All posts by SL Wong

Where is the Green in GE15?

ON 19 NOVEMBER, Malaysians will vote for our next federal government  and state governments too, for some.

From declaring a climate emergency to stopping deforestation, different groups are demanding that political candidates and parties  include environmental and climate commitments in their GE15 manifestos. Here’s an evolving list of the demands compiled by Macaranga.

To help you evaluate, we also include evaluations by groups and a list of the specifical environmental / climate promises in the manifestos of the main political coalitions in Peninsular Malaysa, Sarawak and Sabah. There are links to some commentary/analysis as well.

You can do more than just read. You can make your demands to the candidates, and you can monitor candidates’ positions on environmental issues.

At the bottom of this page, use the templates of letters to send to candidates. Also check out #UndiIklim, an attempt still underway to rank candidates in terms of climate and environmental issues and policies.

(Feature photo: SL Wong)

Continue reading

Tiga Cerita Tentang Tanah dan Air

Tiga Cerita Tentang Tanah dan air

TANAH AIR, gelaran bumi pertiwi dalam Bahasa Melayu, terdiri daripada perkataan ‘tanah’ dan ‘air’, masing-masing melambangkan tempat asal dan sumber. Tanah dan air menyumbang kepada kesinambungan manusia.

Di tanah air pula, kita saling bertaut dengan pelbagai cara: sebagai negara dan warganegara, melalui wadah nyata dan bayangan, dan di himpunan kolektif serta perkongsian dari individu ke individu.

Namun, hakikatnya kekal bahawa tanah dan air ditadbir oleh pihak berkuasa negara. Di kala bencana, ribut badai dan perubahan, adakah sistem tadbir urus kita cukup teguh?

Setiap keputusan yang diambil mengedepankan kepentingan siapa? Apa ciri yang berfungsi, dan apa pula yang menggagalkan?

Di 3 kisah yang dikongsi, Projek Khas ini meneliti bagaimana sistem tadbir urus di Malaysia meninggalkan impak ke atas manusia dan alam sekitar, selain isu dan tindakan yang berkenaan. Semua kisah berakhir dengan pertanyaan: adakah penyelesaian yang digunapakai berkesan?

(more…)

Costs Rise For All to Green Pig Farms

Pig farmers must install expensive wastewater treatment systems to curb environmental pollution. Add this to rising costs and diseases, and alarm bells ring about pork prices and supply. Part 2 of 2.

THERE ARE many ways an interview about pigs can begin. Wong Soon Ping of Kampung Selamat, Penang showed off a whole roast duck on a baking tray. Half of it was coated in truffle powder. “I’m trying a new recipe!”

It turns out roast ducks are a new product for Soon Ping, a third-generation pig farmer who had sold his pig farm in November 2021 and now processes and distributes pork. His village is one of the two pig farming areas in the state, notorious for decades-long river pollution.

(Photo: Farms that cannot afford to modernise operations call it a day |  Pic by Lee Kwai Han)

(more…)

When Laws Put the Brakes on Pig Farm Pollution

Notorious for its river polluting pig farms, Penang is mandating its farms modernise or shut down. But pig farms might not be the only, or main polluters along the whole river. Will this mandate bring relief to the ecosystem and impacted communities? Part 1 of 2.

A STENCH drifts up the 5 metres from the river to the bridge where we are standing. A sour, nasty smell, it lingers even after we leave the site. A local says the smelly river water comes from Kampung Valdor.

Their wastewater has been tarred for impacting everything from paddy fields and fisheries to high-end residential areas. But change is in the air as pig farming legislation and regulations kick in, though it is unclear if they will actually solve river pollution.

(Photo: The polluted waterway from Kampung Selamat (right) flows into Sungai Kereh; note the healthy riverine vegetation, a sign of possible excessive nutrients  |  Pic by SL Wong)

(more…)

Bila Kawanan Burung Berkunjung ke Teluk Borneo

Bilangan burung pantai hijrah semakin meningkat di Teluk Bako-Buntal di Sarawak. Tetapi trend itu mungkin mencerminkan masalah di tempat lain. Diterjemahkan oleh Noorainie Awang Anak.

[Read story in English | 点击阅读中文版]

AIR PASANG datang dengan cepat. “Anda perlu bergerak, bergerak, bergerak,” kata Rose Au. “Dalam beberapa minit, ianya sampai ke paras lutut anda!” Di tambah pula dengan bahaya terbenam dalam lumpur atau terserempak dengan buaya, usaha mengira burung tidak lekang dari keadaan yang mendebarkan.

Au dan beberapa pemerhati burung amatur Persatuan Pencinta Alam Malaysia Cawangan Kuching (MNS) di Sarawak, telah mengharungi berbagai rintangan sejak 16 tahun yang lalu. Matlamat mereka: untuk mengira beribu-ribu burung pantai yang datang ke Sarawak setiap tahun dalam perjalanan ke selatan dari tempat pembiakan mereka di Siberia.

(Mengira burung pantai di Teluk Bako-Buntal, Sarawak. Burung singgah di teluk setiap tahun dalam perjalanan dari Siberia. | Imej: Batrisyia Teepol/MNS)

(more…)

When Birds Flock to a Bornean Bay

Numbers of endangered migratory shorebirds are growing at Bako-Buntal Bay in Sarawak. But scientists warn the trend could reflect problems elsewhere on the critical East Asian flyway.

THE TIDE comes in quickly. “You have to move, move, move,” says Rose Au. “Within a few minutes, it’s up to your knees!” Coupled with the dangers of getting stuck in the mud or encountering a crocodile, the business of counting birds has never sounded more thrilling.

Au and the other amateur birders of the Malaysian Nature Society Kuching Branch (MNS) in Sarawak, have been braving these dangers and more for the last 16 years. Their aim: to count the thousands of shorebirds which come to Sarawak every year en route south from their breeding grounds in Siberia.

(Counting shorebirds in Bako-Buntal Bay, Sarawak. Birds stop at the bay every year on their way from Siberia. |  Image: Batrisyia Teepol/MNS)

(more...)

当鸟儿都飞往一个婆罗洲海湾

砂拉越洲峇哥文丹湾的濒危迁徙滨鸟数量正在增加。但科学家警告说,这一趋势或许反映了东亚迁徙路线上的其他停歇地出现了问题。

潮水涨得很快。“你必须走了,快点,快点,”欧月圆(Rose Au)说。“几分钟水就会涨到你膝盖!” 加上陷入泥沼或者遭遇鳄鱼的危险,这都让统计滨鸟数量这项任务听起来十分惊险。

过去16年,欧和马来西亚自然协会(Malaysian Nature Society,简称 “MNS”)古晋分会在砂拉越的其他业余观鸟者一直勇敢地面对着很多甚至比这些还要危险的状况。他们的目标是:统计每年从西伯利亚繁殖地南迁途经砂拉越的成千上万只滨鸟。

(马来西亚婆罗洲峇哥文丹湾,观鸟者们正在统计滨鸟数量。西伯利亚的候鸟每年南迁途中都会在这里歇脚。 图片来源:Batrisyia Teepol/MNS)

(more...)

Mapping Every Hill

Interviewed: Dr Liew Thor Seng, biologist [thorseng@ums.edu.my]

IF YOU don’t know where all the limestone hills are, how will you know which to protect, which to quarry? Moreover, if you want to protect them, which ones do you begin with?

Well, decision-makers now have at their fingertips, Malaysia’s most comprehensive database and map of limestone hills.

(Photo: Screen capture of the online gazetteer showing details of limestone outcrop of interest in Malaysia | Courtesy of Liew Thor Seng)

Continue reading Mapping Every Hill