Best of our wild blogs: 11 Oct 10

First visit to South Cyrene
from wild shores of singapore

The eyes of the Red-breasted Parakeet
from Bird Ecology Study Group

back to chek jawa
from isn't it a wonder, how life came to be

And then there were four hornbills
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Monday Morgue: 11th October 2010
from The Lazy Lizard's Tales

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Better e-waste management in Singapore, please

Lynda Hong Ee Lyn Today Online 11 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE - Recyclers are calling for greater regulation to ensure unwanted electronic appliances, including used computer peripherals, are disposed properly.

Such junk - also known as electronic waste, or e-waste - could release toxic chemicals when incinerated or dumped into landfills, they pointed out.

Given the lack of collection points for e-waste in housing estates, recycling companies such as Cimelia rely on karung guni men to collect e-waste from households. But this forms only five to 10 per cent of e-waste collected every month. On average, Cimelia collects between 500 and 700 tons of e-waste each month, mainly from factories and companies.

Cimelia's director, Mr Venkatesha Murthy, said karung guni men would first try to refurbish all re-usable electronics and electrical appliances for resale in Singapore or export to other countries. They would then sell what they could not salvage to Cimelia.

Public waste collectors Veolia and SembWaste told MediaCorp that e-waste forms a small portion of recyclables collected from households, with SembWaste putting the proportion of e-waste figure at about one to two per cent. So, given Singaporeans' penchant for electronics products, where does the Republic's e-waste go?

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), the economic value in the materials recoverable from e-waste meant that there was "minimal" amount of such junk ending up at the incinerator or landfill.

But Mr Venkatesha pointed out that e-waste could be easily exported to other countries like China and Africa, as Singapore did not have a tracking system to trace where electronic products were disposed.

Recycling Point Dot Com founder Joseph Tan suggested a governing body such as NEA administer the funds to ensure the proper disposal of an electronics products.

Several countries, including Switzerland, Netherlands, Japan and Korea, have introduced Extended Producer Responsibility laws, which are based on the principle that producers should bear responsibility for all the environmental impacts of their products.

In Japan, consumers are required to return unwanted electronic appliances to the retailers and pay a national recycling fee and an additional fee to cover the retailers' transport costs to the collection point.

When asked if consumers would be charged for the collection and disposal of unwanted appliances, the NEA said it encouraged e-waste recovery efforts through second-hand dealers, voluntary take-back and recycling schemes implemented by several large IT and mobile phone companies.

The NEA's first nationwide e-waste take-back initiative on Sept 11 - which was held over one week - collected 3,600 kg of e-waste and small household appliances, which will be reused or dismantled for recycling.

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A must that turned many into volunteers in Singapore

SMU students required to do community work, but a 'majority' continue even after graduation
Judith Tan Straits Times 11 Oct 10;

THE Singapore Management University (SMU) compels its students to serve 80 hours of community service as a condition for graduating.

True, some cynical or selfish ones see the stint as 'a necessary evil', but the school's administration is heartened that the 'majority' are sufficiently bitten by the community service bug after this to carry on volunteering even after they launch their careers.

The school did not cite figures on the proportion who keep up the volunteering post-graduation - be it by becoming volunteer teachers or by taking on pro-environment projects here and abroad.

But as of July, it has counted more than 9,100 students who have clocked more than a million hours in community service.

To mark the 10th year of this scheme, it is holding a photo exhibition to show how its students have given their time, talents and energy to various causes.

Photos of Inspirat10n, as the exhibition has been called, will be launched at the campus at 7pm today.

Ms Ruth Chiang, the university's director for career services, said SMU made the programme part of its curriculum to infuse its students - future leaders - with ethics.

She said: 'Many of our students grew up in abundance, and there's a segment of society that they've not been in touch with - the poor and needy. We want them to see first-hand the people who need help getting out of the vicious circle.'

Mr Theodore Teo, SMU's assistant director for career services, cited the example of a student from China, an only child who 'used to believe community work was something idiots do as there's no material gain'. But having to serve 28 days in a Beijing old folk's home changed her thinking. She volunteers there to this day, he said.

