Malaysia: Malacca revives straits bridge project

R.S.N. Murali The Star 16 Oct 13;

MALACCA: The Malacca Government has revived the controversial 48.69km-long Malacca-Dumai, Indonesia, bridge project across the Straits of Malacca, after a seven-year lull.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said finer details of the project linking Teluk Gong in Malacca in the peninsula to the port of Dumai, in Sumatra, would be revealed when all mechanisms were in place.

If implemented, the bridge straddling the busiest international shipping waterway would be the world’s longest, even without including a 71.2km-long highway to be built between Dumai and Pulau Rupat, the closest connecting point.

“The project was discussed during the 10th Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) convened in Koh Samui, Thailand, on Sept 12.

“The forum took note of the economic potential and strategic positioning of the IMT-GT with the construction of the Malacca-Dumai Bridge,” Idris said yesterday.

Insights on a feasibility study on the bridge undertaken by Strait of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd were given during the meeting.

The company had earlier appointed the Hunan Provincial Communi-cations Planning, Survey & Design Institute of China to prepare documents pertaining to the study.

The idea of the bridge was first mooted in 1995 to foster new economic opportunities, especially in trade and tourism, between the two countries but died down during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

In 2006, then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam restored interest in the project by saying that the groundwork for it had started and that studies showed that the bridge was technically feasible.

He also announced that the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China had agreed to finance 85% of the link’s total cost, then estimated at RM44.3bil.

The proposal was submitted to the Economic Planning Unit with details on how the bridge would stimulate economic activities between the peninsula and Sumatra.

However, the plan came under strong objection from various quarters, including environmentalists.

Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof, when contacted, said he was yet to be briefed on plans to revive the project.

Concern over straits bridge plan
The Star 17 Oct 13;

PETALING JAYA: While a bridge between Malacca and Dumai, Indonesia, could be a catalyst for economic growth, the Maritime Institute of Malaysia is concerned about its effects to shipping, safety and the environment.

According to maritime analyst Nazery Khalid, there are grounds to be concerned over how the bridge will affect the smooth passage of ships through the Straits of Malacca, which is one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.

“Ships would have to slow down when sailing through the construction site and traversing under the bridge to avoid collision with the structures.

“This may also affect their sailing schedules, to the detriment of the supply chains and the interests of stakeholders such as ports, businesses, industries and consumers,” said Nazery, who was among a team of experts from the institute who conducted a study on the subject four years ago.

Nazery was responding to the plan to revive the project, which was first mooted in 1995, and then again in 2006.

On Tuesday, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron raised the idea again, which he claimed was discussed during the 10th Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) at Koh Samui, Thailand, on Sept 12.

The 2009 Mima study entitled “A Bridge Too Far? An Analysis of the Proposed Bridge Across the Straits of Malacca From a Maritime Perspective” stated that the shipping community was not comfortable with the increase of transit time through the straits, while the slower speed could increase the risk of being attacked by pirates.

The report also stated that such a massive project would adversely affect coastal ecosystems on both ends of the bridge.

Vital nesting areas for hawksbill turtles on the Malaysian side near Padang Kemunting (near Tanjung Bidara) could also be affected, along with other marine life, as well as the coastal tourism industry.

The report also stated the 2004 earthquake that hit Sumatra, triggering the massive tsunami, served as warning about the safety of the bridge.

“One shudders to think of the effects of a bridge collapse on the marine environment and also the economy of the region,” said Nazery, who was speaking in his personal capacity.

Idris said the details of 48.69km-long bridge linking Teluk Gong in Malacca to Dumai, Sumatra, would be revealed when all mechanisms were in place.

The bridge would be the world’s longest, even without including a 71.2km-long highway to be built between Dumai and Pulau Rupat on the Indonesian side.

Malacca businessmen want say in bridge project discussions
The Star 17 Oct 13;

MALACCA: The Malacca business community has urged the state government to include it in discussions on the proposed Malacca-Dumai Bridge project.

Malacca Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Tan Poh Seng said the government should convene a round-table discussion with local business leaders from all communities before reviving the multi-billion-ringgit pro­ject.

Tan said under current economic conditions, many locals were employed under minimal salaries and matters would worsen with an influx of foreigners via the bridge into the already saturated local job market.

“It would be easier for Indo­nesians to cross over here where some employers might prefer hiring them on lower pay scales.

“Both the federal and state governments should iron out adverse impacts of the project first,” he said.

Tan said the government must be transparent on how the funding from the Exim Bank of China was to be repaid, the period of repayment, the interest rate imposed and the commitment of the Indonesian counterpart on the repayment.

“We have to evaluate whether the local business community will benefit or suffer from the project.

“Local tourists could also frequent the other side more often in search of cheaper products due to the exchange rate between the ringgit and the rupiah.

“The findings should be tabled prior to the construction of the project apart from details like border controls to safeguard the interest of locals,” he added.

Tan said the government should also consider the security aspects of the project as the bridge would make it easier for foreigners to commit crime and escape in just hours.

