negative impact on the environment. Factor in the fuel needed to process, package, and preserve your food, and the plot thickens like molten molasses in a steel vat. Blame industrialization, world travel, and increasingly sophisticated taste buds. Or finger cheap overseas labor costs. However we got into this mess, the fact is that mounting food miles, in the face of a global peak-oil crisis, is an issue we ALL need to address."

Now all I need to do is translate that to Singapore, SEA terms. I really want to get the damn eat local thing off. Is that possible in import-dependent Singapore? If even the government can't solve this problem, can I?

So far, only 2 person has applauded by inclination towards sustainable agriculture and food subsistency in Singapore. 1) Robert, the trainer at the NEA workshop who is angmoh and works for an NGO in Thailand - a food exporter. 2) Savage, but in a purely academic level only. Everybody else is pure skeptical.

This is so depressing. The other day when I told this fellow YEE about why I decided to drop the farm project, she was all indignant and said "hey Im interested in food too"...

RIGHT... then why is her group doing recycling? The most expounded on problem in SIngapore yet never moving ahead at all. Come on people, diversification is needed here. Why keep harping on something and in term making Singaporeans feel that there is no problem but recycling problem in this urban island. The more we need to show people what is out there.

Yes the extreme end of the spectrum is nature conservation but that's not all there is to it! What about consumerism? When we are not only conspicuous consumers but also consumers that seem to be left without a choice?

Of course, joining a Community-Supported Agriculture program in your neighborhood is one of the best ways to get your hands on local fruits and veggies. Another favorite resource of mine is LocalHarvest.org, which helps you locate restaurants, farmers’ markets, CSAs, grocery/co-ops that offer sustainably grown food in your area.

What are the chances of me actually starting any of those in Singapore? Perhaps the only way about this is to start a consumer guide at the very least. But, again, I cannot do this alone! How do I get people interested in it to do with me? I must say though, my parents are more supportive of the farming thing than the greenies I know. I think I'm disappointing them by not pursueing this.

Actually, one of the things holding me back is that I did not want to start a project and then pull out of it when I leave the country. The woes of monkeys these days, our primate ancestors surely would not be able to imagine. I wonder if dear Mitochondrial Eve had these concerns when she left Africa for greener pastures. Alas.

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Eat Local

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For the unhealthy yuppie

The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today: A Yuppie's Guide to Hippie Food, Vol. 1 by Greg Hottinger

This is a definitely useful book for all who wants to know how to eat healthy. If you want to know how to effectively change your diet and perhaps to be convinced on why you need a dietary change, heres the book.

Read the abstract here.

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Global Food Miles

The WorstedWitch wrote:

Most of us know that buying local is one of the linchpins of sustainable living, not only because of the tremendous amounts of fossil fuel it takes to transport food vast distances, but also because of the pollution fuel combustion releases into the environment. So why import what we already have?

Gawd, if only I could write as well as her during my Sustainable Agriculture paper where I was struggling to defend the importance of reducing food miles.

So have you been buying local?

The worstedwitch asked about making her own soy milk at home and I was happy to remember that Erkie makes her own soy milk and tofu at home so I did a few search online and sent worstedwitch the links. Yes, my sister is a bigger more hardcore dedicated defender of the environmental lifestyle than me. lol.

vs

At least I can say I never bought Silk Soy and have always gone for Organic Valley coz of the cute lil cows and the label that touts "Family of Farms - 752 farms strong!" If nothing more, that is a statement to me about its commitment to small farms. In itself, it testify to reduced importation, anti factory farming and supporting the local economy. Looking at the website, Organic Valley is a co-op and that again speaks well for itself but hey NTUC is a blardy co-op too. *faints* Nothing is perfect in this world. Of course all this talk of milk is in the US and I would only be able to do the same if I can find a diary farm in singapore that produces organic milk. HAH! One thing though, Organic Valley is cow milk while Silk Soy is well soy milk. I think I still prefer Soya Bean Milk (which is different because I think Soya Bean milk is sweeter)

Lishuang told me the other day that essentially they put so much hormones in the cows that the milk produces pus and beyond a certain high level, they would reject the milk but then if the limit is 50 and the milk has 49, it is still released to the market and we are drinking pus. Argh. Hadn't anyone heard of bioaccumulation?

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Aside: More book reads from Organic Valley eStore. I'm collecting a list of reads to consider for buying with my $300 book voucher. Worsted Witch also has a list of recommended reads.

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Monkey got mail

Yesterday I receive a letter with a SMU envelope. It was my invite to Margaret Chan's launch of her new book - Ritual is Theatre, Theatre is Ritual: Tang-ki: Spirit Medium Worship!



Read more about it here.

You can probably tell this is one of my heritage-taoism lobang (meaning "hole", referring to a loophole in the system which arose in an opportunity for the loopy monkey). In some ways I'm really glad I did the movie screening with heritage society because that gave opportunity for me to meet with 'old' friends (like chinatownboy) and new ones!

So who's going to the launch on Wednesday? Well, the people I know were on the invite list was duck (coz i asked him), chinatownboy, chen my TA, otterman, and timothy pwee, the guy who wrote the review. Should be fun, I should be seeing some familiar faces. That should make my day, the day after my exam finish :D

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Boon Lay on TV

Just as Channel U is tracking down the issue of tearing down the old flats at Boon Lay, they interviewed this old couple that moved from a kampong in Tuas.

It was then I felt really nostalgic and poignant because I recall that essentially most of the people living in Boon Lay all came from the old villages and kampongs around Jurong and Tuas. I did find out a bit about Jurong when I was supposed to embark on the Jurong Community Trail and this is bringing back all the memories.

The couple said that their flat in Boon Lay was the first flat that they had since moving out of Tuas Village. Now, getting to move would be the first time in probably 30 years and they were really exciting.