SMU is the only university here and in the region to impose this 80-hour community service requirement on its undergraduates; neither the National University of Singapore nor Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has an equivalent programme.

Associate Professor Lok Tat Seng, NTU's dean of students, said that for charitable acts to be meaningful, the desire to serve must come from the heart, rather than be imposed from outside.

SMU's Mr Teo said its students are briefed and told about the 'why' behind the programme.

The school has noticed that most students, after getting their feet wet, do become convinced of the good that can come out of what they do, and carry on volunteering after graduation.

Mr Teo added: 'They develop confidence and passion in the different areas - society, humanity, education and the environment. It's all part and parcel of becoming a responsible adult.'

College mates team up to 'give back'
Straits Times 11 Oct 10;

FOUR Singapore Management University (SMU) alumni have set up aidha, a non-profit body, to impart principles of entrepreneurship and money management to foreign maids.

Separately, an SMU alumna who is now a senior associate in human resources at the Singapore Exchange spends a good part of her annual leave volunteering as an English teacher in Timor Leste.

All five say their commitment to giving back to society started at SMU, which requires its students to log 80 hours of community service before graduating.

Fund manager Harsh Saxena, 25, a founding member of aidha, said: 'We want to help these maids by teaching them how to manage their money and making them aware of the ways of today's technological world.'

Teacher Angad Singh, 26, fund manager Amrt Sagar and marketing executive Sujeet Kulkarni, both 24, feel the same way.

In Sanskrit, aidha means 'that to which we aspire', and indeed, the organisation has helped put some maids on the road to financial independence.

By extending micro credit, aidha has enabled some of them to launch small businesses in their home countries.

An Indonesian maid who learnt from aidha about Skype-to-Skype calls has since started an Internet cafe in her village, collecting fees from those who want to make Skype calls.

Mr Kulkarni said: 'Helping someone get back on his feet gives us a sense of satisfaction. It's different from material returns.'

The four friends have also set up Moksh, which works with volunteer groups to rebuild lives in Third World countries.

Moksh, another Sanskrit word, means 'liberation from worldly intents'.

This Chinese New Year, they were in Chiang Mai, rebuilding homes.

'We were knee-high in mud and digging, but it was still a great feeling,' Mr Saxena said.

Ms Jessene Lim, 28, also knows what it feels like to forgo creature comforts in her quest to help others.

It is hot, humid and filled with mosquitoes where she teaches English in Timor Leste, but she said: 'It is a young country and has needs we take for granted. As long as I know why I'm there, I'll continue going.'

In 2005, after the Indian Ocean tsunami the year before, the diving enthusiast went with some SMU friends to Surin Island near Phuket to document the damage to marine life there. The data they gathered on sea creatures at varying depths was handed over to researchers at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University.

The group has since extended the project and collected data from waters off Surin, Timor Leste, Cambodia and Sabah.

Ms Lim said: 'I feel proud when my work yields results that lead to better things.'

JUDITH TAN

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Field testing in Malaysia approved for GM mosquitoes

The Star 11 Oct 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Biosafety Board has approved the release of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes for field testing, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.

However, the decision would still need Cabinet approval, he said.

“Clinical trial at the laboratory level was successful and the biosafety committee has approved it for testing in a controlled environment,” he said.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry would present it to the Cabinet for approval, he told a media conference at the 61st session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific here yesterday.

The board had assessed the field experiment proposal from the Institute of Medical Research to release the mosquitoes in Bentong, Pahang, and Alor Gajah, Malacca, in early October.

Male Aedes Aegypti would be genetically-modified and when mated with female Aedes mosquitoes in the environment, it is hoped the killer genes would cause the larvae to die. (The Aedes Aegypti mosquito can spread the dengue fever, Chikungunya and yellow fever viruses).

“We see it as the most efficient and fastest way in eradicating Aedes mosquitoes from our local environment,” Liow said, adding that Aedes is not a species endemic to Malaysia.

