360 exhibition by EcoYouth – 14 & 15 May
from biodiversityconnections
The Cycad Blue and its nectarine plant, the Sweet Basil
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Obama: palm oil destroying Malaysia's rainforests
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler
ivan loh The Star 9 May 14;
GERIK: The Government wants to see the Royal Belum-Temengor rainforest reserve listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said studies would need to be conducted before the Malaysia could push for the rainforest to be considered by Unesco.
"Related agencies need to study its heritage value and its economic value.
"Tourists visiting here will need to be controlled in a managed environment," he said during the launching of the completion of Emkay Group’s Belum Rainforest Resort Phase Two development project at Banding here Friday.
The rainforest is said to be about 130 million years old and older than the Amazon jungle. It is also four times the size of Singapore and boasts various species of flora and fauna.
Najib said he was impressed with the settings at the Belum Rainforest Resort, noting its suitability as a meeting point for leaders.
"The resort can be our own Camp David.
"We can have head of states' meetings here," he said.
Emkay Group CEO Ahmad Khalif Mustapha Kamal said getting Unesco world heritage status would bring in more tourists to the area.
However, Ahmad Khalif said Malaysia was currently a Unesco board member and could not submit any dossier on any place for heritage site status for two years.
"We could start the ball rolling again the following year to submit the necessary documents," he said.
He noted that Emkay's research centre had ample facilities to accommodate scientists and researchers who wanted to conduct studies on the rainforest.
During the launching ceremony, Najib, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and their spouses also visited a nearby orang asli village and the research centre.
'Belum can draw quality tourists'
ROZIANA HAMSAWI New Straits Times 10 May 14;
TOURIST ATTRACTION: With the recognition, Belum rain forest can attract quality tourists from all over the world.
THE 130 million years old Belum-Temengor rainforest has all the uniqueness and potential to be recognised as a Unesco world heritage site, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday.
The prime minister, in commending the efforts undertaken by state government agencies, non-governmental organ isations and the private sector in their commitment to develop the area in a sustainable manner, said this would ensure the 300,000-hectare rainforest its place on the world eco-tourism map.
He said if the Unesco recognition is attained, not only will it become a premier heritage destination, but also bring a positive economic impact to the country.
“With the recognition, we can expect more tourists coming here, but we will ensure that they are quality tourists and not mass tourists,” Najib said in his speech when launching the second Phase 2 of the Belum Rainforest Resort at Banding island here.
Also present were his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof, Defence Forces chief Tan Sri Zulkifeli Md Zain and Emkay Group chairman Tan Sri Dr Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar.
Emkay Group, the developer of the resort, has spent over RM100 million since 2004 on the development of Banding island, including the Belum Rainforest Resort, a research centre, and preservation and conservation activities at the rainforest.
The federal government's allocation of RM2.5 million has been fully utilised to build dormitories at the island's re search centre and Najib yesterday promised that more allocation will be given to Emkay Foundation.
Najib said the rainforest also evoked nostalgia in him because his late father Tun Abdul Razak, who was the country’s second prime minister, opened the Temenggor Dam in 1974.
“It is interesting that the area has been transformed into a catalyst for the culture of appreciating the environment and national heritage,” he said.
Najib also paid tribute to the Emkay Group and Mustapha Kamal for their vision to develop some parts of Banding island for eco-tourism purposes without damaging the is land's environment while ensuring the interests of the Orang Asli community are not taken for granted.
He said the corporate social responsibility programmes carried out for the Orang Asli were well managed and had helped in elevating their socio-economic status.
He also urged universities to utilise the research centre at Banding island, which has been used by Japan's Kyoto University and Singapore's Royal Botanic Gardens.
Najib noted that Belum-Temengor rainforest, which is older than the Amazon forest, is blessed with a number of plant species which have medicinal benefits and home to a vast and unique number of flora and fauna, adding that 14 of the world's most threatened mammals roam in the area, "and if we don't love our natural heritage, the uniqueness of these 14 species will soon extinct."
He also envisioned the prospect of using the island as a retreat destination for government leaders, similar to Camp David in the United States.
Later, Emkay Group CEO Ahmad Khalif Mustapha Kamal said the submission for the area to be listed as a world heritage site to Unesco would take place three years from now after Malaysia ceases to be a committee member of the Unesco approval board.
“The state government will write to the federal gov ernment which will do the submission,” he told reporters.
