Time flies so fast that I did not realize my first year has neared it's end. I would be a senior in four months time in NUS. Now, when i come to think of it, what have I learned in this two semesters. One module which would play an important role in my life is the EG 1471 module.
This English module helped me to realize my errors in my language skill as it is mixed up with three different languages which are Malay language, Tamil language and not to forget English. I did not do well in my QET that i had to do this module which does not contribute any modular credit for my graduation. I was frustrated when I was allocated this module but as I attended this module's classes, my view toward this module. I was not able to identify my errors earlier but now I find that I made frequent and predictable errors which can be avoided. As Mr. Blackstone says, it is known as the way the Malaysian are accustomed to speak and write. One of the typical problem is the 'lah' usage among the Malaysian community. Another popular usage of words among Malaysians is the word 'would'. So, our 'sensei' made us realize our errors and correct it.
Even though this module has quite a heavy workload, it was quite relaxed module as the tutor did not pressure us to do our homework but emphasized on enjoying the assignments that we were supposed to do. So, it was actually fun to to do the assignments in a relaxed atmosphere thanks to Mr. Blackstone's method of teaching.
One of activity that I enjoyed was the grammar presentation where I was able practise my presentation skills and overcome my stage fright. It was a good experience and I actually enjoyed myself during the presentation.
In conclusion, this module was not so bad after all. It was a wonderful experience that I am glad that I had the chance to read this module.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Bakun Hydroelectric Dam
The Bakun Hydroelectric dam was one of the most controversial projects in Malaysia. It was severely opposed by NGO's, environmental activists and the opposition parties as this project was said to cause extensive environmental damage.
This project was initialised in the 1970s and Bakun was chosen as the ideal site to build a dam from four shortlisted sites. The dam was built to have the capacity of generating 2400MW of electricity According to Insan(1996), this project is located 37 kilometres upstream from Belaga, on the Balui river which is within the Sarawak state. This project has been said to be the largest concrete face rockfill hydroelectric dam in Southeast Asia. Insan said that this dam takes up 69,640 hectares of reservoir area where the lush rainforest in this area was felled. Another 1 505,180 hectares of land area was used as catchment area.
As Sarawak has large amounts of rainfall and many natural water catchments, the hydroelectric dam was suitable to be built here. Other than that, this dam was important as it produces enough electricity for the state's own needs. According to Insan(1996), a 650 kilometres of undersea cable to cross the South China Sea was proposed in order to supply some of the electricity from this dam to the Peninsular Malaysia.
This dam caused tremendous effects on the environment. One of it is large area of rainforest were lost. According to Jomo et al. (2004), the rate of logging increased when the construction begun. Jomo also reported that logging was done excessively where the forest areas not within the dam site were logged. This project has also caused displacement of about 69,640 hectares of terrestrial habitat where Insan(1996) reported that 12 totally protected species and 93 protected species were affected.
Clearly, serious deterioration of water quality in the reservoir and the river downstream were predicted by Insan(1996). As the water in the reservoir is stagnant, algae and microorganisms can prosper comfortably in it. The formation of algae causes the level of oxygen to become low and this would suffocate aquatic animals slowly. Other than that, this stagnant water would become an ideal breeding ground for bacteria that causes water-borne diseases. As the flow of the river was slowed down by the dam, water level or volume downstream would have decreased significantly. This results the downstream part of the river to be unsuitable for aquatic organisms to live in. There would not be enough water supplies for the area around the river downstream causing these parts of land areas to become infertile. We should also keep in mind the effects in case of dam failure. If the dam bursts, the effects would be catastrophic. Downstream areas would become flooded with millions of cubic metres of water. This would endanger not only animals living in the vicinity, but would also put lives of people living downstream at risk.
As this project is completed, Government needs to take precautions to avoid life threatening problems and to protect the environment from effects caused by its own actions before things get out of hand. They should join forces with NGO's and environmental activists so that a good and effective method of preservation can be concocted.
References
Insan(1996). Power play: Why we condemned the Bakun Hydroelectric Project.
