Low Spring Tide Morning at Changi

Yesterday morning at a luxurious time of 6am, Ria and I went to Changi for the last of the low spring time visits for this "season". I was really lucky to be able to go with her since I only just got in from Thailand 2 days before. What a way to get me reacquainted with Singapore!

In fact, this is the first time I am visiting our shores so early in the morning, save for the time we camp over at Hantu. Even then, our exploration of the intertidals were done only in the day time. The first thing we saw yesterday was this peacock anemone in the semi-darkness of early rays of the sun.



Despite promises of stingrays, lobsters and stargazers, we were not so lucky that morning. Nonetheless, for this monkey, anything would be interesting. Just take this pile of sand that threatens to be a very very long worm for example!



After talking about parasites just the night before, this is NOT something we want to go near! *grin* But then considering I'm full of foreign parasites after my swim in the Mekong River, this should be the least of my worries!

Of course there was no shortage of crabs that morning. It was bustling with activity. Every clumsy mammal step I take results in the hasty scurrying of an anxious crabby creature.



Well some just like to stay put.



Others couldn't care less! Instead they mock this city slicker of a monkey for her ignorance.



Monkey couldn't just let that lay and sought to seek an education. After seeing tons of "skeletons" and "moults", monkey finally voiced out loud what the difference between a dead sand dollar and live one was! Straightaway, I got my answer. Some poking was involved.



For more photos of my adventure on this sea of gold that makes me imagine what sahara would look like, check out my flickr set.



Edit: Read Ria's more educational account and check out the conch's eyes! Looks almost like they were photoshopped on but I can assure you... well ok, maybe not assure but I definitely don't think they were! Ria spent a long time coaxing the baby out of his shell! Also read about the anemone-thieves! Poor shrimp babies. Now they're deprived of a home because people have been removing the anemones which are actually the homes of shrimp babies. Instead, the anemones are now stuck in somebody's aquarium in their HDB flat. Hah!

Read full article here

Year of the Turtle seminar

Date: Sat 24 June 2006
Time: 3.00-5.00pm
Title: Year of Turtle 2006 Public Seminar
Location: Imagination Room, Level 5, National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street
Webpage: click here

Speakers will include:

1) NIE's Prof Diong, turtle researcher & rescuer, who will give an account of Sea Turtles and Singapore: Biology, recent nesting, and conservation

2) Underwater World's Assistant Curator Wah Yap Hon who will share about Underwater World Singapore and Sea Turtle Conservation

3) AVA's Senior Wildlife Enforcement Officer Gerald Neo who will discuss the theory and practice of Singapore CITES and Sea Turtles

NParks' Senior Biodiversity Officer Jeffrey Low will facilitate.

There will be a Q&A for them so bring your questions. On their part, they will be bringing some exhibits.

Read full article here

Charity Premier of "Fireflies: River of Light"

Recently got an email about SEC's charity premier screening of the movie "Fireflies: River of Light"

The event is organised by the SEC, Singapore Film Society and partners, to raise funds for the SEC's Green Volunteers Network. The screening will be held next Friday (2 Jun 06) from 6.00 pm to 8.30 pm, at GV Grand (Great World City). For details and enquiries, kindly refer to the attached e-flyer.

"Fireflies" was produced in 2003 and has been shown at Film Festivals like the Japanese Film Festival in Sydney in 2004. It is directed by Hiroshi Sugawara, and tells the tale of how an elementary schoolteacher, Hajime, captures the imagination of his students who passionately embark on a project to clean up the river and raise fireflies to fly over it once again, despite conflict with parents, the school administration and even the city itself.

Tickets are $10 each and will be issued on 2 June. Payment is to be made on 2 June by cash or cheque (made payable to ‘Singapore Environment Council’). For enquiries and booking of tickets, please email: fireflies at sec dot org dot sg by 31 May (Wed).

Sounds like a nice movie at an affordable price and it's for a good cause!