Currently, the Melaka city and George Town in Penang are Malaysia's Unesco world heritage sites.
calvin tan The Star 10 May 14;
PETALING JAYA: The water level at the Sungai Selangor dam is continuing to rise slowly as more rain from seeded clouds hit catchment areas.
According to the Selangor Water Management Authority website, the water level at the dam stood at 41.14% as of 8am yesterday.
The water level was 36.53% on March 31, 38.97% on April 23, before hitting the 40% mark on April 28, prompting the lifting of water rationing exercise in the state.
The dam supplies water to over 60% of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor.
Meteorological Department central forecasting office director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said there had been significantly more rain hitting the water catchment areas “the past few days”.
“We are currently in the inter-monsoonal season which is one of the largest contributors of rain to the country.
“But the Sungai Selangor dam only received 100mm of rain whereas many other parts of the state received a copious amount of rain, about 200mm to 300mm,” he said, adding that it would take 20mm to increase the water level by 1% but the water was continuously being consumed.
“Fortunately, I have been witnessing increased rainfall around the water catchment compared to last month.”
Helmi said that the recent downpours over urban areas were not likely to be from seeded clouds.
“We target towering cumulus clouds around the water catchment areas and factor in wind directions to accelerate the rain there.
“Some seeded clouds may migrate to urban areas. However, there are vastly more unseeded clouds than seeded ones as our planes can only cover a limited area,” he said.
He said the southwest monsoon season, which would begin at the end of this month and last until September, would spell 20% to 40% less rain for the peninsular in June but would see a return to a “more or less normal” amount in July, August and September.
“So long as there is rain we can carry on with cloud seeding. We will continue until the water level in the dam reaches a satisfactory amount at around 55%,” he said.
Other dams which showed an improved water level yesterday included Sungai Tinggi at 66.68% and Klang Gates at 62.08% – up from 62.6% and 58.49%, respectively, on April 28.
patrick lee The Star 10 May 14;
PETALING JAYA: A conservationist known for his efforts to help save the orang utan has won the Whitley Award, the first Malaysian to do so.
Dr Melvin Gumal was honoured with the Whitley Award for Conservation in Ape Habitats at a special ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in Britain on Thursday night.
The awards are handed out for the world’s best conservation efforts.
“I am overwhelmed and excited,” Dr Gumal told The Star over WhatsApp before the ceremony.
He also expressed his gratitude to his family, the Sarawak Forest Department, Forestry Corp, Borneo Adventure and various donors such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and others for their support.
When asked what he would do next Dr Gumal said: “(I’ll) go (back) to the field and chill.”
The award comes with a cash prize of £35,000 (RM192,168), which Dr Gumal said would be used for field work.
A field biologist and long-term conservationist, Dr Gumal was picked from more than 170 experts worldwide for the award.
The Star reported that he was one of eight finalists in the running to win the award, which is popularly known as the Green Oscars.
The organisation behind it – the Whitley Fund for Nature – has natural history expert Sir David Attenborough as a trustee.
Attenborough was quoted by the organisation as saying: “Whitley Award winners are successful because they don’t just watch and measure – they act! They are the conservation experts – not us – they know what to do and, more importantly, how to get it done.”
A director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Malaysian chapter since 2003, Dr Gumal has been working to understand and save the orang utan since 1988.
He has been involved in the conservation of the primates in the Batang Ai National Park and the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, home to more than 2,000 animals.
Before joining the WCS, Dr Gumal headed the Conservation Education and Interpretation Unit within the Sarawak Forestry Department’s National Parks and Wildlife Office for 15 years.
He also helped to co-author the Wildlife Master Plan for Sarawak and has been working with rural communities living in and around protected areas in the state.
patrick lee The Star 9 May 14;
PETALING JAYA: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has expressed concern over the deforestation in the Heart of Borneo (HoB), a 17.4 million-ha forest the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei have agreed to conserve.
It claimed an area the size equivalent to 82 Kuala Lumpurs was deforestated between 2007 and 2012.
Up to two million ha of forest within HoB disappeared during that period despite a declaration signed in February 2007 to conserve the tropical forests.
According to the Environmental Status Report of the HoB 2014, the region, which covered about 30% of the whole island, saw an annual deforestation rate of 2.19%.
It said high deforestation rates were detected in HoB upland forests in Sarawak and Sabah, along with high rates in HoB lowland rainforests in Sabah.