Kuala Lumpur: Vinlin Press Sdn. Bhd.
Jomo, K.S., Chang, Y.T., Khoo, K.J., Lee, H.A., Lockhead, J, Loh, H.K.W.,
et.al.(2004). Deforesting Malaysia. London: Zed Books.
This project was initialised in the 1970s and Bakun was chosen as the ideal site to build a dam from four shortlisted sites. The dam was built to have the capacity of generating 2400MW of electricity According to Insan(1996), this project is located 37 kilometres upstream from Belaga, on the Balui river which is within the Sarawak state. This project has been said to be the largest concrete face rockfill hydroelectric dam in Southeast Asia. Insan said that this dam takes up 69,640 hectares of reservoir area where the lush rainforest in this area was felled. Another 1 505,180 hectares of land area was used as catchment area.
As Sarawak has large amounts of rainfall and many natural water catchments, the hydroelectric dam was suitable to be built here. Other than that, this dam was important as it produces enough electricity for the state's own needs. According to Insan(1996), a 650 kilometres of undersea cable to cross the South China Sea was proposed in order to supply some of the electricity from this dam to the Peninsular Malaysia.
This dam caused tremendous effects on the environment. One of it is large area of rainforest were lost. According to Jomo et al. (2004), the rate of logging increased when the construction begun. Jomo also reported that logging was done excessively where the forest areas not within the dam site were logged. This project has also caused displacement of about 69,640 hectares of terrestrial habitat where Insan(1996) reported that 12 totally protected species and 93 protected species were affected.
Clearly, serious deterioration of water quality in the reservoir and the river downstream were predicted by Insan(1996). As the water in the reservoir is stagnant, algae and microorganisms can prosper comfortably in it. The formation of algae causes the level of oxygen to become low and this would suffocate aquatic animals slowly. Other than that, this stagnant water would become an ideal breeding ground for bacteria that causes water-borne diseases. As the flow of the river was slowed down by the dam, water level or volume downstream would have decreased significantly. This results the downstream part of the river to be unsuitable for aquatic organisms to live in. There would not be enough water supplies for the area around the river downstream causing these parts of land areas to become infertile. We should also keep in mind the effects in case of dam failure. If the dam bursts, the effects would be catastrophic. Downstream areas would become flooded with millions of cubic metres of water. This would endanger not only animals living in the vicinity, but would also put lives of people living downstream at risk.
As this project is completed, Government needs to take precautions to avoid life threatening problems and to protect the environment from effects caused by its own actions before things get out of hand. They should join forces with NGO's and environmental activists so that a good and effective method of preservation can be concocted.
References
Insan(1996). Power play: Why we condemned the Bakun Hydroelectric Project.
Kuala Lumpur: Vinlin Press Sdn. Bhd.
Jomo, K.S., Chang, Y.T., Khoo, K.J., Lee, H.A., Lockhead, J, Loh, H.K.W.,
et.al.(2004). Deforesting Malaysia. London: Zed Books.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Timed Paragraph ( Land filling or Zero waste scheme?)
Waste disposing schemes are important in order to manage waste in any nation in order to keep a country clean. There are two waste disposing schemes that play a significant role in most countries, developed and developing countries alike, which are the 'zero waste' scheme and the land filling scheme. In my opinion, the 'zero waste' scheme is suitable to be implemented to manage waste in my country.
There are many differences between these two systems. The land filling scheme is where waste is dumped in to an allocated site. As for the zero waste scheme, waste is to be reused or recycled. This system emphasises on reducing waste products, if possible, to a zero percent. The zero waste scheme is expensive as waste need to be sorted out to materials that can be reused or recycled, and materials that are completely useless. When we use these criteria , the zero waste system may seem to be not preferable as high cost has to be born by the waste management company and the general public. The land filling scheme is cheap as all the waste need to be dumped at the the dump site without undergoing any processes. So, initially this land filling scheme would seems to be a tempting choice of scheme when we see it in the cost perspective.
