Condolences to the Goddess of Yangtze River

www.baiji.org

On Dec 13 2006, Baji, a rare freshwater dolphin species which thrived in the Yangtze River as early as 20 million years ago, was declared functionally extinct.

There are only 6 species of freshwater dolphins and porpoise in the world - 3 in Asia, 2 of which are found exclusive in the Yangtze River in China. Baiji has since disappeared, leaving another one on the brink of extinction.

It was a painful awakening to witness the demise of yet another species from the face of the earth. I had naively thought no news probably meant good news, until today. (fact is the media is just more interested in digging up for news on little bear cubs like Knut.) Really, scrolling down the list of recently extinct animals online just now was like reading through "Planet Earth's Obituaries" column...

Since the classic case of the Dodo bird, we hadn't been able to stop the onset of animals from slipping through our fingers day after day (in fact, according to 365 Ways by Philippe Bourseiller, more than 2 species are disappearing every hour) despite numerous laudable efforts.

Argument that evolution is part of a natural process is redundant here, cos to have large mammals near the end of the food chain disappearing when climate conditions havent yet changed drastically enough is anything BUT normal. It could only be due to human activity.

I shudder to even think about what the combined powers of climate change n man can do.

"Man would die of great loneliness if all the beasts are gone. For what happens to beasts will also happen to man." - anonymous

A 16 yr old's Tribute to the Days...

A Tribute to the Days

Please remember,
When land was rich and trees stood tall.
The plot of arid desert was very small,
Until farmers came and set the place burning;
Then left the forest creatures yearning.

Please remember,
When we could enjoy a clean, fresh breeze
Not mingling with soot or soaked with grease.
In those days there was no need to go high places,
Just to find somewhere devoid of hazes.

Please remember,
When the color of water reflected the sky,
Never too murky or loaded with dye.
We needn’t worry about the fury of fish
Stained with mercury on our dish.

Please remember,
When we hadn’t possessed any greed,
And never took what we didn’t need.
We hadn’t yet created the hunting gun,
Just so we could have a little fun.

Please remember,
What we have sold
To Hell’s creator:
The Days of old.

"...I underestimated the damage a coward with power can do..."

Words to incumbent US President from a fired newspaper columnist, Dan Guthrie - unminced, unsalted - words of fire. Highly fueling.

Click on it!

A tribute to Earth Day?

Doesn't matter if Earth Day was yesterday - sounds kinda paradoxical to me...aren't we living on Earth everyday??

But if making certain days special spurs sentimentality, and people prefer to label down just one day for the Earth to officially encourage one another to change their habits / schedules as a tribute to our Mother, well...at least that's a start. In Dr. Jane Goodall's words: "Knowledge fosters Compassion, and Compassion leads to Action".

So here's my "special tribute":

A speech by Dr. Jane Goodall that resonates exactly my sentiments towards Mother Nature, Humanity and our Future...




Here's one more: take a few minutes each day to read about one man's tribute to the Earth - all 365 days* of it...

Click on it!

*cnmmnc strives to keep it posted up-to-date, so please be patient if it lags once in a while...

TED

Recently, a good friend of mine from singapore introduced TED to me in response to one of my posts.

Just this morning, i came across a message by RISD's acting president (Roger Mandle), who wrote about sustainability, and his participation in TED conference early this year, providing a link to TED's website.

Somehow, good things find their way around to be shared. Now it's my turn to pass it on.
http://www.ted.com/


In Roger Mandle's words,

" I know that when artists and designers join engineers, educators, politicians, public policy-makers and environmental activists then new ground will be broken. Together we will create innovative solutions that will help lead the way for future generations. I encourage everyone to join this critical effort to sustain our environment and planet. In doing so, we honor the profound importance of natural resources to our earth, including its beauty, its people and the creatures who inhabit it"

The TED video below is dedicated to all those mentioned above.

P.S. Are you from the coastal lands?

After watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, i went into digging for my stack of newspaper cuttings i made when i was in India early this year.
What had seemed so far-fetched and incredulously imminent to me from that article suddenly became alot more real to me now...so the source could be from as far away as Greenland?!

All i know is, when this happens, my tiny island of a home situated 1 deg north of the Equator won't stand a chance.

I said this to my european brother-in-law who's thinking of settling down his family in Singapore recently: "Ya, its certainly a great place to live - nice tropics, good food, conducive environment....but hey, there may be a mass migration happening in the near future for us...you might want to take that into account..."

Now...is it just me, or does that conversation sound kinda a crazy to you??

A Convenient Source to An Inconvenient Truth

I'm glad i made much better time for this film.
This time i get to urge others to go for it in the midst of its furore as compared to Fahrenheit 911 (2004), of which i was miserably 2 years late... urging people to watch that now is like trying to blow fire back into the ashes, but getting soot in your face instead..

Anyways, i'm not sure if An Inconvenient Truth is still on the big screens around the world, but to all its skeptics n those who have no interest in the environment, who shy away from the ''sciences'' of it or dread becoming depressed by it, I only have this to say:

You owe it to your past, present and future self to watch this masterpiece of work...no questions asked.
Dont think i can make myself any clearer either.

All it took was for one man with the right formula,
to do what all the scientists, environmentalists, politicians, educators and entertainers in the world couldn't - bring all their powers together.

That's what we really needed dont we?
Someone who cares enough to ask questions, smart enough to decipher the facts, perceptive enough to filter out the truth, powerful enough to be heard, and charismatic enough to keep us engaged.

