Best of our wild blogs: 9 Feb 13

Singapore Biodiversity Zodiac - Year of the Snake
from Darwinian Left. Of all things evolved

High power
from The annotated budak

Read more!

Three Nominated MPs vote 'no'

Leonard Lim Straits Times 9 Feb 13;

THREE Nominated MPs joined nine Workers' Party MPs and Non-Constituency MP Lina Chiam in opposing the Population White Paper, casting a "no" vote though the motion was amended.

Ms Janice Koh, Mr Laurence Lien and Ms Faizah Jamal did so for varying reasons, ranging from the environmental impact of further growth to concerns over whether Singapore could absorb more foreigners.

The vote was taken after Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang called for a division - which means each Member's vote is recorded, in this case by MPs keying in their votes electronically instead of giving a verbal "aye" or "no". Eight Members were absent for the vote, including Mr Inderjit Singh who stood out among the PAP MPs for his strong criticism of the White Paper on Tuesday.

When asked if he had absented himself, the Ang Mo Kio GRC MP replied: "All I want to say is I was not present for the vote." In a Facebook post earlier, he wrote: "I spoke from my heart and will do what I can to change things."

One NMP, academic Eugene Tan, opposed the White Paper in his speech but abstained from the vote after listening to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's pledge to act on the concerns raised.

Fellow NMP, Ms Koh, used her speech to highlight deficits in three areas - psychological, social and cultural - and said that these must be dealt with even as Singapore readies the physical infrastructure for a bigger population.

One, more can be done to assure citizens they are not discriminated against. The figure of 6.9 million people in 2030 may be a planning parameter, but it is hard to swallow it psychologically, given current bottlenecks, she said.

Two, Singapore's social deficit, she said, was a result of rapid immigration, and puts the country at risk of racial and class divisions. Finally, she highlighted the "glaring omission" of the arts in the Land Use Plan, linked to the White Paper.

Ms Koh, a TV and stage actress, noted the White Paper wants Singapore to be a liveable, lively and well-loved city, but does not earmark new spaces for heritage, culture and the arts.

Making a point that was picked up by PM Lee, she added: "It is one thing to build a liveable city. The harder question is how do we build a loveable one?"

Ms Faizah, speaking on Wednesday, accused the Government of stressing economic expansion at the expense of the environment. The nature advocate wants infrastructure plans to undergo an environmental impact assessment and its findings made public.

On Thursday, Mr Lien said the White Paper did not go far enough in restructuring the economy, and the population projections and intake of new citizens were too large.

He produced his own forecasts, insisting they could still bring growth. "We can live with a cap of the population at six million by 2030 and still be very dynamic," he had said.

Read more!

AVA to monitor wellbeing of dolphins at Resorts World Sentosa

Channel NewsAsia 9 Feb 13;

SINGAPORE: The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) has filed an official request with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) to investigate possible animal cruelty by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

In a statement on Friday, ACRES said: "Despite appeals from ACRES and members of the public not to, on 7th and 8th December 2012, RWS went ahead and held fireworks displays near the enclosures the wild-caught dolphins were confined in."

AVA said that it had visited RWS during a fireworks display in January and found that the dolphins were not affected by the pyrotechnics.

It added that it would continue to monitor the wellbeing of the dolphins at RWS.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Marine Life Park (MLP) at RWS which houses the dolphins said they were doing well.

The spokesperson added that the park places the highest priority on the health and comfort of all its animals, and would never, under any circumstances, compromise their well-being in any way.

MLP's facility is designed such that all other activities and operations in the resort would not adversely impact the animals, and an experienced team of animal husbandry professionals constantly monitor the dolphins.

- CNA/al


RWS fireworks caused stress to dolphins: ACRES
Kelly Ng Today Online 9 Feb 13;

SINGAPORE - Animal welfare group ACRES has filed an official request with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to investigate possible animal cruelty by Resorts World Sentosa’s (RWS) staging of a fireworks display near its dolphin enclosure on its opening nights in December.

The group’s move comes after it asked but failed to convince RWS not to hold the 12-minute fireworks displays near to the enclosures of the 24 dolphins in the IR’s oceanarium on Dec 7 and 8 last year. It had also gone to the AVA prior to RWS’ opening, although the authorities found that nothing amiss with the dolphins during a visit last month.

In a press statement yesterday, ACRES’ chief executive Louis Ng said: “ACRES is concerned that the dolphins may be terrified by, or suffer, as a result of fireworks displays.”

The group pointed out that scientific research shows that noise causes distress to cetaceans, a group of marine mammals with very sensitive hearing, including dolphins, whales and porpoises.

Mr Ng expressed doubt that the dolphins were unaffected by the fireworks. “The enclosures are open air, so there is no way the facility could have prevented causing stress to the dolphins,” he said.

In response to TODAY’s queries, RWS asserted that it places “high priority” on the animals in its Marine Life Park. The park facility is also designed such that other resort operations will not adversely affect the animals’ welfare, it added.

“Our dolphins are currently doing well at the park. We place the highest priority on the health and comfort of all our animals, and would never compromise their well-being in any way,” said a park spokesperson.

An AVA spokesperson said it will continue to monitor the well-being of the dolphins in RWS.