The land filling scheme has many environmental effects. One of it is that these land filling dump sites are very ideal place for disease causing organisms and microorganism to breed. This would threaten the lives of not only humans but also other living beings. The worst case scenario created by this scheme is a serious epidemic. Other than that, this scheme would cause waste to seep in to underground rivers or groundwater source which would cause the water supply to be contaminated. This would reduce the number of clean water sources.
Even though the 'zero waste' scheme might seem to be expensive, there are many benefits that we can get from this system. As this system emphasises in the term 'reuse and recycle', new industry would sprout to support this scheme. The recycling industry would get a shot in the arm as the supply of recyclable materials accumulated would increase. This would also benefit the environment as recycling materials are more environmental friendly than producing or manufacturing materials from newly extracted materials. For example, in the aluminium manufacturing industry, recycled aluminium consumes only 1% of the electricity needed to extract and process aluminium from aluminium core. When less electricity is consumed,then less coal would be burned to produce electricity and this would reduce air pollution significantly. This might a very ideal situation where other factors are neglected but when you you see the picture as a whole, you will see that the use of energy would reduce significantly in most manufacturing industries and hence it is possible to reduce air pollution.
The zero waste scheme is an ideal scheme for the current age as resources are depleting significantly and there is high awareness on preserving the environment. In conclusion, I stress again that the 'zero waste' scheme is suitable to be implemented in Malaysia.
The Three Gorges Dam
China has undertaken the Three Gorges dam project in order to support her growing need of electricity. Despite warnings by many environmental organizations on the effects of this project on the environment but China seems to not bother about these warnings by continuing the project.
In my opinion, this project has more positive effects than negative ones. This dam would be able to produce electricity equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants. The effects in case of any accident for hydroelectric dam would not be as severe as accidents caused by nuclear power plants. People might say that it would be more environmental friendly if many smaller dams are built to produce equivalent amount of electricity. But, you should keep in mind that when smaller dams are built, more area need to be cleared for preliminary infrastructures such as roads. More jungle areas need to be cleared to give way for these many dams.
This hydroelectric dam would produce electricity in a cleaner manner compared with the conventional coal produced electricity. This dam would depend on only water to produce electricity compared with other types of power plants. For example, nuclear power plants need supply of uranium to keep it running. Uranium is a very dangerous source of energy as it is radioactive and highly unstable.
In conclusion, I agree with China's move to go on with the Three Gorges dam project.
In my opinion, this project has more positive effects than negative ones. This dam would be able to produce electricity equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants. The effects in case of any accident for hydroelectric dam would not be as severe as accidents caused by nuclear power plants. People might say that it would be more environmental friendly if many smaller dams are built to produce equivalent amount of electricity. But, you should keep in mind that when smaller dams are built, more area need to be cleared for preliminary infrastructures such as roads. More jungle areas need to be cleared to give way for these many dams.
This hydroelectric dam would produce electricity in a cleaner manner compared with the conventional coal produced electricity. This dam would depend on only water to produce electricity compared with other types of power plants. For example, nuclear power plants need supply of uranium to keep it running. Uranium is a very dangerous source of energy as it is radioactive and highly unstable.
In conclusion, I agree with China's move to go on with the Three Gorges dam project.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Bakun Hydroelectric Dam Project
Cause-Effect
The Bakun Hydroelectric Dam Project
Malaysia has been making the headlines for the past decade for undertaking many mega projects such as the construction of Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), KL Tower, KL International Airport (KLIA), Kuala Lumpur Central and many more other projects. One of the controversial projects is the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam in Sarawak. This project was put on hold several times as its effects on the environment need to be studied thoroughly .This project was completed in 2007. This dam was built in the Sarawak state to produce enough electricity to support the needs of the people of this state. As it is one of the isolated states in Malaysia, it cannot get enough electricity supply from any other parts of country. This project was initiated not only to produce electricity for Sarawak but also to supply electricity to Peninsular Malaysia using undersea cables. Hence, it can be said that this project is crucial for future developments in Sarawak.
