Green thoughts inspired by Stockholm and Rio – By Tommy Koh

How far has the world come in creating awareness of the environment?


Here is another article by Prof Tommy Koh which I like:


IN 1972, the United Nations convened the historic Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. Twenty years later, the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Next week, from June 20 to June 22, the UN will hold its third conference on the environment, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, again in Rio de Janeiro.
In March 1990, the UN elected me to chair the preparatory committee for the Earth Summit. At the Summit, the conference elected me to chair the main committee, its principal negotiating forum.

The following were the summit’s achievements:
- Rio Declaration on Environment and Development;

- Agenda 21, containing an ambitious 470-pages-long programmes of action for sustainable development in the 21st century;

- Non-legally-binding authoritative statement of Principles on Forests;

- Agreement to negotiate a new treaty to combat desertification;

- The opening for signature of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which had been negotiated on a separate track;

- The opening for signature of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which had also been negotiated on a separate track.

Twenty years have passed since the Earth Summit. Has the world made progress or regressed during this period? On the positive side, we can point to the fact that all 193 member states of the UN have either a ministry for the environment or an environmental protection agency.
The environment movement has grown stronger. It has influenced, in positive ways, the behaviour of individuals, business and governments.

However, the positives are outweighed by the negatives. The following are the principal problem areas:

-The emission of greenhouse gases has continued to increase and we are no longer sure whether the goal to cap the rise of global temperature to 2 deg C is doable.

- The Kyoto Protocol will expire at the end of this year and it is uncertain whether the developed countries would be willing to agree to a second commitment period (Australia and Japan have said that they would not, Canada has withdrawn from the Protocol and the US is not a party to it).

- It is also not clear whether the agreement in Durban to negotiate a post-2020 agreement, applicable to all countries, will succeed.

- The world’s rainforests, including those in Indonesia and East Malaysia, are rapidly disappearing, due to illegal logging and unsustainable forestry management.

- The world is losing its biological diversity at a rate which is 1,000 times faster than the natural rate of extinction.

- In the past 50 years, we have lost 20 per cent of the land suitable for agriculture, 90 per cent of our large commercial fisheries, and 33 per cent of our forests, leading to the loss of ecosystems.

- The oceans, which absorb 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide the largest source of protein to human beings, are threatened by acidification, rising temperature and over-exploitation.

Singapore’s achievements
UNLIKE the dismal global picture, the last 20 years have been a period of progress for Singapore. I count the following as some of Singapore’s most important achievements:
- 47 per cent of Singapore’s total land area is covered by greenery;

- The gazetting of two new nature reserves at Sungei Buloh and Labrador;

- Saving the tidal flat at Chek Jawa from reclamation;

- Saving the trees of the Lower Peirce Reservoir from being cut down to make way for a golf course;

- The building of new parks and an islandwide park connector;

- The building of the Marina Barrage and turning Marina Bay and the Kallang Basin into a reservoir;

- Opening our reservoirs for recreational use and bringing nature back to our rivers, streams and canals;

- Highlighting the role of cities in the conservation of biodiversity, culminating in the adoption of the Singapore Cities Biodiversity Index by the Nagoya Conference last year;

- Fostering the growth of a water industry and being a global thought leader of water policy and governance;

- Championing the movement of liveable cities and being a global thought leader on good urban planning, policies and solutions;

- Encouraging the trend to build green buildings and to retrofit old buildings to become green buildings;

- Launching multi-disciplinary environmental education, both at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels and at the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law of the National University of Singapore;

- Saving endangered species of animals such as the banded-leaf monkey, welcoming the return of the hornbill and rediscovering other species that were thought to have disappeared from Singapore;

- Fostering a cooperative partnership between government, business and civil society;

- Building a new museum of natural history.

My wish list
SINGAPORE has done well, but we should not rest on our laurels. We should continue to forge ahead. The following is my wish list.

First, I think the time has come for Singapore to enact a law on environmental impact assessment (EIA). Having been intimately involved in a legal dispute involving our land reclamation activities in the Strait of Johor, I know that we do, in fact, carry out such an assessment. The result is, however, not made public and there is no consultation with interested stakeholders. Our neighbour, Malaysia, has shown that having an EIA law need not result in inordinate delay.
At its best, the EIA will lead to a better decision, and the people will feel that their views have been taken into consideration in arriving at that decision.

Second, I would urge the authorities to consider designating our first marine nature reserve. We need such a reserve, with adequate protection measures for marine life, in order to ensure the conservation of genetic diversity. Although Singapore has one of the world’s biggest and busiest ports, we have 270 species of hard corals and 111 species of reef fishes in our waters.

