A Quiet Morning at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR)
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
Adult Little Heron attacking juvenile
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Activists target major snack makers over 'conflict' palm oil
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler
Neo Chai Chin Today Online 14 Sep 13;
SINGAPORE — A monitoring system to detect noisy vehicles on the roads and unmanned aerial vehicles to inspect high spaces like roof gutters for mosquito-breeding spots.
These are two of the solutions being explored by the National Environment Agency (NEA), as part of efforts to better detect and tackle a myriad of bugbears, ranging from illegal hawkers to mysterious ambient odours.
A Noisy Vehicle Monitoring System, for instance, is being piloted at an undisclosed location. It aims to use directional microphones installed on road lanes and video technology to capture the licence plate numbers of vehicles that make excessive noise.
The pilot will go on for at least another year, given the extensive tests needed to get a shipshape system in place, said NEA Deputy Chief Executive (Technology and Corporate Development) Joseph Hui Kim Sung.
Outlining new detection capabilities being developed by the agency yesterday at the World Engineers Summit, Mr Hui said it is now operating in a more challenging environment. The Republic is getting more compact and urbanised and feeling the impact of climate change, and the NEA has to deal with extreme events and crises like mass food poisoning, oil spills, the haze and nuclear incidents happening in Singapore and other countries.
At the same time, the authorities are facing the need for greater transparency, accountability and public consultation, said Mr Hui, who was giving a presentation on integrated environmental management systems.
Speaking to TODAY, Mr Hui cautioned that these projects are in the test-bedding stage. “Hopefully 50 per cent of them work out,” he said. “We have to recognise there’ll be some that may not work out, but at least we try.”
The project in its earliest stages is an “E-Nose” system that could help detect odours, enabling the authorities to trace the source early and nip any problems in the bud. “From time to time, we get complaints from the public that there is this smell in the air, and they don’t know where it comes from and they want something to be done about it,” he said. He added that the project has yet to be piloted, adding that odours are complex and can consist of many different compounds.
Already being piloted is a system to detect illegal hawkers. The aim is for portable cameras and video analytics to accurately alert the authorities to unauthorised vendors who set up shop temporarily at various locations.
Also on trial are unmanned aerial vehicles that could help public health officers to inspect rooftops, rain gutters and other inaccessible places for mosquito-breeding spots.
And to get “a better grip of the noise situation in Singapore”, the NEA is working with researchers on wireless sensors to map ambient noise in heartland areas and along roads in real time. The technology being tried will be cheaper and more efficient than what is currently used — but details are under wraps for now as it has not been patented, said Mr Hui.
The NEA hopes to channel air, water and land monitoring data into an integrated system. The information will then be processed and used in modelling to help forecast environmental conditions the public can expect for the next few hours.
Kishore Mahbubani, For The Straits Times 14 Sep 13;
A FEW weeks ago, on Aug 28, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the famous speech given by Martin Luther King Jr entitled "I have a dream". He said: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character."
The goal of his speech was to open the roads to advancement for his fellow black citizens. I too have a dream for my fellow Singaporeans. However, while the goal of his speech was to open the roads to advancement, my goal is to close the roads to advancement for my fellow citizens. The only difference between him and me is that while he was speaking metaphorically, I am speaking literally. We do not need many more physical roads or much more physical road space in Singapore.
One undeniable hard truth of Singapore is that we live in one of the smallest countries in the world. This is also why we have one of the most expensive land costs in the entire world. Apart from Monaco, no other United Nations member state has land as expensive as Singapore has per square foot. Hence, we should value every square foot. Every square foot we give up to road space is a square foot taken away from other valuable uses: pedestrian walkways, bike paths, green parks and so on.
To be fair to our road planners, they are caught in a bind because Singapore is continuing to grow its population of cars. If we expand the number of cars, we have no choice but to expand the amount of roads to carry more cars. So the real solution is to reduce the demand for more cars in Singapore. How do we do this?
The problem here is that a car remains an essential part of the Singapore dream. Yet, if every Singaporean achieves his or her dream, we will get a national nightmare. To prevent this national nightmare from happening, we have created harsh policies to raise prices and reduce the demand for cars.
Status symbols
PARADOXICALLY, the high prices of cars have made them even more desirable as status symbols. This is why luxury brands trump cheap brands in Singapore sales. If the desirability of cars keeps rising, our efforts to curtail car ownership will be as successful as a dog chasing its tail.
So what is the alternative solution? The solution is obvious: Change the Singapore dream!
Yes, almost every Singaporean reading this article will laugh out loud at this suggestion. How can any well-off Singaporean deprive himself of a car? It serves as the most reliable form of transportation as well as a powerful status symbol. The minute you own a car, especially a Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Lexus, your friends know that you have arrived.