Personally I can understand how exciting it is to move out of that smelly dingy place (it is) since the upkeep is really bad. How is it then that Chinatownboy can stay in Chinatown all his life but here we are in Boon Lay, struggling to stay put without being shuffled around? Ok, he did move from various place but still in Chinatown. That's kinda hard in Boon Lay when we are being taken over by condominiums and shuffled to Jurong Industrial Area. I guess it's exciting for the old ones to move because unlike in Chinatown where they can see all the excitement and change downtown, life here can be rather stale.

Maybe they should just let us go back to farming. It would definitely be more exciting.

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This day in history

Well not quite today but then on 17 September 2005, I took a photo of Clifford Pier entitled "a piece of history in 2005". Not quite a year later, Clifford Pier is closed and almost gone. They are going to redeveloped it into some recreational area. I really hope they do a good job of it.


Photo by Monkey, 2005

*cry*

Some flats in Boon Lay have been boarded up and ready to be knock down. My xiaoyi's house is also going to be torn down. It was even all over channel u. Those flats in Boon Lay? It's been in the family for a really long time. My dad's sister used to live there and I actually bunked there for a year! It's some sweet memories.

I've gotten so scared of seeing boarded up houses. When I was young, a whole neighborhood of flats were TNT-ed and now it's just a really big piece of open land. Why? Well keep it that way before they build another condominium here. Our flat was actually scheduled to be torn down but for some reason they kept us around, probably for the unique architecture. Thank the lord for that. Still, better go take photos soon.

Before everything is gone. It's so depressing.

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Yes I'm so free blogging about clifford pier because ive FINALLY finished the NHB stuff. Going to mug like theres no tomorrow now. Ooo on another note, I figured out what I'm going to wear on Saturday already - something suitable for receiving prize, climbing heritage trees and taking exam. Wahahaha

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We flood

Makes you wonder how is it that we spend so much money on flood control in singapore but we still flood. it's definitely not from a lack of trying. A lot of time we smiply are not able to predict the worst and build to handle the worst.

Rain causes flash floods; short bursts of rain expected till end May
By Rita Zahara, Channel NewsAsia
14 April 2006

Rain caused flash floods in several areas of Singapore on Friday, especially in the eastern parts.

Police said they received many calls about flooding in low-lying areas in Chai Chee, Bedok Reservoir and the PIE towards Changi.

The Met Services advised the public to exercise caution, saying the highest rainfall of 77.6 millimetres was recorded over eastern Singapore from 1.30pm to 4pm.

The weathermen said Friday's rainfall was not unusual during this inter-monsoon period when rain can fall in intense bursts over short periods of time.

The inter-monsoon period usually lasts till the end of May. - CNA/ir

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Wet Noses and Soft Bellies do it for me

Pangolin in Singapore. Photo from Wildlife Singapore.

Despite Leong "googly eyes" Wai's insistence that big googly eyes sells conservation fundraisers, personally, I think wet lil wet pink noses and soft bellies do it for me!

I never though Pangolin were exactly... cute. But having seen these photos on Wildlife Singapore, who could resist though soft lil bellies that just wanna make you give them a nice belly rub? rubba rubba rubba *think angel flopping over*


Photo from Wildlife Singapore

And look at those pink lil wet nose. I can just imagine it sniffing around oh-so-cute! Alright, eyes are quite cute too and it sure as hell doesn't need to be big or googly like a tarsier who looks like it has more eyes than brain! :P

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Recycling Saga Part Deux

The following was lifted off my comments to Otterman who actually still reads my blog and blogged about my recycling saga. I did not blog about the followup with NEA and Colex because I actually started a new lil "green" journal in a red notebook (lol) to record my feedbacking and projects. :)
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Otterman wrote:

Interesting thought, and worth writing in about - cutredtape.gov.sg would suffice.

One hopes the residents are more adaptable than that though. Still with Recycling Monkey on their case, the new contractor will find themselves accountable to residents as well as the NEA.

Monkey replies:

yah cept that i am afriad they (nea and the new contractor) will be put off by me.

there is actually a part 2 to the saga. NEA who got the case from the call centre called me back and the contractor got the heat from NEA and also called me back.

conclusion is...
1) they are new and need time to settle down which i told them is fine by me
2) i feedbacked that they should try some other ways to inform people of changes other than just putting the date on the plastic bag but the impression i get is not very possible
3) While NEA officer who called back assured me that they most probably will continue with the same schedule but Colex guy said not possible at all. Sigh.

i just think that there is not enough communications between the contractor and the residents other than a plastic bag

the person in charge at the contractors also got an admission from the workers that this week, when they collected from my estate, they did not leave a plastic bag as they should have.

i'm monitoring this over the next month but i hope no more need for phone trails... expensive for my handphone bill!!!

Besides I don't want them to get put off by me, instead I hope to have a good and close relationship with them in the future. Haha don't want to be marked as the annoying unit. they might not come collect my recyclables next time!

i sincerely hope that it would work out for the best and yeah maybe im thinking worst case scenario about residents being unadaptable. :)

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Recycling Transition

Having not much sleep last night, I am driven by adrenaline and feeling industrious. Today was collection day for my estate under the national recycling program. However, no plastic bags were distributed and neither were the recyclables collected.

As such, I began my usual phone call to Alvatar who has been our contractor for the last year. However, I was informed that the estate's contract has been taken over by Colex. They gave me the NEA call center hotline to make my enquiry.

Calling NEA's call center was pretty much useless since they couldn't give me any answers so I demanded for NEA's recycling department's phone number. A receptionist machik picked up the phone who then told me to call a Mr Chong. Mr Chong then directed me to a Mr Alvin Tan, in charge of the Jurong area.

