Unity in action

Just my two cents. Couldn't help but am touched by it recently.

When this happened...

And netizens, most of whom are Malaysians, regardless of race and religion...


Together voiced out their concern and disgust towards the issue...

Which finally caught the attention of the authorities, made the headlines in newspapers, and actions are being taken...























United for the common good; differences among individuals are put aside.

A good example of 1Malaysia.

If for such a matter so small and insignificant, Malaysians could unite to face it together, then there would not be any issues too big to be overcome in the future.

This incident makes me proud to be a Malaysian.

Well done, fellow Malaysians! *Thumbs up*

Say no to polystyrene !

I would get pretty upset if I see my food served with polystyrene eateries.

I've noticed quite a number of times that, 3 out of 5 stalls at the makan places I always "haunt" are using polystyrene eateries.

Anyone who has even the most basic knowledge in environmental sciences would know that polystyrene is not environmental friendly and takes only-God-knows-how-many-years to biodegrade (that is, IF it's even degradable!).

Let's do some mathematics. Say, in Area S there are 50 stalls selling a variety of food. Out of these 50, 30 stalls are utilising polystyrene utensils. If one stall is able to sell a minimum of 30 servings per night (assuming that 1 polystyrene plate/bowl is used per serving), then 30 stalls would be selling 900 servings per night. Which means, at least 900 plates/bowls are being disposed of per night; 4,300 plates/bowls in a week; 27,000 in a month and 324,000 in a year (take-away polystyrene containers, plastic spoons, forks and bamboo chopsticks are excluded). Assuming that there are 10 eating outlets in Kuching City alone, then at least 3,240,000 plates/bowls will end up in the Mambung dumpsite per night.

Can you imagine the amount of polystyrene rubbish we Kuching people produce? I cannot find an exact photo of polystyrene utensils piling up, but I guess the photo below would suffice. Simply replace those big polystyrene boxes with polystyrene plates and bowls, and imagine yourself standing there looking at that pile of rubbish.

Still not convincing enough?

We cannot deny that polystyrene products in the food industry are considered sanitary, sturdy, efficient, economical and most importantly, convenient (source). However, at the same time, polystyrene is found to be not environmental friendly, and worse still, it could be a health hazard:

1. Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain. These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
2. These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity.
3. The product does not biodegrade. It crumbles into fragments that have no expiration date.
4. A certain percentage of product will be dumped in the environment, persisting on land indefinitely as litter and breaking up into pieces that choke and clog animal digestive systems in waterways.
5. The product takes up more space in landfills than does paper and eventually will re-enter the environment when landfills are breached by water or mechanical forces.
   
   (source)

We as Earth's residents are responsible for all kinds of environmental pollution, which in the end affect us in return. For the food stall operators who still prefer to use the polystyrene -- please stop being so selfish. For customers who prefer to take away their food in polystyrene containers -- perhaps you would consider bringing your own container; it's more hygienic and you have less rubbish to be thrown out. For those who enjoy sitting down and enjoying the food right there and then, we can avoid ordering food from those using polystyrene utensils, or better still, bring our own utensils.

For more information on plastics and polystyrene: Polystyrene Fact Sheet, Dangers of packaging chemicals getting into food.

On the road? Be responsible.

I've been trying my very best to contain my anger and dissatisfaction, but I don't think I'm able to do that any longer... please allow me to say this...

To ALL drivers in KUCHING who practise dangerous driving, young and old alike... YOU SUCKS!!!

Oh well, I'm not saying that I'm a good driver or my driving skill rocks, but at least I'm a responsible driver and I abide by the traffic rules. And at least I'm not like some drivers who couldn't care less of the other drivers on the road.

You see, if you encountered injuries or even death because of YOUR own carelessness, then I couldn't be bothered because YOU DESERVED IT after all. You pay for your own recklessness. However, if your carelessness inflicted injuries and, the worst of all, death upon the other road users, then... YOU ARE GUILTY OF MURDER, and you may (oh you SHOULD!) regret for the rest of your life as long as you live.

So how did you like the video above? Inspiring, I hope?

These are the types of drivers I particularly HATE with ALL MY HEART:

1. Those who couldn't be bothered to signal before overtaking. So, those signal lights are there to beautify your car?

2. Those who overtake others when the traffic light ahead has already turned red, and they still end up waiting for the light to turn green. So what's the point of overtaking when you're just one car ahead? IDIOTS.

3. Motorcyclists who drive right in the middle of the road or/and those who are not to the left nor at the middle of the road... You guys are giving us a hard time and causing traffic jams! Not only that, I have to specially look out for you when you're around, just to make sure that I have enough time to stop if you lost balance and fell. You're the last person I ever thought of running over!

Of course, there are a lot more to the list above.

If each driver has other road users’ interests at heart, I believe everyone would have been extra careful when driving on the road and the most horrible accident could have been avoided.

Please, people, don’t be so selfish. If you want to reach your destination in one piece, so do others. You don’t own the road. Besides, I’m sure you don’t want to spend extra money repairing your damaged car because of accident, which you could have avoided but you didn’t due to your own carelessness. And you don’t need to be rude too. What’s wrong with practising courtesy on the road? I’m sure that wouldn’t burn your arse.

It’s NOT FUN at all to put other people’s and your own life at stake.

If you really like to speed, then please go to the indoor Go-Kart in Pending, by all means. It is THE SAFEST PLACE for you to speed, to drift, to race against others, and at the same time to de-stress.

Enough said. I wish you all a safe and accident-free journey everyday. Oh, and see you at the indoor Go-Kart.


[I found these two Malaysian websites to be pretty impressive: Safety Tips-Road Safety and Pandu Cermat – Malaysian Road Safety Blog. The latter allows readers to leave comments and they have quite interesting discussions too. Worth a visit.]