This is the latest in a string of protests by ACRES against RWS’ decision to bring in the dolphins which were caught off the Solomon Islands. For instance, it worked closely with Philippine non-governmental organisations to block the export of the dolphins — the animals were kept and trained at Subic Bay, Philippines — to Singapore last year.

In November, the third of the 27 dolphins initially caught en-route here. KELLY NG

Acres seeks probe into fireworks near RWS dolphins
Jessica Lim Straits Times 9 Feb 13;

NON-PROFIT animal rights group Acres has called on the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to investigate possible animal cruelty by Resorts World Sentosa. The issue is a 12-minute fireworks display held near the enclosures of the wild-caught dolphins at the integrated resort in December.

"The fireworks displays may have compromised the dolphins' welfare, as the close proximity and loud noises may have disorientated and distressed them," said Mr Louis Ng, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) chief executive yesterday. When contacted, the AVA said it visited RWS during a fireworks display in January but found that the dolphins were not affected. The Straits Times understands this display was on a smaller scale but at a similar location.

Marine Life Park - where the dolphins are housed - has refuted Acres' allegations. A spokesman said the park is designed so that activities around it will not impact animals inside it.

However, Mr Ng said that it was impossible to prevent the sound of fireworks from reaching the dolphins in an open-air enclosure. Cetaceans - a group of mammals that include whales, dolphins and porpoises - are known to have sensitive hearing, he said, adding that scientific research has shown that noise is a known cause of stress for them.

Acres had previously made an appeal to RWS to refrain from setting off the fireworks.

The fireworks were set off on Dec 7 and Dec 8 to mark RWS' grand opening night. Its Marine Life Park, which opened on Nov 22, has been dogged by controversy since plans to house dolphins there were announced. The dolphin enclosure is not yet open to the public.

Animal rights groups including Acres and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had called for RWS to abort its plans for the dolphins as early as 2009. The calls grew louder in 2010 when two dolphins died at a holding area in Langkawi in Malaysia, and when one of the 25 dolphins died on its way to Singapore in November last year.

When contacted, a spokesman from Marine Life Park said that the dolphins were "doing well".

"We place the highest priority on the health and comfort of all our animals, and would never, under any circumstances, compromise their well-being in any way," he said.

When contacted, the AVA confirmed that they received an e-mail request from Acres yesterday. "We will continue to monitor the well-being of the dolphins at RWS," said its spokesman.

Read more!

More than 2000 live snakes seized in Bangkok Airport

TRAFFIC 8 Feb 13;

Predictions for the Year of the Snake which begins on Sunday, say it isn’t a good one for those born under that Chinese Zodiac sign. It may also be a bad year for its namesake if a seizure of over 2,000 snakes in the Suvarnabhumi Airport last night is anything to go by.

More than 2,000 rat snakes and cobras, packed in blue mesh bags which were in turn hidden in over 200 polystyrene boxes, were part of a shipment declared as fresh fruit.

The shipment had been flown to Hong Kong on 5th February where it was rejected by Hong Kong Customs and returned to Thailand as it lacked documentation.

Thailand’s CITES officials and Airport of Thailand officers co-operated to access the shipment upon its arrival in Bangkok. The boxes were then then inspected by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and found to contain the snakes.

Authorities told a press conference that the shipment belonged to exporter AK International Co Ltd.

The case is being investigated under the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act (WARPA) and Thai Customs Laws. Snake species involved are protected under Thai laws and CITES legislation.

TRAFFIC urged authorities in Thailand and Hong Kong to work together towards determining the parties behind the shipment.

This seizure follows the discovery of 600 deadly cobras in the back of a truck at a checkpoint south of Bangkok last November. A suspect arrested in this case confessed to authorities that he was delivering the snakes to northeast Thailand where they were to be smuggled over the border into Laos.

Zodiac animal themed items are usually in high demand every Chinese New Year. While these are usually decorations and trinkets made in the image of animals, occasionally the animal itself is in demand.

News reports in Malaysia for instance, have quoted pet shop owners saying that they are seeing an increased demand for pet snakes, with one shop reporting sales of 30 snakes in recent days.

Snakes are traded for their skins, meat, gall bladder and venom. Large seizures of illegally traded snakes are common in the region.

Read more!

Malaysian state scales back Borneo dam plans

Dan Martin (AFP) Google News 8 Feb 13;

KUCHING, Malaysia — A Malaysian state minister Friday said the government would not push ahead with building a dozen new dams on Borneo island, acknowledging they have caused outrage from local tribes and environmentalists.

The proposals sparked fears that the dams would destroy pristine rainforests, endanger wildlife, and displace natives in Sarawak, a Malaysian state crossed by powerful rivers with rich jungle habitats.

"It is not a firm plan to build 12 dams. I don't think we will need that. We will only need four," James Masing, Sarawak's state minister of land development, told AFP in an interview.

Masing said the government was backing off in response to widespread criticism. Protests over the years have seen activists and locals staging blockades of roads into dam areas.

"I'm pleased that this type of thing (protests) takes place. Not all that we do is correct, and this shows we need to refine our plans and think again," he said.

The now-complete Bakun mega-dam, which is not part of the new dam proposal, has already been dogged for years by claims of corruption in construction contracts, the flooding of a huge swathe of rainforest and the displacement of thousands of tribespeople.

Despite that, the government mooted constructing more dams as part of an industrial development drive to boost the resource-rich state's backward economy.