There any many problems that arises as consequences of this project. One of it is the loss of habitat of animals residing in the dam area. As this dam takes up a massive land area, jungles at this area need to be cleared to give way for this project. Animals would be forced out of their habitat when this project goes on full swing. The area would be flooded with water when the dam is operational and this would be a death sentence for animals that are still living there. Another thing that we should keep in mind is that the dam area is populated by 12 protected animal species and 93 protected plant species. Once the dam is operational, this animals and plants species would be inevitably forced into extinction.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
(Cause-Effect) Deforestation in Malaysia
Deforestation has been causing various environmental problems in Southeast Asia. There are many causes of deforestation and the main cause is population growth. As the population of Southeast Asian countries increases rapidly, there is a huge increase in demand for houses. Many forest areas were cleared in order to give way for housing estates in order to meet this huge demand. For example, Bukit Antarabangsa in Malaysia used to be beautiful rainforest until the recent decade where most parts of this hill were cleared and developed into housing areas. Another major cause for deforestation is agriculture. Few decades ago, Malaysia started developing thousands of acres of forest areas into palm oil plantations. Now, even though Malaysia is one of the biggest palm oil producers in the world, we need to keep in mind that this has caused major deforestation in Malaysia. If drive along the Malaysia's North-South Highway(PLUS), you can see that there are many oil palm plantations on both side of the road at most part of these highway. Hence, you can see the magnitude of deforestation that has taken place in Malaysia.
There are many environmental problems which is caused by deforestation. One of it is the loss of habitat. Many animals were forced out of their habitat when deforestation takes place. Animals would not have a place to live and they would not have enough food in the remaining forest areas. Many animals died because of this and inevitably they have to face extinction. Many species of plants were also lost as they were chopped down to serve the human cause. Biodiversity was also affected as certain agricultural plants would become dominant in certain areas. In Malaysia, oil palm became the dominant species while the other species of plants would lose out and face extinction.
Another major effect of deforestation is the higher occurrence of landslides. In Bukit Antarabangsa, Malaysia, landslides have been occuring frequently within the past decade. This is because when trees are chopped down, the soil would be left unprotected. Hence, when it rains, soil would flow rapidly with the rainwater and this causes the soil structure to weaken. This would eventually cause a landslide where many lives would be at risk.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
What is the effect of forest fire in Indonesia on Malayisa?
Forest fire in Kalimantan,Indonesia has been causing a lot of environmental problems to it's neighbouring countries for the past decade. Malaysia has been affected significantly by this problem as it is one of the nearest country to Indonesia.
There are lots of problem caused by this forest fire and one of the major problem is air pollution. During the period of this forest fire, haze formed in Malaysian skies causing visibility to plunge to a very low level. Other than that, it also caused many Malaysians to fall sick with respiratory problems especially children and senior citizens. The number of children diagnosed with asthma has been rising steeply since this crisis came to light in 1997. Other health problems such as eye and skin irritation are effects of this forest fire. Even though this problem did not result in any casualties, it has tremendously affected the quality of living of most Malaysians.
Air pollution caused by this forest fire also has affected the environment significantly. The haze blocks out most of the sunlight causing green plants not able to make enough food through photosynthesis. Other than that, dust particles which covered up the leaves of plants have affected the respiratory system of plants. Animals also have been affected affected tremendously by this forest fire as they too had suffered with respiratory ailments. Forest fire had also caused water pollution as when it rained, the dust particles would end up in water sources. This had affected tremendously the supply of clean fresh water.
Malaysia's economy too was hit hard by this forest fire. The haze caused by it made tourists to stay away from Malaysia in order to avoid health problems. The tourism industry had suffered from huge loss of revenue as the number of tourist coming into Malaysia had decreased significantly during this preiod. Schools were forced to close as parents were advised by the government to keep their children indoor.
In conclusion, Indonesia has to take precaution in order to avoid this disaster from happening again. Forest burning by farmers should be banned and severe actions should be taken against those who doesn't comply with the law.