Read full article here

BWV ReefTalk: Jocara Indian Ocean Quest

BWV ReefTalk
Date: 3rd June 2006 (Sat)
Time: 3 to 4pm
Venue: The Programme Zone, library@Orchard

Title: Jocara Indian Ocean Quest
Speakers: Caroline Durville
Summary:
In 2004, the Potter family set off on a one year expedition sailing their boat 'Jocara' around the Indian Ocean, visiting places like Krakatoa, Cocos Keeling, Zanzibar, Seychelles, Chagos and more. Come join Caroline as she shares some of her experiences, with images from above and underwater. Read the online diary of the whole voyage at www.jocara.net

ReefExhibits will be there with our info booth & poster display of our amazing local marine life so come by early to check out! Free seating and standing space available. More info on BWV at http://www.bluewatervolunteers.org/. Enquiries are welcomed, drop me an email at reeftalk at bluewatervolunteers dot org

Got this little bit of news of an interesting talk in my email today and though I would not be able to go, show some love for BWV :) I'm sure a certain duck and cow would be interested :)

Read full article here

NOAH Dialogue

Recently I received an email from SEC regarding a dialogue session for the heavily debated Project NOAH.

Here's what the email says:

"Dear All,

Following on from our discussion on 12th April, at NSS, I mentioned that SEC will organize a follow up dialogue session to provide more clarity as to the NOAH project as well as to engage all concerned groups and steer the project forward in a constructive manner. Well I must apologize for the delay as Earth Day saw us committed with a whole bunch of projects and events, as usual. Anyway, we have finally arranged a session. Details are as follows:

Date: Thursday, 25th May
Time: 7pm
Venue: Hilton, Level 3, Vista 2 & 3

DRAFT AGENDA

1) Introductions
2) Brief Recap of NOAH Project as presented 12th April
3) Q & A / Feedback Session
4) Open discussion
· Collaboration
· Working towards a Blue Water Plan

It's rather a pity that I would not be able to attend since I am in Thailand but gosh golly wow, they're having the meeting at the Hilton hotel! That's sure a big step up from the previous meeting at NSS' headquarters with grapes and bananas kindly provided by Vilma. I wonder how much the meeting room cost...

Really quite a pity I would be missing out on such a luxurious dialogue session afterall!

On the other hand, I wonder if this is an open dialogue session where anybody can attend. In case you are wondering why SEC is organizing the session, that's because SEC has declared themselves the secretariat for the project. The middleman, the go-between, the money bearer, and well that's essentially what SEC was originally set up to do anyways. Or at least that's what I heard. Please correct me (gently) if I'm wrong.

Read full article here

Elephant in Bangkok

When I arrived in Bangkok, I read in a guide book that elephants are banned in the city of bangkok by Thaksin in recent years. Apparently it creates traffic congestion in the already congested country.

However, I almost could not believe my eyes when I spotted this surreal sight of seeing an elephant in the redlight district of Bangkok just a few roads down from my hotel! It was unbelievable. For a moment, this city monkey thought it could have been a giant model of a monkey or perhaps even a mechanical elephant.

When I tried to take photos, the keeper came over and tried to sell me sugarcanes. I gave the guy a 20B and then gave the sugarcane back to him. On hindsight, I wish I fed it to the elephant because who knows if the keepers were starving him or not. But being a money tree for the keepers, hopefully they do not starve him.



Unbelievably, on going to the next redlight street, we saw another elephant! This time it was a female with no tusk. They were all rather juvenile elephants, judging by their size.

Anyways, just unbelievable. And in the redlight district no less! Probably because these were the joints catered for tourists and with the large amount of people at night, it was the best time to bring out the illegal street performers.

Of course there are softhearted monkeys like me that would rather die than to see these animals suffer. Sigh. Felt so helpless.

Read full article here

Monkey rescued from captivity repatriated to India

By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia
19 May 2006

A young rhesus macaque of Indian origin, smuggled probably by animal traders to Singapore, finally went home on Friday.

The monkey, named Asha, was held as an exotic pet before she was rescued from captivity by animal activists in 2004.

Louis Ng, Executive Director of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, said: "When we first found Asha, she was chained up just outside the warehouse area. So it was in pretty horrible condition. There wasn't much shelter from the sun or the rain and also she was really fat, which means lack of exercise because they chained her up with quite a short leash."

Zoo officials estimate Asha to be about 15 years old, which would make her middle-aged.

Asha has been living in the zoo for the past 20 months while letters and appeals flew back and forth to find her a permanent home.

She finally headed to the Wildlife SOS Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in New Delhi on Friday.

