Is there any point in the Earth Hour?

 

Berita Kampus asked me a whole series of questions about Earth Hour but I chose to answer just one : "From your opinion, is there really any point to Earth Hour?"

This is what I said in reply :

My response is that Earth Hour by itself, in the long run, is not going to get us to resolve the issues of climate change.

What it has done effectively is to capture the imagination of the people across the world to pay some attention to the issue of climate change. But I am sure many who participate do it just to be part of the "gang"; they are probably not focussed on intentions of the campaign.

I have never, personally, taken part in Earth Hour. For some reason, I was out burning carbon, somewhere else on Earth. It is not that I don't support the effort to get people to symbolically turn of the lights for one hour (a year!). I do, I do. But, to put it sarcastically, or perhaps rudely, Earth Hour is "kids stuff". I know, 2009 more than 4,000 cities in 88 countries switched off their lights. In 2010, 128 countries joined the band wagon. That's amazing persuasive advertising.

Millions of people took part, but the Earth is still in deep shit! If we don't cut the carbon emissions by 80%, we're going to get fried (well sort of, 'cos the Earth will get hotter but the end result is Ice Age!). We need to see results within the next 3 or 4 years, or else is too late ... we would have tipped over to the point of no return.

Do you think anybody is feeling anxious about it? Some people do, like at the top of this post ...

Who's she? A famous Aussie with a secret (Google her yourself)
What I do like is the list of things she says we should do everyday ...she "recommends" them, she didn't say whether she practices them (I don't mean to insult her) ....

• Buy local produce from markets thereby reducing food miles
• Walking or riding the bike wherever possible as opposed to driving
• Ensure the car tyres are always inflated to the correct level as they use less fuel
• Use fuel with Ethanol
• Turn off the lights and use organic or beeswax candles a lot of the time
• Unplug appliances when they are not in use
• Use heating and cooling when absolutely necessary
• Wash in mostly cold water
• Use chemical-free dish washing, washing powder and cleaning products
• Recycle, recycle, recycle
• Buy products with the highest recyclability
• Purchase clothes that are ethically made, not mass produced
• Dress in Organic clothing
• Install water-saving nozzles on all taps including showers
• Compost scraps whenever possible
• Prepare food plans so as to avoid food wastage
• Grow herbs and spices
• Have timed showers to use less water
• Water the plants of an evening
• Bury food scraps in the garden bed to feed the earth worms or compost
• Collecting grey water from bath and use it to water plants
• Using Certified Organic personal care products (avoid using chemicals)
• Wash the car on the grass with environmentally friendly car wash
• Buy Certified Organic or Farmers markets produce. I understand that certified organics can be expensive, but local farmers markets for the most part are usually reasonable. On my blog (www.koraorganics.com/blog) I include a list of Farmers Markets from around the world so that people will have ready access to the same.

 Quite doable, right?

Hhmmm, I would say that I am in "compliance" with maybe 75% of those items. At least in spirit if not the letter.

So, do remember Earth every day. Switch off the lights when you don't need them.

Five Minds are better than Two

I bought this book about 2 years ago at Changi Airport. 

I read it, of course, but found it hard to read. You get the ideas but you (I) don't feel moved. 

Then I searched the web this morning and found a paper by the same author with the same title, but edited from a talk he gave in 2008. You don't need to buy or read the book, just read the 18-page paper ... 'cause it makes much more sense and is easier to read.

What are the five minds for the future? 

• The Disciplined Mind
• The Synthesising Mind
• The Creative Mind
• The Respectful Mind, and
• The Ethical Mind

I would tell to just go read the paper, 'cause Howard Gardner does a better job at it then I would. I just want to touch on the last one. BTW, Howard is the famous guy who told the World that intelligence is not merely about being able to score in the exams (sort of). I think even he has lost count, but there's 8 or 9 types of intelligences around.

Have you been following what's going on around the World?