A marine nature reserve will ensure the survival of this natural heritage. It will also be a great selling point and indicate our serious commitment to protect the marine environment to the world. The two potential areas are Pulau Hantu and Pulau Semakau.

Third, I would request our authorities consider raising the bar on the recycling of waste. We should, where feasible, encourage the recycling of waste, such as paper, plastic, aluminium cans and glass bottles. The situation at present is not satisfactory.

We should also consider the feasibility of emulating Japan, South Korea and Taiwan by enacting a law, and to start by requiring industrial and commercial establishments, as well as hotels and foodcourts, to separate food waste from other kinds of waste at source. The food waste, when treated by anaerobic digestion, will produce biogas which can, in turn, be used to generate renewable electricity.

We had such a plant in Singapore which, unfortunately, failed because, in the absence of a law requiring the segregation of waste, it could not get enough uncontaminated food waste for treatment. This is a pity because if it had succeeded, it was scaleable and had tremendous potential in Asia as food waste is a major source of leachate contamination of ground water and a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Fourth, in our quest to reduce our carbon footprint, energy efficiency is a low-hanging fruit. The efficient use and the conservation of energy are, however, achievable only with the cooperation and help of business and the people.

Let me cite one example. Singapore has become notorious for its abuse of air-conditioning. I remember the former dean of Insead Antonio Borges telling me, during his first visit to Singapore, that he had discovered Singapore actually had two seasons: summer outdoors and winter indoors.

The gentle and humorous advertisements on television by the National Environment Agency (NEA), exhorting Singaporeans to use air-conditioning more responsibly, have not worked. I would urge the NEA and Singapore Environment Council to wage a more energetic campaign targeting our educational institutions, hospitals, movie theatres, hotels, restaurants and clubs.

By Tommy Koh, Published The Straits Times, 16 Jun 2012
The writer is Ambassador-at-Large of Singapore.

What Singapore can learn from Europe by Prof Tommy Koh

I like this article by Prof Tommy Koh. I have produced it below for my record and for your reading.

" IT IS a sad reflection on human nature that when a region is faced with a crisis, it is often treated with disdain instead of sympathy. I recall that during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998, some of our European and American friends were extremely unkind and predicted that Asia would suffer a lost decade.

We must not do the same to Europe which has been faced with a serious financial and economic crisis since 2008. I have, therefore, decided to swim against the tide of anti-Europe sentiments.

I wish to highlight the fact that not all the countries of Europe are in crisis. Last year, of the 27 European Union countries, only three had a negative growth rate. In the 2010-2011 Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum, six EU countries were ranked among the 10 most competitive countries.

I wish to make the case that Singapore has much to learn from the successful countries of Europe. I will focus on four European countries whose populations are below 10 million – namely, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

LESSON NO. 1

Inclusive growth

THE citizens of the world aspire to live in fair societies. One important aspect of fairness is the equitable distribution of income and wealth. This is the moral force behind the economic doctrine of inclusive growth. As a result of globalisation, technological change and domestic policies, many countries have become extremely unequal.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is a reflection of the American people’s sentiments against a growth model which over-rewards the top 1 per cent and under-rewards the remaining 99 per cent. The inequality in Singapore, as measured by the Gini coefficient, is even greater than that in America. Too great a gap between rich and poor undermines solidarity and social cohesion. It poses a threat to our harmony and our sense of nationhood.

Let us compare Singapore, on the one hand, and Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden on the other. Their per capita incomes in 2010 were as follows:

Singapore: S$59,813
Denmark: S$69,249(€42,500)
Finland: S$54,584 (€33,500)
Norway: S$105,096 (€64,500)
Sweden: S$60,613 (€37,200)

The Gini coefficient is used universally as a summary measure of income inequality. It is based upon the difference between the incomes of the top 20 per cent and the bottom 20 per cent. Zero represents total income equality and one represents total inequality. What are the Gini coefficients of the five countries? In 2010, they were as follows:

Singapore: 0.46
Denmark: 0.27
Finland: 0.25
Norway: 0.24
Sweden: 0.24

In order to get a better sense of the wages earned in the five countries by the bottom 20-30 per cent of the working population, I have chosen the cleaner and the bus driver. The average monthly wages of the cleaner and bus driver in the five countries are as follows:

Singapore   Cleaner S$800     Bus driver S$1,800
Denmark     Cleaner S$5,502  Bus driver S$6,193
Finland       Cleaner S$2,085  Bus driver S$3,910
Norway      Cleaner S$5,470  Bus driver S$6,260
Sweden       Cleaner S$3,667   Bus driver S$4,480

A few observations are in order.