Another dam at Murum, also deep in the interior, is nearing completion and two others are in the planning stages as part of the new proposal.

Together the four dams -- at Bakun, Murum, Baleh and Baram -- are already expected to put out nearly 6,000 megawatts of power, six times what Sarawak currently uses, Masing said.

"The protests are becoming more vocal on the ground so (the dam rethink) is a very good development for me," said Peter Kallang, member of a Sarawak tribe and chairman of SAVE Rivers, an NGO that has campaigned against the dams.

However, he said plans for the Baram and Baleh dams should be scrapped as well, noting that the Baram dam would displace about 20,000 people, compared to about 10,000 at Bakun, and destroy irreplaceable forest.

He said SAVE Rivers last month organised a floating protest along the Baram river that cruised down river for three days and was met with support along the way by local tribespeople.

Kallang and other activists have also travelled abroad to lobby against the dams, including meeting officials of Hydro Tasmania, an Australian corporation that advises the Sarawak government on the dams.

The Tasmania government corporation pledged in December after meeting the activists that it would pull its personnel out of Sarawak by the end of 2013, Kallang said.

Sarawak's tribes -- ethnically distinct from Malaysia's majority Malays -- fear that they will lose their ancestral lands and hunting and burial grounds, as the government encourages them to make way for projects and move into new settlements.

Those are equipped with medical clinics, electricity, and Internet access. But village elders and activists say alcoholism, drug use, and crime are on the increase and anger is rising over continuing encroachment on native lands.

In one of the blockades in 2011, Penan tribespeople blocked roads into their lands for a week to protest logging and alleged river pollution by Malaysian firm Interhill until the blockade was dismantled by authorities.

The Swiss-based jungle-protection group Bruno Manser Fund says about 90 percent of Sarawak's rainforests have been damaged as the state government has opened up virgin forest to loggers and palm-oil plantations.

Critics also allege chief minister Taib Mahmud, who has ruled Sarawak since 1981, has enriched himself and his family through corrupt timber and other dealings, and have called the dams white elephants.

Taib has dismissed the corruption allegations.

Critics of Taib accuse the federal government of failing to act against him because his tight control of Sarawak has kept it a vital ruling coalition stronghold.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 8 Feb 13

Bottom of the Singapore sea: it's alive!
from wild shores of singapore

Random Gallery - The Courtesan
from Butterflies of Singapore

Happy thoughts! Otterman’s Holt says “Happy Teacher’s Day”
from Otterman speaks

Catching Borneo's mysterious wild cats on film
from Mongabay.com news by Jeremy Hance

Read more!

Illegal to keep snakes as pets: AVA

Straits Times 8 Feb 13;

WITH the year of the Snake about to hatch, authorities are keeping an eye out for anyone selling or buying these reptiles as auspicious pets.

It is illegal to keep, import or sell snakes as pets in Singapore, said the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) in an advisory released yesterday.

Snakes could be a public safety risk, said the AVA, and in any case, many species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). Anyone caught smuggling, possessing, displaying, or advertising animals in stores or online risks incurring penalties of up to $50,000 per specimen and/or a maximum jail term of two years.

In the last year of the Snake in 2001, the AVA dealt with seven cases of illegal trade or possession of live snakes, their parts and products, which resulted in 46 live snakes being seized.

Since then, the AVA has handled 72 seizures of 231 live snakes, most of which found homes at Wildlife Reserves Singapore. One case of illegal possession or trade is being investigated.

Anyone with reliable information on such activities in Singapore should contact AVA at 6325-7625 or ava_email@ava.gov.sg.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Singapore also urged members of the public to keep snakes out of their homes.

SPCA director Corinne Fong said the society has yet to find specific cases of snake possession and sales this year, but cited past cases of rabbits being discarded after the Lunar Year of the Rabbit as cause for preemptive action this time.

Read more!

Malaysia: 'There's no illegal logging in Lojing'

Sharanjit Singh and Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah New Straits Times 8 Feb 13;

IN DENIAL: Kelantan govt claims area all logged out before 1990

GUA MUSANG: Rampant jungle clearing, hill cutting and river pollution covering massive areas of the Lojing Highlands have continued unabated, a New Straits Times aerial survey revealed.

Huge swathes of highlands have been stripped bare of trees, and there are signs that the clearings had taken place just recently, despite the state government's contention that Lojing had been cleared of timber before 1990.

Rivers are clogged with earth and the once clear waters are now the colour of teh tarik.

Frustratingly, despite concerns over the potential of irreversible environmental damage in the area, the Kelantan government has brushed aside these "unfounded" fears, and labelled them as nothing more than just a "misunderstanding".

State Islamic Development, Education and Dakwah Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, when confronted with questions about the environmental degradation, admitted that land in Lojing -- bordering Pahang's Cameron Highlands -- was being cleared to make way for farms and mixed-development projects.

He denied that any logging was going on there.

"There is no logging being done in Lojing as claimed by the media because there is no timber left there. The area was logged out even before we (Pas) came to power in 1990.

"There are only bamboo and small trees left and they were cleared as the area is being developed to be planted with oil palm and rubber trees."

Amar said the state government had given the green light to several companies and agencies to clear land at Lojing Highlands and the projects started "a few years ago".

