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By: Murray Hunter

Malaysia is heading towards a crisis in food toxicity, with, for instance, occupational poisoning and disease among farm workers averaging more than 2,500 cases per year, according to research by the Journal of Plant Pathology. What that means is that the food Malaysians eat on a daily basis is under threat from a contaminated water system, poor soils, poor agricultural practices and much more.As evidenced by the journal’s study, irrigation water is now a toxic mixture, and further deteriorating to dangerous toxicity levels as pressure is put on the country’s river systems, catchment areas, lakes and dams. They have been under attack not only from pesticide overuse but from urban growth and the consequential contamination from human and industrial activities infringing upon and intruding into these strategic water systems.The prime sources of Malaysia’s domestic and agricultural water supplies are derived primarily from rivers and a network of lakes and reservoirs across the country. These rivers, lakes, and reservoirs also serve as navigation ways, and water recreational areas. The lakes and reservoirs are filled by streams, and catchment areas which in many cases being encroached by agricultural activities, illegal logging, industry, and urbanization.

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PETALING JAYA: Temperatures continued to soar throughout the country as the number of areas on heatwave alert doubled to 10 compared with two weeks ago.The dry weather has also led to water supply concerns in some states, including Perak and Kelantan, while the Education Ministry has advised schools to monitor outdoor activities and ensure students drink enough water, in light of the current heatwave, which is set to last until April.The hottest spots yesterday were Chuping (Perlis); Kubang Pasu, Kota Setar and Sik (Kedah), which all hit a high of 36°C.The four areas, along with Kepong (Kuala Lumpur); Hulu Perak, Kuala Kangsar and Kinta (Perak); Maran (Pahang); and Tangkak (Johor) were placed on Category 1 or heatwave alert, accor­ding to data from the Malaysian Meteorological Depart­ment (Met­Ma­l­aysia) website.

Category 1 is when the mercury climbs to between 35°C and 37°C for three days in a row. Since Feb 13, the number of towns on Category 1 has gone up from five to 10.According to MetMalaysia, the current hot weather in the west coast states of the peninsula and Sabah is expected to continue until the end of next month.The hot weather is a normal phenomenon, which begins at the tail end of the north-east monsoon.The monsoon started in Novem­ber and ends in April, and is followed by the intermonsoon period, which usually brings more thunderstorms in the west coast and interior of the peninsula, east coast of Sabah and central Sarawak.

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PUTRAJAYA: Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) meminta pihak pengurusan sekolah supaya mengambil langkah berjaga-jaga susulan keadaan cuaca panas dan kering yang berterusan di beberapa negeri di utara dan pantai timur Semenanjung Malaysia.KPM dalam kenyataan hari ini berkata antara langkah yang perlu diambil termasuk memantau aktiviti yang boleh mendedahkan murid kepada keadaan cuaca panas bagi memastikan kesihatan mereka tidak terjejas dan menangguhkan semua aktiviti luar bilik darjah jika cuaca terlalu panas.Selain itu, katanya bekalan air minuman bersih perlu dipastikan mencukupi, menggalakkan murid mengambil air minuman dalam kuantiti yang sesuai bagi mengawal suhu badan dan membekalkan air minuman kepada murid asrama sekiranya keadaan kritikal dan tiada sumber lain bagi mendapatkan air minuman.

"Sentiasa berwaspada dan bekerjasama dengan klinik dan hospital berdekatan sekiranya berlaku sebarang komplikasi ke atas murid akibat cuaca panas," katanya.KPM berkata jabatan pendidikan negeri dan pejabat pendidikan daerah juga hendaklah mengadakan pemantauan bagi memastikan pematuhan langkah-langkah itu oleh pengurusan sekolah di negeri dan daerah masing-masing."Semua sekolah perlulah diingatkan agar lebih peka akan bahaya cuaca panas dan mengambil tindakan berdasarkan prosedur operasi standard sedia ada," katanya.

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There are two powerful phenomena unfolding on earth: the rise of global warming and the rise of women and girls. The link between them is often overlooked, but gender equity is a key answer to our planetary challenge. Let me explain.