First, Singapore’s per capita income is roughly similar to those of Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

Second, the four Nordic countries are much more equitable than Singapore. This is reflected in their Gini coefficients as well as in the average monthly wages earned by the cleaner and the bus driver.

Third, some Nordic countries have a minimum wage and some, such as Denmark, do not. The minimum wage is, therefore, a means but not the only means to ensure that workers earn a living wage.

Fourth, the argument that the only way to raise the wages of our low-wage workers is through productivity increase is not persuasive. I would like to know, for example, how the two women who clean my office can be more productive than they already are in order to deserve higher wages? I would like to know how the Singapore bus driver can be more productive so that his income will approximate those of his Nordic counterparts?

The truth is that we pay these workers such low wages not primarily because their productivity is inherently low, but largely because they are competing against an unlimited supply of cheap foreign workers. Because cheap workers are so plentiful, they tend to be employed unproductively. In the Nordic countries, unskilled workers are relatively scarce and thus deployed more productively, with higher skills, mechanisation, and better organisation.

What is the solution? The solution is for the State to reduce the supply of cheap foreign workers or introduce a minimum wage or to target specific industries, such as the hospitality industry, for wage enhancement.

LESSON NO. 2

Higher fertility

ONE of our challenges is our low fertility rate. For a country’s population to remain stable, it needs a total fertility rate (TFR) of 2.14. Singapore’s current TFR is 1.2. Our population experts tell us that our population will begin to shrink by 2025. They have, therefore, argued that, to make up the deficit, we need to import foreigners to add to our population.

Importing foreigners is the second best solution. The best solution is to raise our TFR. On this point, our policymakers seem to have run out of ideas. The various incentive schemes, such as baby bonus, do not seem to be productive. It is time to look at our four European countries for inspiration. Their 2010 TFRs were as follows:

Denmark: 1.87
Finland: 1.87
Norway: 1.95
Sweden: 1.98

The four Nordic countries have TFRs which are close to the replacement level. This achievement seems extraordinary. They do not have the benefit of maids. There are over 200,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. They also do not have grandparents who help with child-rearing. At the same time, they have very high participation of women in their workforces. In terms of availability of time and help for child-rearing, common sense would suggest that the TFR in Singapore should be higher than those in the Nordic countries. How do we explain this paradox?

Our population experts cannot explain this paradox. I will venture a hypothesis. I believe that the high TFR in the Nordic countries could be due to four factors: the availability of convenient, affordable and good childcare; good work-life balance; an excellent and relatively stress-free education system; and the relative absence of male chauvinism.

Let me say a few words on each of the four factors.

First, one of the missing links in Singapore is the inadequate supply of conveniently located, good quality and affordable childcare for infants and young children.

Second, the work-life balance in Singapore, especially for many young professionals such as lawyers, architects and teachers, is poor. Singaporeans work one of the longest hours in the developed world. They have little energy for life other than work and thus little time for meaningful family life.

The Government and our employers should reflect on whether the existing climate of encouraging or requiring our young professionals to work late into the night is necessary or desirable.

Third, sociologists like Paulin Straughan have pointed out that Singapore’s highly competitive and stressful education system is also a deterrent to working parents having more children. The Nordic countries, on the other hand, are famous for their high quality, egalitarian education which fulfils the children’s aspiration for a happy childhood. It is a paradox that Finland, with no streaming, no elite schools and no private tuition industry, is ranked as having the world’s best education system.

Fourth, it is significant that the developed countries with low TFRs include Japan, Korea, Italy and Spain, which have a high degree of male chauvinism. Is it possible that Singapore too has a high degree of male chauvinism? The women of Singapore are often blamed for not marrying and having children. Perhaps, the main problem is not our women but our men. Perhaps, what we also need is a mindset change on the part of our men towards the status and role of our women and the shared responsibilities of the husband and wife, and father and mother in domestic chores and child-rearing.

LESSON NO. 3

Embracing nature and sustainable development

SINGAPORE is probably Asia’s cleanest, greenest and most liveable city. Our air is healthy, our water is potable and our land is wholesome. In addition, we enjoy good public health and food safety. Visitors are astonished by the fact that, in spite of our high density, 47 per cent of our land is covered in greenery. In view of this, the reader will ask what can we learn from the four Nordic countries? I suggest three things.