However, contrary to his statement, clear signs of ongoing hill cutting and land clearing are going on at the highlands.

Bulldozers could be seen clearing the hillslopes and there were also signs of recent landslides which occurred close to the Gua Musang highway. Amar said the state government had given land in Gua Musang and Lojing to state agencies, including Kelantan State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), Kelantan Islamic Foundation (YIK) and Kelantan Darulnaim Foundation (YAKIN), which later leased the land to a few companies.

He added that development of the land was needed because Lojing was located on high land and bordered Cameron Highlands.

"For Gua Musang, the setting up of the new town will boost tourism in the vicinity."

Amar said the state government was constructing two new towns in Sigar and Pos Brooke, and plans have also been drawn up for resorts in the area.

Pressed on the logging taking place in Lojing, he said the issue of illegal logging highlighted by the media might be a "misunderstanding". Amar said the logging could have been taking place at another area near Gua Musang.

"The media must give details on the area involved before they expose it to the public.

"In Gua Musang, there are few projects that the state government had carried out and they include those set aside for the 'Ladang Rakyat Projek,'" he said.

Commenting on the same issue, state deputy forestry director (development division) Mohd Fauzi Abu Bakar said the department had yet to receive any reports of illegal logging.

He welcomed those with information to inform the department.

"We will take immediate action if there are illegal logging in the state and will not hesitate to nab those involved."

Read more!

WWF plans to use drones to protect wildlife

The green group says by the end of the year it will have deployed 'eyes in the sky' in one country in Africa or Asia
Adam Vaughan guardian.co.uk 7 Feb 13;

Conservation group WWF has announced plans to deploy surveillance drones to aid its efforts to protect species in the wild, as the South African government revealed that 82 rhinos had been poached there since the new year.

The green group says that by the end of the year, it will have deployed "eyes in the sky" in one country in Africa or Asia, with a second country following in 2014 as part of a $5m hi-tech push to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

A record 668 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa alone last year, and a single shipment of ivory seized in Malaysia in December weighed almost as much as all the illegally traded ivory since in 2011, which was itself a record year for seizures. And poachers have kept up their hit rate since the beginning of 2013, according to figures from the South African government. "The Kruger National Park remains the hardest hit by rhino poachers this year, having lost 61 rhino to mostly foreign poachers," a government spokesperson said. "Twenty-one poachers have been arrested, 14 of them in the Kruger National Park."

The criminal trade has become so serious that last year the US intelligence community were ordered to track poachers by then secretary of state Hillary Clinton, with a WWF report in December warning the multibillion dollar trade was now threatening national security in some countries.

WWF's three-year project also involves combining data from unmanned aerial vehicles, cheap mobile phone technology tracking animal movements, and handheld devices carried by rangers, in a bid to outsmart often heavily armed poachers who bribe corrupt officials to avoid patrols and find wildlife.

Allan Crawford, project leader for the WWF Google technology project, who had just returned from the Kruger national park where many of South Africa's rhinos are being killed, told the Guardian: "It's a very scary prospect for rangers … they could run into very heavily armed gangs of poachers, there's usually four or five of them, sometimes with dogs. They've also got wild animals to contend with – one ranger was recently attacked by a lion. They're outnumbered, and sometimes poachers have night-vision equipment. There aren't enough resources to tackle this in South Africa at the moment. This is where the new technologies come in, to help them."

Drones are already being used by conservationists to monitor wildlife, such as orangutan populations in Sumatra, anti-whaling activists are using them against the Japanese whaling fleet, and a charity in Kenya recently beat its target of raising $35,000 in crowdfunding for a drone to protect rhinos and other wildlife in the country's Laikipia district. One South African rhino farmer is even planning to put 30 drones in the sky himself. But the way the three key technologies are being used by WWF is "unprecedented", Crawford said.

A pair of drones will be used in each of the two countries selected, which the group hopes to name within weeks, with plans to ultimately be operational in four sites by 2015, with different terrains. Crawford said the software and drones, which would be operated by rangers or local law enforcement, would "generate a strategic deployment of rangers in the most cost effective way, so they can form a shield between animals and poachers."

The drones would likely cost in the tens of thousands of dollars rather than hundreds of thousands, he said, adding that "if governments wanted to, they could deploy [more expensive] high altitude drones that can stay up high in the sky, and track poachers to get the middle men and whole trade line." The funding for WWF's project comes from a Google grant awarded last December.

"We've got to crack this problem because it's getting out of control," Crawford said. "The poachers seem to have figured out how to get round existing anti-poaching methods." But he admitted anti-poaching efforts could get caught up in an arms race, and that it was a "risk" that poachers may get their own drones. "It will be an escalation like that until we change the cause, which is demand in Asia."

Read more!

World food prices stable, low stocks pose risk of spikes: U.N.

Catherine Hornby PlanetArk 8 Feb 13;

World food prices stabilized in January after falling in the previous three months, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday, but it warned that adverse crop weather could cause violent price spikes due to tight grains stocks.

Global food prices surged in mid-2012 following the worst U.S. drought in more than half a century and dry weather in other key grains exporters, raising fears of a food crisis similar to the one in 2008.

But prices eased in the last three months of 2012 due to expectations that large South American production will replenish tight global cereals supplies.