For the last few years, I have been working on an effort called "Project Drawdown." Our team has scoured humanity's wisdom for solutions to draw down heat-trapping, climate-changing emissions in the atmosphere -- not "someday, maybe, if we're lucky" solutions, the 80 best practices and technologies already in hand: clean, renewable energy, including solar and wind; green buildings, both new and retrofitted; efficient transportation from Brazil to China; thriving ecosystems through protection and restoration; reducing waste and reclaiming its value; growing food in good ways that regenerates soil; shifting diets to less meat, more plants; and equity for women and girls. Gender and climate are inextricably linked. Drawing down emissions depends on rising up.

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THE 2018 global climate talks in Poland ended on a disappointing note for many non-state stakeholders. Leaders failed to commit to actions that will help to cap the rise in global temperature to 2°C. The cap was 1.5°C 10 years ago. How do we aim at, much less hit, a moving target?

When I attended the 2009 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate talks in Copenhagen, it was deemed a deal-maker conference – and then it turned out to be anything but. Ten years on, we are still finding solutions while temperatures rise, ice caps melt, animals, plants and humans alike lose their habitats, and people lose their livelihood. As one person interviewed after December’s meeting said, it is time for people to take matters into our own hands because politicians and so-called “decision makers” are not doing anything!

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Environmentalists have identified another threat to the planet. It’s called a nurdle. Nurdles are tiny pellets of plastic resin no bigger than a pencil eraser that manufacturers transform into packaging, plastic straws, water bottles and other typical targets of environmental action.

But the nurdles themselves are also a problem. Billions of them are lost from production and supply chains every year, spilling or washing into waterways. A U.K. environmental consultancy estimated last year that preproduction plastic pellets are the second-largest source of micro-plastic pollution in water, after micro-fragments from vehicle tires.

Now, shareholder advocacy group As You Sow has filed resolutions with Chevron Corp., DowDupont Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Phillips 66 asking them to disclose how many nurdles escape their production process each year, and how effectively they’re addressing the issue.

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Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the "average weather," or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). According to Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD), the characteristic features of the climate of Malaysia are uniform temperature, high humidity and copious rainfall. Winds are generally light. Climate change is a change in Earth's overall climate which means could be a change in Earth's average temperature or could be a change in Earth's precipitation patterns.
The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era and of human civilization. average temperature has risen a little more than one degree Fahrenheit during the past 100 years or so. However, a small changes in Earth's average temperature can lead to big impacts.
The Earth is currently facing the impact of climate change. The melting of ice, the rise of sea level, the extreme weather, drought, massive floods, the changing of rainfall patterns and growing seasons are the impacts of climate change. Climate change has disrupted the fruit seasons in Malaysia, according to the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS). Fruiting seasons in both local fruit trees like durians and in wild trees in the forest have changed due to the changes in rain and heat patterns. According to INC, 2000, Malaysia's temperature and rainfall are rapidly increasing between +0.6 to 3.4C and -1 to +32% in 60 years repetitively and the rise of sea level is about 13-94 cm within 100 years respectively.
The warmer Earth has caused the massive ice fields, monstrous glaciers and sea ice from the Arctic to Peru, from Switzerland to the equatorial glaciers of Man Jaya in Indonesia are disappearing fast. The melting of ice leads to the rise of sea level. According to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that the oceans might rise between 28 to 98 centimetres by 2100 which is enough to swamp many of the cities along the U.S. East Coast. Then, a complete meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet, place sea level rise to 7 meters, enough to submerge London.

 


Climate change also has caused another catastrophic events such as massive floods due to heavy or prolonged downpours, snowmelt, thunderstorms, and storm surges from hurricanes, and ice or debris jams. For instance, heavy monsoon rains have caused disastrous floods and left Nepal, Bangladesh, and India with almost 1,200 dead and affected tens of millions more. The Southeast Asia also has been threatened with the severe flooding. In 2017 North eastern states of Penang and Kedah have been hit by one of the worst floods in its history due to the abnormal downpour. Meanwhile in UK, November 2015 and January 2016 were the wettest period, causing some of the most extreme and severe floods in 100 years.
Climate scientists have been predicting for years that climate change would lead to more frequent and more extreme weather events. The scientist were right. Climate change has caused many devastating events recently in many parts of the world including Malaysia. However, a study has been conducted on awareness of climate change. Surprisingly, the study shows that throughout much of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, majorities said they hadn't heard of climate change.
Therefore, to curtail the climate change effect, first thing first is to raise awareness among the people on the impacts of climate change. They should have a better understanding on climate change and how does climate change can affect us in terms of public health, environment, weather and economic. Public education on climate change is an effective step should be taken in order to promote awareness as well as to educate people on how they can help to tackle climate change.