The distribution of orang utan within the HoB was found to have decreased by 14% in those six years as well, occurring mainly in West Kalimantan and Sabah.
There is about 17.4 million ha of forest cover in the HoB, with Sabah and Sarawak taking up 3.64 million ha.
Borneo elephants, found only in Sabah’s south-east and east Kalimantan’s upper north regions, saw their habitat areas decreased by 125,000ha to 157,000ha in 2012.
In Sabah, habitats that were capable of supporting clouded leopards and some orang utan areas were found to have been reduced from 2007 to 2012.
“In 2013, only a few areas of lowland forest remain. Many of these are fragmented,” the report said.
A “surprisingly high” number of forest fire hotspots were also detected in Sabah’s eastern section.
“Deforestation of one area continued until no more lowland forest remained in the location,” the report added.
The WWF further warned that these environmental changes could have an impact on millions of people relying on watersheds and rivers within the HoB.
Erwida Maulia Jakarta Globe 9 May 14;
To Tifa Asrianti, the polka-dot fabric mask she carries in her bag is multifunctional.
Inside the overpacked trains she regularly boards to and from work during rush hour, the face mask saves her nose from unpleasant odors released by sweaty, fellow commuters.
On the Kopaja minibuses she takes from the train station to her office, the mask protects her from cigarette smoke casually exhaled by male passengers.
And while waiting for transportation on the side of roads congested with vehicles, she hopes the mask is able to filter the air pollution invading her lungs.
“Not that I believe the mask can really help, but it’s the least I could do,” said Tifa, a 30-something employee of a non-profit organization in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
People wearing face masks were not a common sight in Jakarta six years ago. Then came the H1N1 flu incidents in 2009, at the height of which the Indonesian government promoted the use of surgical masks to prevent the swine-based disease from spreading.
The flu died down, but people became accustomed to the masks and began wearing them in hopes to filter the smog-tainted city air they breathe in.
Now, the sight of half-covered faces is a common one throughout Asia — the light green or blue surgical ones are most used — as city commuters wait at bus shelters, board non-air conditioned public buses or ride motorcycles.
“The traffic jams are getting more inhumane. That’s a clear sign of more vehicles on the streets; more pollution,” said Tifa, a resident of Bekasi, West Java, who has been commuting to and from Jakarta for work over the past decade.
“And I can especially feel how dirty Jakarta air has become after returning from places like Pangalengan or Gunung Kidul, where the air is clean and light,” she said referring to the mountainous regions in West Java and Yogyakarta, respectively.
Alarming figures
Tifa’s assumptions on the state of the capital’s air was not wrong. Official figures show that the amounts of major, toxic pollutants invading Jakarta air have grown rapidly, along with the continuous increase in vehicles crowding the streets.
According to data from the Jakarta Police traffic directorate, the number of vehicles registered in Jakarta has grown by an average of roughly 10 percent every year for the past six years, bringing the total figure to 16 million in 2013 — consisting of 4.1 million automobiles and 11.9 million motorcycles.
The motorbike industry especially has projected a market saturation for Jakarta. But in the mean time, despite public outcry over ever-worsening traffic congestion, the figures are expected to grow.
These numbers have yet to include the number of vehicles registered outside the capital, but regularly roaming its streets.
Along with the alarming growth in vehicles numbers, the concentration of at least four principal pollutants in the air have been increasing as well, according to the city’s Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD).
BPLHD statistics dating back to 2008 show that five major air pollutants regularly monitored by the agency — carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, lead and suspended particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10) — are all still below the hazardous levels specified in a gubernatorial regulation.
However, with the exception of sulfur dioxide, the amounts of these pollutants in the air have continued to increase over the past six years — with the growth of lead and nitrogen dioxide being particularly exponential.
The level of lead, notorious for causing brain and nervous system damage when congested in large amounts, stood at 0.33 microgram per cubic nanometer (mcg/nm3) last year; over 10 times higher than the level in 2008, and one-sixth of the hazardous threshold of 2 mcg/nm3.
The amount of nitrogen dioxide, meanwhile, rose to 74.14 mcg/nm3 last year — three times its 2008 figure and is alarmingly close to the dangerous threshold of 92.5 mcg/nm3. Nitrogen dioxide is known to be poisonous to lungs.
During the same period, PM10 and carbon monoxide levels rose by 86 percent and 60 percent respectively. Major concerns from exposure to PM10 include respiratory illness, damage to lung tissue and cancer. Carbon monoxide, meanwhile, is toxic to blood, and poses a health threat especially to those suffering from cardiovascular diseases.