It's back: Malacca Strait bridge plan
China's Exim Bank to 'fund most of the project' linking Malaysia and Indonesia
Yong Yen Nie Malaysia Correspondent In Kuala Lumpur And Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta Straits Times 17 Oct 13;

A CONTROVERSIAL proposal for an almost 50km-long bridge from Malacca in Malaysia to Dumai in Indonesia is back on the table, with funding lined up from China's Export-Import Bank.

Feasibility studies are starting again for the bridge over one of the world's busiest shipping routes, the Strait of Malacca. The project was previously thwarted by the regional economic crisis and then by environmental concerns.

Now the Malacca state government has re-appointed Strait of Malacca Partners to be the master planner and builder of the bridge, estimated to cost RM44.3 billion (S$17.3 billion).

"The project is definitely on, but it will take time as we are still at the feasibility stage," Datuk Lim Sue Beng, the private firm's managing director, told The Straits Times yesterday. He said approval from the federal government is still needed.

The bridge is to span 48.7 km, with an additional 71.2 km-long expressway from Pulau Rupat, where the bridge ends, to Dumai in Riau province, which is known for its oil palm plantations, including some owned by Malaysian companies.

The bridge will make it easier to transport raw materials from Indonesia's Sumatra island to Malaysia while opening new markets for businesses in both countries.

Datuk Lim said the Exim Bank, an equity partner in the project, has agreed to loan 85 per cent of the bridge's cost. The rest will come from regional sovereign funds and private investors.

The partners, he said, plan to charge motorists US$80 (S$99) each way.

China's Exim Bank could not be reached for comment. Officials at Malaysia's Economic Planning Unit, which oversees national projects, did not respond to The Straits Times' queries.

However, Dr Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli, a researcher from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia who has done studies on the bridge proposal, said planners will have to figure out the impact on the environment and on shipping.

Also, he said, economic benefits beyond palm oil are limited. "Unlike Malacca's proximity to Kuala Lumpur or even Singapore, Dumai is not near any of Indonesia's major cities... The bridge is still not viable enough yet."

The idea of a bridge between the two countries was first mooted in 1996 by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad when he met Indonesia's President Suharto in Kuala Lumpur. Then came the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Over the years, the Malacca government has tried but failed to revive it.

Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said the project was discussed at a chief ministers and governors' forum for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand recently.

Some Indonesian counterparts fear this bridge might rival another29-km bridge linking Java and Sumatra, called the Sunda Strait Bridge. Currently, most goods are manufactured in Java and shipped to Sumatra by sea via the Sunda Strait.

Dumai's mayor Khairul Anwar said a bridge across the Malacca Strait will benefit Malaysia at the expense of Indonesia. He has urged the Indonesian government to hasten the construction of the Sunda Strait bridge.

"We must have that bridge first or at least the same time"


'Bridge project needs careful study'
New Straits Times 20 Oct 13;

JAKARTA: Indonesia is in no hurry to revive the Malacca-Dumai Bridge project across the Straits of Malacca although Malaysia is keen.

The project has been put on hold since the Asian financial crisis in 1998.
Indonesian Public Works Ministry's director-general for highways, Djoko Murjanto, said the ministry, together with other relevant ministries and departments such as the foreign ministry and the National Counter-terrorism Agency, would need to study how Indonesia could benefit from the project.

"We know the project's importance in strengthening connectivity across Asean, particularly between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"But we have to be prepared in terms of infrastructure, safety and security before the bridge can be constructed, as it will not only connect our country to Malaysia but the whole of Asia," Djoko said yesterday in The Jakarta Post.

He said Indonesia was not rushing the project as there was no urgency for it.

The idea of building a bridge between Malaysia and Indonesia was mooted in 1996 by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he met then Indonesia president Suharto in Kuala Lumpur.
The idea, however, was thwarted by the regional economic crisis and environmental concerns.
The project was discussed again during the 10th Chief Ministers and Governors' Forum of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle convention in Koh Samui, Thailand, on Sept 12.
The project will involve the construction of a 48.7km bridge from Teluk Gong in Malacca to Indonesia's Rupat Island, with an additional 71.2km-long expressway running from Rupat to Dumai.

It was reported recently that the Malacca government had re-appointed Strait of Malacca Partners to be the master planner and builder of the bridge, estimated to cost RM44.3 billion, with financial backing from China's Export-Import Bank.
Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron had said the project's details concerning the linking of Teluk Gong and Dumai Port would be revealed when all relevant mechanisms were in place. Bernama

With additional reporting by Kor Kian Beng in China

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2013 Ocean Health Index Shows Food Provision Remains an Area of Great Concern

Science Daily 15 Oct 13;

In the 2013 Ocean Health Index (OHI) -- an annual assessment of ocean health led by Ben Halpern, a research associate at UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management -- scientists point to food provision as the factor that continues to require serious attention.

The OHI defines a healthy ocean as one that sustainably delivers a range of benefits to people now and in the future based on 10 diverse public goals. The 2013 score of 65 out of 100 demonstrates the ongoing need for more effective management of this precious resource.
"I'm encouraged because people, organizations and governments are paying attention to the Ocean Health Index and what they can learn from it," Halpern said. "Not only has the OHI been adopted as an indicator to gauge how well countries are meeting their biodiversity conservation targets, but it is beginning to inform the United Nations World Ocean Assessment and was named by the World Economic Forum as one of two endorsed tools for helping achieve sustainable oceans."