 


Nur Imani Abdullah
Forum Air Malaysia

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A National Conference themed “Towards an Effective Financial Education Strategy for Malaysia” was organised on the 3 October 2017 at Lanai Kijang Kuala Lumpur. The Conference was organised by Era Consumer, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Organisations Malaysia (FOMCA) and the Financial Literacy Association of Malaysia (FLAME) with the cooperation of Bank Negara Malaysia and supported by Citi Foundation.

 

The Conference was aimed at moving forward towards formulating and implementing a national financial education strategy in which all Malaysians, especially those most in need, would have access to financial education.

 

 

About 150 participants from various sectors – government agencies, banks and insurance companies, financial industry associations, financial planners, non-profits as well as worker organisations, youth organisations and women organisations – participated in the Conference.

 

Mr. Lee Lung Nien, the Chief Executive Officer of Citi Malaysia presented the welcoming address and he further emphasised Citi Malaysia’s continuous commitment towards enhancing financial education in Malaysia.

 

The Keynote of the Conference was presented by Mr. Sheik Abdul Rasheed bin Abdul Ghaffour, the Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia. He suggested that four factors contributed to the need for financial literacy.

Firstly, Malaysians tend to have low financial resilience and are thus vulnerable to financial shocks. Secondly, many consumers focused on instant gratification, leading to less than optimal financial decisions. Thirdly, many Malaysians do not practice long term financial planning.

Finally, Malaysians still lack understanding of risk and return and thus are not able to make rational financial decisions. He reiterated that in this context, financial education would encourage consumers to better manage their finances, plan for the future and manage risks associated to financial matters.

 

As a way forward to address these challenges, the Deputy Governor, shared that efforts were currently on the way to formulate a five year national strategy to elevate financial literacy. The national strategy would rest on three main thrusts; clarity, collaboration and commitment.

Clarity means having a clear vision to realise financial well-being. The vision aims to shape society characterised by responsible financial behaviour. Collaboration means that financial literacy is shared responsibility and thus required the strong collaboration of all stakeholders including regulators, private and public sectors, non-governmental associations and consumers. Finally, commitment means an outcome oriented approach to implementation. Through commitment, plans and expectations can be transformed into realities.

 

He concluded by reiterating that a national strategy for financial literacy was currently being formulated to chart the journey in realising financial well-being of all Malaysians.

 

Next, Dato’ Dr. Paul Selva Raj, President of Era Consumer and Senior Researcher with the Consumer Research and Resource Centre (CRRC) presented a talk of the “Ecological Perspective of Financial Behaviour: Implications for Policy and Practice”. In his presentation, he emphasised that financial education was important but not enough to change financial behaviour. A more ecological perspective was needed to understand as well as to change financial behaviours.

 

The third presentation of the day was by Mr. Peter Kell, Deputy Chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) who shared his experiences of the formulation and implementation of the national financial education strategy in Australia. The first national financial education strategy was launched in 2011 and the second strategy was launched in 2014. An essential component of the formulation and implementation of the strategy was the collaboration with many stakeholders.

 

The vision of the national strategy is to “improve the financial wellbeing of Australians by advancing their financial literacy”. There are five strategic priorities; three for individuals, families and communities and two for policy and program development. For the individuals, families and communities, the three priorities are educating the next generation particularly through the formal education system, increasing the use of free, impartial information, tools and resources and providing quality targeted guidance and support. For the policy and program development, the two priorities are strengthening coordination and effective partnerships and improving research, measurement and evaluation.

 

In summarising the way forward from the Conference, Dato’ Dr. Paul was thankful the Bank Negara Malaysia was committed and already formulating a National Financial Education Strategy. He emphasised a continuous process collaboration with all relevant stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of the National Financial Education for Malaysia.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Pay serious attention to safety when using mobile phones following a number of reported incidents.