Mr Tan then informed me that Colex began their contract on 1 April and gave me Colex's number. Colex informed me that because they took over from Alvatar, dates will be changed and collection schemes different, etc. So for the last few years, it has always been alternate wednesdays and years of habit forming goes down the drain overnight. Then I accepted the fact they will call me back and let me know when our recyclables will be collected as I felt helpless in knowing nothing will come out of venting my anger at the receptionist on the phone.

Thinking back, I really should have feedback to Mr Tan that in an estate with mostly old people in charge of taking out the recyclables for collection, a change of contractors and a total overhaul of dates for collection will result in the lost of many faithful recyclers. Many would not have made a million phone call like me but simply assume that the program has stopped or the contractor being useless and gave up. That's what my dad immediately assumed anyways. This is undermining the effectiveness of the program and we are back to square one. No notice was sent out in advance to advise of the change. In fact, 5 days after the changeover of contractors and STILL they are NOT aware of their new collection schedule. This is extremely ineffective.

No plastic bags. No notices. Nobody coming to collect the bags of recyclables people put out early in the day. What would residents think but the worst?

Now, if a new date was set, how many would actually notice. Many has already been so used to the alternate wednesdays system that nobody actually look at the dates on the bags. In fact, Alvatar often gave bags with the incorrect date reflected. Sometimes we use outdated bags to hold the extra recyclables. All of these can only be done because there is a consistent system in place.

All that of course is now down the drain.

How is NEA to build up a recycling culture in our country when it doesn't create the infrastructure or prepare for even something as important as a smooth transition between contractors? Humans are but creatures of habit. That is the first rule that the contractors and NEA has to understand and work to their advantage. Sadly, this was not done. If every 2 years there is a change of contractor with similar ineffective transition, then a consistent recycling habit and performance in Singapore's heartland will never been achieved!

Read full article here

Qing Ming Adventures Part I

Slept at 2am after completing my final essay of the semester *phew* and woke up at 6.30am to head out for Qing Ming "grave sweeping". Today is the actual day of Qing Ming.

Since I'm such a klutz, I thought that today we were going to my maternal grandparents' grave. Instead, we went for my paternal grandparents side at Brights Hill and Bukit Timah's Bee Loh See. The systemization and commercialization of Qing Ming sickened me. At Bright Hill, we didn't have to bring anything, went to an aircon room, look at a piece of paper on the wall and paid out respect. All the food was prepared. Even burning of offers was done in a systematic way where a relay is formed from the people giving the offerings to the bangladeshi workers who then throws it in a swift motion straight into the big burning pit that is the end of your offering.

Nothing personal about the whole process at all. It was depressing. It totally undermines the entire purpose and meaning of Qing Ming. This corruption of our tradition with convenience speaks only of the generation's obligation to do something they do not necessary enjoy.

On the other hand, my maternal grandparents are at the crematorium in Mount Vernon where you are allowed to pay your respects and offer food and incense right in front of the urn-stone (since it's not exactly a tombstone). All of us chip in, chit chat, then proceed downstairs to burn the offerings together. After that we split the food and buy 4D of our grandparents "numbers" over breakfast. THAT is the true modern interpretation of Qing Ming. We do not need to be at a cemetery but the spirit lives on.

Photos to follow with Part II on April 16 when we head down to Mount Vernon for our second Qing Ming! Yay!

Read full article here

10 ways to change the world

"Your world. Your verdict: the small but beautiful ways that can help the fight to save the planet"
By Terry Kirby and Lucy Phillips
Published: 03 April 2006
The Independent Online Edition

PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE

Fit new buildings with solar panels or wind turbines
* PRO: Would reduce reliance on fossil fuels and provide renewable source of energy. Solar panels are benign and getting better at converting sunlight into electrical power.
* Against: Wind turbines would pose planning problems as well raising concerns over health and safety. Larger turbines already opposed on grounds of unsightliness and interference to birds. Solar and wind power may not be substitute for fossil fuels.

Label products according to their effect on climate:
* Pro: Would raise awareness among consumers about environmental impact of products. Could lead to companies competing in terms of being environmentally friendly.
* Against: Difficult to judge product's true impact on environment.

Force passengers to pay environmental cost of flying:
* Pro: Would have an impact on one of biggest sources of carbon dioxide emissions.
* Against: True environmental cost of flying difficult to assess and would be difficult to reach a consensus.

Public transport should be made cheaper:
* Pro: Minimises pollution in urban areas.
* Against: Trains are infrequent in certain areas.

Make energy- efficient light bulbs compulsory:
* Pro: Compact florescent light bulbs use up to 67 per cent less energy than traditional bulbs, and last 10 times longer. Incandescent bulbs waste 90 per cent of their energy as heat.
* Against: Currently CFLs cost between £5 and £8 each, compared with less than £1 for an ordinary incandescent bulb

Encourage people to work from home:
* Pro: Companies could reduce road congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, and help revive rural communities.
* Against: Companies would have to stump up to install computers and home offices for workers. Health and safety standards could be hard to enforce, and employees used to might find home-working an isolating experience.

Use the law to encourage recycling:
* Pro: Britain produces some 28.2 tonnes of household waste every year. Of this 87 per cent is incinerated or dumped in landfills, yet most household waste is suitable for either composting or recycling.
* Against: Collecting, sorting and recycling waste not cheap - councils with high recycling rates spend up to three times as much on waste collection as other local authorities.

Ban 4x4 cars from cities (SUV, MPV, etc.)
* Pro: Would reduce harmful emissions and would make roads safer for other motorists and pedestrians.
* Against: Motorists are still buying them - 187,000 4x4s were sold in Britain last year.

Reduce packaging on products
* Pros: Would drastically reduce the amount of waste we produce.
* Against: Recyclable wrapping can be more expensive, with costs passed on to buyers.

