It Takes an Ecovillage

Source: http://www.ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us/

Link to article:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1659708,00.html

By Bryan Walsh

Time Magazine

Summary:
The article talks about an Eco Village in busy New York, the reasons for the setting up of such a village, the frugal lifestyle of the village folk and possible impacts such villages would have both now and in the future

Comments:
In the ever changing world we live in today, one has to be constantly on the move. However, there are also many adverse effects of this trend of globalisation; one of which is the detrimental impact it has on the environment.

Many countries, in their quest to become economic superpowers, have put their economies first over that of environmental sustainability. This pollution has even boiled down to the lifestyle of the average home owner, whose so many energy guzzling appliances have led to even greater pollution since more fossil fuels are burnt to sustain this demand. Such ever increasing strains put on Mother Earth have no doubt led to questions about the future to come.

However, every cloud has a silver lining and although the current situation might seem gloomy, there are many environmentalists out there today working hard to save the Earth.

I firmly believe that actions speak louder than words, and the only way to show to others that one is really seriously about the environment is not through protests and 24hr across the globe concerts, which in itself also results in great environmental pollution, but through oneself evoking change in his own lifestyle and mindset first, before moving on to revolutionize the lives of many others.

And indeed by living in an eco village like this one, these people are examples for all, that one can enjoy a modern lifestyle, but at the same time, reduce human induced damage to the environment.

Here, residents not only show their commitment towards environmental sustainability by growing their own crops; the populace also firmly believes that such lifestyle adjustments are necessary, and this way of thinking is no doubt the main driving force behind this community.

These self sustainable communities also allow for greater bonding and the fostering of friendships, and this keeps residents occupied and happy.

Changes in lifestyles though, cannot happen overnight, and people take time to accept new ideas. People also have preferences; some prefer living as a singular entity and as such may not seem to take on this idea of living as a community.

To an outsider, the eco village might appear to be the perfect home, where people can live a happy life free from disagreements.

However, as much as it might seem like it, this eco village in not a semi utopia. A fair share of sacrifices on ones time still has to be made; all villagers have to play their part in contributing to the community, whether through the growing of crops or cooking meals for the commune.

Problems also exist everywhere, even in villages like these. Although the article might have painted a beautiful picture of such an eco village, it is certain that like many such communities, this community also has its fair share of disagreements.

And like many other communities, this village is not immune to the pressures from the outside world, as much as the leaders might like to create an attractive alternative to American life.

(498 words) – Excluding the summary

Virginia Tech - Why the massacre?

Source: The Straits Times

Link to article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6564653.stm

British Broadcasting Corporation

Summary:
The article is about Cho Seung-hui’s massacre of 32 of his fellow college mates and teachers as well as possible reasons on why such a horrendous act could have taken place.

Comments:
Cho Seung-hui was described by many as a loner who seldom talked at all, choosing to spend his time downloading music instead of socialising with his classmates.

Nothing much however, was done to correct Cho’s behaviour. And one day, during the early hours of April the 16th, Cho went on a rampage on the Virginia Tech campus, leaving 33 people dead, and many more severely injured.

Till today, many questions still remain about what caused this bloodbath. Many have blamed gun ownership laws. However, many also fail to look at what could have been done to prevent such a manifestation of anger and hate.

Based on the sufficient warnings that something very wrong was happening inside Cho, from him identifying himself as “question mark”, to the gory plays he wrote, many of which involved arsenals of weapons, I feel that the Virginia Tech administration could have done more to help Cho overcome the conflict brewing within him.

Indeed Cho was sent for counselling by a professor, although I guess he went for it a little too late, since by that time, the anger in him had probably already manifested to an unstoppable level. Aslo, as the professor had walked Cho to the counsellor in full view of the public, counselling might have even done more harm than good to Cho since it might lead to him being labelled as a “problem kid”, which might result in more people detesting him.

The action taken by the professor to tutor Cho one on one is also comparable to that of teachers making students stay behind for extra lessons, something very evident in the Singaporean school system, which has overwhelming consequences when it comes to the way the student, is treated in class and out of school.

As a student, I observed that such a student would be branded as an outcast, leading to behaviour similar to that of Cho, the only difference being that of the scale of such conduct.

