Comments on: The Serpent in paradise

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:28:00 +0000

Actually I hadn’t, Cheryl, but I have now. True enough. Mind you, everything always has revolved around racial issues – it’s just that tolerance is flying out the window now. Strange, isn’t it – the older generation (my husband’s in fact) were much more tolerant than the present one. Abdullah Badawi is himself a deeply religious but very tolerant man – but he has a hard job trying to control religious bigotry. My (relatively uniformed) guess is that he would actually be happy to see an inter-faith council, but knows it would be political suicide for him to promote it. And so on.

Racial and religious issues here make UK’s and USA’s similar issues look simplistic, mere minor glitches.

Malaysia’s are worthy of a twelve part fantasy – which would probably then be dismissed as unrealistic world-building! Nothing can be quite this insane…can it?

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:08:00 +0000

Sustainable is good, but in the UK it is all getting presented (by the nuclear lobby and by the "let's all go back to the stone age" brand of environmentalist) as an example of how renewable energy ruins the environment.

Racial component huh? I presume you have seen the current issue of The Economist.

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:44:00 +0000

Oh lord, Cheryl, it would take me pages to answer that question. Short answer: greed. Loggers in the tropics get quick profits from timber. And they (and the people they own) are prepared to lie to do it, or to steal. For example, it is a well known fact that a famous logger was involved in the illegal logging of a gazetted park some years ago - and that he remains unpunished.

Near where we were staying in the camp, there was an area cleared supposedly for the planting of rubber, but the estate is neglected. Obvious that they just wanted to clear fell to get the timber and weren't in the least interested in the further development of the land. And that's the short answer.

Long answer: oil palm and political/economic need to have a steady easy income earner. Much more instantly and reliably profitable than sustainable logging would be, even though the latter could be forever.

I am not against oil palm, merely against the ignoring of other needs - e.g. adequately large protected and interconnected reserves, protection of watersheds etc.

Palm oil is viewed as a future source of fuel, and yes, it will earn carbon credits because it will be sustainable.

Another reason why such destruction is necessary concerns the lack of a real population control policy, in a society where "God will provide" if you go ahead and have umpteen kids (even though there's ample proof that He doesn't!!).

And then there's there's a racial component, where everyone wants their ethnic group to come out on top in the numbers stakes because of the political/religious implications.

And all that is just a start...This is a complicated country.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:11:00 +0000

So what exactly is driving all this development? I ask because I have seen suggestions that it is to feed the West’s increased demand for diesel fuel, so that us car drivers can feel we are being more environmentally friendly.

By: hrugaar

hrugaar — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:54:00 +0000

I was feeling depressed before this. Now I feel like murdering the greedy destructive b*stards.

Is there any up-side of hope for what's left, or is it all gloom and doom now? :o