• The German defence minister had to resign - because, 10 years or so after the fact, they discovered that a quarter of his PhD thesis was plagiarised.
• Beyonce, Mariah Carey and other celebrities now think money from the Gaddafi regime is dirty and want to give back the millions they got paid for performing in Libya. (Actually, it was not in Libya, and they didn't know it was finance by Gaddafi's family)
• And the famous London School of Economics has now become infamous because they also took money from Gaddafi's family - and the University and the professor involved now say they are ashamed of their poor judgment
• Closer to home, on facebook no less, a candidate for the recent campus elections has apologised for unethnical use of facebook pages/groups for campaigning. The pages were created for charitable purposes and public service. He has also offered to step down from the charitable cause which he founded.

Several weeks ago, I was at a university workshop and we were discussing giving browny points to lectuers who can draw in funding to the university for things like CSR work. I asked whether there should be a policy on which company or individual we should or should not take money from. Specifically, I said perhaps there should a policy to ban funding from tobacco companies. But one professor declared he has no problems if the tobacco companies wanted to give him funding.

A few years back, I was asked by a lecturer from engineering whether they should accept funding from the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers - they wanted to give a huge sum (like RM30,000) to fund rcycling activities. Oh, and the money was to go to the school teaching polymer. At that time, I was all gung-ho about "say no to plastic bags" and getting rid of polystyrene on campus. I remember saying if the money is to educate people about recycling, I had no problems. (So, perhaps in the same vein, I should have no problems if the Malayan Tobacco Company wanted to give, say Green Lung, money to tell people that "smoking kills"! What a dilemma. Imagine MTC giving money to help the Cancer Society?)

What about, say, lecturers who are paid to carry out a project, on or outside campus, which at the end of the project, shows that a certain method, technology, or product, has been successful in solving a problem. For instance, lecturers being paid to carry out field tests of new drugs. Or paying respondents to become the subjects of a research study.

If you are appointed as a consultant, and being paid for it, there usually is no ethical dilemma. You are paid for your expert view.

But if you are paid for research, then the alarm bells starts going off. In fact, that's also where independent reviewers zero in on. Out of all the research which supports or "proves" a claim, how many of that is truly independent - i.e. done outside the organisation, paid for by agenices or organisations which have no vested interest in the outcomes?

Should the development of the ethical mind be in our curriculum now?

p.s. Gardner, in discussing the ethical mind also talked about the ability and readiness to forgive. 

p.s.2.  I found this very interesting, and I feel quite balanced, paper about the "myths and science of mudballs" which you should read.

HBP must have got somethings right ...

Did you read this news item "Women Rule Councils in Penang?" Kinda insulting, right? Perhaps a little condescending?

Ah, but nevermind about that. What this post is about is that the heads of the two local authorities are graduates of the School of HBP, USM. Well, each of them got at least one degree from USM.

 On the right is Patahiyah, the current President (Mayor) of the Municipal Council of Penang Island. She got her first degree from HBP and then went overseas to get her professional architecture degree (HBP didn't offer this during her time - yes, long ago). This photo was taken during a break at the judging of the Rifle Range Design Ideas Competition in Oct 2010.

And the two gentlemen in the picture? Both are directors in MPPP. Both are also graduates of HBP, of course. One is a town planner (Roslan), the other an architect (Yew).

In the centre, standing is Maimunah, the soon-to-be President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. She did her first degree abroad but the JPA said that the degree didn't qualify her to be a town planner so she crashed through the Masters in Planning course at HBP (with baby in tow) mid-way through her career in 1995.

Sitting, facing the camera is Alex Koenig, a German who thinks he's entitled to considered a Penangite by virtue of his frequent flier miles. He used to be a lecturer at HBP ... and if not mistaken, was also a student.

But the more interesting figures are the two gentlemen with back of heads to camera in the front. Both State Assemblymen. On the left is the EXCO member for local government. On the right is reputedly the strategist for the party in power. Both watching .... evaluating ... sizing up ... who should the next President? Picture taken 4th Mac 2010 at SERI.

So, HBP must have found a secret formula for "women to rule" the World? What made these two ladies stand  out and made the State Government take notice? Is it their people's skills (soft skills, lor)?

Or was it their technocrat background?

Was it a long career with proven track record of achievements? And initiatives?

Do they have politicals skills, to be able to bend with the winds (of change)?

Or did they impress the new masters with their professional integrity?

Did we teach them all those in the university? Or did they learn it on the job?