I would no doubt be treating such a person in the same manner as well. If I feel that the “problem” student is behaving in an immature way, I would probably give up after failing in attempts to make contact with him. This would result in the student segregating himself from the rest of the student community, which might lead to the materialization of harm to self and harm to those around the student.

Perhaps, schools here in Singapore can learn from this incident and find alternative solutions to dealing with such students instead of pointing out their flaws in front of everyone.

Observations on how teachers in school deal with cases of self-harm have also led me to conclude that most teachers are only capable of dealing with academia.

Schools should thus train teachers to spot troubled students, offer them preventive advice and do whatever they can to ensure easy accessibility for students to counsellors, including giving some room for privacy and allocating the counselling room away from public view.

(499 words) – Excluding the summary

Thailand set to make Buddhism the state religion

Source: The Straits Times

Link to article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/24/africa/thai.php

By Seth Mydans

International Herald Tribute

Summary:
The article is about the Thai military backed government caving in to pressure from monks in the country and their decision supporting the enshrinement of Buddhism as a state religion, the various reasons for doing so and the implications behind such a decision.

Comments:
On the 25th of April, traffic in Thailand was brought to a standstill when Buddhist monks marched to the Parliament demanding that the government enshrine Buddhism as a state religion.

The monks were unhappy that their religion was coming “under fire” from insurgents in the Thai south, with many devote Buddhists being subjected to shootings and beheadings by Muslim extremists.

They felt that enshrining Buddhism would send a strong signal to the Muslim insurgents that the Buddhists had won the battle in the south and that the government had all along considered Islam as an “alien religion”.

As over 90% of the populace are Buddhists, it would only make perfect sense to enshrine Buddhism as a national religion. Although this would instil a greater sense of nationalism amongst the population, I disagree with this trend of thought.

Though enshrining Buddhism as a national religion might result in the heightening of the conflict in the Thai south, I later realised that it had greater repercussions on Thailand and the South East Asian region.

One might remember that not too long ago, provinces in the Thai south had proposed to the Thai government for autonomy or a break away. Governmental response was swift, and more soldiers were sent into the south.

Then, the message sent to the people in the south was hazy, with the government, in a bid to reconcile them, seeking council with various community leaders.

And now, as government officials agree with a proposed plan to enshrine Buddhism as a national religion, one can see the writing on the wall.

If I were a Muslim living in the south of Thailand, that would be a signal that indeed, the only choice left is that of supporting the insurgency in their quest for independence.

Independence for the provinces in the Thai South though might result in the further straining of ties between Thailand and her neighbours, namely Malaysia and Singapore. These countries would be put in a very difficult position if such a situation arises.

Although Islam is the official religion in Malaysia and one might think that Malaysia would be inclined to take the side of the militancy, I think otherwise.

If I were the foreign minister of Malaysia or Singapore, I would not wish to offend the citizens in my country nor my close economic partner and thus would prefer to sit on the fence. Meddling in other people’s business might only lead to the destruction of the social fabric of my country.

However, as I am only a third party observer whom has had no real contact with the people involved in the conflict, I feel that I am in no position to comment, since I would not have an accurate perspective on the actual feelings of the people on the ground.

The conflict in the south also has a long history which I am not very familiar with and thus will not be able to fully understand the actions of the various parties involved.

(498 words) – Excluding the summary

The Future of Global Warming has arrived in Bangladesh

Source: Wikipedia

Link to article: http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20070102/070223-1.htm

By Henry Chu

The Business Times

Summary:
The article squares in on Bangladesh, an impoverished nation and shows how global warming has impacted its water supply and the livelihood of its people as well as how it might further impact this low lying country in the future.

Comments:
From the hawker to the high flying executive, global warming affects every one of us. However, many countries are still persistent on savaging whatever is left of the Earth and are not acting to resolve the matter.

Bangladesh is country just beside India. An underdeveloped and overpopulated nation, its people survive on an average of US$440 annually or around US$2 per day. However, half of her population live below the poverty level.

Around 66% of the population are into farming; hardly the trade that accounts for the adverse effects of global warming. Its people consume the least energy in South Asia. However, instead of being rewarded by not being culprits of the massive pillaging and destruction of Mother Earth, they are punished.