On Thursday Brazil said it would produce a record 83.4 million metric tons (91.93 million tons) of soybeans this season due to unprecedented expansion in area planted after a disappointing harvest last year, and also forecast a record corn crop.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said its food price index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 210 points in January, unchanged from December.

The Rome-based agency raised its view of world cereal output in 2012 to 2.302 billion metric tons, up 20 million metric tons from its previous forecast, but still 2 percent lower than the bumper crop in 2011.

Its outlook for world cereal stocks by end of season in 2013 remained unchanged at 495 million metric tons, down 3 percent from their opening level.

"We should be expecting excellent crops in 2013," said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian. "But the weather could turn negative, and because we are in a tight situation, prices could react violently and rise," he said.

FAO expects wheat output to increase in 2013, due to a 4-5 percent increase in the winter wheat area in the EU and good weather. However the outlook is less favorable in the U.S. due to dry conditions in some areas.

It said that prospects were also good for the maize crop in South America's main producing countries.

RISING DEMAND

An increase in production is crucial for markets, Abbassian said, because demand is also likely to rise as economies start to recover in 2013.

FAO raised its estimate for world cereal use in 2012/13 by 0.6 percent to 2.326 billion metric tons, up nearly 13 million metric tons from the 2011/12 season.

A weaker dollar is boosting demand for dollar-denominated commodities, Abbassian said, and rising oil prices will underpin food prices in coming months, he said. Higher energy prices increase transport costs which farmers pass on to consumers.

"There could eventually be some support from the energy prices and economic growth could lead to higher animal feed use," he said.

In January, FAO said a rise in oils and fats prices was offset by falling cereals and sugar prices. Dairy and meat prices were roughly stable.

A separate report by G20 food market body, the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), noted on Thursday that maize prices had started to pick up in mid-January on expectations of higher feed use and concerns about weather in South America.

The FAO's index is below a peak of 238 points hit in February 2011, when high food prices helped drive the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.

In the summer of 2012 it began surging to levels close to those seen in 2008, when riots, some deadly, broke out in several poor countries.

(Editing by Keiron Henderson)

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 7 Feb 13

Wild facts updates: Slugs, sharks, crabs and more
from wild shores of singapore

MND's "Land Use Beyond 2030" map of Singapore
from Habitatnews

Storks at Seletar
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

Read more!

Nature forgotten in all the number crunching: NMP

Faizah Jamal calls for a White Paper with ‘heart’, urges Govt to consider environmental impact of larger population
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 7 Feb 13;

SINGAPORE — Speaking impassionedly yesterday on the environmental ramifications of ramping up infrastructure to accommodate a larger population, Ms Faizah Jamal was the only Nominated Member of Parliament so far to oppose the Government’s White Paper on Population.

Pointing out that the debate so far had hinged on “crunching numbers” and economic growth, Ms Faizah, a lecturer and an environmental advocate, said: “There is no mention in the White Paper about the impact of so many people on our carbon footprint, our food security … the cost that Singaporeans have to bear in the years ahead as the pressure on energy and water mounts as we race towards a dream GDP (gross domestic product).”

In particular, she noted how the planned Cross Island Line will cut across the Central Catchment Nature Reserve — an area that encloses four reservoirs and encompasses “the oldest patches and some of the least-affected forests” in Singapore.

Adding that rare and endemic species are contained in the area, she questioned if these forests had to be given up as they “do not seemingly contribute to GDP growth”, and whether environmental impact assessments have been made “to warrant the plan in the first place”.

Ms Faizah also drew attention to the negative effects of land reclamation on Singapore’s coastal and marine areas, pointing out that areas of rich, native biodiversity such as Chek Jawa will be affected.

As such, she also requested that the agencies involved and their assessments be made public for “clarity and transparency”.

While the authorities had announced that about 9 per cent of land will be maintained for parks and nature reserves, both in the White Paper and in the Land Use Plan 2030, Ms Faizah noted the emphasis on the word “parks”, pointing out that it implied “the heavy intervention of the human hand in landscaping” rather than nature itself.

In her closing comments, Ms Faizah pointed out the “limitations of thinking from the head”, calling for a White Paper with “heart”, adding that such a paper would not exist “until the Government addresses the trust issues that have taken a severe beating in recent years”.

Assess impact on nature: NMP
Straits Times 7 Feb 13;

Nominated MP Faizah Jamal says a compulsory environmental impact assessment is needed and should be open to public scrutiny, “so that there is openness, transparency and public accountability”. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

NOMINATED MP Faizah Jamal yesterday opposed the White Paper on Population, accusing the Government of emphasising economic growth at the expense of the environment in planning Singapore's future.

Calling for an environmental impact assessment of the infrastructure plans to be carried out and shared with the public first, she said the White Paper should be one that speaks from the heart, rather than from the head.

"In the midst of all those numbers we were crunching, it is astonishing to me that no mention was made of how all those numbers impact on something bigger than ourselves, the environment," said Ms Faizah, a Nature Society member and polytechnic lecturer.

She said the paper did not mention the impact of a growing population on Singapore's carbon footprint, food security, and energy and water costs, while its building plans would affect Singapore's nature reserves and marine and coastal life in a big way.

She singled out the proposed construction of the 50km cross-island railway line, which would cut through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve comprising four large reservoirs and forests containing rare and endemic species.