Goal scores out of a possible 100 for categories that make up the OHI ranged from a low of 31 for natural products to a high of 95 for artisanal fishing opportunities. Other categories include food provision (33), carbon storage (74), coastal protection (69), coastal livelihoods and economies (82), tourism and recreation (39), sense of place (60), clean waters (78) and biodiversity (85).

With a score of only 33 out of 100, food production from wild harvest and mariculture (cultivation of marine organisms in the open ocean) was the second-lowest-scoring goal and one of the most important resources from the sea for people around the world. A score of 100 is given for wild-caught fisheries if the biomass of landed stocks at sea is within ±5 percent of a buffered amount below the biomass that can deliver maximum sustainable yield. For mariculture, the number of tonnes of product per coastal inhabitant living within 31 miles of the coast is calculated for each country, and all countries above the 95th percentile receive scores of 100. Countries that have never had mariculture are not scored.

"Seafood is a major source of protein for one-third of the world's population, and it is estimated we will need 70 percent more food by 2050 to feed the growing population," said Daniel Pauly, principal investigator of the Sea Around Us project and leader of the University of British Columbia team of science contributors to OHI. "The score of 33 out of 100 for food provision indicates we are not ready to meet that challenge."

The 2013 OHI also assessed coastal protection, giving it a score of 69 out of 100 and indicating that further declines are likely. Coastal habitats -- including mangrove forests, sea-grass beds and salt marshes, coral reefs and sea ice -- protect coastlines from storm surges and coastal flooding. Forty-five countries that sit in the annual path of tropical cyclones had an average score of 52 out of 100. A score below 100 indicates a decline in area and condition of key natural habitats that protect shorelines from storms.
Among those cyclone-prone countries with a population exceeding 10 million people, the average coastal protection score is only 51 compared to the global average score of 69. The score was down slightly (-0.2 percent) from 2012 and the OHI calculates that the likely future status will decrease by 1 percent in the coming five years.

"Restoring natural protective habitats in storm-prone regions, in combination with sensible coastal planning and creative civil engineering, is essential," said Greg Stone, a leading authority on marine conservation policy and ocean health issues and executive vice president at Conservation International's Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science and Oceans.
Wealthy countries have the greatest impact on industry and policy so their performance on the OHI is important to ocean health, but there was little correlation between their economic performance as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) and their OHI scores. The average score of countries with the 15 highest GDPs was 65 -- higher than the global average, but still not optimal.

"In its second year now, the OHI demonstrates that the areas with the least human impact have healthier oceans, but it also shows that nations who manage their resources better achieve higher OHI scores," Halpern said. "We depend on the health of the ocean for many benefits, such as food, livelihood and tourism, and the OHI indicates that the condition of these benefits needs to be improved in order to provide a healthy thriving ocean for our children and their children."

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Coordinated efforts in aquaculture needed to meet global demand

Global partnership to find sustainable solutions ‘imperative’, FAO says
FAO 15 Oct 13;

15 October 2013, Rome/St Petersburg, Russia – The creation of a global partnership to help ensure that the world’s fish supplies can keep pace with booming demand has received a green light from FAO’s Sub-Committee on Aquaculture.

Over 50 countries endorsed the Global Aquaculture Advancement Partnership (GAAP) programme, which will bring together governments, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to find sustainable solutions to meeting the need for fish products.

Aquaculture already supplies nearly 50 percent – or nearly 63 million tonnes – of fish consumed globally, and with production from wild fish stocks levelling off, it will fall to fish farmers to supply the estimated 50 million additional tonnes required to feed the rising world population by 2030.

But while aquaculture is one of the fastest expanding food sectors in the world with a current growth rate of around 6.1 percent a year, recent trends predict a gradual decline which might see the sector fall short of bridging the gap between projected supply and demand.

“This is an alarming situation and urgent concerted efforts to build a strong private-public partnership are imperative to maintain the current rate of growth of aquaculture over the coming years,” said Árni M. Mathiesen, FAO Assistant Director-General for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

The partnership will be tasked with overcoming obstacles to the expansion of the sector, which include the increasing scarcity of land and water for the development of inland fisheries and the need to step up aquaculture activities in the world’s seas and oceans.

This in turn will require strict governance to safeguard aquatic animal health and conserve biodiversity.

“GAAP will also help tap the huge potential of aquaculture to help reduce poverty, unemployment and socio-economic inequalities through proper planning and development,” Mathiesen said, recalling that around 80 percent of fish farmers are small-scale.

Some 55 million people are directly employed by the fisheries and aquaculture sector, of whom 85 percent live in Asia.

The initiative will now go for approval to the Committee on Fisheries when it meets at FAO headquarters in Rome in June 2014.

Certification benchmarking

A tool to help countries assess whether public and private aquaculture certification schemes are in line with FAO’s global guidelines for certification has also received a nod from the sub-committee, which is the only global intergovernmental forum discussing aquaculture development.

Covering animal health, food safety, the environment and worker welfare issues, the FAO aquaculture guidelines were approved in 2011 after four years of consultation among governments, producers, processors and traders.