First, people there love nature and their natural heritage. They seem to have an emotional, even a spiritual, relationship with nature. They love their forests, lakes and fjords. In contrast, most Singaporeans tend to have a more pragmatic relationship with nature. They apply a cost-benefit analysis to the destruction of a natural heritage. Pragmatism is one of our virtues. We should, however, be aware of the defects of our virtues. Not everything in life can be monetised.

Second, we can learn useful lessons from the way in which the Nordic countries have been able to reconcile economic competitiveness with a deep commitment to sustainable development. After the 1992 Earth Summit, each of them has established a national commission to mainstream sustainable development.

In the case of Finland, the Prime Minister chairs the National Commission on Sustainable Development. The result is that there is a national consensus in each of those countries to internalise the ethic of sustainable development into all aspects of life.

Third, at the micro-level, there are lessons in areas where Singapore has room for improvement – for example, in energy efficiency, the use of solar energy, the recycling of waste, the use of non-polluting buses, changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, etc.

LESSON NO. 4

Heritage, culture and the arts

IN THE past two decades, inspired by the 1989 Ong Teng Cheong report and Mr George Yeo’s leadership at the then Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore has undergone a paradigm shift in the areas of heritage, culture and the arts. The arts have blossomed. More and more Singaporeans are interested in knowing their history and preserving their heritage. The trend is, therefore, favourable. What can we learn from the Nordic countries?

First, we can learn the importance of giving all our children a good education in the arts. We have made good progress in recent years. The opening of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the School of The Arts were important milestones.

We can strengthen arts education in our schools. We should consider starting courses in art history and museum studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This will help in the training of teachers, curators, dealers, collectors and museum administrators, all in short supply.

Second, we can emulate the achievements of the Nordic countries in respect of museums. They have an impressive range of museums with strong collections. They have been able to harness the benefit of public-private partnership. Their museum collections extend beyond their nations to the cultures of the world.

For example, the David Collection in Copenhagen is one of the world’s best collections of Islamic Art. The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki has a very ambitious programming agenda, covering Western as well as Asian and African art.

Third, because of their ancient Viking past and current strength in shipping and other maritime industries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have outstanding museums of maritime history.

Given the importance of maritime trade to Singapore’s past and present, it is puzzling that we do not have a museum of maritime history. I hope one day the historic Clifford Pier, which now houses a restaurant, will be the home of a world-class museum of maritime history. When that time comes, we can look to the Nordic countries for inspiration. "

By Tommy Koh, For The Straits Times, May 19, 2012
The writer is chairman, Centre for International Law and Rector, Tembusu College, National University of Singapore

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Angkor Wat is one main destination sites that I have been thinking of going since I started visiting some of the third world cities in Asia. The Khmer Empire created the largest religious monumnet ever built when they constructed the amazing Angkor Wat and along with it hundreds of other small monuments and large temples.

The best way to see Angkor Wat is to fly in to the city of Siem Reap and stay in one of those boutique hotels for a few days.

Where to stay in Siem Reap?
I've been doing a lot of research on hotels in Siem Reap. My criteria is that:
- convenience: near where there plenty of good and local food and shopping;
- good facilities: gym, swimming pool, free internet
- nice ambience: hotel has to been resonably in good condition and well maintained
- courteous staff

After some searches, I come to the conclusion that I would stay in Steung Siemreap Hotel (picture below). It is right located on the edges of Old Market and Pub-street where both places are famous to all customers who travel to Siem Reap City. Old Market is a place where travelers could do shopping, especially souvenir products while Pub-street is the place where travelers will enjoy their night life after a tiring day to Angkor Temple.

I book it through Agoda for 3 nights at a special 47% discount, a deluxe room costs only US$38 ( exclude the taxes etc). Location was good and fufills my criteria above.

Now what are some interesting things we can do in Siem Reap? But first a bit of info on the city of Siem Reap. The main body of Siem Reap town stretches about 2km north/south along the Siem Reap River and roughly 3-4km east/west along Rte. #6. The airport is 6km from town center. The main temple complex lies about 5-10km north of town. All of the hotels are in or near town, and are spread relatively evenly across the town, though there are still concentrations: 1) there are a variety of smaller hotels, shops and restaurants near the Old Market; 2) several large upscale hotels between the airport and town along Rte. #6; 3) two budget oriented areas: one along ‘Wat Bo’ Road and the other in the Taphul Village area; 4) a variety of mid-range hotels and restaurants along Sivatha; 5) budget and mid-range hotels in the Phsar Leu area. See map below.

