AZLAN ADNAN, FOUNDER OF THE GREEN PARTY OF MALAYSIA ANSWERS THE 14 QUESTIONS POSED IN
The Green Questionnaire by Green Vote Malaysia on August 23 2011.
Rubber and oil palm plantations are good examples of monocultures lacking biodiversity. In our tropical Malaysian rainforests, there is an average of 800 different trees species per hectare. They support an even greater number of insect and animal species. When we clear-cut our virgin jungles, we destroy the habitat that supports a rich biodiversity of plant and animal life. In oil palm plantations, you can find only handful of animal species, mostly rats and ayam hutan that eat fallen palm fruits and snakes that eat the rats and ayam hutan and that’s about it. Rubber plantations are possibly even worse. The only thing rubber and oil palm plantations have got going for them is that they act as carbon sinks, sequestering carbon dioxide and storing the carbon as cellulose. So, to answer your question, yes, rubber plantations are a kind of forest. The artificial kind that does not support wildlife and the natural biodiversity found in our natural forests.
2. Do you agree that there should be mandatory public hearings before a forest reserve is excised/degazetted?
Of course, not only should the hearings be made public, but all interested stakeholders must be given an opportunity to be heard and their views considered, incorporated and implemented.
3. What is your stand on the importation of radioactive materials into Malaysia?
What sorts of radioactive materials are we talking about? If you’re talking about radioactive sources for medical diagnostic and industrial imaging purposes, I’m all for it. I’m not a Luddite. We should be progressive and use appropriate technology to benefit not just mankind but the planet as a whole. If you’re taking about rare earth ore that contains radioactive thorium with a half-life of 14 billion years ~ that’s longer than the age of your universe ~ then my answer is a vehement “No! No! A thousand times No!”
4. Do you agree that the Lynas project in Gebeng should go ahead?
Save for employing 350 factory workers, there is financial benefit to Malaysia as Lynas would be given a 12-year tax holiday. After 12 years, Lynas would leave Malaysia, leaving behind a big radioactive mess that going to cost innocent lives, millions of ringgit and years to clean up; like what Mitsubishi Chemicals did with Asian Rare Earth. Will we not learn? When we’re taken for a ride the first time, it was the other person’s fault for being a crook. When we’re taken for a ride a second time, its our own fault for being so stupid in not learning from our mistakes.
5. Do you think Malaysia should have a nuclear power station?
I used to think so. I don’t see our population nor our need for electricity decreasing and I had believed that nuclear fission would buy us time until we get nuclear fusion into fruition. But there is a fundamental issue with nuclear fusion that inherently cannot be solved. It’s called the containment issue. The nuclear fusion reaction is so hot, so intense, that nothing can contain it. Then I realized we already have a nuclear fusion reactor that’s at a sufficiently safe distance away, and what’s more, the energy it creates is already being transported to us for free. We only have what the telco industry calls "the last-mile problem" to solve, to capture this energy and use it.
Yes, I’m talking about the Sun. The Sun is mostly hydrogen gas being squeezed together at enormously huge pressure by its own gravity to form helium. (Chemically, about three quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen, while the rest is mostly helium. Less than 2% consists of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon, iron, and others). It is this reaction that is a nuclear fusion reactor giving off huge amounts of energy in the form of sunlight and heat.
Instead of investing money in exploiting fossil fuels, which are finite yet decreasing assets, we should be investing in developing and making cheap solar panels and solar heaters. This is still a young field. In fact, it was only in August 2011 that a 13-year-old boy, Aidan Dwyer, made a major design breakthrough by designing a super-efficient solar array based on the Fibonacci series.
Credit must also be given to a Malaysian architect and inventor, Teoh Siang Teik, who invented, the world’s highest efficiency (40.7%) thermosyphon solar heater microsolar system.
In his book Critical Path, Buckminster Fuller likens fossil fuels to a fixed deposit in the bank that is earning negative interest as we slowly but surely deplete this finite resource. Solar energy, on the other hand, is like free money that is being credited into our current account every day, the only proviso being that if we don’t use it, we lose it and have to wait for tomorrow’s deposit.
Fukushima was a massive wake up call. We should follow the example of Germany and other enlightened nations in investing in solar and other renewable energy technologies such as the Gorlov Helical Turbine which can be placed in gravity-fed water mains pipelines to generate electricity.