Ban patio heaters
* Pro: There are 750,000 in Britain producing 380,000 tons of greenhouse gases every year.
* Against: Ban would be difficult to police.

Read full article here

Fort Canning trees spared with new tunnelling method

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 29 March 2006 1732 hrs
By Sharon See, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : A new 350-metre long tunnel is being built right under Fort Canning Park.

The tunnel, set to be completed at the end of the year, will allow traffic travelling from Stamford Road to bypass two traffic junctions to get to Penang Road.

The Land Transport Authority says it is using a special mining method for the first time in Singapore.

With this method, which costs an additional S$2 million, the park will not be destroyed.

The traditional method of building tunnels includes digging up the entire area before covering it up again later.

This new method has helped to preserve 35 trees in the area, including a rare 50-year-old terap tree.

Said Choo Eng Geok, assistant manager (road construction), Road Development and Management Sub-Division, LTA, "We have actually one 50-year-old iconic tree which especially symbolises Fort Canning Park. And this is one of the methods that we can actually save the tree because the tunnel is very close to the tree." - CNA /ct

---
Monkey says:
I wonder how much jofen has a hand in this but this is really really good news! :)

Read full article here

Lousy Louse-y Bugs

Anybody care to help identify these bugs that the whole of pulau hantu is infested with? Goes to show, a hammock when camping in tropical environment is indispensible!

More photos from linkan

Read full article here

Bad Bat

Because duk keeps asking for it, here's the dead bat I talked about...



somebody identify it please?

Update: Duk says this is Malaysian fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis), not uncommon in Singapore. According to ecologyasia, this is also known as the Lesser Dog-faced Fruit Bat.

Read full article here

Revisiting Nepal

I'm writing a report on Government Involvement in Tourism Development: A case study of Nepal. While surfing on google earth (it does feel like i'm riding the waves of earths rotation), it feels almost like I'm back in Nepal. You know I do miss it quite a bit.



When people say Kathmandu lies in a valley, it's really hard to imagine it really looks quite incredible from space.

Read full article here

Damn Monkey Wrenchers

Monkey wrenchers be damn. I keep coming acoss one too many monkeywrenches today.

First I was at co-op when I came across the classic book the Monkey Wrench Gang. In fact, they are making it into a movie due to be out in 2007. That was when I first heard of the monkeywrench. I mean how could I not know what a monkey wrench is right? Could it ever be more relevant to me, the monkey?

Then a monkeywrench was thrown at me by yuene who not so discreetly winked at me when she used the term monkeywrench. Oh ha ha. 2 mentions in one day. Is that a sign?

XR who was with me and sharon today who puzzledly asked what monkeywrench is but I kept silent because I was then still struggling very hard to remember what it is! Embarrassing as that is, I had my memory refreshed by wikipedia.

For those uninitiated, the monkey wrench gang is the 70s equivalent of the ELF - Earth Liberation Front - a constant source of contention between me and W because there is no assuring him that I am no eco-terrorist.

The Monkey Wrench Gang was a novel by Edward Abbey about a group of people who goes and sabotage ecologically damaging development for the sake of the environment, otherwise known as eco-tage or eco-terrorism.

Now it's usually used to refer to actions that sabotages to the Establishment for nature or a good cause. Well yuene... I'm not very sure if unwed mother counts as being ecological but alright it is a good cause so we'll narrowly accept your answer. ding ding ding!

Honestly, I'm not a violent person. Call me chicken but having been stifled by the "peaceful" environment of Singapore, being involved in protests and marches scares me. My Thai teacher, an associate professor no less, very confidently told the whole class that she was actually going to fly back to Thailand to join in the protest against the prime minister a few weeks back but her mother stopped her. Gosh, I mean this is probably outrageous for Singapore standards. This is a woman probably in her 40s! Even Prof Savage, the upholder of all things proper and civilised, very gleefully tells us of their exploits in NUS in the 70s. God forbid if an NUS students be caught dead doing that these days. Wearing black in silent protest of the school fee hike is as daring as they come for our generation. Whatever of the young?

So, here I am, stifled, kia-si and the last thing somebody would describe as being extremist. But noooo, my future husband thinks I'm some environmental extremist who wants to join ELF just because I raved about supporting sustainable agriculture and hang out with the progressive types in Santa Barbara. Yeah, I won't tell your mama I'm a hippie... because I'm not!!!! Do I have to be a capitalist or a conformer of societally acceptable norms in order not to be a hippie? I am sorry but all it took to trigger the hippie association was the idea of communal kitchens. Because apparently that sounds too airy fairy to W and that means they are hippies disguised as egalitarian elites. bleh.

Whatever it is, I did concur with him but I definitely did not like being accused of being a hippie because I do aspire that lifestyle, TO SOME EXTENT. Everybody I was with was a supporter of that lifestyle but gosh, some drive, some even like speeding. So drum circles and swimming in lakes are hippie behavior. Does that mean I have to deprive myself of something I enjoy just not to be associated with hippies? And all this time, they're just afriad I'll end up smoking pot and leaving out of a trailer or on a 1000-yearsold redwood tree.

Why can't people have more faith in my kiasi-ness (read: cowardry). No amount of pretending to be a monkey would make me a monkey wrencher. I'm born chicken and will always be chicken!

Read full article here

Monkey Speak

Yesterday, a certain botak lao lang from KR surprised me with an unexpected msn message. The beast is now an entrepreneuring editor of uberture and asked if i wouldl like to write a column on environmental issues with peanuts for renumeration. Hesistant at first, the "captain planet" in me is now raring to go!

Came up with some ideas for articles on the way home today:

"Monkey Business"
About feeding monkeys in nature reserves, the idea of monkey reserves on an offshore island and other monkey business.

