Best of our wild blogs: 9 Mar 19

FREE visit to Raffles Lighthouse: March and April 2019
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

EIA discussed in Parliament – what it means for Love MacRitchie
Love MacRitchie

NSS Kids’-ESN Fun with Birds & Butterflies
Fun with Nature

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Parliament: Action plan to give youth more say in shaping Singapore's future

Tiffany Fumiko Tay Straits Times 8 Mar 19;

SINGAPORE - More power to shape the future of the country will be placed in the hands of Singapore's youth, under a new initiative that will allow them to highlight issues they care about and propose solutions.

A panel will be formed to help articulate a youth vision for the Republic in 2025 and create an action plan to achieve it, Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Sim Ann said in Parliament on Friday (March 8). The ministry defines youth as those between the ages of 15 and 35.

Appointed youth leaders from various sectors and organisations will engage their peers in developing the SG Youth Action Plan, Ms Sim said during the debate on her ministry's budget. The plan will identify priority areas, which may range from jobs and employment to mental health, she added.

Opportunities will also be created for young people to provide policy recommendations and create partnership projects with government and other stakeholders. The panel will be formed by the middle of this year and jointly led by Ms Sim and a youth leader, who has yet to be named.

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Malaysia: 35 treated for methane poisoning after illegal waste dumping in Johor's Pasir Gudang

Channel NewsAsia 7 Mar 19;

JOHOR BAHRU: Thirty-five people, mostly students, have been hospitalised after breathing in methane from chemical waste that had been illegally dumped into a river in Pasir Gudang.

Those who fell ill were students and canteen workers from two schools, which were ordered shut on Thursday (Mar 7) while investigations take place.

"Twenty-one people are warded at the Sultan Ismail Hospital here including three in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), five are being treated at the emergency unit of the hospital while the rest were given outpatient treatment and allowed to go home," said Johor Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Sahruddin Jamal.

"All of them, aged from seven to 40 years, are reported to be stable."

Dr Sahruddin had said earlier on Thursday that eight people were in critical condition. A student had fainted and five more started vomiting after breathing in methane on Thursday morning.

A tanker lorry is believed to have dumped chemical waste into the Kim Kim River in Johor on Wednesday morning.

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Body of warm water in Indian Ocean heading to Malaysia

The Star 7 Mar 19;

PETALING JAYA: A conservation group monitoring coral in Malay­sian waters has warned of a body of warm water forming in the Indian Ocean which can lead to coral bleaching.

Reef Check Malaysia general manager Julian Hyde said a review of information from the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmo­spheric Administration (NOAA) showed that the body of warm water was slowly moving eastwards towards Malaysia.

“We haven’t had reports of bleaching yet. It’s a little early.

“For bleaching to start, there needs to be several consecutive weeks of warm water, which requi­res an even more extended stretch of hot weather. So far, nothing yet,” he said in a statement yesterday.

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Malaysia: Counter measures to take effect if dry weather persists

intan amalina mohd ali The Star 8 Mar 19;

GEORGE TOWN: Dry weather control measures will be initiated if the hot weather persists over the next two months, said Penang Water Supply Corporation Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa.

He said the measures include initiating an emergency drawdown of raw water from the Mengkuang Dam, requesting Kedah to release more water into Sungai Muda and appealing for cloud seeding from the federal government as well as seeking a delay in the padi planting season so that more raw water can be used for water supply purposes.

“Among the actions taken to ensure no water rationing are the daily monitoring on Penang dams, Sungai Muda and the Kedah dams that release water into Sungai Muda, minimising raw water drawdowns from the Ayer Itam Dam and pumping water from other sources to meet water demand in the Ayer Itam and Paya Terubong areas,” he said.

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