She noted that the Land Transport Authority has informed the Nature Society that there is no decision yet on whether the line will be above ground or underground, and that an environment assessment will be made by joint agencies.

Similarly, the proposed reclamation works would mean the loss of rich biodiversity areas such as Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin and mangroves and mudflats, as well as small coral reefs and inter-tidal areas, while choking and live-burying fish, corals and marine life.

Thus, a compulsory environmental impact assessment is needed, she said, and should be open to public scrutiny "so that there is openness, transparency and public accountability".

Concluding her impassioned speech, she said: "We have been very good at thinking with our heads and devising linear systems that are efficient and which run well... Along the way, we seem to have forgotten that, in the end, it is about connecting with people, with our natural environment."

ROBIN CHAN

Faizah Jamal's full speech from facebook

SPEECH ON THE WHITE PAPER AND LAND USE 2030 DEBATE 6 FEB 2013

Madam Speaker thank you for giving me the opportunity to join in this very important Debate.

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry –

Not my words but the wise words of Antoine de Saint Exupery, the famed author of The Little Prince. Words, Madam, that to me mirrors just what is wrong with the White Paper.

From the hasty manner in which it is put to Parliament, the tenor and language of the document, as well as the exhortations for Singaporeans to please hurry up and get down to work both in our careers and in our bedrooms, to bracing ourselves for what can only be a more crowded city than it is now, we are asked to collect wood, and it certainly looks like there isn’t a whole lot of sea for us to long for either.

Madam Speaker it is barely a week since the White Paper and the Land Use Plan was announced. To be debating on what is arguably the most significant and far reaching plans for all Singaporeans within such a short space of time is to my mind, not prudent to say the least.

These are proposals that should be open for public consultations particularly in view of the recent unhappiness over many issues that are now the subject of the White Paper. In fact, the White Paper itself states -
” Singaporeans form the core of our society and the heart of our nation. To be a strong and cohesive society, we must have a strong Singaporean core”. Does this not make it all the more imperative that these proposals be open to public consultations for all Singaporeans? Shouldn’t this serious issue be in fact the subject of the Our SG Conversations so that there is at least a bigger context to all that sharing?

Madam, not only does the White Paper NOT give Singaporeans any longing for the immensity of the sea, the language and tenor speaks more to the head and not to the heart, and I will explain what I mean, and why I think this is a mistake.

It is also based on assumptions that warrant a closer look, from the link between immigration and economic growth, to why it is assumed that an ageing population will be a bad thing.

What alarms me most about the White Paper and the Land Use Plan is the emphasis placed on ‘economic growth’ measured in GDP terms. I know many Ministers have assured the House that this is not the case. Let me explain why I, and many members of the public are not convinced, While there were references to Singapore being ‘liveable lively and well-loved', the tenor of the White Paper is to my mind, utilitarian. It is based on the assumption that our needs, human needs - and in fact I would even go far as to question whether these are even ‘needs’ at all, but rather, ‘wants’ instead - count more than anything else, and that anything that stands in the way has to go. Land, even valuable nature areas, which are in the way, has to go, if humans require it for GDP growth. The words “our population and workforce must support a dynamic economy ' in the White Paper, continues to make Singaporeans feel that we are economic digits rather than individuals whose hopes and aspirations increasingly do not have a whole lot to do with the usual material definition of ‘success’ anymore.

Madam Speaker, well-being goes beyond GDP growth. It is about fulfilling careers, emotional security, equitable distribution of wealth, affordable housing, healthcare and education, and factors in the existence of places that evoke childhood memories, natural spaces , and access to these places, based on the well-proven understanding that these spaces provide physical, mental and emotional wellness which in turn leads to greater productivity at work and strengthen our bonds with people and the environment. In fact beyond what natural spaces do for our well- being and work productivity, it includes the intangible benefits of nature as free eco service providers by being self-balancing systems for clean air, water and land, that cannot always be defined in monetary terms and therefore cannot always be computed through a GDP paradigm and yet, which offers unmistakeable benefits to our lives.

In a PQ I submitted a few months ago, I asked about the fate of the Sungai Road Second Hand Market. MEWR responded that this has to go by 2016 to make way for the Jalan Besar MRT , commercial and residential purposes. Madam this iconic place has existed in Singapore for more than 50 years, and has become entrenched in the hearts of Singaporeans, even the younger ones today, as a place which, with all its mess and quirkiness, has colour and meaning, and appeals to the heart. The letters to the press that ensued after my PQ, the Facebook posts and even a petition to save it shows that this place that MEWR describes as ‘temporary’ despite its existence since the 1930s - which begs the question just what is the meaning of ‘temporary’ - how people feel about a place. To discount that in the name of development, to me, is decision that comes from the head, and not the heart.

Yesterday Singaporeans were told to heed the government’s call to get married, for women to be mothers and have babies. Being a mother myself, , and a single mum at that, I agree completely about the joys of motherhood, challenges notwithstanding.

Yet not once during the Debate of the last two days did I hear anyone talk about our connection to another Mother, that of Mother Earth. In the midst of all those numbers we were crunching it is astonishing to me Madam, that no mention was made on how all those numbers impact on something bigger than ourselves, the Environment. We act as if all that economic growth, all the companies and foreign talent that we want to entice, all the goodies that we desire in life, all the constructon that will happen, does not in fact come from somewhere and end up somewhere, in the environment. Yet there is no mention in the White Paper about the impact of so many people on our carbon footprint, our food security - which as it stands, we are 90% dependent on outside sources and we all know how vulnerable that makes us - to the higher costs that Singaporeans have to bear in the years ahead as the pressure on energy and water mounts as we race towards a dream GDP.

