After a 3-month hiatus... (Part I)

Yes, i'm back in the US again.
Back from a long summer break in Taiwan, surrounded by people, activities and lively chaos.
This aspect of Asia is most nostalgic to me, and i had indulgently basked myself in it for the past few months.

No sooner was i there that i also realized it is this very freneticism that impedes many people in Asia to think much beyond their everyday lives. The government and its people share a very different relationship from that in Europe and America: while its mostly up to the common folks to work extremely hard to fend for themselves, everything on a national or global basis is left to the business of their government. So if its environmental issues we're talking about, "well, the government will handle it. "

For this reason, environmental awareness was hardly detectable amongst the public of Asian countries, and any news of it or measures to be taken were entirely up to the governing body's discretion. One positive aspect of this however, if executed, is its extent of influence : the Taiwanese government introduced the sale of plastic bags in all grocery and convenience stores several years ago in a bid to cut down on plastics, and recently even banned the use of paper or styrofoam cups in all government related functions.

Without a clear long-term agenda and awareness campaign however, citizens will not fully comprehend its importance (many Taiwanese only saw the conservation efforts as an inconvenient legislative law), and continue to undermine such efforts by other irresponsible actions against the environment. This brings to point that while i could easily access environmental reports in English on the WorldWideWeb, there are far too few translated reports in Chinese or other minor languages for non-English speaking (or other european languages) Asians to read up on as easily. (I'm chagrined to say that i am also ill-equipped to write my blog in Chinese for my Taiwanese counterparts!)

Censorship breeds ignorance, and ignorance breeds complacency.
But this is just one part of the story. In an economy-driven world, it is considered "frivolous" if conservation efforts were to supercede economic strategies, and many developing countries couldn't afford - nor are willing to abide to - the high price...not after their time of progress has finally come. Down to human-scale, what do you do when you tell a tree-cutter to "stop cutting down trees for sale or there won't be trees left tomorrow", and he'd reply that he and his family can only afford to live by the day?

Faced with all these disputes and complexities within and between countries, one has to concede that environmentalism has become just another poker deal for world leaders - all about money and gambling our chances with our only habitat.

However, as individuals, we don't have to judge upon the fairness of the game, nor wait for the outcome. So long as you're in a position to conserve and promote for the environment, do it.
Nothing's fair since the day we were born, why start debating about that now?

Think about it...you're lucky to afford to do so where others can't.