"Sex in the City"
About endangered animals, fragmentation of forest habitats, cities encroaching on forests, primary forests in singapore (botanic gardens, bt timah, dipterocaps in changi)

"Foreign Talents"
About releasing animals in the wild, and problem of invasive exotic species

"Pink Dolphins"
ACRES and sentosa pink dolphins, pink dolphins sighting off southern islands, marine life, reclamation, shipping line, removal of coral reefs, dugongs and other large marine mammals etc.

"A Straw Story"
The problems of straws, why do people insist on using straws, marine trash, use less plastics, etc.

"Swamp Thing"
role of mangroves, mandai, sungei buloh, places in singapore with swampy past, etc.

"Earth Day 2006"
April 22 earth day, origin, oil spills, celebrations worldwide and locally

"A little bird told me"
Tidbit stories about birds in singapore - koel/crow, kingfishers, mynas, strawheaded bulbul, jungle fowl, hornbill, plovers, heron, cattle egrets, barn owl, brahminy kite, himalayan griffon vulture

Wow that's enough for a whole year I think. lol. The ezine is fortnightly but mine may be a monthly column. Even still this is enough for about 4-5 months of fortnightly writings.

Read full article here

St Andrew Kingfishers

Collared Kingfisher of St Andrews Cathedral

No, thats not the species. I'm talking about the pair of Kingfishers I spotted at St Andrew Cathedral. In fact, after observing them over 3 weeks, I can safely say that they have made that tree, and that particular perch, home.

They are always there, always in the same position, with one on a higher branch and one on a lower one.

Well of course occasionally they fly away to other trees when they spy an annoying monkey sneaking not so discreetly up at them with a metal box.


NB: This is not the favourite branch I talked about. They resettled elsewhere coz of stalking monkey and falling rain.

Read full article here

Pai Ti Gong

Read: Worshipping the heavenly kingdom / emperor



On the 9th day of the Lunar New Year, it is the day to worship the heavenly kingdom and to pay tribute to the heavenly emperor. Preparations usually begins on the night of the 8th day for my family with loads of activity and furniture rearranging in the house. At 11pm on the 8th day, the tributes are set out on a table in front of the altar, facing the window (since the sky represents the heavens). The offerings of fruits and dried stuff usually has an intricate paper-cutting forming a word (I think it means longevity?) is placed on top of each and every offering. However, this year, due to death in the family, we did not place any paper-cuttings. *whisper: in fact we're not supposed to worship at all!*

At midnight, the first minutes of the 9th day, incense is offered and we troop off downstairs to burn the "paper money" and other gold and silver made from paper to the heavens.



Usually there is also a pair of sugarcane that we tie to the window as pictured and as we go downstairs to burn the paper offerings, my dad will cut off the top end of the sugarcane and burn it as well.

This year, the sugarcane was black! My dad explained that this is the species that our hokkien ancestors originally grow in the fujian province.

While burning the sugarcane, I asked my mom the significance of offering the sugarcane. Previously I've only heard of banana leaf and trees being significant as they represent longeivity and eternal life as it's a plant that doesnt "die". My mom said she doesn't know. In fact, being teochew, she never heard of such practices before. My dad wasn't too sure why we do it but presumably only hokkiens do it and there are several speculations.

1) Our ancestors worked or owned sugar plantations and this is a tribute to their memory and our beginnings.

2) Since my dad only gave such a vague story about our ancestors, I decided to derive at my own speculation. When burning the sugarcane, large explosive pops were heard from the fire that sounds suspiciously like firecrackers! Turned out that sugarcane when burnt create sounds like the firecrackers and could be a reason for it being offered and burnt in worship. Loud noises are meant to scare the evil and bad away. It could also be a post-firecracker-banning practice in Singapore, to offer an alternative substitute to actual firecrackers.



Either way, it sounds reasonable to me. Does anybody have other possible stories about sugarcanes being offered to the Ti Gong? Then again, with traditional practices and rituals being lost in our modern society, I doubt anybody would know better than my parents cept for those who are their elders.

Just today in the news, it's been reported that less families now have altars in their family and temples are seeing a 2 or 3 times increase in the number of people going to temple to offer tributes and to worship the heavenly emperor on the 9th day of the lunar new year. Usually a ritual meant to be done from night to day, people are going as and when it suits their work schedule and when the temple is open for the public - which is usually the day time. They also don't have to spend hours busying in the kitchen and preparing items as it would be simplified and provided for in the temple. But, to me, that loses all the meaning and specialness of this day... or at least, the meaning this day holds for me anyway. It's always been a rare day of activity for my family, and a good reason to stay up late.

Update: Chinatownboy wrote about pai ti gong too!!!!!!! I was going to go look up his blog to share with him my story and i had a strong feeling he will write about this very important event. Afterall, I knew him through interest in chinese diaspora taoist practices in singapore. whee! (yes i have odd and diverse interests) Note to victor: if you are reading this, scroll down and see my "human day" (ren ri) post :D

According to Chinatownboy:

A pair of sugar canes was and is still a must. According to stories heard, it was said once the Hokkien were being attacked (not sure if they were the mongols or bandits) and they went to hide in the sugar cane field. The sugar cane saved their lived. And so, when they came out alive, in gratitude the prayed to Ti Kong with the sugar canes, probably reminding them of how their lives were saved.

Read full article here

Happy Human Day

The 7th Day of the New Year on the lunar calendar is "Human Day" or ren ri.

I am vaguely remembering that it is the day humans are created or something because today is the birthday of humans (ren de sheng ri). Does anybody know any differently? Please correct me.

On this day, we have to eat a dish of 7 vegetables. Yes, that's 7 vegetables cooked as a mixed veggie dish.

What does that reveal about the asian society and culture?



1. Plant diversity is very high.
The diversity of vegetables and edible food plants must be so high that it was easily accessible to the peasants and commonfolks of China and possibly east and southeast asia.