But for 10 years of my life, I have actually lived on another even more crowded tiny island where it is not rational to own a car. In fact, it is considered downright stupid to buy and own a car if you live in Manhattan. All this came home clearly to me one evening in Manhattan when I saw the former chairman of Citibank, Mr Walter Wriston, and his wife Kathryn standing on First Avenue with their arms raised and trying to hail a cab.
Clearly, Mr Wriston was then one of the richest men on our planet. He could have easily bought a car in Manhattan. Yet, it just did not make sense.
The eco-system of public transport that Manhattan had created with a combination of subway trains, public buses and readily accessible taxis meant that in a crunch you could get anywhere in Manhattan using public transport.
More significantly, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, another clearly very rich man, used to take a subway train to work in Manhattan.
The former mayor of Colombian capital Bogota, Mr Enrique Penalosa, put it very well when he said: "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation."
I have been to Bogota. When I visited it in 1992, the city was so unsafe that I was given a private bodyguard to walk down its equivalent of Orchard Road. Mr Penalosa transformed the city so much that Latino Fox News described him as "one of the world's pre- eminent minds on making modern cities more liveable."
Mr Penalosa is quoted as saying: "When we talk about car-free cities, we're not talking about some hippie dream. Not only do they exist, but they also are the most successful cities on the planet. The ones where the real estate is the most valuable, the ones that attract most tourists, the most investment, the ones that generate the most creative industries."
There was a time when Singapore's experiments in improving its urban environment would get global attention. Today, it is a man like Mr Penalosa, with bigger dreams than our dreams, who is described by Latino Fox News as a man whose "work and ideas have gained him international attention and a loyal fan base that includes New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg".
Mr Paul Steely White, executive director of New York City's Transportation Alternatives, has also said about New York City that "the way the streets of the greatest city in the world are being used is changing fundamentally… People are beginning to understand that it's entirely possible and really very desirable to lead a life without being tethered to an automobile".
We therefore have to replace the Singapore dream with the Manhattan or Bogota dream.
We have to give up this insane dream of owning a car and replace it with an ecosystem of a public transport system that makes it irrational to own a car.
Singapore's failure
AND this is probably one of Singapore's biggest failures in its first 50 years: We have failed to develop a world-class ecosystem of public transport. We do have a good public transport network, but this has not kept pace with the population's expectations, which include a more reliable MRT system with fewer breakdowns, predictable bus services, taxis available in thundery showers, and pools of electric cars for ready rental.
So why did we fail? The answers must be complex. But one fundamental error could be simple. We expected every artery of this ecosystem to be financially viable. The disastrous result of looking at each artery and not looking at the ecosystem as a whole is that while each artery made sense in isolation, the combination did not result in a good ecosystem. Even more dangerously, by looking at each unit in isolation, we did not consider its impact on the island or the nation as a whole.
Let me give a specific example from the area of expanding road space. Many Singaporeans of my generation are still puzzled that the road planners of Singapore destroyed our precious National Library on Stamford Road to build a little tunnel under Fort Canning to save two minutes of driving time. The road planners who designed this tunnel had no idea that they were effectively shooting a bullet through the soul of Singapore by destroying the National Library.
This is why we have to be fair to our road planners. The only key performance indicator (KPI) given to them is to make traffic flow smoothly. With this KPI, it is logical to build more roads or expand road space. Hence, it was perfectly natural for our road planners to announce recently that Clementi Road and the Pan-Island Expressway would be expanded. I am sure many motorists who use that stretch of road daily will approve. But when do we say that enough is enough?
This is why we need a new dream. Does this mean Singaporeans will stop driving cars?
Absolutely not. My dream is to walk out of my house, use a smart card to pick up an electric car on rent and drive it anywhere I want to. We can replace car ownership with car pools. In fact, other cities have begun trying this. In Vauban, a suburb of Freiburg, Germany, 70 per cent of residents choose to live without private cars due to excellent city planning and a car sharing system. Before you scoff at electric cars, let me tell you that electric cars have faster torque than petrol-driven cars.
In short, we can have an alternative dream for Singapore. Let us dream of an island with fewer cars and fewer roads. It will be closer to being paradise on earth.
The writer is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
We need more parks, not more carparks
Straits Times 18 Sep 13;
I AGREE with Professor Kishore Mahbubani that we "do not need many more physical roads or much more physical road space in Singapore", and should "reduce the demand for more cars" ("Fewer cars, fewer roads"; last Saturday).
Singapore should have more green parks and not more roads, expressways and carparks.
Any tweak to the certificate of entitlement system cannot appease everyone. In fact, Singaporeans should stop dreaming about owning cars.
Driving in Singapore has become a nightmare and taking public transport is frustrating.
What the Government should do is reward those who take public transport.
It can further increase road taxes, parking fees and Electronic Road Pricing charges, and use the revenue collected to subsidise public transport fares.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) could create bus lanes on all roads and expressways, so that buses are not caught in frequent traffic jams, which is often the case now.