To explain further what I mean by the White Paper speaking to the head and not the heart, I note with concern the emphasis on the familiar slogan ‘City in a Garden’ and the emphasis in the Land Use Plan 2030, on the word ‘parks’. It seems to me that policy-makers have a different shade of green in mind when they refer to ‘greenery’. By familiar definition, the word ‘parks’ and ‘gardens’ have a different connotation from the meaning of ‘forests’, ‘nature areas’, or ‘nature reserves’, with the implication of the heavy intervention of the human hand in landscaping and shaping such manicured spaces in parks and gardens compared to the designs from nature, with its own sensibilities, intelligence and ability to correct and balance itself, ‘wild’ and unkempt though they may look on the surface.

I especially note with concern the potential disappearance of natural spaces with regards the 50 km Cross Island Line ( CRL). This line begins in Changi and moves westwards through Loyang, Pasir Ris, Hougang. Ang Mo Kio, Sin Ming and through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve to Bukit Timah, Clementi, West Coast and Jurong Industrial Estate. The fact that it goes through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve , and I emphasise the term ‘Nature Reserve’ , is a serious concern.

This reserve encloses four large reservoirs – MacRitchie in the south, Upper Peirce and Lower Peirce in the central, west and east, and Upper Seletar in the north. In these areas are the oldest patches and some of the least affected forests, the green lungs of Singapore.

In these areas also are some rare and endemic species, found not only nowhere else in Singapore but nowhere else in the world. Not for nothing are they given a ‘nature reserve’ status. And yet the CRL proposes to cut through these precious forests. Perhaps because they do not seemingly contribute to GDP growth?

While I understand that the LTA has informed Nature Society there is no decision yet on whether the CRL will be an aboveground or an underground line , and that an environment assessment will be made by joint agencies, I have several questions -

(a) Has any environment impact assessment (EIA) been made no matter how preliminary, to warrant the plan in the first place?

(b) If there had been an EIA no matter how preliminary, who were these agencies involved in the assessment, what were the terms of the commission and their preliminary conclusions, and may the public access this study for the sake of clarity and transparency?

(c) If these proposals pan out, what is of concern is that beyond the MRT line, and with the plans for housing so close to the vicinity, the forest habitat in the central Nature Reserves will deteriorate and become like an island or fortress surrounded by an inhospitable sea of concrete jungle.

When we were fighting to save Bukit Brown last year, we were told then that we are making too much fuss because it is not as if Bukit Brown is a forest to begin with, and it’s not that bad because it is not as if it affects the Nature Reserve.

So a very pertinent and more fundamental question now is, how did the government agencies involved justify the encroachment on the Central Catchment Nature Reserve now, on what is supposed to be areas that are inviolate? Or is nothing inviolate anymore?

Madam Speaker I turn now to our coastal and marine areas. The Land Use Map shows major reclamation taking place in Pulau Tekong and Tuas, and possible changes to Pulau Ubin and the coastlines of Kranji, Mandai, Pasir Ris, Changi and Tanah Merah as well as the Southern Island of Pulau Hantu and Pulau Semakau.

This means that valuable areas of rich native biodiversity like Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin which many Singaporeans have grown to know and love , and the mangroves and mudflats as well as the various small coral reefs and intertidal areas will be lost.

Also, it is noteworthy that in our seas are found dugongs, wild dolphins and even the endangered green turtles and the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle.

Shouldn’t these non-humans species count too in our definition of a ‘liveable city’ ? .

Yet, reclamation on such a massive scale will lead to serious environment consequences to all these areas and marine species. It will effectively choke and live-bury fish, corals and marine life in our waters. How will this affect our sea water, our rivers and drinking systems and indeed the liveable city that the White Paper proposes? Is this yet another example of a policy made from the head and not the heart?

Missing in the Land Use Plan was also any mention of planning for climate change and rising seas levels. I note that Singapore's northern shores and Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong, where most of the new developments will occur, lies at the mouth of the massive Johor River. Does the plan take into account the possibility of more rainfall and storms, and how these may change water flows down the Johor River?

Madam Speaker, in view of such massive impact not just on the demographics but also on the land and marine environments, and in the spirit of public engagement which the government has said it welcomes, I call for compulsory Environment Impact Assessments and that these be open to public scrutiny so that there is openness, transparency and public accountability. Having compulsory EIA laws serves government agencies too, which may then defend themselves against any public reproach in the future.

Madam Speaker a couple of weeks ago, together with sustainability consultant Mr Eugene Tay I co- organised an ” Our Singapore Conversation” in collaboration with and support of the OSC Secretariat for members of the green community in what was arguably the biggest gathering of environmental activists from animal welfare to nature lovers to the ‘brown’ issues proponents of waste and water management , from well-known academics to secondary students, from veteran activists to fledgling student-led environment clubs. To a man, and woman, and beyond their individual passion and interest, each and every one of the close to 80 people call for a society based on compassion, justice, graciousness, the ‘kampung spirit’ and for a life that goes beyond the material success that we are so used to hearing.