However, he said, dengue posed a major concern in Malaysia because the number of cases has increased by more than 25% this year.

Liow said his ministry was taking the disease seriously because it was not only a health issue but also an environmental hazard.

WHO Western Pacific regional director Dr Shin Young-soo said Malaysia is leading in the research in this area but cautioned that care be taken in introducing a new species to the environment.

He said global experts on tropical diseases research would discuss the issue soon and decide on what they would do with the new development.

Mosquitoes v mosquitoes to fight dengue
Australia, Malaysia to release infected insects to stop spread of disease
Ben Nadarajan Straits Times 12 Oct 10;

RESEARCHERS in Australia and Malaysia will be bucking convention in the fight against dengue by releasing mosquitoes into the wild rather than preventing them from breeding.

The number of dengue cases has doubled over the last 10 years and the situation this year is significantly worse than last year, said World Health Organisation regional director Shin Young Soo.

Dengue infects 50 million people worldwide every year and is the fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease.

Malaysia plans to introduce 2,000 to 3,000 dengue-spreading Aedes mosquitoes into two states by the year end. They are engineered such that their offspring will have shorter lifespans.

The Australian tests involve mosquitoes infected with bacteria which stop the transmission of dengue, apart from shortening the already short life of the mosquito.

The infected females produce fewer eggs and older mosquitoes have weaker mouth parts, which make them less able to bite humans and transmit the disease.

Known as wolbachia, these bacteria are found naturally in many insects like fruit flies and butterflies, although not in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the main carrier of dengue. It does not infect vertebrates, including humans.

University of Queensland scientists have received the green light from the federal government to conduct field tests and release the insects into the wild in January.

Project leader Scott O'Neill told The Straits Times that only a small number of mosquitoes will be released into two suburbs in Cairns to mate with wild mosquitoes. The bacteria will pass on to their offspring, 'invading' the mosquito population over a number of generations.

'It Is like a vaccine, but instead of giving it to people, we give it to mosquitoes, and it will spread in the mosquito population,' Professor O'Neill said.

The group plans to conduct similar field tests next year in Vietnam, where dengue is a much bigger problem.

'If it works, it could be a sustainable low-cost approach to dengue control, which will be more environmentally friendly than spraying lots of insecticides,' said Prof O'Neill.

The scientists are also looking at using the same method on other mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria.

International dengue expert Duane Gubler, programme director of emerging infectious diseases at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, does not see any downsides to the new method.

'Most insects, including Aedes albopictus, the secondary dengue vector in Singapore, are infected with this bacterium naturally. I see no adverse effects of adding Aedes aegypti to the list,' he said.

He added that several ways of curbing dengue are emerging. For example, a group in Britain and California has developed a 'sterile mosquito' which cannot fly.

But is it not easier just to kill the pests?

Prof O'Neill said: 'We have been trying to kill mosquitoes for the last century with little success. If we could do it easily, that would be great.'

Singapore's National Environment Agency said the trials in Australia are important because they would establish if the strategy works.

'We need to assess the effectiveness of these techniques and their possible impact on the environment, taking into account Singapore's unique circumstances,' its spokesman said.

Malaysia to use lab mosquitoes to fight dengue
Yahoo News 11 Oct 10;

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia – Malaysia could be the first country in Asia to use genetically modified mosquitoes to battle a rise in dengue fever, government authorities said Monday.

The program calls for genetically engineered male mosquitoes to be released into the wild that would mate with females and produce offspring that live shorter lives, thus curbing the population.

Malaysian scientists say laboratory test trials have made them optimistic.

"It is a pilot project, and hopefully it will work," Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters on the sidelines of a World Health Organization conference in Malaysia.

Dengue fever, spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is common in Asia and Latin America. Symptoms include high fever, joint pains and nausea, but in severe cases, it can lead to internal bleeding, liver enlargement, circulatory shutdown and death. There is no known cure or vaccine.