When public transport is convenient, affordable and reliable, more car owners may be willing to ditch their vehicles and make the switch.
The LTA should also look into improving car-sharing schemes and put more taxis on the road.
Cemeteries, parks and other green spaces should not have to make way for more roads.
Lim Hock Chye
Janice Tai Straits Times 14 Sep 13;
COMMUNITY groups that champion the preservation of history and heritage will soon be able to get more help from the Government.
Beyond funding support, they will be given access to national archives and assistance in curating items or organising exhibitions. More details will be announced at the end of the year.
"Sometimes the community groups would need some support in terms of research or in determining the heritage value of a building and we will be happy to support them," said Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong on the sidelines of the launch of My Queenstown Festival last night.
The two-week festival is organised by civic society My Community and Queenstown's Citizens Consultative Committee to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the naming of Singapore's first satellite housing estate.
While promising other avenues of support by the Government for community groups, Mr Wong was quick to add that these groups should still take the lead for ground-up initiatives.
"I think a lot of the curation of the memories, collecting of artefacts and what is personally meaningful to the individual and community must come from the ground up," said Mr Wong. "The Singapore story should not just be a story that is at the national level and detached from Singaporeans."
That is why Singapore's 50th anniversary celebrations will see more localised events within the community, said Mr Wong, who visited an exhibition that showcased sketches done of historic buildings in Queenstown. He also joined popular 1960s local band The Quests onstage for a singalong.
My Queenstown Festival will feature 18 plays, gigs, performances and exhibitions at various locations in Queenstown to showcase its history.
Government to provide more support to preserve Singapore heritage
Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 13 Sep 13;
SINGAPORE: The government will announce more measures to support Singapore's heritage towards the year-end, said Acting Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong.
He said the support may come in the form of assistance for community groups, for example, to conduct research on the heritage of a particular area.
Mr Wong was speaking on the sidelines of "My Queenstown Festival", an event marking Queenstown's 60th birthday.
Queenstown is Singapore's first satellite estate.
Mr Wong said it is important for the nation's story to be personally meaningful to everyone through the recollection of past memories.
He added that the government wants to encourage every place to have its own heritage and identity through ground-up initiatives.
Mr Wong said: "What we will do as a ministry and in NHB -- in the National Heritage Board, is to support these ground-up initiatives. We've provided more funds for community initiatives like this and we hope that all the different community groups in all the different parts of Singapore will organise… and do more of these (events)."
- CNA/gn
Rachel Chang Straits Times 14 Sep 13;
SINGAPOREAN and Malaysian officials are due to go over a feasibility study on the proposed high-speed rail link with Kuala Lumpur when they meet next month.
A Ministry of Transport spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday that "Singapore looks forward to Malaysia sharing its feasibility study" on the rail link that is targeted for completion in 2020.
The study has been undertaken by Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission, the authority in charge of the mega infrastructure project.
In July, Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri said in a Parliament sitting there that the report would include a detailed technical and engineering assessment as well as costs, financing, operations and economic benefits.
The link, first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in February, should cut down travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes, compared to over four hours by road.
Official negotiations between Singapore and Malaysia are expected to commence soon, although there have been conflicting reports in the Malaysian press about the Government's timeline for the project.
Bernama reported on Tuesday that the Malaysian Land Public Transport Commission aims to wrap up negotiations with Singapore on the project by the third or fourth quarter of next year.
But The Star reported on Wednesday that its chief executive Mohd Nur Kamal said that "we are targeting to (complete the negotiations) somewhere between the third and fourth quarters of this year".
He has also been quoted as saying that tenders for the project will open next year.
Next month's meeting will be under the ambit of the Joint Ministerial Committee on Iskandar Malaysia, which has been tasked to look into the details of the project.
Straits Times 14 Sep 13;
GEORGE TOWN - Eight years ago, soon after a massive reclamation was completed along the Tanjung Tokong seafront, people in Penang began to notice tidal changes and ugly mudflats at the Gurney Drive shoreline.
The real cause of that damage is still not known.
But fresh fears of environmental damage have arisen following the recent announcement of new development plans by property developer Eastern and Oriental (E&O).
According to these plans, Penang - now a turtle-shaped island - will have its shape altered when E&O starts on the second phase of the Seri Tanjung Pinang development. The project includes a new kidney-shaped, 307ha island in front of the Straits Quay retail marina, built in the first phase.
Reclamation works at Gurney Drive will push the island's coast out by 80m to 100m, the New Straits Times said in a recent report.
There are fears that the marine environment will be made worse by this new reclamation, which at an estimated cost of RM25 billion (S$9.6 billion) will quite possibly be the biggest single development project to massively affect the lives of Penang residents, some commentators say.