There are lots of problem caused by this forest fire and one of the major problem is air pollution. During the period of this forest fire, haze formed in Malaysian skies causing visibility to plunge to a very low level. Other than that, it also caused many Malaysians to fall sick with respiratory problems especially children and senior citizens. The number of children diagnosed with asthma has been rising steeply since this crisis came to light in 1997. Other health problems such as eye and skin irritation are effects of this forest fire. Even though this problem did not result in any casualties, it has tremendously affected the quality of living of most Malaysians.
Air pollution caused by this forest fire also has affected the environment significantly. The haze blocks out most of the sunlight causing green plants not able to make enough food through photosynthesis. Other than that, dust particles which covered up the leaves of plants have affected the respiratory system of plants. Animals also have been affected affected tremendously by this forest fire as they too had suffered with respiratory ailments. Forest fire had also caused water pollution as when it rained, the dust particles would end up in water sources. This had affected tremendously the supply of clean fresh water.
Malaysia's economy too was hit hard by this forest fire. The haze caused by it made tourists to stay away from Malaysia in order to avoid health problems. The tourism industry had suffered from huge loss of revenue as the number of tourist coming into Malaysia had decreased significantly during this preiod. Schools were forced to close as parents were advised by the government to keep their children indoor.
In conclusion, Indonesia has to take precaution in order to avoid this disaster from happening again. Forest burning by farmers should be banned and severe actions should be taken against those who doesn't comply with the law.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
My Life's Meaning
LIFE, what does this actually mean? Why are we here? What is the reason for our existence?
Most people would have came across with similar questions in some part of their lives. Maybe I am assuming this as these questions have been running through my mind for quite some time.
The most intriguing question that always pop up in my head is 'What is the reason for our mere existence?' I still have no idea why we exist and there is not much credible sources which could clarify my doubt. Most of the sources which tried to explain what life is basically was religious texts from various religions where each of it has its own story. So, lets forget about these religious themes and think with a neutral and unbiased mind, 'What is the reason for our existence?'
Some people say that life is God's given gift to us. In some parts of my life (I'll let you know when I felt this way), I felt like giving back this so-called 'gift' back to the so-called 'God'. In reality, we suffered more in life than we actually enjoyed it. In all parts of our life, we need to undergo various type of sufferings or let's say sufferings of different magnitudes. First, we were rudely 'awakened' from nine months of sleep where nothing bothered us and we were at almost completely safe environment away from any danger(sufferings). Then, our sensors were activated that we can now feel the pain of sufferings both physically and emotionally. Now,let say it has been 20 years since being 'awakened' abruptly and we would have gained lots of experience and also would have undergone many personal sufferings throughout these years. Some people might disagree with me at this point saying that they had a great life without any sufferings. This is completely untrue. Let's count the number of times you fell sick in the past 20 years,the number of time you met with accidents,the number of times the people you care for met with accidents, the number of close friends that you lost contact with,the number of time you broke up with your girlfriend(s)/boyfriend(s), the number of pets that died, the number of family member who fell sick or even past away and many more. So do you still think that life had always been full of happy faces or let's say a fairytale or how about let say, always been filled with Teletubbies?
We faced lots of sufferings and still how could we still get on with life? How come we are still sane after facing all these problem in life? The answer for these questions came to me when I actually attended my grandmother's funeral. As she was lying there motionless as the final rites were being done, I was still in shock of the reality that my grandmother was gone. After a while, I started thinking about the good times that we(my siblings and I) and my grandmother had and that actually made me smile while we were grieving for her. It had been almost 5 years since that day and the memories of my grandmother still made me smile till today. Then, I realized that even though we undergo sufferings in life, all the good memories in life actually helps us to carry on with life.
I came to a conclusion that love was actually the driving force in life. We are willing to go through sufferings just to experience the feeling of love. The love that I am saying is the more general type( not just the boy-girl love). Love can be anything. For example, parents' love for their children, children's love for their parents, love towards our pets, love for nature and many more. There is so many variety of love that it is almost impossible to compile all of them together except by describing all of it with one word which is 'love'. We always fall in love even when we know that nearly everything in this world are not permanent. For example, a person falls in love with another person even though he knows that eventually they would be separated(maybe he or she finds a new person in life or death did them apart). So, why are willing to go through this situation when we can completely avoid it. When you come to think of it, we actually appreciate the great things that we had in life when we lost it. For example, we don't appreciate our parents until we have left home to continue our studies or when we start working. We would fully appreciate their role as parents when we become parents ourselves. What I am actually trying to say here is sufferings that we experienced in life helps us to appreciate the good time in life. If we never suffered at all, we might not value life.