The sulfur dioxide volume, meanwhile, dropped by 77 percent. But the decline may be attributable to the unavailability of data at some BPLHD monitoring stations, according to an agency analyst who asked not to be named because the person does not have the official capacity to give public statements.
Like PM10, sulfur dioxide also has been associated with respiratory illness and the aggravation of existing cardiovascular disease.
“The main source of these air pollutants are vehicles — the transportation sector,” Rusman Sagala, head of the environment preservation and management division of BPLHD Jakarta, said in an interview last month.
“Industrial activities are another contributor, but there are fewer industries in Jakarta now. Many of them have spread to places outside of the city.”
According to Health Ministry data, the transportation sector contributes between 70 percent and 80 percent to total outdoor air pollutants.
Rusman said although more and more carmakers and motorcycle producers are consciously applying cleaner technology compared to a decade ago, their efforts can’t keep up with the speed at which new vehicles are appearing on roads each year.
This has become particularly obvious in the distressing amounts of lead seeping into the air.
Due to its damaging and permanent effect on the human body, namely the nervous system, kidney function and immune system among others, the Indonesian government introduced a regulation in 2003 restricting the levels of lead added to fuel — the lowest grade of fuel should contain no more than 0.3 gram per liter (g/l).
A regulation issued by the director general for oil and gas last year further reduces the maximum level of lead allowed in fuel to 0.013 g/l.
But as previously mentioned, the lead levels in Jakarta’s air has more than tenfold over the past six years.
“There is less lead in fuel now,” Rusman said. “But accumulatively, amounts of it in the air has risen because the number of vehicles in Jakarta keeps increasing.”
The World Health Organization released an updated report in March saying that an estimated 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2012 were associated with outdoor air pollution.
The number shows a near triple increase from the previous available data in 2008 — although the jump has also been attributed to new evidence made available on the direct correlation between exposure to pollution and illnesses.
In a breakdown according to diseases, WHO data revealed that 40 percent of the deaths connected to air pollution were caused by ischemic heart disease and another 40 percent was due to strokes.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease contributed 11 percent of the deaths, followed by lung cancer (6 percent) and acute lower respiratory infections in children (3 percent).
The March report — which did not mention specific countries but offered data on regions — named Southeast Asia as the second-largest contributor to the deaths after the Western Pacific region — with 963,000 fatalities.
Being the largest and most populous country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is believed to have been a top contributor to the figure.
“The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes,” Maria Neira, director of WHO’s public health department, said in the statement. “Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution; the evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe.”
Bambang Wispriyono, an environmental health expert at the University of Indonesia (UI), took a particular note on the colorless organic compound benzopyrene. This fuel residue is not among principal air pollutants regularly monitored by BPLHD, but it is a known carcinogen.
Two studies administered at UI under Bambang’s supervision a few years back found that people spending more time on the streets had higher levels of benzopyrene in their blood stream compared to regular office workers.
“Toll gate officers, traffic policemen… they all have more benzopyrene metabolites in their bloods and urine than office employees,” Bambang told the Jakarta Globe. “The effects are not immediate, but these officers working on the streets are facing more health risks, including cancer.”
Solution?
The restriction on lead levels, the introduction of emission tests for vehicles in Jakarta and the addition of air quality in the criteria for the Adipura cleanliness awards given to cities and provinces are some indications that the Indonesian government has been paying growing attention to air pollutants’ impact on health.
But measures taken to curb the effects lag behind the pace of vehicle growth and, subsequently, the increasing number of toxic pollutants we breathe in every day.
Tjandra Yoga Aditama, the health ministry’s director general for disease control and environmental health, said his office is drafting strategic action plans to curb the dangerous effects of air pollution for the years 2015 to 2019, although not much has been said about the plans.
The Ministry of Environment, meanwhile, has been calling for what it calls a “grand design of the national air quality monitoring system,” an effort to improve the monitoring of air quality across Indonesia and, hopefully, measures to tackle issues related to air pollution.
The WHO, in its latest statement on Tuesday, reiterated its growing attention to diseases stemming from air pollutants and calls on individual cities worldwide to take the necessary actions in improving air quality, citing efforts made by Copenhagen and Bogota as successful examples.
The global health agency said these two cities have improved their air quality by prioritizing networks dedicated to urban public transport, walking and cycling.