“It is overwhelmingly positive that consumers want to see a label on a product showing that it is sustainably produced. The challenge is to ensure certification provides adequate incentives to small producers and eventually contributes to overall sustainability of the sector,” said FAO Senior Aquaculture Officer Rohana Subasinghe.

“Many schemes claim they are within the FAO guidelines, but this new evaluation framework will allow them to self-assess whether that’s true,” he said.

The evaluation framework will also now pass to the Committee on Fisheries for approval in June next year.

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Best of our wild blogs: 15 Oct 13

Upcoming Event: The Green Heart inside the Red Dot
from Green Drinks Singapore

Weaving through Bidadari (Birdwatching)
from Rojak Librarian

Butterflies Galore! : Gram Blue
from Butterflies of Singapore

Copper-throated Sunbird – duetting nesting couple
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Two recces and a meeting
from Caryota Confessionals

Faster cheaper newer needs to be safer, healthier, fair – Story of Solutions from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Fri, 18 Oct 2013, 4.00pm @ CR1: Chua Thia-Eng on “Coastal and Ocean Governance in the East Asian Seas Region” from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

12-13 Nov: Rigs-to-reefs workshop - can abandoned rigs be turned to reefs? from wild shores of singapore

Active restoration of Singapore's coral reefs: a study
from wild shores of singapore

Norway blacklists 2 Malaysian logging companies for 'severe environmental damage' in Borneo from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

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Malaysia: Singapore only operates lighthouse on Pulau Pisang

Sim Bak Heng New Straits Times 14 Oct 13;

JOHOR BARU: The Consulate-General of Singapore stated that Singapore has never disputed Malaysia's sovereignty of Pulau Pisang, off Pontian.

Singapore, however, does have the right to operate and maintain the lighthouse on the island.
In a statement, consul Nicholas Lee said under an indenture dated Oct 6, 1900, the Sultan of Johor granted the governor of the Straits Settlement the right, in perpetuity, to operate and maintain the lighthouse on a specific spot of ground on the island, which remained under the Sultan's sovereignty.

"The lighthouse was operated and maintained by the government of the Straits Settlement, and later by Singapore, which continues to do so up to the present.
"The Singapore government has consistently said that Pulau Pisang belongs to Malaysia, and has never disputed Malaysia's sovereignty," he said.

Lee was commenting on an article in the Streets "Agro Plan for Island" dated Oct 4, which stated that "In 2010, the 178ha Pulau Pisang was declared as part of the Johor Sultanate, ending years of dispute between Malaysia and Singapore over the ownership of the island off Pontian coast.

In the article, it was reported that the Johor Farmers' Organisation (JFO) wants to develop Pulau Pisang as a new centre for agro-tourism activities.
Such a move, besides helping to increase agriculture output, could also attract more tourists into the state.

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The Anthropocene: ‘One problem at a time’ just won’t do

Kevin J Noone Today Online 15 Oct 13;

Take a deep breath. Savour it for a moment. Now, consider this: None of our modern human ancestors ever breathed anything like it — and, the way things are going, nor will our descendants.

Since the Industrial Revolution began, human activity has substantially changed the atmosphere’s composition. Carbon-dioxide levels are higher today than they have been in at least 800,000 years. The amount of nitrogen and sulphur circulating through the Earth system has doubled. The ocean’s pH is changing at an unprecedented rate, reaching levels of acidity that marine organisms have not experienced in the last 20 million years.

Clearly, humans — who now occupy almost 40 per cent of the Earth’s ice-free land surface — are shaping many of the planet’s fundamental processes. According to Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, this shift is so profound that it amounts to the beginning of a new epoch: The Anthropocene.

While some scientists believe that the Anthropocene actually began when humans started farming and domesticating animals, others (including me) consider it to be a more recent development. But, regardless of when the Anthropocene began, it is clear that humanity’s impact on the planet increased substantially after World War II’s end.

TIPPING POINT REACHED

Indeed, around 1950, the world seemed to have reached a tipping point, with practically every factor that heightened humanity’s impact on the planet — population, GDP, fertiliser use, the proliferation of telephones, and paper consumption, to name only a few — beginning to increase rapidly.

During this period, which the scientist Will Steffen dubbed the “Great Acceleration”, the human population became sufficiently large and connected, with high enough consumption, to become a major global force.

In a 2009 study, scientists concluded that, by crossing any of nine “planetary boundaries” — climate change, biodiversity loss, disruption of nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, land use, freshwater extraction, ocean acidification, ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol loading, and chemical pollution — humans would increase the risk of fundamentally changing the Earth system.

Given that these boundaries are closely interlinked, allowing trends towards any of them to continue, especially at the current rate, would drive the environment into unknown territory, potentially causing serious damage to the systems that underpin human survival.

ABANDON THE MYTH

In order to cope with the unique challenges of the Anthropocene, humans need a new approach to management and strategic decision-making. Developing successful strategies will require abandoning long-held assumptions that worked in the past, but that have become counterproductive myths today.

One such myth is that it is best to tackle one problem at a time with straightforward, targeted solutions. While this approach may be appealing, it is inadequate to address today’s most pressing issues.