We all need to love and appreciate things that happened in our lives in order to enjoy life itself. Let us love all that exist around us as this is the path where we would suffer less and actually enjoy life.
In memories of my Nicko who had always been faithful to me and always been there to protect my family. May 'God' bless you.
Most people would have came across with similar questions in some part of their lives. Maybe I am assuming this as these questions have been running through my mind for quite some time.
The most intriguing question that always pop up in my head is 'What is the reason for our mere existence?' I still have no idea why we exist and there is not much credible sources which could clarify my doubt. Most of the sources which tried to explain what life is basically was religious texts from various religions where each of it has its own story. So, lets forget about these religious themes and think with a neutral and unbiased mind, 'What is the reason for our existence?'
Some people say that life is God's given gift to us. In some parts of my life (I'll let you know when I felt this way), I felt like giving back this so-called 'gift' back to the so-called 'God'. In reality, we suffered more in life than we actually enjoyed it. In all parts of our life, we need to undergo various type of sufferings or let's say sufferings of different magnitudes. First, we were rudely 'awakened' from nine months of sleep where nothing bothered us and we were at almost completely safe environment away from any danger(sufferings). Then, our sensors were activated that we can now feel the pain of sufferings both physically and emotionally. Now,let say it has been 20 years since being 'awakened' abruptly and we would have gained lots of experience and also would have undergone many personal sufferings throughout these years. Some people might disagree with me at this point saying that they had a great life without any sufferings. This is completely untrue. Let's count the number of times you fell sick in the past 20 years,the number of time you met with accidents,the number of times the people you care for met with accidents, the number of close friends that you lost contact with,the number of time you broke up with your girlfriend(s)/boyfriend(s), the number of pets that died, the number of family member who fell sick or even past away and many more. So do you still think that life had always been full of happy faces or let's say a fairytale or how about let say, always been filled with Teletubbies?
We faced lots of sufferings and still how could we still get on with life? How come we are still sane after facing all these problem in life? The answer for these questions came to me when I actually attended my grandmother's funeral. As she was lying there motionless as the final rites were being done, I was still in shock of the reality that my grandmother was gone. After a while, I started thinking about the good times that we(my siblings and I) and my grandmother had and that actually made me smile while we were grieving for her. It had been almost 5 years since that day and the memories of my grandmother still made me smile till today. Then, I realized that even though we undergo sufferings in life, all the good memories in life actually helps us to carry on with life.
I came to a conclusion that love was actually the driving force in life. We are willing to go through sufferings just to experience the feeling of love. The love that I am saying is the more general type( not just the boy-girl love). Love can be anything. For example, parents' love for their children, children's love for their parents, love towards our pets, love for nature and many more. There is so many variety of love that it is almost impossible to compile all of them together except by describing all of it with one word which is 'love'. We always fall in love even when we know that nearly everything in this world are not permanent. For example, a person falls in love with another person even though he knows that eventually they would be separated(maybe he or she finds a new person in life or death did them apart). So, why are willing to go through this situation when we can completely avoid it. When you come to think of it, we actually appreciate the great things that we had in life when we lost it. For example, we don't appreciate our parents until we have left home to continue our studies or when we start working. We would fully appreciate their role as parents when we become parents ourselves. What I am actually trying to say here is sufferings that we experienced in life helps us to appreciate the good time in life. If we never suffered at all, we might not value life.
We all need to love and appreciate things that happened in our lives in order to enjoy life itself. Let us love all that exist around us as this is the path where we would suffer less and actually enjoy life.
In memories of my Nicko who had always been faithful to me and always been there to protect my family. May 'God' bless you.
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