Efforts to urge Malaysians to keep neighborhoods clean and destroy stagnant sources of water — which are mosquito breeding grounds — have failed, and "innovative ways" are needed to combat dengue, Najib said.

In Malaysia, the number of dengue-linked deaths totaled 117 between January and early October — a 65 percent surge from last year, according to Health Ministry statistics. Dengue infections overall increased 17 percent from last year to more than 37,000 cases.

Malaysian authorities plan to release between 2,000 and 3,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in two areas, said Lim Chua Leng, a Health Ministry official. The plan, which cannot be undertaken without Cabinet approval, would be the first such release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Asia to combat dengue.

WHO Western Pacific regional director Shin Young-soo on Sunday said he welcomed Malaysia's efforts to step up the fight against dengue, but also reportedly cautioned that care must be taken in introducing a new species to the environment, The Star newspaper reported.

Some Malaysian environmentalists say releasing such mosquitoes could have unintended consequences.

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Indonesian environmentalist: Sumatran tigers getting closer to extinction

Antara 11 Oct 10;

Medan (ANTARA News) - Sumatran tigers are getting closer to extinction as evidence showed that their habitats are rapidly decreasing, an environmentalist said.

"Forest encroachments by irresponsible people have been on the rise in Sumatra in recent years in addition to illegal forest clearings making way for plantations," Rasyid Assaf Dongoran, director of the Sumatra Rainforests Institute (SRI) said on Sunday.

Sumatran tigers, Dongoran added, would not survive more years if their habitats continued to reduce making them increasingly difficult find food. He said only around 400 tigers were left in Sumatran forests.

"These rare animal species in Sumatra are sure to become extinct sooner or later, as the result of continued illegal forest encroachments in the name of economic development," Dongoran pointed out.

Dongoran added that reports on forest destruction and the tree felling had become daily consumption to the public in provinces of Sumatra, from Aceh to Lampung.
This dismaying fact adds to the previous announcement by the local administrations on the legal clearance of forested land making way for oil palm plantations.

"If the forest degradation rate increased unchecked because the lack of serious attention of the government and the society, the extinction would sure to come," Dongoran said. (*)

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Some Selangor residents unhappy that group is feeding primates

Fazleena Aziz The Star 11 Oct 10;

THE Selangor Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has been in talks with residents of Taman TAR and Taman TAR Committee Care for the Environment and Wildlife in Ampang on the problem of monkeys and wild boars in the area.

StarMetro had featured the wildlife-friendly group, which has been feeding the monkeys and wildboars in nearby jungle for about three years.

Some residents are unhappy with the group’s activities as there is a signboard by the Federal Territory Perhilitan forbidding the feeding of monkeys and animals.

Selangor Perhilitan director Rahmat Topani said a committee would evaluate all the concerns by both the residents and group before taking action following a meeting held on Sept 29 with both parties.

“We have heard views from both parties and need to do a bit of research in the area.

“It was not advisable to feed the monkeys because they become dependent and their generation will face problems in finding food later,” he said, adding the animals might venture further in search of food from their habitat.

He said there are about 40 wild boars and 200 monkeys in the jungle.

Rahmat also spoke about the neutering programme by Perhilitan to curb the increasing monkey population in the Klang Valley.

The programme, at the pilot stage now, is conducted by the Biodiversity Conservation Department. It involves chemical castration and vasectomy done in a laboratory.

He said for Selangor, they would start with Bukit Gasing.

“It is not a simple task because we have to train our officers to do the job.

“We also have to look at the number of monkeys before and after the programme,” he said.

The number of complaints involving monkeys has reduced over the years.

Some of the action taken involved relocating the monkeys to other jungles and killing the aggressive ones.

When asked about monkey behaving aggressively especially with the recent case in Seremban involving a new-born baby which was fatally bitten, Rahmat said it was possible for the animals to become aggressive but was not able to comment on the tragic incident.

“Generally, if they become aggressive, it must have been provocated. This is why it is dangerous to feed the animals because they are used to it and will try to grab the food or even a woman’s purse,” he said.

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