Mr Ng said: "Wildlife SOS will be doing the reintegration. They will introduce her to another rhesus macaque and see if she recognises and, maybe, they start to touch each other.....but it's a very long process because in the past few years she has never seen another monkey and it will take some time for her to recognise that this is actually her own kind." - CNA/ir

Rest assured, the thai government has yet to attempt to repatriate this monkey back to singapore. Nonetheless, this is good PR on ACRES side but repatriating a middle-aged monkey may not be the most effective. Most of the time, these repatriated immigrants do not adapt to the wild and continue to live in "captivity". Sort of like the prostitutes who get saved from the "evil crutches" of the human traffickers, only to return back to the trade willingly. Perhaps there are more consequences associated with repatriation than with captivity. We cannot only act on addressing the problems we see but pre-empting the problem before we can even SEE them! Definitely have to apply the precautionary principle here and do as the chinese say, "pull up the roots when removing grass". I am sure they are also doing their best as well to stop demand on this side of consumer-intensive singapore. All the best ACRES!

PS: Did you recognize Asha? The monkey is famous! She is the covergirl of ACRES on many publicity material that you can even see on the MRT trains!

Read full article here

Mixed Signals

Sustainable Thailand harbors Conspicuous Consumers!


Look past the police and you will see sharks fins hanging blatantly in the display window. (Click on image to Enlarge)

I do not know how to respond to such images when there are posters, publicity and propaganda touting a sustainable Thailand. I guess the practised reality is a clearer truth than a scripted one.


This was found on a bridge leading to the major shopping centres downtown.

Of course, contrastedly, the sharks fin shop was found at an area that was for wholesalers. Hide the ugly truth eh? Of course they are not going out of their way to hide it, it is just not in the main upclass shopping area but just beside. Not even very far away, only 10minutes walk through the busy international trading area. This Watergate Market area where Bangkok Sharks Fin is found is an area that is for international traders. People from all over the whole come here to purchase things wholesale to Europe, America, Asia and even Africa! There are shipping companies concentrated here, ready to ship out at minutes notice. So even if the Sharks Fin is not consumed there, this is the point where it becomes distributed worldwide, feeding into the consumption of Sharks Fin on a global level.



So what is sustainability? Is it from green buildings, better living environment, high standards of living, clean rivers, clean air or high rates of recycling?

Even if people do not consume sharks fin but are part of the global supply chain of feeding the consumption of sharks fin, they are still just as guilty even if their immediate environment is sustainable. Of course there are more examples of this than just mere sharks fins.



Thailand is trying to clean up its rivers which is so polluted I'm afriad I would have ingested parasites just by having its waters splash on my face during a boat trip. It reeks and its colour impossibly dirty. But most of the people in Thailand live in slums along these klongs. A colleague told me today that if he was the city planner of Bangkok, he would clear the whole place and build over. Of course that is not possible but then he is just trying to say how much of a mess the place is.


I'm sure it's not all bad, even if our onboard climatologist informed us that the air pollution in Bangkok is worse than Los Angeles and just a step behind Mexico City.

So they have horrendous water pollution and as we stand by the river we spotted blatant water leakages from the pipes spanning the river. Of course air quality and urban heat island phenomenon is outrageous. There are abandoned buildings all over Thailand. The traffic is ridiculous. Consumption of sharks fins, and possibly other illegal wildlife trade is not uncommon. Of course there are mostly Thai Chinese in Bangkok so nothing curious about the sharks fin bit. Restaurants in Bangkok sell Sharks Fins and Bird Nest ast there prime culinary items. So what is sustainable in Thailand?



I think I feel consoled that there are many NGOs very active in Thailand. On board with us is a Thai lady (well she's my age so that makes this monkey a lady too hah!) who works with the university in Chiangrai with the hill people. She told me she has many friends who were university classmates in Chiangrai who now work with NGOs in bangkok. Over dinner, I also met a girl who just graduated from the top law school here in Bangkok and has applied to go up north to work with the NGO in getting citizenships for displaced hill people. Of course there was robert, an american that gave us a talk in Singapore who works in the NGO here in Bangkok. So NGO is aplenty here as compared to in Singapore. People ARE working hard to improve the environment and quality of life in Bangkok.

This morning, there will be a talk from one such person who works with an NGO here helping sex workers to reduce AIDS in Thailand. Maybe then I will have more insights on how the battle here is faring.

See more photos from Day 3.

Read full article here

Bangkok Day 2

More photos to be seen at my Flickr

Read full article here

Blogging from Bangkok

The congregation awaiting despatch at our lil guest house in Bangkok

I have been in Bangkok for almost 7 hours and am absolutely lucky to have access to free wifi in my room at the guesthouse which we are staying at!