At a recent public dialogue, the project's proponents maintained that the waterway between the first and second phase of the project, called the "flushing channel", would have a high enough velocity of water to help keep the channel open, while reducing sedimentation and erosion.
But some residents remain jittery, according to news website fz.com.
Ecologist Leong Yueh Kwong, a former director of the Penang Institute and chairman of its Centre for Habitat and Environment, summed up the public's concerns when he said that the environmental impact assessment for the first phase had stated that there would be no adverse environmental impact that could not be mitigated against.
"And we all know the consequences of the first phase of the development, which is sedimentation and siltation of the whole of Gurney Drive and other areas," he said.
He pointed out that the second phase of the project was not only twice the size of the first, but also located out at sea.
There are also concerns about the destruction of biodiversity.
An estimated 2.2 million cubic metres of materials would be dredged from the sea, affecting marine habitats.
It is estimated that the seabed life would take three years to recover, the New Straits Times report said.
(AFP) Google News 13 Sep 13;
HONG KONG — Hong Kong's government said Friday it would stop serving shark fin at official functions as "a good example", following years of lobbying by conservation groups.
The southern Chinese city is one of the world's biggest markets for shark fin, which is viewed by many Asians as a delicacy and is often served as a soup at expensive Chinese banquets.
Along with shark fin, bluefin tuna will also fall under the ban, which was prompted by what authorities called "conservation concerns".
"The exclusion of these... items from official menus is a start and also serves as an example of raising public education and awareness on sustainability," a government spokesman said in a press release.
"The government is determined to take the lead and set a good example on this front," he said.
Trade in shark fin is not regulated in Hong Kong except for three species -- basking shark, great white shark and whale shark -- where the trade is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Hong Kong is a signatory.
More than 70 million sharks are killed every year, with Hong Kong importing about 10,000 tonnes annually for the past decade, according to environmental group WWF. Most of those fins are then exported to mainland China.
Shark conservationists applauded the government's move saying it was a step towards ending the trade globally.
"Today's decision is another important milestone towards ending shark mortality globally," Program Manager at Hong Kong Shark Foundation Emma Kong said in a statement, adding shark conservation momentum in the city had been building for years.
"After almost a decade of advocacy in the form of petitions, protest marches, letter writing and media campaigns, the Hong Kong government has finally seen fit to do the right thing -- for which we applaud them," Alex Hofford, the executive director of Hong Kong-based marine conservation group MyOcean, told AFP.
"We hope the citizens of Hong Kong can follow suit and finally lay this abhorrent tradition to rest," Hofford said.
"The announcement is particularly significant as Hong Kong is the world's largest shark fin market, representing approximately 50 percent of the global trade" said Joshua Reichert, the executive vice president of the Pew Charitable Trusts said.
Reichert also said populations of Pacific bluefin had declined around 96 percent, according to a recent study.
Campaigners say the trade has left up to a third of open-water species on the brink of extinction.
Marine conservationists expressed outrage in January after images emerged of a factory rooftop in Hong Kong covered in thousands of freshly sliced shark fins.
They estimated there were 15,000 to 20,000 fins being laid to dry on the rooftop on Hong Kong island ahead of an anticipated surge in demand over Lunar New Year in the following month of February.
In January last year, luxury hotel group Shangri-La said it would stop serving shark fin at its properties worldwide to protect the marine predators, following the example of Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotels group, which said it would stop serving shark fins in 2011.
Shangri-La said it would also phase out Bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass, which are under threat of extinction.
The city's flag-carrier Cathay Pacific Airlines in September last year followed suit, saying it was "the right thing to do" in no longer carrying unsustainably sourced shark products on its cargo flights.
In 2011, almost 80 percent of Hong Kongers said considered it socially acceptable to leave shark fin soup off the menu for a wedding banquet, a survey by a shark conservation group said.
Down Memory Lane - Burmese Caerulean
from Butterflies of Singapore
Brown-throated Sunbird sipping nectar
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Sumita d/o Sreedharan and Woo Sian Boon Today Online 13 Sep 13;
SINGAPORE — Changing weather patterns and rapid development have resulted in more flash floods here over the last few years, and though work is under way to tackle the situation, it could take a decade or more before results become apparent, national water agency PUB has said.
Responding to questions from TODAY, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said the amount of rain falling on the island has crept up in recent times — and so have the instances of flash floods, which had initially been described as the result of freak weather.
In 2010, there were 15 days when flash floods occurred. In 2011 and last year, the number was 23 days for each of the two years. So far this year, there have been 14 days.
The NEA said the trend towards heavier rainfall began in the ’80s. “Rapid development and urbanisation, as well as global warming, are likely to be significant factors which may explain this trend,” it added.
The PUB said it has been noting this trend and has put in place a series of drainage projects to control the flash flooding. However, the scale of these projects is such that they will require several years to be built, and results will only be seen down the road.
