What I learned today
Today the seminar started off with a presentation on the construction industry and what it is doing to improve its environmental performance - bottom line a lot including being self conscious about selecting materials, reducing wastes, and recycling. Good to know that it is going on - but a bit dry for me. The next sessions were far more interesting
On flood control - Malaysia (and other urban areas) have floods because rain from heavy downpours can not flow out efficient (about 4 days a year may have over 300 mm rain). Urbanization has reduced the areas where the rain soaks into the earth. Strategies which were new to me included: deepening the river beds, replacing cement drainage ditches with gravel, incorporating grassy areas into car parks.
On corporate social responsibility: Presentation by a consultant who advises fund managers - he made a snide comment about mock checks. He said that the .00 was added to make small donations look larger. Typically the amount is a tiny portion (in the 1000s) of what a corporation made doing serious/permanent damage to the environment/community. He discussed that the evolving definition of corporate responsibility involves entire business cycle from its suppliers to how its end products were used and disposed of. He pointed out that Malaysian companies were very high on employee benefits, which he attributed to its being an Islamic nation. Not so good on environmental indicators. (The comparison to the Western corporations, and probably the people as well, was that they "care about trees and don't give a damn about people)
There was presentation on Kuching and the changes it has made to be a healthy city. I hope that I can remember the details long enough to get a comment from Mooi Lian when she returns from Australia.
The most stunning presentation was by a pediatrician. He spoke about the conditions among many groups of Orang Asli, the indigenous people. He showed pictures of severe malnutrition among the children, plus data that demonstrated government money isn't reaching many of the communities. He pointed out - no surprise - the problems with relocation centers. Two examples - why use a commode when one has all the delights of the outdoors when doing their business; and one can't eat chickens if they consider them as pets. Everyone was very touched and shocked by the presentation - the subject of many conversations. He suggested the following website to learn more/do more http://www.coac.org.my BTW he presentation reminded very much of how Vietnam treats the Hmong and the Vietnamese living along the Mekong Delta (another subject of lunchtime conversation)
So to end on a lighter note - the water conservation presenter talked about how often one should flush - I don't think that this is a topic that comes up at many academic seminars here.
On flood control - Malaysia (and other urban areas) have floods because rain from heavy downpours can not flow out efficient (about 4 days a year may have over 300 mm rain). Urbanization has reduced the areas where the rain soaks into the earth. Strategies which were new to me included: deepening the river beds, replacing cement drainage ditches with gravel, incorporating grassy areas into car parks.
On corporate social responsibility: Presentation by a consultant who advises fund managers - he made a snide comment about mock checks. He said that the .00 was added to make small donations look larger. Typically the amount is a tiny portion (in the 1000s) of what a corporation made doing serious/permanent damage to the environment/community. He discussed that the evolving definition of corporate responsibility involves entire business cycle from its suppliers to how its end products were used and disposed of. He pointed out that Malaysian companies were very high on employee benefits, which he attributed to its being an Islamic nation. Not so good on environmental indicators. (The comparison to the Western corporations, and probably the people as well, was that they "care about trees and don't give a damn about people)
There was presentation on Kuching and the changes it has made to be a healthy city. I hope that I can remember the details long enough to get a comment from Mooi Lian when she returns from Australia.
The most stunning presentation was by a pediatrician. He spoke about the conditions among many groups of Orang Asli, the indigenous people. He showed pictures of severe malnutrition among the children, plus data that demonstrated government money isn't reaching many of the communities. He pointed out - no surprise - the problems with relocation centers. Two examples - why use a commode when one has all the delights of the outdoors when doing their business; and one can't eat chickens if they consider them as pets. Everyone was very touched and shocked by the presentation - the subject of many conversations. He suggested the following website to learn more/do more http://www.coac.org.my BTW he presentation reminded very much of how Vietnam treats the Hmong and the Vietnamese living along the Mekong Delta (another subject of lunchtime conversation)
So to end on a lighter note - the water conservation presenter talked about how often one should flush - I don't think that this is a topic that comes up at many academic seminars here.
posted by Liz at
5:26 PM
1 Comments:
I rec'd the following clarification from Doug, "The last sentence on the paragraph where you talk about the Vietnamese. It would be better to talk about how the Vietnamese treat the tribal people, and then I think you were talking about the Cambodians treating the Vietnamese in the Mekong river basin. The Vietnamese treat the Vietnamese alright in the Mekong Delta."
By
Liz, At
August 21, 2008 at 9:21 AM
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