I am not planning on blogging excess details on MMM so if you are looking for the grits and gripes, please remember to check Ramblings of a Leaf Monkey every day.

Indeed, I believe I would have much time on my hand this 10 days in Bangkok. Already we have been to the chatuchak market and tomorrow we will begin our intensive tour of Bangkok.

For photo updates, remember to check out my Flickr Account.

Read full article here

My kitty problem continues

Last night when I came home from a meeting, I encountered the source of the smell in the void deck. It was positioned strategically right outside the lift too. If anybody who was not careful step out of the lift, they'd definitely end up in the kitty trap.

Today I spot only 2 kittens with the mother who look almost just as big as the kitten herself. It was such a sad thought that the mother is so scrawny and probably very young too. The rest of the kittens and adult cats cannot be found anywhere in the vicinity. I hope the cat population has somehow decreased.

Thank you all for the advise on seeking help with cat welfare society. I would most probably take up the advice once I come back from Thailand.

I will be away for 6 weeks and during this time I will probably be blogging from the land of smiles.

Happy Vesak Weekend!

Read full article here

Operation No Release

If you truly care for the animals with great compassion and wish them freedom, love, peace and joy, please do not purchase anything from any stores or merchants just to release them in the wild.

First of all, your demand would encourage suppliers to go out of their way to catch these animals just to satisfy your needs. These animals may never have to suffer had you not want to release them from what you imagined is suffering. If these animals are captive-bred, releasing them may be more torture. It would be like sending a rich man who has never had to find food for himself onto the streets with no money and no ability to find food. He might not even be able to find his way around or walk because he's been so used to being served. Of course he would ended up dead within the day or if he survive, ends up causing other innocents to die.

So here are some ideas if you really want to practice the release of animals for vesak day:

1) Become vegetarian for the day so you spare animals from being killed for the day.

2) Become vegetarian so that you will never be responsible for the death of an animal to become food on your table ever again.

3) Adopt an abandoned animal from a shelter and commit yourself to their care for the rest of its life. They cannot go back into the wild and if there are nobody to adopt them, they might be put to sleep. You can save and alter the fate of a vulnerable life by adopting these abandoned domesticated animals. This is much more preferable than to buy a wild animal for a pet or to go out of your way to import a pedigree animal only to find they cannot suit the environment here. You have to make a commitment to care for it for life because most animals who are abandoned because their owners lost interest in them or they got too big.

4) Donate money to an organization who is saving animals in the wild. I personally have donated 25 pounds to the World Land Trust to save an acre of rainforest in ecuador. They also have other projects like saving the mangroves in India or certain other wildlife in other countries. You can also help specific causes like the Orang Utans in Malaysia or the Asian Elephants. To really "release" an animal, you can donate money to a rehabilitation program that helps to release captive, injured or homeless animals back into the wild.

5) Be a nature volunteer or help spread the word! I've even given brochures to my mom to distribute at her shop in the heartlands but it is such a sensitive issue that people pretend not to see it. Alas, as she said, it's lucky nobody came and threaten violence as it is. But it's heartening that there has since been a reduction in the number of release in Nature Reserves. However, they may instead go to reservoirs and parks! This is why, on Vesak Day, the monkey will be helping to patrol Jurong Lake (beside Lakeside MRT) to make sure nobody tries to release any animals into the lake.

Although according to the article below, it is also suggested that people can "release fishes already caught in the kelong, and release back into the deep sea. For freshwater fishes, there are fishes kept in the tanks at seafood restaurants. You can buy them and release them into the ponds. They are ponds in certain areas that allow people to release fishes there". However, I have seen the ponds in Bright Hill Temple (Guang Ming Shan) where people release turtles and fish. The ponds are so overpopulated and overcrowded that there is no space for the animals to swim or move. Although they are alive, they are living in poor conditions. The best would be to not release at all because all you need to do is to remember that you are responsible for the life of this animal forever. Releasing it into such bad conditions would make you responsible for its suffering. Remember, it can be free instead of 'released'.