The most recent incident last Friday led to the unprecedented closure of a stretch of a major highway, the Ayer Rajah Expressway.
In a briefing for this newspaper, PUB Chief Executive Chew Men Leong reiterated that the drainage improvement work is “going to take years”. “It’s not going to happen tomorrow — that’s the difficulty we face here,” he said, citing land constraints.
“We do not have sufficient land to cater to the most extreme storms ... so we cannot eliminate flash floods completely. It is simply not possible but we mitigate. We are confident of increasing resilience and reducing the occurrence of flash floods.”
Since the ’70s and ’80s, when there was widespread flooding, the Government has spent S$2 billion on the drainage infrastructure,
Last year, an expert panel on drainage design and flood prevention measures unveiled a raft of recommendations. Since then, another S$750 million has been set aside to increase drainage capacity.
Following a review conducted between 2010 and 2011, the PUB found that 22 of the 48 major canals here have to be upgraded to cope with the changing weather patterns. The agency is prioritising the upgrading work of 11 canals, including the Bukit Timah Canal and Changi Airport Diversion Canal.
PUB Director of Catchment and Waterways Tan Nguan Sen said that, ideally, the entire drainage system will be ready “within the next 10 years” to alleviate flooding. “But you must understand that it is always a work in progress ... as and when there are new areas discovered, then we will also analyse them and include them in the programme,” he said.
Citing the Government’s move to explore an underground masterplan, Mr Tan said that a possible future solution is to build “deep underground drains” to overcome land constraints.
PUB WORKING ON ADVANCE WARNING
Among some of the initiatives is a flood forecast system being piloted in the Marina Catchment, a 10,000-hectare area where most flood-prone places are located. The system is part of what Mr Chew described as the “next step”.
“We have to figure out if we can at least have some chance to forecast the floods. I don’t think it will be great advance warning but five to 10 minutes (before the flash floods occur) ... it is already very good,” he said.
Currently, the PUB uses a “source-pathway-receptor” approach to tackle the problem holistically. Source refers to areas where rainwater falls and features such as detention tanks, green roofs and rain gardens can be built to retain rain. “Pathway” solutions include deepening and widening canals while flood barriers, for instance, can be created to protect buildings which are on the receiving end of the run-off.
In 2009, after a big downpour resulted in parts of Bukit Timah being submerged, then Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said the deluge was a freak event that “occurs once in 50 years”.
Nevertheless, an analysis by the Meteorological Service Singapore of hourly rainfall data between 1980 and last year showed that annual maximum hourly rainfall total has increased from an average of 96mm to 117mm. There has also been an increase of 1.5 days per decade in the number of days each year with hourly rainfall totals exceeding 70mm, the level of rainfall that corresponds to the highest 1 per cent of hourly rainfall intensity during the period.
Experts pointed to climate change and lagging infrastructure as possible reasons for the flash floods. Citing a report by the expert panel which convened here last year, Dr Winston Chow, a research fellow at the NUS Department of Geography, noted that there has been “statistically significant” increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events.
Dr Chiew Yee Meng, Head of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, said scientific research has shown a close relationship between the occurrence of floods and urbanisation. “The increase of paved areas prevents rainwater from infiltrating into the ground, thus increasing the amount of surface run-off that drains into the waterways,” he said.
Mr Chong Kee Sen, Vice-President of the Institution of Engineers in Singapore, pointed out that the presence of, say, a grass patch reduces the amount of rainwater flowing into a drain by as much as 80 per cent.
PUB’s Code of Practice on Surface Water Drainage was updated this year to require new developments to slow down the run-off — by building features such as detention tanks or green roofs — that would be discharged into the public drainage system during heavy storms. Additional reporting by Xue Jianyue
Some measures the PUB has carried out
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 13 Sep 13;
49 CCTVs in areas such as Orchard Road, Bukit Timah and Upper Thomson to provide up-to-date pictures of flooding conditions
158 water-level sensors to monitor drainage network for real-time updates during heavy storms. Public can subscribe to PUB’s water level alert service
A flood forecast system is being piloted in the Marina Catchment area
S$750 million to be spent over the next five years to carry out 20 drainage improvement projects
Levels of existing low-lying and flood-prone roads were raised
Under PUB’s revised Code of Practice on Surface Water Drainage 2013, developers will be required to incorporate on-site measures to control and slow down storm water run-off from their premises
Minimum platform and crest levels were also stipulated for buildings and entrances to underground facilities (i.e. basement car parks and underground MRT stations)
PUB, NEA on weather patterns, impact of drainage improvement work
Today Online 13 Sep 13;
Are weather patterns changing?
National Environment Agency (NEA): Based on an analysis by the Meteorological Services Singapore of hourly rainfall data between 1980 and last year, there has been a general upward trend in the annual maximum hourly rainfall total — from an average of 96mm in 1980, to 117mm last year.
