12
speak up!
letters
letters@thesundaily.com
Look to
renewable
energy sources
AS WE approach Earth Hour on March 28, let
us ponder on the fragile environment we helped
create in terms of carbon footprint and its anthro-
pogenic (man-made) consequences to human
health.
Coal is a source of energy particularly damag-
ing to the environment. Burning coal can release
air pollutants including sulfur dioxide and carbon
dioxide including voluminous combustion of by-
products such as ash, slag and calcium sulphide.
Increased use of coal will have a significant
environmental impact for several reasons. This in-
cludes aesthetic degradation, noise, dust and most
significant from the health standpoint – release
of harmful toxic trace elements into water, soil,
and air. Regardless, it remains a fact that coal is
the most polluting of all the fossil fuels. Coal-fired
power plants emit particles that cause acid rain,
smog and affect large areas downwind.
Global warming calls for reduction in the carbon
footprint by use of alternative renewable energy
since benefits far exceed costs. There should be
greater focus on micro-generation to reduce trans-
mission distances and put a carbon tax in place
to pay for the real impact of fossil fuels. Coal may
have its cost advantage but it poses far greater risk
to public health and inevitably TNB should focus
its expertise on alternative fuel capacity building,
if not at least sources of new fuel to energise the
country’s needs.
Finding secure, safe and reliable sources of
energy to power economic growth will be one
of the great challenges of this century. The future
of energy is about new forms of power and the
incentive for out-of-the-box thinking on energy.
The government must consider the options of lo-
calised small-time independent power producers
harnessing solar or high-altitude wind, bio-energy
to produce energy at an unsubsidised real cost
significantly below that of the least expensive
coal-fired power plants, the current benchmark of
the lowest cost source of power.
Future energy has to be renewable and greater
efforts must be undertaken to encourge the con-
sumption of renewable resources, such as solar,
wind, biofuel and hydro for electricity generation.
This new industry can produce alternative en-
ergy-related products and services. While many
industries are reeling from recessionary effects,
green jobs are charting 20% growth, commanding
the 10th largest industry hiring in US.
Let’s conduct an energy audit of our usage as
we commit to Earth Hour.
Joseph Lim
Kuala Lumpur
Driving in fear of daredevils
IF YOU crave for an adrenalin
rush and acrobatic acts with fancy
costumes, look no further than
the carpark at Tesco Ampang on
weekends. Just be there at about
2-2.30am every Sunday.
You will have your fill of stunts
by Mat Rempit and high speed
races between motorcycles and
modified cars on the MRR2 from
Tesco Ampang to Bandar Tasik
Selatan.
The hypermarket’s large
carpark is now a favourite haunt
of car racers and Mat Rempit.
They hang out in the carpark, at
a nearby petrol station and even
along the highway.
I witnessed a situation where
law abiding road users followed
each other slowly to avoid acci-
dents. We kept to the middle lane
and noticed a group of motorcy-
cles speeding up to us from the
left lane.
After some speeding, two
of the motorcyclists decided to
slow down in the left lane to chat
while riding. A third motorcyclist
swerved into the space between
Upright leaders will pass the test
IN THE run-up to the Umno general
assembly this week, the nation is
astir with the party’s rejection of
corrupt candidates on charges of
money politics. A few have been
charged and due punishment
meted out. Many more are being
investigated.
Of course not all who are guilty
of this despicable act of “buying
loyalty” will be hauled up by the
Umno disciplinary board or the
MACC because let’s face it – hard
evidence is not easy to come by.
Finding Ali Rustam guilty of
breaching Umno ethics and barring
him from the deputy president
candidacy is widely viewed as an
eleventh hour attempt to appease
dissenting voices. Hopefully, to be
seen to be serious about fighting
corruption will restore a little of the
face and credibility that Umno has
dramatically lost.
The focus is now on the candi-
dates the delegates choose to meet
Umno’s new challenges, chief of
which is convincing the electorate
that it is indeed the party that de-
No room for poverty
THE government must make a
better effort to eradicate poverty. A
more concerted, fruitful plan must
be devised and realised so that
poverty is forever eliminated from
the modern man’s vocabulary.
The government spends so much
on education but for the most part
it is schools and universities that
benefit. There is a big portion of
the middleaged population that
also needs to be educated. Many
people in their 40s and 50s have no
language and numeracy skills, and
so they remain poor.
The government should not only
pay attention to the children, but to
the parents as well. Many business
people, especially those running
small businesses, need help. Not
only cash, but also guidance on run-
ning their business and understand-
ing change and technology. The
government should do more to give
these small entrepreneurs a better
deal so that they can become more
enthusiastic, focused, and develop a
better outlook for themselves.
the two to join in the chat session
and as a result the left lane was
blocked.
Not long later, a fourth mo-
torcycle swerved into the very
narrow space between the three
motorcyclists and a car in the
middle lane. This caught the
driver by surprise and caused
him to swerve his car to the right
lane. Following suit, the line of
cars in the middle lane switched
to the right lane as the four mo-
torcycles had blocked both the
left and middle lanes to resume
their ride-and-chat session.
It was mind boggling. I was
worried about the wisdom of
driving slowly in the right lane,
which is normally used for over-
taking.
Yes, as a car driver, we have
the responsibility to look out
for smaller vehicles and pedes-
trians as they are exposed to
potentially more bodily harm
than us. However in such cases,
who looks out for decent road
users like myself who just want
to reach home safely? As with
serves to lead the BN government.
To do this the general assembly
must elect leaders who have the
integrity, capability and resilience
to do so.