2. Food diversity is very high.
Not only were the variety of vegetables in great diverse amounts, it also shows that they were consuming a great diversity of plants and domesticating, planting these food crops that we might not be consuming today. If you go to your kitchen right now and look in your refrigerator, how many different types of vegetables can you find? Or even anything green?! Green eggs not counted. Honestly, seven is a lot. But it must not even be a lot if it's supposed to be a comfortable number for them to handle back then. Perhaps there are vegetables that they were consuming then that we have now lost. In the village in Thailand, I observed so much more food diversity in terms of the type of plants they consume that I was amazed at where they even think of eating these things!



3. Cash crops are taking over the world.
If we city folks are thinking "wow 7 vegetables in one is a lot... who would have think of that", that's because the commercialized cash crops are taking over our world. It is wiping out food diversity and local knowledge, knowledge of our ancestors in terms of giving variety in our diet. Why is variety important? On an anthropocentric level, it provides diversity of nutrients for our body that a single diet of wheat will not. On an ecocentric level, having food diversity means that there needs to be crop diversity - no monoculture. Subsistence farmers plant perhaps 10 crops in the same area of land as compared to the 1 crop by a monoculturist. This ensures that the soil nutrient doesnt get depleted. Also, it ensures the survival and continued existence of 10 different species of plants as opposed to the 1 cash crop which most of the time, we CANNOT eat. Can you imagine eating oil palm?

Even then, what's up with brocolli?! Do you know about more than 5 of the vegetables we eat regularly and can easily find in our supermarket are all really just the yellow mustard plant that has been bred selectively to become different "vegetables" but they are all just the mustard plant, ONLY! If you think you are eating different types of vegetables when you eat brocolli, cabbage, etc... no really... it's just one plant. NO DIVERSITY!



4. Neo-colonialists are amongst us.
Who owns these monocultures? Big corporations.
Who wipe out the subsitence farmer and introduce the limited variety of vegetables and food in our markets? Big corporations.
Where are big corporations from? The west.
Ok this is a really simplified way of looking at this but if you think about it hard enough, the west are dominating our food supply even if the farmers are in the east or south. Globalization of food supply is wiping out local subsistency. We know Singapore cannot support our own food supply because we are small but what about big agricultural countries like Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia. Why can't they support their own population's food demands despite being an agricultural country? Because they only grow cash crop that is being exported out of the country for foreign exchange. So people remain poor, hungry and forced to eat whatever the neo-colonialists dominate our market with. Why do you think US has a whole entire region called the "corn belt". Because whole entire states are just growing monocultures of corn and wheat and dumped on countries that do not otherwise subsist on those things. Where do u think your cornflakes come from?



5. Our ancestors have very bad taste in food.
Do you know how icky 7 vegetables mishmash together in one bowl taste like?! Pfft! They couldn't even have the decency to cook them seperately... or maybe it's just my dad. hehehe

Read full article here

I want one too

My Sunshine

In Garrett Hardin's own words, from his famous paper "Tragedy of the Commons":

"People vary. Confronted with appeals to limit breeding, some people will undoubtedly respond to the plea more than others. Those who have more children will produce a larger fraction of the next generation that those with more susceptible consciences. The difference will be accentuated, generation by generation.

In C.G. Darwin's (Charles' grandson) words: "It may well be that it would take hundreds of generation for the progenitive instinct to develop in this way, but if it should do so, nature would have taken her revenge, and the variety Homo contraciptiens would become extinct and would be replaced by the variety Homo progenitivus

... The argument has here been stated in the context of the population problem, but it applies equally well to any instance in which society appeals to an individual exploiting a commons to restrain himself for the general good - by means of his conscience. To make such an appeal is to set up a selective system that works towards the elimination of conscience from the race".

- From the paragraph "Conscience is Self-Eliminating"

My ticking biological clock aside, seriously, this particular quote has really set me thinking. I have always been of the belief that as the knowing ones, we should set a good example.

In JC, I thought that the best way to save the world is to wipe out all of mankind. Then after the first week of class in NUS, I found out why people even bother "saving the planet" - it's really because we the humans need it and want to keep the environment as we know it. Recently, I have been firm that we could create a snowball effect if we each play our own part and stop the consumption and thus supply of destructive products such as sharks fin and virgin paper by stopping our own consumption. Similarly, how could we continue to populate this overcrowded planet when we know how depleted it already is. Some would say we should thus play our own part and stop contributing to our over-population.

Having read Hardin, I now believe that having a guilty conscience from contributing to the pressures on earth's carrying capacity is definitely better than letting the evil, selfish, self-centered, egocentric, souless, conscienceless, capitalist and developement-happy Homo progenitivus take over our planet!

Let us all go forth and procreate NOW!*

* The above offer is only available to all environmentally conscientious souls who may otherwise be held back by a guilty conscience as previously mentioned above.

Read full article here

The Birding Monkey

Monkey has never been much of a birder. In fact, I was a serious disappointment at Fraser's Hill where all the bio grads were glued to binoculars and ooo-ing and aaa-ing at the great diversity of birds there.

However, being an avid reader of Prof Wee's bird ecology blog, I have begin to learn by osmosis and somehow, somewhere, I must have caught the bird flu... the birding flu that is!

Today when azurev and I were slacking having lunch at the grounds of St Andrews Cathedral, enjoying the vast greenery in the heart of the city, I suddenly saw a flash of azure.

No azurev didn't flash me but I saw azure wings reflecting in the sun and landed on a branch about 40m away from where we were seated - in front of the church. It had beautiful clear bright blue wings and pure white chest.

The first thought that came to mind was that WOW kingfisher! But what the heck are kingfishers doing in the heart of town?