“We cannot buy clean air in a bottle, but cities can adopt measures that will clean the air and save the lives of their people,” said Carlos Dora, coordinator for interventions for healthy environments at WHO.
In the mean time, face masks can provide a viable option.
“The ones commonly used can protect against PM10, but can still be infiltrated by gases,” Rusman said. “But they can at least reduce health risks.”
Nurdin Hasan Jakarta Globe 8 May 14;
Banda Aceh. Environmental activists in Aceh slammed the prosecution for seeking what they view as lenient punishment for the director of a palm oil company who is accused of damaging a natural habitat for orangutans.
Prosecutor Rahmat on Wednesday asked the Meluaboh district court for a sentence of 10 months imprisonment and a Rp 150 million ($13,000) fine for Subianto Rusyid, the director of Kalista Alam, in violation of the 2009 law on environment protection and management.
Rahmat told the court that Subianto was guilty of negligence for failing to control his subordinates who operated on the lush forest and peatland region in the province’s Nagan Raya district without the proper permit.
The 61,803-hectare Rawa Tripa peatland is situated in Leuser ecosystem, and a parcel of 1,605 hectares is the main habitat for orangutan and several other protected wildlife species.
Aceh environmental activists united under the Coalition to Save Rawa Tripa (TKPRT) said the sentence would not be a deterrent for the defendant.
“The prosecutor’s demand is too lenient compared to the environmental damages caused by the land concession in Rawa Tripa,” said Fadila Ibra, spokesman for the coalition, on Thursday.
Fadila said Kalista Alam has also allegedly violated the 2004 law on natural resource conservation for operating in the Leuser ecosystem, which has been declared a conservation area. He said the law would punish violators with five years in prison and a Rp 2 billion fine.
“The judge’s demand is less than half of what the laws stipulate. This will not deter those who have destroyed the environment,” Fadila said.
Kallista Alam obtained the permit to open the plantation in Rawa Trip from then Governor Irwandi Yusuf in August 2011.
The governor’s decision to grant the company a land concession permit was met with protests by environmental activists who said that the area was the habitat of Sumatran orangutans, which are critically endangered, and other rare animals.
Anna Nicolaou PlanetArk 8 May 14;
The survey by Dutch research agency Motivaction said in China, where public anger has mounted over hazardous levels of pollution in towns and cities, environmentalists had a greater sense of urgency about action needed to tackle the problem than Western counterparts, where the financial crisis has knocked environmental policy down the political agenda.
Motivaction, which interviewed more than 48,000 consumers in 20 countries through online surveys, found Chinese greens tended to be socially conservative, devoted to family and traditional Asian values, and pro-business groups which believed strongly in the role of technology to solve problems.
In contrast, it said, the United States and Europe have developed a "cosmopolitan environmentalism", a movement supported frequently by liberal, highly-educated and politically active groups.
The report said multinational companies needed to understand Chinese environmentalists and how to harness their potential.
China, blamed for nearly a third of global carbon emissions, is the world's biggest investor in green technology, which the report said could give it a competitive advantage in future, and was pressing ahead with investment in the sector.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised to tackle pollution in March after an official Chinese report dubbed Beijing "barely suitable" for living due to hazardous smog. China pledged to spend $1.65 billion to combat air pollution and $330 billion on water shortages. [ID:nL3N0LI023]
Governments aim to agree a new United Nations pact to combat climate change at a summit in late 2015. European environmentalists have often accused China of stalling efforts to agree a new global deal.
However, when faced with public anger at home, the Chinese government has acted, including amending environmental protection laws last month to impose tougher penalties on polluters. [ID:nL3N0NG35Q]
"When the Chinese government decides to do something, they do it. It's not the talking shop that we see in Europe," said Kathryn Sheridan, CEO of a Brussels-based sustainability communications consultancy.
(Editing by Barbara Lewis and Janet Lawrence)
China fertile ground for green progress: report
Anna Nicolaou PlanetArk 8 May 14;
In Europe, financial crisis has knocked environmental policy down the political agenda and populist movements see environmentalism as a hobby of European elites.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks pushed energy security to the top of the political agenda.
But in China, the world's biggest polluter, some 64 percent of Chinese identify themselves as environmentalists, more than double that of Europe and the United States, a report published on Wednesday by Dutch research agency Motivaction finds.
Motivaction interviewed more than 48,000 consumers in 20 countries about their values and behavior, through online surveys.