----------------------

Fewer people releasing animals into the wild during Vesak period
By May Wong, Channel NewsAsia
11 May 2006

SINGAPORE : The National Parks Board (NParks) says fewer people are releasing animals into the wild during the Vesak period.
It is hoping this downward trend will continue ahead of Vesak Day celebrations on May 12.
During Vesak Day celebrations, some buddhists would release animals such as fish into the reservoirs.
The act symbolises compassion and respect for life.
But such actions do more harm than good to the animals.
"The animals are not able to fend for themselves. Imagine this, you're kept in a homely environment where you're given food everyday, then all of a sudden, you go into the wild. But where's the food? So in the end, they die of starvation," said Sharon Chan from the National Parks Board.
Last year, NParks saw only seven cases where people released animals into the wild, a significant drop from 44 in 2004.
To keep the cases low, some 100 park rangers and volunteers will comb the reservoirs and nature reserves over the Vesak Day holiday.
Animals released into the wild such as the reservoir die within a day and their decomposed bodies affect the quality of the water.
Things are made much worse if the animals are sick with diseases.
Some of the common animals released are fish and frogs.
The Singapore Buddhist Federation is also educating its devotees to do the right thing.
"The best way is to release fishes already caught in the kelong, and release back into the deep sea. For freshwater fishes, there are fishes kept in the tanks at seafood restaurants. You can buy them and release them into the ponds. They are ponds in certain areas that allow people to release fishes there," said Sik Kwang Sheng, secretary-general of Singapore Buddhist Federation.
Those caught releasing animals into the wild can be fined up to $50,000.

Read full article here

Feedback needed

Several new nature/environment-related websites have been launched recently and seek feedback from youths... and the young at heart of course *grin*

1) Vilma of NSS writes:

"We're coming up with a new webpage for Nature Society and would value your input. Do you like what you see attached? We'd like young people like you who value nature to give us some feedback. This is a mock up with respect to the text... But these are the suggested features.

Thanks
Vilma"



You can view the mockup design at: http://tinyurl.com/hdnne
Email your comments to: vdroza at nie dot edu dot sg

2) Patrick of MEWR writes:

"Youth Habitat goes live! Give us your feedback!

Youth Habitat is a first-stop environmental portal for 13 to 25 year-olds. From this portal, you can:

* Find out more about our environment
* Check out the environmental activities you can join in
* Be inspired by what other youths are doing for our environment
* Hook up with environmental or youth groups for possible collaboration
* Or see how you else you can make a difference to our environment

Check out the portal now at: www.youthhabitat.sg

Please share with us your feedback on how we can make this portal even better. If you have any events, stories, tips or other information you would like to share on this portal, do let us know. Or better still, if you want to volunteer to be part of our team of writers, you are most welcome!

Email your comments to: Patrick underscore Chu at mewr dot gov dot sg

Thanks a lot!"

Read full article here

My feline problem

This sweet pie is not so sweet when the stench of pee and poo accumulates in my previously clean void deck. Sorry if this sound elitist but the area usually smells clean and fresh. This is due to the design of my flat, the void deck, being not void but like a condominium that has units on the ground floor, and thus individual home owners keep the area very nice and clean. But because of the 8 cats running around outside this one flat on the ground floor, the place is exceedingly smelly.

Let me explain.



There used to be 3 grown cats and they were adorable. Then they had a litter of kitten with 4-5 new kitties. These babies are cute but the increased in population has led to the floor being dirty, stained and reeks of an overwhelming stench of amonia. What is worse is recently I heard the calls of a kittie in heat and I can almost expect another litter to appear around my flat. I do not understand why the kitties do not poop in the grass right in front of their unit but they don't. The increase in population has overtaken the environment's natural ability to neutralize the wastes. The family also does nothing to create toilet facilities for the felines. There are no litter boxes. Food is served on plates but at the same place where the cats pee and poop. I know they try to clean up at night as I see them mopping the floor outside their homes sometimes but I still smell the stench increasing everyday. Technically that area is public corridor and it's right beside our letter box.



I really love these kitties but the neighborliness-irresponsibility is overwhelming. Unfortunately due to certain religious or ethnic sensitivity, I am afriad to approach the family and suggest neutering the cats. I thought of writing a note and slipping it into their letter box but that would be quite irresponsible. I honestly have never spoken to this family and it kind of intimidates me. How do I make sure they know I really do love cats and have all our interests at heart? How do I get the guts to do something about this? Or maybe there is nothing I can do because it's none of my business? Should I respect their choices? It is worth respecting? Do I have a right to do say something? What happens when there are MORE cats?! These cats are not feral but they get to run about the neighborhood and do not ever enter the house it seems. I cannot suggest adopting them and I do not want to disrespect the owners by sneaking them off to neuter, god forbids! Besides what if the owners do not want to give them up and enjoy the multitudes of cats?

What should I do?

Read full article here

Heritage Fun on Foot!