6. Should petrol subsidies be continued or abolished?
Petrol subsidies should be abolished. It is about time that consumers feel and therefore understand the true cost of fossil fuels instead of living in a delusionary world of artificially cheap fuel.
I am against subsidies because people should learn that they need to pay for the actual cost of things and get away from the handout, subsidy mentality that is currently so pervasive in Malaysian society.
Once people accept this, we will have less consumerism and materialism in our society because we will learn to live to fulfill our needs, and not our wants. We must all learn to live within our means.
When we have subsidies, money is taken from all tax-payers to subsidize those who consume the goods that are being subsidized. It is grossly unfair that tax-payers who use public transport to be subsidizing all those fat cats, Datuks, Tan Sris, and aristocrats in their Mercedes, BMWs, Brabus, Porsches, Roll-Royces, Bentleys and what not. Those who drive luxury cars should also be able to afford to maintain them and that includes buying petrol at market prices.
Kalau tak mampu, janganlah nak berlagak macam boleh mampu.
So as not to burden the lower income group, a good, integrated and affordable public transport system must first be in place. we should have an infrastructure in place to encourage the use of bicycles.
I drive a 850 c.c. Kelisa. It meets my needs. I may want a Gallardo, an R8, a DB9, a Cayman, an SLK, an XKR and an Elise; one for each day of the week, but they'd be feeding my ego more that fulfilling my needs.
7. Should the government provide subsidies for water supply or should the public be asked to pay more for their water?
The pricing model that is currently being practised in Selangor makes much sense. The first RM6 worth of water consumed is waived. I daresay it costs more to collect this RM6 that its simply not worth the exercise. Then, the rate gets progressively higher the more one consumes a month.
Also, home should be designed with rainwater harvesting systems. A great deal of money and care is spent in ensuring that safe water is pure and safe to drink. And it’s such a waste to use in to flush the toilet and water the plants, to even to wash the car. Its like using bottled mineral water to take a shower. This is where a rainwater harvesting can be used to complement and thereby reduce the volume treated water consumed daily.
8. Do you agree that forests and peatlands can continue to be cleared for oil palm plantations?
No. More efficient use of existing land should be implemented instead. Efforts be done in introduce more species into the monocultures. Methods such as inter-cropping with fruit trees and the planting of bamboos, and various members of the ginger family such as kantan, lengkuas and cardamom along streams and waterways should be made to increase the biodiversity and also to increase food production.
9. Do you eat shark’s fin soup?
Yes, but my children don’t. I don’t smoke, but most Malaysian males do. I eat insects but most Malaysians react with shock and horror when I tell them I advocate entomophagy (see separate article) and ask them to eat a grasshopper. My mother eats turtle eggs which I did as a child but now don’t. Some habits die hard. We recognize that some things may take a generation to change. The important thing is to start the process by creating awareness and educating people of the issues.
10. Can we achieve Prime Minister Najib Razak’s pledge to reduce the country’s carbon emission intensity by 40%?
I don’t see how if we continue to build power plants that run on fossil fuels and continue to subsidize petrol. Making grand declarations of intent at conference may give a warm glow and feel good feelings but where is the substance? What realistic measures have already been implemented have have actually reduced carbon emissions?
11. Do you think Malaysia should retain 50% of its land area under forest cover as previously pledged by Tun Mahathir?
We should more. Declare an immediate and permanent moratorium on deforestation. Have proper enforcement with severe penalties. Hudud even.
12. What do you think is the current forest cover for Malaysia?
Malaysia's land surface was once almost entirely covered with forest. Today, forests still cover about 59.5% of the total land area. However, deforestation is a major concern as the country is still rapidly developing. In the 20 years from 1983 to 2003, there was a reduction of about 4.9 million hectares of forest cover in Malaysia. This is about 4 times the size of Singapore - an average of 250,000 hectares of forest being lost annually! Apart from deforestation, the remaining forests face threats from unsustainable logging, illegal removal of forest products and encroachment. Source: WWF Malaysia
13. Do you think the reintroduction of local elections would improve environmental management in the country?
Yes, if we include Local Agenda 21 as part of the elected representatives' key performance index (KPI).
14. Did you have to consult your party superiors before answering these questions?
No.
Copyright 2003-2011 Azlan Adnan. This blog post is sponsored by The Green Party of Malaysia
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