Not only are many more people in China describing themselves as environmentalists, they also have a very different profile from climate champions in the West.
The report finds they tend to be socially conservative, devoted to family and traditional Asian values, and pro-business groups who believe strongly in the role of technology to solve the world's problems.
In contrast, the United States and Europe have developed a "cosmopolitan environmentalism", a movement supported frequently by liberal, highly-educated and politically active groups.
The Chinese-style environmentalists have a much greater sense of urgency as they experience, for example, the choking pollution of Beijing, and the new report concludes multinational companies need to understand how to harness their potential.
Already China is the world's biggest investor in green technology, which the report says can give it a competitive advantage as innovative companies tend to thrive.
China, which is blamed for nearly a third of the world's carbon emissions, is also pressing ahead with investment.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang "declared war" on pollution in March after an official Chinese report dubbed Beijing "barely suitable" for living due to hazardous smog. China pledged to spend $1.65 billion to combat air pollution and $330 billion on water shortage. [ID:nL3N0LI023]
There is still a big challenge to persuade China to sign up to a new global deal on tackling climate change, hoped for at a U.N. summit in 2015.
European environmentalists have tended to see the Chinese government as a roadblock to an international climate deal.
However, when spurred by its own growing population of environmentalists threatening social unrest over levels of pollution, it can act more decisively than Western coalitions.
"When the Chinese government decides to do something, they do it," says Kathryn Sheridan, CEO of a Brussels-based sustainability communications consultancy. "It's not the talking shop that we see in Europe."
(Editing by Barbara Lewis and Michael Perry)
The beauty of Pulau Hantu
from Peiyan.Photography
Oriental pied hornbill spotted in Bishan HDB
from Nature Spies
Butterflies Galore! : Pale Grass Blue
from Butterflies of Singapore
mohd farhaan shah The Star 7 May 14;
JOHOR BARU: Expect bigger things from Johor Football Association (JFA) from next year, including a new stadium on a man-made island here.
President Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced on Tuesday that the new 50,000-capacity stadium is being constructed by Country Garden, which is one of JFA’s sponsors.
He pointed out that the stadium would be built on a man-made island located between Singapore and Johor.
“Reclamation work is currently being carried out and once completed, the island will be twice the size of Sentosa Island in Singapore.
“Hopefully, the construction period will not take too long. I am very excited about this new project,” he said, adding that it would be the most state-of-the-art stadium in the world.
Tunku Ismail also announced that Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has agreed to buy a private plane for the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) players and officials.
He added that the decision came after taking into consideration the cost of travelling to other states.
Currently, JFA have three buses for their teams including the President’s Cup squad players.
On Tuesday, Tunku Ismail dropped a bomb by announcing that the JFA’s second team, JDT II, may be withdrawn from the Premier League.
“We are considering placing the team in the Singapore football league by November as it is better and will give the younger players better exposure,” he said.
The Johor Crown Prince added that the JFA are willing to pay a fine if the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) penalise them for pulling out JDT II.
He also announced that JDT will be buying two more foreigners for next season’s campaign.
“We already offered US$3.5mil (RM11.4mil) to Boca Juniors for Juan Manuel Martinez for next season,” he said.
Another player they are targeting is Selangor hitman Paulo Rangel.
On another matter, Tunku Ismail said JFA are considering holding a friendly match with Italian giants AC Milan as well as a charity match involving Lionel Messi, Neymar and other world class footballers.
Channel NewsAsia 7 May 14;
SINGAPORE: The National Parks Board (NParks) has reminded members of the public not to release animals into the parks and nature areas during the Vesak Day period.
"We would like to appeal to the public not to release animals into the wild as it does not guarantee their survival," said Wong Tuan Wah, director of conservation at NParks.
"Some of these animals are kept as pets and are not likely to survive in the wild if they are unable to fend for themselves in the new surroundings.
"Other animals that are able to adapt to the new environment may disrupt the ecological balance when they compete with native species for resources or introduce new viruses."
Yap Kheng Guan, president of the Buddhist Fellowship, said: "We rejoice with Buddhists around the world as they commemorate the sacred day of Vesak.
"Some may mark the day with the act of animal liberation.
"Out of kindness and compassion, it is good to refrain from releasing the animals in nature reserves and reservoirs. Doing so may subject the released animals to natural predators or may cause harm to the eco-system."
- CNA/xq
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