There has also been an increase of 1.5 days per decade in the number of days each year with hourly rainfall totals exceeding 70mm (70mm corresponds to the highest 1 per cent of hourly rainfall intensity for the period 1980 to 2012). Similarly for temperature, Singapore has experienced an average warming rate of 0.25°C per decade since the 1950s, with more frequent warm days and nights.
The upward trend for rainfall extremes over the past few decades in Singapore is consistent with the global trend towards an increase in the number of heavy precipitation events. Rapid development and urbanisation, as well as global warming, are likely to be significant factors which may explain this trend. It is important to remember that we cannot attribute any single event to climate change. What can be said is that the likelihood of these types of heavy rainfall events is increasing across our region because of climate change.
Has drainage improvement work in certain areas led to rainwater run-off spreading to other areas, as some experts have suggested?
PUB: When planning any drainage improvement work, PUB will conduct detailed site investigations, which include carrying out a topographical survey of the area, checking on the existing drainage systems and reviewing the flood protection measures such as the minimum platform levels and crest levels for developments in the vicinity. The proposed drainage improvement work will be designed such that the drain capacity is enhanced and storm water level in the canal/drain will be lower. Computer simulations are also used to help us analyse the flow of storm water, to ensure that the drainage improvement work, while alleviating floods in affected areas, will not make the adjacent areas worse off than before the work was carried out.
What are specific examples where flash floods have been alleviated because of drainage improvement work?
PUB: Some recent examples of completed drainage improvement work are:
Neram Road outlet drain, which has helped to alleviate flooding along Upper Neram Road
Jurong Port Road outlet drain, which has helped to alleviate flooding along the junction of Jurong Port Road and Jalan Tepong
Roadside drain along Lorong 35 Geylang, which has helped to alleviate flooding along Sims Avenue near Lorong 35/Geylang Road junction
Other areas alleviated by the Marina Barrage include Hong Kong Street, Dakota Crescent, as well as parts of Boat and Clarke Quay.
Rising to the occasion
Tackling floods is about making radical change to infrastructure and expanding our drainage network. TODAY file photo
Both pre-emptive and coping measures are needed to stay a step ahead of floods, say panellists in the extended segment of Thursday’s episode of VoicesTODAY ‘Floods: A natural or a man-made problem?’
Today Online 14 Sep 13;
COPING WITH THE INEVITABLE
Vivian Chua: A flood prediction system typically has sensors to measure water levels at different areas around the island. The key to such monitoring systems is how we can transmit the information rapidly enough to the public so that they know not to go to places where there may be flooding.
Jose Raymond: If you follow Twitter and Facebook, I think there are many people out there putting up photos and videos about what is happening out there, and I think that is key to us coming together and finding a solution to how we can tackle all this. I don’t think people from the Government are going to be on the ground all the time, and I think citizens can play a part. If there is an area around your home which is constantly flooding every time there is rain, they should bring it up. If there is a safety issue, they need to inform the authorities.
Olivia Choong: I also think it would be useful to have more signs and indicators around Singapore when there is flooding, especially for drivers.
Vivian: (On the impact of climate change) We need to be clear that rising sea levels alone will not lead to more flooding — it is a rise in sea levels combined with greater intensity and frequency of storms that pose a greater risk of flooding. We are studying trends in the Asia-Pacific region. The main purpose of our work is to increase awareness of what is going to happen. If we do not study this at all, the Government is not going to be able to find solutions. From an academic perspective, this is basic research.
Chong Kee Sen: Very little is known about the impact of climate change, which is why we brought the World Engineers Summit to Singapore, to understand the potential impact and look for innovative mitigation solutions. The Building and Construction Authority is also looking at how to protect our shorelines from rising sea levels.
Olivia: I understand that there (will be) widening of canals, and barriers (are being built) ... (but apart from that) I think it is always worth looking at other technologies, even low technologies like storm water harvesting.
The National University of Singapore is also conducting research at the moment about permeable surfaces, like roads and tiles.
Jose: We need to get used to the fact that there will be recurring floods and we need to get used to that kind of life. There must be acceptance from employers and schools and we need to adapt. We also need to understand that we contribute to climate change and we need to take a look at ourselves to see what we can do differently. It is about adapting. If you think your business is vulnerable, take the necessary precautions, just like what businesses at Orchard have done. They need to take the proactive step and not rely on someone to be there for them when needed.
THINKING AHEAD
Peter Loon: It can be as basic as making sure people are aware that they should not throw litter into the drains, and having a citizens’ network so that we can keep each other informed. But it is also about making radical change to infrastructure and expanding our drainage network. I acknowledge that rain is a constant phenomenon, but we should be tackling it actively if it seems to be getting worse. This can be something as simple as upgrading and widening drains whenever we start new projects, to cater to more than what is needed now.