For example, producing and delivering nutritious food consistently to upwards of nine billion people by mid-century has implications for water and energy consumption, agricultural development and land use, the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, and ocean acidification, not to mention biodiversity loss, such as through overfishing.

Given this, the Green Revolution’s narrow, production-focused approach cannot overcome food insecurity in the future, even though it produced truly impressive output increases in the past.

The world needs an innovative, comprehensive strategy aimed at optimising the entire food system — for example, by improving fertilizer and water use and food transportation and storage; by ensuring that adequate nutrition is accessible and affordable for all; and by changing communities’ eating habits to include less resource-intensive food.

MARSHALL MORE BRAINS

The trouble is that complexity can be overwhelming, so people often prefer to break down complex systems into individual components. Rather than consider, say, eradicating extreme poverty and averting global warming in tandem — and developing mutually reinforcing strategies to achieve these goals — proposed solutions focus on one or the other, undermining their effectiveness.

Of course, addressing interconnected issues simultaneously carries its share of challenges. For one thing, no single person or group has enough knowledge or experience to solve all of the problems afflicting a complex system at once.

But a wider community — including governments, businesses, researchers, philosophers, faith communities, and even poets and artists — could devise and implement holistic strategies. Success will depend on participants’ willingness to cooperate and their commitment to put evidence before ideology.

Thus, the real challenge lies in marshalling such an inclusive community — something at which global leaders have not proved adept.

RETHINKING GDP

A second major challenge is that resources are limited, making it impossible to solve all of the world’s problems at once.

In this context, the ability to prioritise effectively is essential.

But, rather than emphasising one problem over another, the top priority should be building resilience into all global systems. Mechanisms aimed at solving a problem in one system should not be allowed to compromise another system’s resilience.

Another challenge will be to devise new metrics to replace GDP as the leading measure of human well-being. Even economist Simon Kuznets, the main architect of the concept of GDP, recognised that it does not account for many of the factors affecting human well-being; he argued that it should be used “only with some qualifications”.

In the Anthropocene, GDP must be part of an array of metrics for assessing economic, natural, and social capital — that is, the value of the goods and services produced, as well as the dignity of the ecosystems and social structures that underpin this output.

Navigating the Anthropocene effectively and ethically is perhaps the most daunting challenge that modern humans have faced. Overcoming it will require a smarter approach to strategic decision-making and a broader understanding of innovation. It is time for us to rise to the challenge. PROJECT SYNDICATE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kevin J Noone is Director of the Swedish Secretariat for Environmental Earth System Sciences and Professor of Meteorology in the Department of Applied Environmental Science at Stockholm University.

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Mass evacuation saves Indian lives as cyclone leaves trail of destruction

DaNita Bhalla and Sujoy Dhar PlanetArk 14 Oct 13;

A mass evacuation saved thousands of people from India's fiercest cyclone in 14 years, but aid workers warned a million would need help after their homes and livelihoods were destroyed.

Cyclone Phailin was expected to dissipate within 36 hours, losing momentum on Sunday as it headed inland after making landfall from the Bay of Bengal, bringing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph) that ripped apart tens of thousands of thatched huts, mangled power lines and tore down trees.

Authorities in the eastern state of Odisha said the death toll stood at 15 people, all killed as the storm slammed in from the ocean. Most died under falling trees and one was crushed when the walls of her mud hut fell in.

The low number of casualties stands in contrast to the 10,000 killed by Odisha's last big cyclone in 1999.

The building of hundreds of shelters since, warnings which started five days before the storm and mass evacuations - often by force - minimized loss of life, aid officials said.

Almost a million people in Odisha (formerly Orissa) state and adjacent Andhra Pradesh spent the night in shelters, some after wading though surging rivers to higher ground. Others sought safety in schools or temples.

"The loss of life has been contained this time with early information and speedy action of government," said Sandeep Chachra, executive director of ActionAid India.

Indian media commentators were effusive in praise for the evacuation operation and for accurate forecasting by India's Met office. Before the storm, some foreign forecasters had warned that India was underestimating its strength.

Authorities cancelled the holidays of civil servants during the popular Hindu Dussehra festival, deployed disaster response teams with heavy equipment as well as helicopters and boats for rescue and relief operations.

Over the years, organizations like the Red Cross have mobilized thousands of volunteers across the cyclone-prone region, who are not only trained in basic first aid but also help with evacuations and relief distribution.

Drills are organized so people know what to do when an alert is issued, locking up their homes, leaving cattle in safe places and taking only a few clothes and important documents with them.

"The 1999 cyclone was a real wake-up call for India. It was at a time when economic growth was high and India was seen as developing rapidly. It was embarrassing to be seen to be not taking care of their people, even with all this development," said Unni Krishnan, head of disaster response for children's charity Plan International.

The death of at least 89 worshippers at a temple celebrating Dussehra in central India on Sunday was a reminder that disasters with many casualties remain common. In July floods and landslides killed nearly 6,000 people in India's Himalayan foothills.

DESTRUCTION

Phailin left a trail of destruction along the coast, overturning cars and large trucks. Storm surges from the sea submerged farmland near the coast, while heavy rain flooded towns inland.