I quickly prod azurev and after trying very hard and short of doing a printscreen and drawing an arrow on the bird, she finally spotted the bird. Just then, another of white-breasted bird landed 0.5m away from the first one, on the next branch. Wow, must be a couple. However, I cannot see the wings of the 2nd bird so I decided to walk forward to check them out.

It's hard to sneak up on 2 birds when there's no camoflague in sight. It's like a giraffe stalking a deer in the clear open grassland, without nothing to hide behind.

I walked relatively slowly and approached the tree on the other end of the field. (we were on opposite ends of the church ground or "field" if you prefer.) As I got about 10-15m away from the tree, I finally saw the blue wings of the 2nd bird to confirm that they are indeed a couple.

However, just then, the first bird and I made eye contact and he started to make the most raucous call ever! Indeed, I shall call it a squawk. It was so loud and immediately I know that he's trying to warn me away from his tree. Perhaps his nest is there?

Once he started squawking, I turned back and looked at azurev excitedly because I had made contact with the bird, despite a not-so-friendly one. I can tell from her expression that she's heard the squawking too which goes to show how loud it was. She described it as being as loud as a "fog horn".

Sadly, both of us did not have a camera on us, not even a camera phone. It's times like this that you wish you subscribed to the technological fervor.

Oh well, when I came back to the office and searched around online, the only bird I can find that looked even slightly like it was the white collared kingfisher (Halcyon chloris).



So far, all mention of this species I found online are of sightings at Kranji or Sungei Buloh. What was it doing at St Andrews Cathedral? Did it really have a nest on that tree? Or did it fly from the marina bay area and was stopping for a rest?

I did find a picture of the collared Kingfisher at the botanic gardens though.



In Ria's Mangrove and wetland wildlife at Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve, it writes this about the White Collared Kingfisher:

The Collared Kingfisher is the most common Kingfisher in Singapore.

Collared Kingfishers are particularly aggressive. Not only towards their own kind, but also towards other Kingfisher species. This could be another reason for the widespread presence. The decline in the White-throated Kingfishers might also be due to the spread of the Collared.

They are also aggressive towards other birds such as mynas; vigorously driving off these birds from their feeding grounds, particularly during breeding season. They may even drive off landbound creatures.

The Collared Kingfisher is not considered at risk in Singapore. In the past, they were mostly found along the coasts and mangroves. But they have moved inland to hunt along freshwater wetlands, cultivated lands, gardens and parks. They usually avoid forests.

That surely explains why it was found in the garden of St Andrew Cathedral then and its agressive behavior towards me. I'm guessing now that the first bird is a male because mated males are supposed to be more blue than the females which is a lil more greenish.

I'll definitely go back again with a camera, just hope that it's still there for me when I go prepared!

Read full article here

Palgrave Environmental Reader

Few days ago I mentioned the books on my monkey shelf. Well, it just so happened that I borrowed this book Palgrave Environmental Reader out of pure... boredom and good intentions (like making myself be hardworking and enrich myself beyond the classroom).

Then on Thursday during Savage's lecture, he was going on and on about how university students dont read original texts of landmark literature anymore, like Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons.

Of course I've heard of Tragedy of the Commons. In fact, Hardin was a professor at UCSB for 30 years. I've used the concept many times. Still, Savage was right. I never actually read the original article. He also recommended reading Glacken's Traces on the Rhodian Shore which I must say I was fortunate enough to have even heard of Glacken by the pure coincidence that my nature, science and religion class had a reading list of very well known works. Now thinking back, both Savage and Proctor both did their PhD in UC Berkeley. That's probably why they are all harping on Glacken. Apparently Glacken was Savage's PhD supervisor. Gosh!

Just on a slight digress, after Savage's class, I can almost totally understand now (if I can actually remember my then-epiphany) why Proctor is considered a geographer since his preoccupation is mainly with nature science and religion. Something along the line of every religion has a perspective of the space/environment that will have subsequent impact on it. Well that pretty much sums up Proctor's lecture which I got an A+ for but suddenly... my aging memory with dozens of competitive uses threatening to blind me has caused me to have a sudden mental blackout. Bah.

Back to Palgrave.

Well, so yesterday I decided to be hardworking and was happily flipping the book and guess what I saw?

Garrett Hardin's original text of Tragedy of the Commons published December 13, 1968 in the journal Science, Vol 162, No 3859.

So I spent the whole of yesterday and a bit of today reading it and I've decided to reproduce sections on the blog every other day. It's a really good read and it's easy to digest. I want to ingrain it in my memory.

There are also other interesting and landmark articles on the environment such as Pinchot (the father of the US Forest and Wildlife Services), John Muir (the father of the alternative movement of FWS, the US National Parks Services - though Muir started out working for Pinchot), Rachel Carson (the person who wrote Silent Springs and shed light on DDT and agent orange), EO Wilson, and to go back a few centuries, Palgrave also included Emerson and Thoreau. The best part is, they also include famous legal acts and bills such as the actual text of the Wilderness Act and the Kyoto Protocol.

I'm sad to say though that this book focuses only on the US environmental growth, change and evolution over the last 3 centuries. It's not altogether comprehensive but it is a start.

As the editors, Daniel Payne and Richard Newman, writes:

The US has gone from "first generation environmental reform concerned primarily with land use issues such as resource conservation, wilderness preservation and the establishment of national parks and monuments" to "second-generation environmental issues, such as nuclear war, disposal of nuclear wastes, chemical contamination, global warming, biodiversity and so on, [that] have superceded land use politices as the primary focus of many environmentalists".

Reading that, I wonder where Singapore is - First generation or Second generation? On one hand, we have on surface levels, dealt really well with second generation issues which are mainly a focus on brown and gray issues but we have failed miserably and has never passed the test of solving first generation issues while the US has at least tackled it. Singapore is like a kid who failed primary school but jumped on to secondary school and found that it does well and try to present to the world the appearance of an environmental hub of asia by its clean and green branding. However, that will not stop people from criticizing that it has failed miserably at its primary level - that of pure and simple biodiversity conservation.