Then, what do we do?
For a man who's spent the last 7 years researching and compiling the massive sources of information and facts that boil down to one message, the least we can do is to offer our ears.

In his words, "sometimes, u just have to wait for the dots in you to connect."
At least start making these dots available now, shall we?

Y Vegetarian?

Recently, i walked into a cafe and asked if they'd do a veggie wrap for me even though it's not on their menu. The sprightful young waitress at the counter was halfway through her lunch salad, but cheerfully confirmed my order.

Just before paying for my meal, she asked me out of the blue: "Are you a vegetarian for moral or health issues?"

My mind went blank for a min.. whatever happened to religious? That's usually the no. 1 reason in Asia. but i managed to reply. "Moral...?"

She happily gave me a hi-five. "Great, i like you already! Same here. I love meat, but realised i love animals more. So no more meat for me in the last 3 years" she declared with a resolute, determined expression on her face.

Though i shared similar reasons with her, I was amused by the unexpected dialogue...reminded me of my own encounters that eventually propelled me in the vegetarianhood direction - A documentary on Leonardo Davinci (he was said to be a vegetarian for his love of animals...how enlightening was that in his era?), a gruesome "Anti-killing" advertisement in Copenhagen that showed frozen-packed human body parts in a grocery store (that was absolutely horrific!), the selections of HUGE chunky frozen meat (enough to feed an entire family for a week) being sold in Western stores, the environmental pollution that poultry over-farming causes...
Never really a meat fan in the past, i just decided not to eat it if i can help it (eg. precious food going to waste...that's like slaughtering the chickens n throwing them away).

Still, i'm letting nature take its course. I dont call myself a true vegetarian cos I still eat fish once in a long while, but otherwise, my meat inclination index is fast dwindling. A month of delectable vegetable dishes in India also convinced me i can live just as happily.

There, a summary of events for those who had wished to know. Wanna join me? haha..

An Ocean starts from a single drop...

I made 2 discoveries today...

The water from our school taps runs a total duration of 21* seconds.
Always, i'd wash my hands for 3 secs and spend the rest of the time watching clean, heated water start washing the sink instead. So this time i literally counted, from a few taps in a few locations.
N if u think 18 sec is no big deal, i suggest u try counting in front of the mirror...

A dripping faucet or showerhead wastes pretty well 140 gallons of water PER day. Apparently someone even more meticulous than i did a much more conclusive experiment n posted it on the newspapers.

My next discovery?
That 1 gallon is close to 4 litres.
My mind is whirling, I cant yet bear to do the calculation on our over-zealous taps...

But I'll be back...(once i devise a plan...)

* last updated

Incredible India - Reflections II

India's Bapu: Water


Reading PJ's comments on his Mongolia experience (previous post) reminded of the situation in India.
In one of the tours we made in Ahmedabad, we visited an ancient step-well that's 6 storeys below ground level. It was a magnificent, awe-inspiring well design...i could sense how sacred water means to the Indians of that time, and perhaps even more so now...for while rainwater used to be stored up to the brim, especially in monsoon seasons, i was told that it hardly even reaches to the 3rd level from below in our era. Hell, when we visited, the water was at the "B6" level...which rendered it unusable. The fact that India did not have a proper monsoon (rainfalls were scarce) in the last 4 years compounded the water shortage crisis.

Elevation & Plan sketch of Stepwell


Bottom of the 6-storey well

Reading a newspaper article a few days later that Ahmedabad is to build another 5-10 nos. of high class hotels (on top of existing 4) in anticipation of its growing tourist value distressed me further. Already, local ground water is being overpumped for hotel use across cities in india, so much so that the locals are granted access to water supply only TWICE a day - once each morning n evening - while tourists like us would have "endless" supply, to support our foreign daily routine: bathing twice a day, getting complimentary drinking water in our rooms, going for laundry service every other day...I was extremely disturbed...how would I feel if i don't have free access to resources in my own land, which foreigners get to enjoy unconditionally? Anger n resentment definitely; Instead, the locals always greeted us with warmth n welcome.

Respect for water runs deep in India's culture

The pristine backwaters of Allepey - people's water

I'm not blaming the tourists per se; part of India IS hot n dirty...expecting foreigners to adapt immediately to the local way of life is like training your horse to be a camel. Moreover, tourism does create revenue for many cities, n tourists are there to relax, not "suffer"...

Sigh, I don't even know who to point fingers to actually...the government? the tourist industry? the natural humanistic behaviour?? The only possible way out of this dilemma is to create awareness amongst the tourists of the value of water in India, and show respect for it.
Still, shouldnt the scenes that lay out before them the minute they step out of the hotel already do that? Yet, i find it quite incredulous how many people's minds can just "switch on or off", looking without seeing, making no effort to reflect upon their consumption behaviour...

Sinful Paradise

Banquet Tonight?

Curious children ran out to greet me at dawn, shivering with cold

In the oasis-like desert camp we stayed in Manvar, we even had modern bathroom facilities in EVERY tent, heated showers in the day. I had asked a staff where the water came from, in which he had assured me it came from a local well that villagers have free access to. When we visited the villagers the next day however, it's apparent they hadn't bathed for days...a child's finger wound was even caked in mud..

Back in the desert hotel, i could only gawk at the pristine swimming pool that's hardly used:

Swimming pool in Manvar Desert Hotel

To be continued...