Along the highway through Ganjam district in Odisha, the countryside was ravaged. An electricity tower lay in a mangled heap, poles were dislodged, lines tangled and power was out in much of the state. In villages, cranes lifted trees off crushed houses.

A barber shop was tilted to one side. The students' common room at Berhampur University was a gaping hole, its facade knocked out by the cyclone.

"The wind was so strong I couldn't get out of here," Gandhi Behera, a cook in a nearby snack shop said.

The Indian Red Cross said its initial assessments showed that over 235,000 mud-and-thatch homes owned by poor fishing and farming communities had been destroyed in Ganjam district alone. It expects thousands of people to need help in coming days.

Plan International said it was concerned about the health and sanitation needs of close to a million people and the impact of the storm on people's livelihoods.

"They cannot stay in the shelters for long as they are overcrowded and sanitation issues will crop up with the spread of diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery, especially amongst young children," Mangla Mohanty, head of the Indian Red Cross in Odisha, said by phone from Ganjam district.

In some parts of the state, people were making their way through destroyed farmland toward their broken homes. Dozens crammed onto mini-trucks and others trudged with sacks of belongings. Mothers carried babies in their arms.

"There are no farms left. Everything has disappeared into the water," said S. Dillirao, a paddy farmer, as he stood on his inundated land.

Seawater had swept into his fields. "There's no way a single crop will grow here now," he said.

(Additional reporting by Nita Bhalla and Sujoy Dhar; writing by Sanjeev Miglani; editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Andrew Roche)

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Global warming will increase intensity of El Nino, scientists say

Matt McGrath BBC News 14 Oct 13;

Environment correspondent, BBC NewsScientists say they are more certain than ever about the impact of global warming on a critical weather pattern.

The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) occurs in the Pacific Ocean but plays an important part in the world's climate system.

Researchers have until now been unsure as to how rising temperatures would affect ENSO in the future.

But this new study suggests that droughts and floods driven by ENSO will be more intense.

The El Nino part of the equation sees a warming of the eastern and tropical Pacific, while its cooler sister, La Nina, makes things chillier in these same regions.

Impacts across the world

Like water in a bathtub, the warmer or cooler waters slosh back and forth across the Pacific Ocean. They are responsible for rainfall patterns across Australia and the equatorial region, but their effects are also felt much further away.

During the Northern Hemisphere winter, for example, you can get more intense rainfall over the southern part of the US in a warmer El Nino phase.

For years, scientists have been concerned about how this sensitive weather system might be changed by rising temperatures from global warming.

Now, in this new paper, published in the journal Nature, researchers give their most "robust" projections yet.

Using the latest generation of climate models, they found a consistent projection for the future of ENSO.

According to the lead author, Dr Scott Power from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, global warming interferes with the way El Nino temperature patterns affect rainfall.

"This interference causes an intensification of El Nino-driven drying in the western Pacific and rainfall increases in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific," he said.

Models in agreement
According to Dr Wenju Cai, a scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), who was not involved with the study, the paper is "significant".

"Up until now, there has been a lack of agreement among computer models as to how ENSO will change in the future," he explained.

"This paper is significant in that there is stronger agreement among different climate models in predicting the future impact.

"This study finds that both wet and dry anomalies will be greater in future El Nino years. This means that ENSO-induced droughts and floods will be more intense in the future."

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Best of our wild blogs: 14 Oct 13

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [7 - 13 Oct 2013]
from Green Business Times

NUS U@Alive Speaker: Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: OUR ENVIRONMENT- Is it too late to save it?
from ECO @ COP

Reservoir Dogs
from Winging It

Cephaly, Fidderly and Tape Flowery at Semakau
from Peiyan.Photography

Plant more forest species for more biodiversity
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Mosaic Crab
from Monday Morgue

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Fewer embarking on Kusu Island pilgrimage

John Leong Channel NewsAsia 13 Oct 13;

SINGAPORE: Fewer and fewer devotees are embarking on the annual Kusu Island pilgrimage during the ninth lunar month.

This is according to figures provided by Sentosa Leisure Group, which tracks the numbers visiting the southern island during the pilgrimage.

Every year during this period, thousands of people take the ferry from Marina South Pier to a popular Taoist temple on Kusu Island.

At the temple, they traditionally pray for things like good health, happiness and prosperity.

This year's pilgrimage began last Saturday, and will last till the beginning of next month.

Although this year's numbers are not out yet, figures from the last three years have shown a downward trend.

Some 47,000 pilgrims attended the month-long event last year, compared to 52,000 in 2011, and about 57,000 in 2010.

Devotees say construction work around the ferry departure point, like the soon-to-open Marina South Pier MRT Station, has caused parking issues.

Temple helper Seet Lay Choo said: "Actually, there is also a shortage of parking lots, and I think there's only one bus that goes in.

“So people who drive, I think they have trouble getting a parking lot. If they take a cab, the cab can't actually go in all the way. So they have to actually stop outside. So hopefully, next year when the MRT is ready, it should be better."

The Maritime and Port Authority says there is alternative parking at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre.

It also provides free shuttle services during weekends and public holidays between the pier and the cruise centre.