Read full article here

Ignoramus politicae

The nightmarishnostalgic reminders of school uniforms, assembly halls and the boon lay community center where I was collecting the same thing those lil peep squeaks are today.

Why is it that the first thing MP Ho Geok Choo ask me when she hears I'm studying geography is that "are you going to be a teacher?"

In my environmental politics class, my lecturer said that politicians are mostly lawyers, political science types or economists. Seldom are they scientists. And surely they are too busy to be kept up to date on issue. Apparently it keeps them rather shallow and ignorant too.

Of all the people from the university category who were award the bursary today, I was the only one she did not invite to join the Boon Lay Youth Club in her lil chit chat on stage when she hands over my "stipend". I was going to scoff at her if she did anyway. Maybe she read my mind. Still, I'm offended. Bah! I'll have her know my sister was in the Boon Lay Youth Club! PFFT!

I'm so offended that ms reverse psychology has decided to win the freaking SYA award just to rub it in mdm ho's face. Maybe better yet I'll win greenwave too. One thing for sure, I'm definitely going to see what Ms Irene Ng has to say. I mean if this is the standards of female politicians in Singapore? Dear lord, it leaves much to be desired for.

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Nanotech, Friend or Fiend?

The other day I was trying to tell the divinebovine how Nanotech is bad but then after a year away from progressive people rubbing off on me and back in development and technology deterministic red dot on the map, I was at a lost for words.

If I could persuade Maral in SB that Nanotech is bad, then I'm sure I have had been pretty persuasive.

So here's an article from Associated Press that would do the convincing for me.

Came across it just now when I was gathering environmental news for Ocean Futures Society. (Yes I'm still an intern there O_O")

Study Raises Concerns about Nanotech
Associated Press, 11 January 2006

(I'm still digging around for more articles. I'm not just concerned about human health but just undermining general safety and weapons and what not)

Nano Hazards: Exposure to minute particles harms lungs, circulatory system
Science News Online, 19 March 2005

What About Nanotech's Potential Danger? [PDF]
Techcomm Journal, April-May 2005
View as HTML

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Specialist Monkey

Is it my training or is it just me?

People always say that NUS general degree produces nothing but generalists who knows nothing. But why do "geographical" stuff keep jumping out and hitting me in the face? Maybe I simply aspire to be like Prof Wong who told us that if you want to be an expert in your field, you must be able to go out there and be able to assess the environment with one look and be able to sum up the problem. Of course he also said that his ability came with 30 years of field experience. Maybe I would like 30 years of field experience too. In fact, I was really impressed when I saw Prof Wong's Honors Thesis on the physical environment of Singapore in 1966(?). How incredible. I hope I would be able to go through most of the geog thesis ever written in the history of geography department.

Why do I bring this up?

Yesterday on our way to the hairdresser, when we drove by this slope near my Aunt's house, near the PIE exit, something suddenly caught my eye. A relatively large area of the slope had suffered from mass movement, if I'm not wrong, it's either a rotational slip or a slump. It looks exactly like the diagrams we see in textbooks all the time.



Slumps are supposed to be lubricated by groundwater seepage and this was precisely what occured if I'm not wrong. There was a spring gush of water coming out from the exposed slopeface. I suspected it was the effusive permeation due to the excessive rainfall but my parents think that it could be a water pipe leaking since we don't really have real groundwater flow in singapore (hah! so they think).

I can't verify until I go and take a picture of it soon, as soon as the rain stops of course. *cough* But thinking rain made me think of something totally different that happened around this time last year.

This time last year, we were having a dry spell or drought and even resulted in quite a bit of bush fire!

Looking back at last year's blog posts, Straits Times reported "256 bush fires in 40 days" on 13 February. Understandably, that is still a month away and this almost monsoon like wet season might be over. Still, this really smells like climatic imbalance to me, does it not?


Aftermath of Bush fire in february 2005

On one hand, we have floods and water pipes bursting in holland village with overflowing water every where but last year this time we were dryer than summertime chapparel grassland. Or maybe the fengshui experts will suggest an elemental imbalance. *snigger*


2006 Anthropogenic Flood at holland avenue
Photo courtesy of the otter.

Oftentimes, it is occassion like this where most of slope failures and disasters occur. People in temperate countries get plagued by the flu and in California, the rain (yes it rains in CA!) results not only in floods but massive landslides which killed many people (like La Conchita last year). Trains get stopped and tracks get washed off. Multiple car accidents happened as highways get too dangerous. Even in Singapore, as above, the landslides do occur too! Just pray that nothing gets worse than this.


The infinite rain looked as if the sky opened up and dumped the south china sea on us.

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On Monkey's bookshelf

Indigenous people and migrants of northeen papua indonesia
by Howard, Michael C. & Naffi Sanggenafa (Editors)
Published: 2005, Thailand, 1st Edition
ISBN: 9744800658
[Borrowed: NUS Libraries]
Status: Awaiting my furry touch


The Palgrave Environmental Reader
Edited by Richard S. Newman and Daniel G. Payne
From Palgrave Macmillan
Pub date: Nov 2005
[Borrowed: NUS Libraries]
Status: Awaiting my furry touch


So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
by Douglas Adams
[Borrowed: National Libraries]
Status: In reading. Sitting in my bag now. Better than Mostly Harmless. I like the story of fenchurch. Sounds like a mouse's name.


Life, the Universe and Everything
by Douglas Adams
[Borrowed: National Libraries]
Status: Awaiting my furry touch


Mostly Harmless
by Douglas Adams
[Borrowed: National Libraries]
Status: Borrowed and returned. Didn't finish reading. Was too boring.

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