Indirectly, because Umno rep-
resents Malay aspirations, all eyes
will be focused on Malay culture and
values and what yardsticks we apply
in defining a clean leadership.
In the run-up to independence
and the country’s first general elec-
tions, potential leaders were hand-
picked from among the profession-
als – doctors, lawyers and teachers
– who because of their education
and training, were considered to
have the brains and the brawn to
lead the nation into its first phase of
development.
And, indeed, they were men and
women with the highest integrity
whose loyalty to and respect for
Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Ab-
dul Razak was unfailing. Together,
whether it was at the federal or
state level, they forged ahead to
interpret the vision and mission of
the two founding fathers.
Nothing else should be done
until poverty is wiped away. It is not
admissible in this time and age for
anyone to go to sleep at night if he
or she knows of someone in need of
help who hasn’t been helped.
The best way to help is always
to provide the person with a job,
but not simply any job. The job must
be right for the individual. Almost
always, higher education takes chil-
dren away from their parents, and
the overemphasis on academics has
taken a big toll on family unity. Many
graduates are not happier because
they have a degree.
If the government focused on the
family and helped the parents first,
all students, graduate or not, would
perform much better in school and
in life. Extracurricular activities
should be eliminated for the most
part and replaced with part-time
work. Most parents find it difficult
to pay for all the extras the school
demands, and these parents would
be much happier if they received
help from their children after school
theSun
the incident quoted above, the
driver was driving cautiously at
a moderately slow speed. With
the fourth motorcycle coming
out of nowhere, his instinct told
him that there was a big risk of
an accident, hence he decided to
move to the right lane.
Take it from me as I was right
behind this car, the motorcyclist
had just managed to get through
that small gap. Even I had my
doubts that the motorcyclist
could make it. Thankfully, for this
driver, there were no cars in the
right lane.
All road users carry a respon-
sibility to look out for each other.
Are there any laws to protect
us from incidents involving Mat
Rempit. They are a menace to the
society.
This weekly get-togethers near
the hypermarket have been going
on since October 2008. I no longer
use the MRR2 for fear of accidents
or crimes by these Mat Rempit.
I now take a longer route home
spending more time and fuel.
What have our law enforcers
Men like Tun Dr Ismail at the
federal level and Tan Sri Dr Mohd
Said at the state level were known
for their integrity and no-nonsense
approach to politics. They were
trained in medicine and armed with
the compassion of seeing the real
sufferings of the rural Malays who
were inflicted with disease and
poverty. Some chose to see them
as bureaucrats and incidental politi-
cians unschooled in the fine art of
politicking. To the more seasoned
cikgu politicians of the era, their
fault lay in being too honest and
sticking to principles even when it
came to dealing with royalty.
In the present era of openness
and transparency, it becomes all
the more crucial to have upright
leaders with very few skeletons in
their cupboards. As the nation’s role
models, they must be looked up to
with the highest regard. When they
talk of integrity, they themselves
must be examples of it.
Halimah Mohd Said
Kuala Lumpur
instead of having to provide all for
their children and having to be at
their service constantly.
Providing free education, or
education on credit, has lowered
the standard of education itself and
kept many people poor, even the
graduates themselves.
The poor will not be helped
through charity and handouts. Only
the work culture will be able to
make poverty a thing of the past.
But poverty is not only the lack of
material means. It is also a state of
the mind that accepts lower stand-
ards instead of increasing thinking
and the motivation to work harder
to attain equal or better results.
The government must investigate
why this is happening and provide
solutions that will help people to be
the best that they can be. Unless
the government works relentlessly
to eradicate poverty, people will
continue to be unsatisfied.
Marisa Demori
Ipoh
| MONDAY MARCH 23 2009
done to stop these Mat Rempit?
Is it not illegal for more than 50
people to gather at spot or have
this weekly sessions been issued
a permit?
This is not to say nothing has
been done. The police had previ-
ously conducted an operation
at the hypermarket to round up
these Mat Rempit not long after
its opening.
Perhaps, the presence of more
police patrol cars would curb the
gathering of these daredevils.
And our local authorities should
consider setting up a place spe-
cifically for these motorcyclists
to gather and display their antics
safely.
A word of advice. If you are
at MRR2 on a Saturday night:
be wary of helmets lying in the
middle of the highway. The
motorcyclists also come out of
nowhere without a single light
switched on and they are often
dressed in black.
Cautious Driver
Kuala Lumpur
More to
saving the
planet
I READ with amazement
the efforts of WWF-Malay-
sia to latch on to the Earth
Hour event and about all
the celebrities, media and
corporations that have
come up in support.
It is amazing that people
are so easily taken by a
publicity stunt that fails at
the very essence. Turning
off our lights for one hour
on one designated day of
the year to save our planet
surely is a PR event at best.
It shames the thousands
of devoted people, govern-
mental bodies, scientists
and environmentalists
that have for years been
working on finding real
solutions to address this
global concern.
Malaysians should see
past this gimmick by inter-
national NGOs and start
changing their lifestyles.
Surely, we can be more
proactive and not be fed
by agenda of international
bodies.
Why not phased power
conservation programmes,
how about ride public
transport days in a month,
why not car pool day and
the list goes on.
It is also ironic that the
organiser, WWF-Malaysia,
up until very recently, did
not even have a climate
change programme to
begin with when all oth-
ers (even local groups and
individuals) have been
persistent in their pleas for
Malaysians to take action.
Remember, our leaders
did sign the Kyoto Protocol
and there has been con-
certed movements towards
reaching solutions.
Let us all be enlightened
and move away from cel-
ebrations and gimmicks.
Marcus
Petaling Jaya