- CNA/nd

Fewer going on annual pilgrimage to Kusu
Some say it is inconvenient to get to Marina South Pier to catch ferry
Walter Sim Straits Times 14 Oct 13;

IT MADE for an idyllic getaway off the south coast of Singapore.

Families frolicked in the waves and had picnics by the waterfront, while fishermen cast their reels, waiting to snag a good catch.

Elsewhere, a crowd gathered to watch a monkey hanging nonchalantly on a branch. Others were mesmerised by the tortoises swimming in a sanctuary.

Save for a faint whiff of incense lingering in the air, there was hardly any indication that the annual Kusu pilgrimage season was under way when The Straits Times visited the tortoise-shaped island yesterday.

The tradition, which coincides with the ninth lunar month and is ongoing from Oct 5 to Nov 2, appears to be losing its lustre over the years.

Some 47,000 devotees made the trip during last year's season, said the Sentosa Leisure Group, which manages the 8.5ha island 5.6km away from Singapore.

Mr Ryden Fang, general manager of Singapore Island Cruise & Ferry Services, which exclusively runs scheduled ferry trips to the island, said there has been a drop in visitorship of about 5,000 people each year since 2007.

More than 136,000 people reportedly made the pilgrimage in 2001, while in its heyday in the 1990s, more than 200,000 thronged the island during the season each year.

As of yesterday - nine days into this year's pilgrimage season - about 14,000 people have made the trip so far.

Upon disembarkation, devotees usually first visit the Da Bo Gong Temple, built in 1923 and which houses deities Tua Pek Kong (God of Prosperity) and Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy).

They then make a 152-step climb up a hillock, where three keramats, or holy shrines of Malay saints, reside.

At both sites, devotees pray for blessings for marriage, fertility, health, prosperity and peace of mind, among others.

Fish farm owner Lai Heng, 43, is a pious regular, having been making the pilgrimage annually for over 30 years.

He told The Straits Times: "I used to run a radio-modelling business.

"But I did not know whether to persevere in doing it, given the competitive industry.

"The divination stick I drew told me to move on and now, I am a happier man."

Johor native Koh Hai De, 40, has been visiting Kusu Island with his wife yearly since 1996 "out of habit", he said. On each trip, they pray for peace of mind. Now, they visit with a new addition to the family - a five-year-old daughter.

But for others, the inconvenience of getting to Marina South Pier, from where ferries have been departing since 2006, has put them off annual visits.

This is due to a lack of parking spaces, and dust and trucks from construction sites around the pier. Only one SBS bus, Service 402, plies between Marina Bay MRT station and the pier.

Previously, ferries departed from Clifford Pier in the heart of the Central Business District.

Homemaker Kuistin Yang, 52, said she would visit a temple in Hougang in years when her family or friends were not keen to make the Kusu pilgrimage.

Madam Usha Subrahmanyam, 39, finally visited Kusu yesterday after a break of 10 years, and did so after she learnt of an initiative led by her neighbourhood's residents' committee.

The story has been bleak for long-term observers who work on the island during the season.

National serviceman Isjacob Ishak, 22, whose father is a caretaker of the Malay shrines, has been helping out there since he was young.

He said: "In the past, the queues were so long they would snake all the way down the 152 steps, but this is no longer so."

Madam Chiam Pieh Tiang, 58, who has been managing a bazaar on Kusu Island during the pilgrimage season for 28 years, said business has plunged by half in the past six years.

But Mr Fang remains hopeful that the crowds will soon return.

"It will be much more convenient for visitors when the Marina South Pier MRT station opens next year," he said.

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Don’t let cultural tourism fade into the background

Today Online 14 Oct 13;

The Formula 1 race and Changi Airport’s strategic overhaul to reposition itself amid intense competition are timely and welcomed efforts to boost the Republic’s aspirations to become a choice hub and destination.

However, Singapore has a lot more to offer. Our historic war-remembrance sites do not pale in comparison with Gallipoli, the Normandy beaches and Pearl Harbor.

The collapse of Fortress Singapore was a seminal event of the war in the Asia-Pacific — Winston Churchill called it “the worst disaster and the largest capitulation” of the British military in history.

In a global conflict that ended imperial colonialism and changed the world order, the fall of Singapore to Japanese forces — which were smaller in number — is a compelling story.

In Kranji, the silent pathos of the rain-washed gravestones of British, Anzac and Gurkha soldiers speak of the immeasurable horrors experienced by the sons, husbands and fathers of people in the Commonwealth, who served what may now seem to be anachronistic notions of hegemony, God and country.

And often overlooked is the Japanese cemetery in Ang Mo Kio — the largest of its kind in South-east Asia — where 10,000 Japanese soldiers, including Field Marshal Terauchi Hisaichi, and civilians lie buried in mass graves. The reprisals following the surrender of the Japanese are testimony to the suffering endured by the casualties from both sides.

Cultural tourism is different from consumer tourism. It is about remembering and honouring the past.

Pilgrimages to historic war sites are undertaken so individuals may assimilate the meaning of events that have led their tribe and culture to the present.