 

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) president Dr Marimuthu Nadason gave this advice when commenting on the reported death of a 19-year-old in Melaka on Friday, Bernama reported.

 

His mother found him in his room at 7am with his headphones on and his phone being charged using a power bank. There were burn marks on his shoulder. He had apparently gone to sleep with his earphones on the previous night.

Police are unsure whether he was electrocuted and whether a power bank can electrocute a person.

 

Marimuthu said handphone users must ensure that the battery charger and the mobile phone are genuine.

 

He said switching off the mobile phone while charging would also mean giving the device a break from being used continuously as a communication tool to watch movies, play games or surf social networking sites.

 

Bernama said previously, on Aug 25 last year, a cameraman suffered burns on his left thigh when a power bank placed in his bag suddenly caught fire while he was working in the federal capital.

 

Another case involved a 27-year-old boat skipper who suffered injuries to his hands and face after his mobile phone that was being charged suddenly exploded on April 23, 2016 in an incident in Yan, Kedah.

 

 

Source : 28/5/17 Free Malaysia Today

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/05/28/fomca-switch-off-phone-while-charging/

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Petaling Jaya: Cukup untuk memberi makan tujuh juta orang sehari, itu data pembaziran 8,000 tan makanan yang dilakukan rakyat Malaysia setiap hari.

Penolong Pegawai Kesihatan Persekitaran Perbadanan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersihan Awam (SWCorp) Nor Siti Aishah Said berkata, makanan adalah komposisi tertinggi iaitu 45 peratus daripada sisa pepejal di tapak pelupusan sampah seluruh negara.

Menurutnya, pembuangan makanan itu berlaku merangkumi sepanjang proses persiapan, pengeluaran dan pemprosesan makanan serta sewaktu sesi makan.


“Kira-kira 20 peratus sisa itu sewaktu dibuang masih boleh dimakan dan boleh dielakkan daripada dibuang.

“Keadaan itu boleh dielakkan sekiranya rakyat Malaysia lebih prihatin dalam soal pengambilan makanan dengan hanya mengambil yang perlu.

“Berdasarkan kajian SWCorp yang lain pula, satu isi rumah terdiri daripada lima orang didapati membelanjakan RM900 sebulan untuk membeli keperluan makanan. Suku daripadanya dibuang iaitu pembaziran RM225 sebulan atau RM2,700 setahun,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika menjadi pembentang dalam seminar Pengurusan Sisa Makanan Yang Lestari ‘Feed People, Not Landfills’, di sini, semalam.

Sementara itu, Dekan Kluster Penyelidikan Sains Mapan Universiti Malaya (UM) Prof Madya Dr Sumiani Yusoff berkata, pembuangan sisa makanan bukan hanya sesuatu yang membazir malah mengancam alam sekitar.

Katanya, sisa makanan di tapak pelupusan sampah menghasilkan gas metana yang tinggi selain membentuk larutan resapan (leachate) sangat kotor sekali gus memberi kesan bahaya kepada sungai dan sumber air bawah tanah.

“Perkara ini membimbangkan saya dan dengan itu kami akan melancarkan Program Transformasi Minda Oktober depan untuk mengubah minda masyarakat supaya tidak membuang makanan sesuka hati,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, antara pengisian program itu adalah kerjasama pengusaha kedai makanan, hotel serta industri berkaitan untuk menyumbangkan makanan lebihan mereka kepada mana-mana badan kebajikan yang memerlukan.

Sementara itu, Timbalan Pengarah Program Jaringan Antarabangsa, Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian (Mardi) Dr Ainu Husna M S Suhaimi berkata, pembaziran makanan adalah satu isu kritikal dan perlu ditangani segera.

Menurutnya, berdasarkan fakta dan statistik sedia ada, polisi untuk menanganinya perlu dirangka dan dilaksana segera dengan penyertaan semua pihak termasuk kerajaan, pertubuhan bukan kerajaan, pihak swasta dan rakyat keseluruhannya.

sumber :- http://www.hmetro.com.my/node/224974