We do not want to wait until a fatality happens, and then react to that. (Flooding) affects our economy. When a major arterial road like the Ayer Rajah Expressway floods, it delays people who are getting to work. It is time we put in effort on a concerted level with many agencies to fix this. There are already areas being significantly affected, so we should be improving on the infrastructure and building them on a preventive basis, with the view that things might get worse.
Vivian Chua is an Assistant Professor from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
Olivia Choong is the founder of Green Drinks Singapore, a non-profit promoting collaboration on environmental issues.
Chong Kee Sen is Vice-President of The Institution of Engineers Singapore.
Jose Raymond is Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council.
Catch the one-hour extended encore telecast of this week’s VoicesTODAY episode “Floods: A natural or a man-made problem?” at 5.30pm today on Channel 5.
Floods: A natural or man-made problem?
VoicesTODAY asks: Floods - a natural or man-made problem?
Are last week’s flash floods another sign better urban planning is needed? How key is the loss of green spaces? Should S’poreans have to deal with floods as a fact of life? What are other environmental concerns as development proceeds, including underground?
Catch the live telecast of VoicesTODAY tonight (Sept 12) at 9pm on MediaCorp Channel 5 or join the discussion on http://tdy.sg/voicestoday.
Email voices@mediacorp.com.sg if you're keen to engage in the live discussion by phone or video chat on Google Hangout
External URL:
http://www.todayonline.com/voicestoday
Hong Xinyi Today Online 12 Sep 13;
SINGAPORE — For Shannon Lim, 26, the unusual path to becoming a fish farmer started during National Service. One of his officers had an aquarium in his office, and Mr Lim was tasked to look after it.
“Being incredibly lazy, I tried to automate the biological and chemical processes in the tank by using plants and scavengers to keep the water clean,” he said.
His interest in aquatic ecosystems and water chemistry continued to grow, and eventually led to the invention of the current model that his company, OnHand Agrarian, uses today. “I guess you could say I took the hobby very seriously.”
Mr Lim’s fish farm uses an Integrated Multi-Trophic Recirculating Aquaculture System to raise and harvest seafood more efficiently in tanks, thereby improving waste management and nutrient recycling. Simply put, it involves creating ecosystems in tanks and using the waste product from one species as input for other co-cultured species.
Farming multiple species simultaneously in tanks on land rather than in enclosures in open water is a factor that sets Mr Lim’s methodology apart from the 100-odd fish farms here and most of those in South-east Asia. He believes the relatively primitive state of the industry domestically and regionally presents a huge opportunity.
“There is very little competition in Singapore, since the water conditions on the north side of the island are so poor that the farms there are constantly losing all their fish overnight,” he said. Meanwhile, the demand for seafood here is extremely high, and there are a number of aquaculture experts in Singapore who have been espousing similar polyculture concepts and “crying in the desert for the last 10 years for someone to commercialise their idea”, Mr Lim added.
His way of farming fish also creates a repository for hundreds of marine animals facing habitat destruction. “If any of these animals (are in danger of going) extinct in the region, we’ll be able to replace them. And since we can produce everything so cheaply, when we start doing this on a larger scale, it will no longer be viable for trawlers to destroy seagrass meadows and reefs for seafood,” he said.
In 2009, Mr Lim drafted a proposal for a “zero-waste polyculture farm” to apply for a million-dollar research grant from the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore. He emailed this proposal to aquaculture expert Emeritus Professor Lam Toong Jin of National University of Singapore for his endorsement and found out that the academic had an almost identical proposal for the same grant. They eventually submitted a joint application in 2011 but were not successful.
That same year, Mr Lim developed a pilot farm in the backyard of his house, where he built tanks with a total capacity of 20,000 litres. Fish cultivated there — numbering a dozen different species — were supplied to local restaurants such as Artichoke.
“Most of the initial investment was thanks to a friend, Patri Friedman of The Seasteading Institute, who connected me with several other angel investors from all over the world,” said Mr Lim. He is now developing a 40,000 sq ft plot of land in Lim Chu Kang into a larger farm that will eventually contain tanks with a total capacity of 5.4 million litres. “Once we’re fully funded, we’ll be producing 500 tonnes a year of seafood in our little soccer field.”
To go fully operational would require capital of S$850,000. To date, Mr Lim has raised about S$124,800 and hopes to confirm another offer of S$500,000 later this year.
Getting investors to commit has been challenging, said Mr Lim, adding that several Singaporean investors had changed their minds after initially promising to come on board. Part of the reason for this is the weak farming culture in Singapore, he said.
“Most large countries understand where their food comes from and how high-tech the agriculture industry really is,” noted Mr Lim. “Singaporeans tend to have the view that food magically finds its way across the Causeway and appears in supermarkets.”
Unsurprisingly, his biggest challenge is “convincing people that you can really produce seafood for 25 per cent of the local cost price and half the Indonesian price”.