The sunken ships off Pearl Harbor are not so much a tourist attraction as they are shrines to the American war dead and a “boundary marker” for when their country entered the most lethal war in history — one that eventually claimed more than 400,000 American lives.

Singapore has a lot to offer the cultural tourist. The coastal guns at Fort Canning and submarine tunnels off Labrador Park all have stories and secrets waiting to be told to a larger audience.

Likewise the maladaptive responses of the British, which led to the surrender of Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival to General Tomoyuki Yamashita at the Old Ford Factory, also offer important lessons in history to people of all cultures.

Tourism mainstays like the Merlionand the Chingay parade — as supported works of the Singapore Tourism Board — have been effective in attracting the tourist dollar. But we should also consider our cultural and historical attractions.

Asia has no shortage of glitzy malls, but the experience offered by Fortress Singapore is about human catastrophe, historic pivots and poignant narratives. Few cities in Asia have a better story to tell than how the “empire” was lost in seven days.

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Singapore must guard against going the way of Venice

In a 1988 speech, then-Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo compared the rise of Venice and Singapore. With two years to Singapore’s 50th birthday, the nation could probably learn more from Venice’s decline.
Tan Sheng Hui Today Online 14 Oct 13;

As our water taxi pulled away from the Rialto Bridge stop along Venice’s world-famous Grand Canal, our audio guide sounded a warning: “Venice is in decline. Once Europe’s largest financial centre, it dominated trade in the Mediterranean with a population of 175,000 at its peak. Now though, this historic city has under 60,000 residents with a quarter of these aged over 64. There could be no more full-time, native-born inhabitants by 2030.”

“Venice”, he added, “might be just a floating museum by then. A shadow of its glorious past”.

In a 1988 speech, Mr George Yeo who was then Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister compared the rise of Venice and Singapore. Two years to our nation’s 50th birthday, we could probably learn more from Venice’s decline.

EXTERNAL COMPETITION

Venice’s decline could be attributed to events after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. Its trade routes were under threat with Columbus’ discovery of America in 1492 and Vasco de Gama routing trades via the Cape of Good Hope to Asia in 1498.

These events significantly reduced Venice’s trade with the Levant or eastern Mediterranean and boosted the fortunes and relevance of emerging maritime powers such as Spain, Portugal and other nations west of Italy.

Singapore faces similar competition. Last month, a Chinese container ship became the first commercial vessel to travel through the Arctic via the Northern Sea Route (NSR). It skipped Singapore and reached Rotterdam from Dalian on Sept 10. The journey took 34 days — 11 days shorter than if it had used the Suez Canal.

If the NSR eventually becomes commercially viable, ships may bypass Singapore (a key shipping hub on the route via the Suez Canal). Singapore has responded by gaining a permanent observer seat on the Arctic Council and diversifying its port businesses.

Meanwhile, the potential construction of Thailand’s own “Suez Canal” across the Isthmus of Kra could save ships up to four days and render Singapore and the Straits of Malacca potentially irrelevant.

Venice also had to compete with neighbouring financial centres like Genoa and Florence. Although it had pioneered the issuance of government bonds and dominated finance and commerce in the 15th century, it was overshadowed by Genoa in the 16th century and, by the 17th century, Amsterdam, which had become the world’s leading financial centre having developed central banking, the stock market and financial derivatives.

In Asia, competition between Hong Kong and Singapore as regional financial hubs has been well-documented, but both should keep a keen eye on Shanghai’s emergence. On Sept 29, China launched a free trade zone in Shanghai with the goal of making it a world financial centre by 2020, going beyond greater trade liberalisation to include investment, financial services and free currency convertibility.

INTERNAL FISSURES

Fissures within society probably also contributed to Venice’s eventual decline. In Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, economists Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson argued that while upward mobility drove Venice’s wealth and power through the commenda (a partnership where capital-poor sailors and rich Venetians shared profits from voyages), this eventually threatened the established elite.

From 1315, the Venetian elite “pulled up the ladder” by instituting a political shift which led to Venice’s transformation into what the authors call an “extractive state”, where ruling elites extract as much wealth as they can from the rest of society. Such states, they argue, are more inclined to fail than “inclusive states”, which give everyone access to economic opportunity.

Singapore must guard against such fissures and remain “inclusive”. We have done well to promote meritocracy in our society. However, as income inequality widens, society must play a bigger role alongside Government to prevent fissures from destroying our societal fabric.

Last month, speakers at a National University of Singapore forum advocated for more targeted measures to address poverty here. In a survey of 383 Singaporeans led by Associate Professor Irene Ng, 60 per cent felt the amount spent on assistance to the poor was inadequate and 70 per cent did not see poverty as the individual’s fault.

Assoc Prof Ng — who concedes her results are not fully representative — also found that less than half surveyed were willing to pay more taxes in return for greater government spending to help the poor. While there is no evidence to suggest that Singaporean elites are “pulling up the ladder”, the need to be “inclusive” is arguably greater than ever before, as the divide between rich and poor widens and our society ages.

Singapore will do well to learn from Venice’s decline or risk becoming irrelevant, broken and a shadow of what our forefathers worked so hard to build.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tan Sheng Hui was an International and Global Affairs Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He now works in financial services in Singapore.

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