The effects of global warming have long descended upon Bangladesh; that being the sharp rise in sea levels. This has led to the contamination of water supply in many areas. Farms have been forced to move away from their traditional role of planting crops to that of shrimp farming. However, since the trade is less labour intensive, it has ended up in boosting the unemployment of the industry.

Considering such statistics above, why then do the people of Bangladesh have to bear the brunt of havoc that other nations have created? Why doesn’t someone realise the severity of global warming such that they would then act to curb it rather that wait till it is far too late?

I empathize with such people. As a student though, I am in no position to do anything about it. What is within my capability is that spreading the message about the plight of the Bangladeshi people and hope that someone would move it and do something about it.

However, the sorry fact of the matter is that no one would care about this ‘unimportant’ nation. What for? One would no doubt wonder. Most people would adopt the ‘It is not happening in my country and so I can go about destroying the environment’ attitude.

After all, Bangladesh is not a world superpower such that when something happens to it, everything would come to a standstill and all attention will be focused on it.

In other words, Bangladesh is just not worth the trouble of the US etc such that it would reduce emissions and in turn, affect their economy. It is ironic, considering that many of the leading producers in greenhouse gases chair the United Nations.

By making such statements though, I am making a great assumption that all people in the world are selfish and would do things only if they see some value in it; in other words, humanity does not exist. What I have said is only based on the article alone and I do not know if nations are currently taking steps to rectify the problem. I have not been to Bangladesh to check things out or studied all facts and figures provided and thus might have overestimated or underestimated the severity of the issue.

(499 words) - Excluding summary

The Real Reason For Indonesia's Sand Ban

Source: The Sunday Times

Link to article: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/167862.asp

By Sharon Vasoo

TODAY

Summary:
The article is about the implementation of the sand ban by Indonesia, the various reasons for the ban as well as a look at how it would affect Singapore and what Singapore would do to overcome it.

Comments:
On the 22nd of January, Indonesia made the decision of banning sand exports to all countries including that of Singapore.

The Trade Minister emphasized that the rational behind the ban was “resource conservation”. Sand mining activities erode the coastline, uprooting trees along the shore which end up in the seabed. This has decreased the supply of fish in the area which in turn affects the livelihood of the many fishermen whose trade is the rice bowl that feeds their family.

I feel that if Singapore is indeed harming the environment and the livelihood of the people of another country, she should either avoid it at all costs or find less damaging alternatives.

I thought: ‘This is new; Indonesia is finally taking steps towards protecting her natural environment and her people and should be applauded for it.’

If I were the son of a typical Indonesian fisherman and had to go to bed hungry as my dad did not bring home enough catch to sell, I would have cursed Singapore for bringing my family such misery.

I later felt however, that the supposed rational behind the ban made no sense. The sand ban would result in the closure of the sand mining industry which meant the retrenchment of its 3000 workers. Indonesia, with an unemployment rate of 11.8% certainly would not want more jobless people begging on the streets.

Indeed, the issue further unravelled itself during the course of a few weeks. The imported sand came from inland areas. This meant that Singapore had done its part in reducing the detrimental effects to the environment resulting from sand mining. Also contrary to previous claims, land reclamation projects by Singapore had not affected Indonesia’s borders.

The ban was enforced so as to put pressure on Singapore to resolve bilateral issues between the two countries. Indonesian wanted to ‘get tough’ with Singapore.

In my opinion, this is not the way to treat Singapore, especially since Singapore has been very supportive of the formation of a Special Economic Zone in Riau. Besides, she has constantly helped Indonesia in times of crises. The ban, as The Business Times chided was ‘A small act by a big nation’. Nevertheless, Singapore will continue to help Indonesia.

It has however given Singapore a wake up call that it has to strive towards self sufficiency. And as the saying goes, ‘No one owes Singapore a living’. I hope that like what we did when we came up with NEWATER, we can with sand.

However, the views I have expressed here could be tainted with biasness since I am a Singaporean and thus am naturally inclined towards the viewpoint taken up by the Singapore government. Also what I have commented on was that of politicking at the surface. I do not know and will never know what happens beneath and who to believe in since claims by the two governments contradict one another and thus may not be able to make an accurate judgement on this incident.

(497 words) – Excluding the summary