We went further and call for such values to be evident not just between human beings but also in our relationship with all sentient beings and with nature. We call for a recognition and acknowledgment that as human beings we need to realise that there is only so much than can be achieved when we put human beings front and centre of everything the way the White Paper has done. It is time that we stop having the notion that natural spaces are good to have but will be set aside ‘ when it is practical to do so’ which is the language of the Land Use Plan as if even nature is an economic digit. It is time that we move away from the anthropocentric view that the White Paper and the Land Use Plan continues to base policies on.

Madam Speaker, only last year in my maiden speech as a newly-minted NMP I had given anecdotal evidence of how my 19 year old polytechnic students learnt to connect to something bigger than themselves and certainly beyond connecting WIFI to their IPads and IPods, as a result of being taken into the forests and other nature spaces, an appreciation of what Singapore offers beyond the shopping malls. They felt a sense of who they are, of place, of identity. Beyond their expressions of awe and delight at discovering the treasures of wild natural spaces that no park or landscaped and manicured lawns can give them, they also expressed feelings of peace and well being in the midst of their harried lives and even a feeling of being spiritual.

Interestingly, these anecdotal examples are given solid findings. For example in the article ‘ When trees die, people die’ dated 22 Jan 2013 of The Atlantic, environmental psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan said that nature has apparent restorative ability. Natural scenes, they said, are almost effortlessly able to capture people's attention and lull them into a state where negative thoughts and emotions are overtaken by a positive sense of well-being “. Imagine how much this reduces the burden on our healthcare system and in reducing stress.

I would submit that it is all the more imperative that we leave whatever we have left of such places, well and truly alone.

I would go so far as to say that rather than fit such nature areas into our lifestyle and our wants, that we instead, downsize our wants, and that we learn to co- exist and fit ourselves into these areas for a change.

Madam Speaker, environmentalism is not an interest group; it is the foundation to all else. If there is no environment, there is no economy. If we continue to act as if as if human beings are no more than economic digits, as if humans are the top of the heap and we think we can get away with it, we will continue to be an egocentric society which has cut off its own heart and then attempts to live without it. How is that ‘sustainable’? That to me is the height of insanity.

There is only so much we can plan and manage and do before Nature takes its course. Far better it is then to manage our consumer lifestyles, our quest for ‘economic growth’ to sustainable levels and change our paradigm from a linear, GDP-driven basis to something that is way more humane.

So what would a White Paper that speaks to and from the heart look like?

First of all this White Paper will not even exist until the government addresses the trust issues that has taken a severe beating in recent years. It will repair the relationship with the people and like in all good relationships, it chooses to listen not just with the ears but with the heart.

Then if there is to be a White Paper, this is how it will look like to me, the ordinary Singaporean.

It will make me long for the immensity of the sea. It will present to me a society that is kind, generous in material as well as in spirit, compassionate, believes in and acts upon equality for all, regardless of not just race language and religion, but also gender, political beliefs and sexual orientation, equality for low wage workers both local and foreign. It would speak to me of places I can go in Nature, untouched by the human hand, unmanicured, unlandscaped, because it sees value in the intangibles. It is a White Paper that tells me that it will not tolerate companies which choose the cheap foreign worker option and which treats relationships with workers as mere transactions, because the White Paper understands that there is a bigger humanity issue at stake here, which is that for every company that leaves our shores for another country because we have no more cheap workers, that these same companies will have no compunction in leaving that country, and seek cheap workers elsewhere. The White Paper will therefore consciously choose a different economic paradigm. It would speak to me of building a society that takes only what it needs not what it wants, conscious and aware that every time we take money out of our wallets, we are either choosing to make the world a better place, or making it worse, and therefore it implements policies that understand the impact our choices have on something bigger than ourselves and not just on GDP.

Madam Speaker in the Ancient Egyptian embalming practice, all the organs of the body are taken out of the body and placed in four decorated porcelain jars. All, that is, except two. One is the heart, which is put back in the body because it is believed that it is the most vital organ and the only one that will allow the soul to be taken to the next level of existence. And the other is the brain – and what did the Ancient Egyptians do with it? They throw it away, Why? Because to them it not important at all.

I suggest that these ancient wise ones have much to teach us about the limitations of thinking from the head, and the true power of being in the heart. We have been very good at thinking with our heads and devising linear systems from our education to our economic systems, that are efficient and which run well. We believe that in all things, only what is ‘practical’ and what can be counted in tangible terms, rules. Along the way we seem to have forgotten that in the end it is about connecting with people, with our natural environment.

Madam Speaker the public already know this and want to choose a different paradigm .

The time has come for the government to do likewise. We too are going to the next level of our existence in Singapore’s history. It will take great courage to change what no longer works. It is interesting to me that the word ‘courage’ itself comes from the French word ‘ coeur’ which means ‘heart’. I would like to believe that this government has what it takes.

As it stands, speaking for myself and on behalf of many not just in the green community but all right thinking Singaporeans who are increasingly making their voices heard, that there is more to life than GDP, I cannot in all good conscience , endorse the White Paper.

Faizah Jamal
Nominated Member of Parliament
( People and Civic Sector) (Environment and Heritage)
6 Feb 2013.

Read more!