“Most prospective investors refuse to believe that labour and land account for very little of our cost. It basically flies in the face of conventional wisdom that farming in Singapore can actually be cheaper than in Indonesia or Malaysia,” said Mr Lim.
But he is determined to realise his vision. “I love the sea. Some of my earliest memories are of fishing at Changi with my dad and grandfather. Now that I have a 16-month-old daughter, I want her to be able to see all the amazing things I’ve done and share those experiences,” he said.
Neo Chai Chin Today Online 13 Sep 13;
SINGAPORE — As the region was blanketed in haze earlier this year, Singapore-listed agribusiness giant Wilmar International discussed whether to make its concession maps public.
A key consideration: The value of publishing such information.
Even if the maps — which show areas where the company is allowed to conduct economic activities — are put up, the public would need a trained eye to look at them and the company would still have to explain any fires that occur in concession areas, said Ms Sharon Chong, Wilmar’s Senior Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Fires could be accidentally started or spread from other plantations. They could also be set by independent indigenous communities residing in these concession areas who clear land.
“Sometimes, we wonder if there’s really much value in putting up our concession maps. That’s something we are discussing internally,” said Ms Chong yesterday at the 6th ASEAN and Asia Forum, held at the St Regis Hotel. It was organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
She was one of the panellists at a session called ASEAN’s Resources: Solving the Haze, Sustaining the Future, which discussed efforts of the palm oil and resources sector in achieving greater sustainability.
In the wake of burning-induced haze that blanketed Singapore, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia in June, environmental groups had called for more transparency to hold those responsible accountable, starting with the sharing of concession maps.
Several major palm oil and pulp companies, including Wilmar, have stated their zero-burning policies. But none have volunteered information about concession areas.
The Indonesian government also cited legal concerns in sharing its maps for a sub-regional haze monitoring system.
Panellists spoke about the complexity of tracing palm oil through a fragmented supply chain, the need for multiple parties to work together and efforts to address underlying issues, such as the livelihoods of small farmers.
Consumer products multinational Unilever buys only sustainable palm oil and has pledged by 2020 to buy only from certified, traceable sources, said Mr Dhaval Buch, Unilever Asia’s Senior Vice-President (Supply Chain, Asia and Africa).
But traceability is a challenge. Some firms buy their palm oil from middlemen who have, in turn, purchased it from thousands of smallholders and from spot markets, where goods are sold for cash and delivered immediately. Middlemen may not want to open their books for tracing, and traceability could be an expensive exercise, said Ms Chong.
Mr Lucas Van der Walt of commodities firm Olam International — which has palm oil plantations in Africa but not Indonesia — said it tries to address underlying issues through initiatives that improve the livelihoods and incomes of small farmers.
Other factors cited by the panellists for burning in Indonesia included weak enforcement and illegal land claims.
Asked by an audience member why the companies did not simply pull out of countries where such issues could not be resolved, Mr Van der Walt, Olam’s Manager (Asia Region) of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Division, said this would not fully address the problem: Voids would be filled by other companies and some could be privately held, adhering to lower standards than listed ones.
Asked if Asia’s growing consumption would be ruinous to the environment, Mr Abah Ofon, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore’s Director of Agricultural Commodities Research, said if consumers were prepared to pay for certification, more sustainable initiatives would be put in place.
“We need to be able to reach into our pockets to pay more for it,” he said.
Audrey Dermawan New Straits Times 13 Sep 12
CONSERVATION: Move to preserve its feeding grounds
SEGARI: PERAK witnessed the release of its very first turtle equipped with a satellite tracking device, into the sea off Pantai Pasir Panjang, near here, yesterday.
The 12-year-old turtle comes from the green turtle species.
With the device sponsored by Malakoff Corporation Berhad, the fisheries authority will be able to track its movement and routes taken to reach the seagrasses -- its only source of food.
The historic event was jointly witnessed by fisheries department director-general Datuk Ahamad Sabki Mahmood and Malakoff Corporation's Lumut power plant manager Abdul Rahman Hussin.
Sabki said once the route was determined, the fisheries authority would be able to demarcate and protect it from any possible encroachment by fishermen.
"It is important for us to protect the turtles, which is one of few marine species which provides us with indication on how healthy our ecosystem is.
"And for now, we can safely say that our marine ecosystem is at a healthy level," he said at the Know the Turtle, Love the Turtle 2013 programme initiated by Malakoff Corporation at the Turtle Conservation and Information Centre here.
So far, 11 turtles, including yesterday's, had been released to the open sea with the satellite tracking device, since the project started in 1991. They are from four different species -- green, hornbill, leatherback and olive ridley.
Ahamad Sabki said to ensure the turtle population continued to be protected, the department encouraged fishermen to adopt the Turtle Excluder Device, which allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net.
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