Click to enlarge

"Find treasures in the heartlands with Fun on Foot"

Fun on Foot in the Heartlands will be held on 22 July 2006 from 9-3pm. It's like an amazing race with the flag off point at Jalan Besar Stadium in conjunction with Heritage Fest 2006. Come in a team of 3. The prizes are really attractive. In the open category, first prize is $1000!

You will soon be able to register online at:
http://www.heritagefest.org.sg
[not updated yet, please be patient]

Unfortunately, Monkey and Azure are not eligible to participate as disclaimed in a typical miniscule footnote at the bottom of the registeration form that says staff family and of whatever association cannot enter. Oh well, we wouldn't want to ruin the fun for you guys either *grin*

Do check it out!

PS: The poster is amazing. How many places can you identify? It's very "Where's Wally"-ish! I love the details. *gush* All we need now is a Wally. Can you spot the 4 Mr Fun on Foot?

Read full article here

River, Bridge and Jelutong Tree

Monkey writes about the Jelutongs on Pulau Ubin and I mean the river, the bridge and the tree.

Read: "Jelutong Namesake" on Pulau Ubin Stories

Read full article here

If Geography was Greek... Part II

Well children, it would appear that Ms Monkey's Geography class yesterday stirred a few closet geographers amongst us and also earned me a few knowing nudges. Hopefully my "geog-challenged" state would not get to the ears of my professors in charge of the NUS Geography Challenge where I am in charge of quizzing the youths of Singapore about .. well Geography.

I am sure many of you are looking forward to the continuation of yesterday's class where we will now look at the geography of the Americas. I shan't go into too much detail because in total, the continents of North and South Americas contain more than 20 countries in total (39 to be exact, yes i counted)!

But let's be realistic, most americans do not know the Geography of the United States - just watch the first episode of the reality program Beauty and the Geek. Most can't even spell Mississippi and Massachusetts!

"The study found that less than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 33 percent could not point out Louisiana on a U.S. map."

While I know how Florida look like, and maybe even Mississippi too, but I sure as hell cannot remember how Louisiana looks like on the map! Gosh, wasn't Katrina in New Orleans? *Gasp* That's actually in Louisiana? Wow. Gee, they keep talking about the Mississippi river but it's actually not in the state of Mississippi? Somebody ought to have made that clearer. Damn semiotics.



So now you know, look for Texas - the largest state in USA, the triangular piece of loin cloth at the south of USA - and you'll find Louisiana, the boot, on the right of it. Look up, you'll find Arkansas, home of Bill Clinton and then right of Louisiana is the real Mississippi state.

Now the interesting bit is, while the Americans cannot identify their own states, they seem to think rather highly of their country and their world rather revolves around their surrounding geography.

"Inside the United States, "half or fewer of young men and women 18-24 can identify the states of New York or Ohio on a map [50 percent and 43 percent, respectively]," the study said."

"Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world."

"Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico."

Now ladies and gentlemen, monkeys and ducks, I'll leave you to decide for yourself, which of these borders are more heavily fortified. Besides, didn't they watch James Bonds' Die Another Day where it showed how tanks are constantly waiting to be mobilized at the drop of the hate? Maybe for once they realize that's just hollywood. Still, how far is that away from reality? Obviously North Korea did not take kindly to that portrayal.


N Korean-S Korea Border


Mexican-US Border

Of course, after laughing at other people's expense, how much do you really know about your own country's geography? Otterman posts a good quiz for all to try. Not only does it involve knowing your own country but also knowing the landmarks in Singapore!

Or perhaps you scored brilliantly on CNN's quiz that you feel ready to take on the National Geographic's Geography Literacy Quiz and see how well you do compared to these American youths. I haven't had the gut to try but after all these crash course in today's World Geography, Ms Monkey feels assured that her students would not perform too badly. At least you had a headstart and know that Sudan is not in Asia but in Africa! Oh of course I hope you do know that the tsunami in 2004 was really in Indonesia...

"Nine in ten couldn't find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.

And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.

Remember the December 2004 tsunami and the widespread images of devastation in Indonesia?

Three-quarters of respondents failed to find that country on a map. And three-quarters were unaware that a majority of Indonesia's population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world."
- National Geographic's Report

Well if you're ready, do the 2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy!

Technorati Tags: Geography

Read full article here

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.

------------------------------

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.

Technorati Tags:
Environment
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?

---
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.

---
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!

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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!

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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.

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