I list below a few websites which I refer to for ideas on what to do during my 4 day stay at Siem Reap.

1) Trip Advisor Site : Created by Nicky Sullivan - 3 Days in Siem Reap

2) Trip Advisor Site : Visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia, Travellers' Choice® 2012 Winner

3) Angkor Archaeological Park: Getting Started, What to Bring, Admission Passes...

4) Holiday in Angkor Wat

5) If you like some adventure, try this Quad Adventure Cambodia

6) Recommended Tour Agency: Tour Agency-Value for money : Villa Tours
All Villa tours are operated by Beyond Unique Escapes

7) I found this site : Angkor Taxi Services which provides good value airport transfers at US$8 and from the testimonies, they provide good value and professional day tours as well. check it out.

I hope all these sites above are useful and if you come across anything else interesting or good value hotels in Siem Reap, let me know.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!!

Aha! Mind Maps - An Accelerated Learning Tool

I read this book about The Berlin Wall. I enjoyed the read and it was very informative. One of my goals of reading is to learn, remember and hope that the lessons will be valuable to me in dealing with life challenges when the time comes.

Mind mapping is one of the tools I have been using very successfully to accelerate my learning, facilitate memory and recall after my reading. One can mind map a particular topic, a chapter of the book, or the entire book. It's up to you, depends what you wish to learn more deeply and commit to memory. Mind maps are not difficult to do, one just need to have the discipline. Here's a mind map I did after I read the above book. I added in my own smiles, drawings and symbols to make it more interesting and fun. Learning should be fun.

What is the purpose of mind mapping?

A mind map provides a quick way to summarize an entire subject, book, audio program or seminar in a single easily remembered form. To create one, write the main topic in the center of a sheet of paper. Around this topic, write out keywords for the major categories and then connect them with lines branching out from the topic. Continue down the hierarchy by adding more categories and keywords that relate to each main category until you have all the keywords you need. The keywords are the information-rich words that allow you to recall the whole idea. They are usually nouns, since it is much easier to remember things than abstract concepts. As you draw, you should use lots of different colors, shapes, symbols and pictures to involve more centers of your brain. The colors and symbols use the right brain and have emotional appeal, while the keywords engage the left brain.

To memorize a mind map, read it over and then look away and try to redraw it from memory. Compare your copy with the original and notice any gaps in your knowledge. Do this a couple of times until your new copy is the same as the original, and the map will be in your memory permanently. You will now be able to visualize it in your mind whenever you need the information.

Another way to use mind maps is to arrange ideas for writing, for example when writing a book, exam paper or letter. You can begin by brainstorming keywords from your subject on a piece of paper. Then, create a mind map on another paper from your keywords and draw the theme, headings, subheadings and connections you want. Once the mind map is complete, prioritize your keywords or headings and number them in the order they will appear in the document. As you write out the content of each heading you can tick them off from your mind map. Other uses of mind maps include preparing speeches, goals setting, planning, problem solving or any other form of creative work.

How to Draw a Mind Map

Drawing a mind map is as simple as 1-2-3:

Start in the middle of a blank page, writing or drawing the idea you intend to develop. I would suggest that you use the page in landscape orientation.

Develop the related subtopics around this central topic, connecting each of them to the center with a line.

Repeat the same process for the subtopics, generating lower-level subtopics as you see fit, connecting each of those to the corresponding subtopic.

Some more mind map recommendations:

• Use colors, drawings and symbols copiously. Be as visual as you can, and your brain will thank you. I’ve met many people who don’t even try, with the excuse they’re "not artists". Don’t let that keep you from trying it out!.

• Keep the topics labels as short as possible, keeping them to a single word – or, better yet, to only a picture. Especially in your first mind maps, the temptation to write a complete phrase is enormous, but always look for opportunities to shorten it to a single word or figure – your mind map will be much more effective that way.

• Vary text size, color and alignment. Vary the thickness and length of the lines. Provide as many visual cues as you can to emphasize important points. Every little bit helps engaging your brain.

• If you want to explore the use of Mind Map software, I suggest you try two of the free, opensource Mind Map Software packages: FreeMind and Xmind. I prefer Xmind, but many people like the simplicity and speed of FreeMind. See video below on the use of FreeMind.

• And another video on how to use mind maps to help you with your studies or learning.

• I hope you will accelerate your learning by the use of mind maps. They are fun and each is different from the other.

Aha! Mind Maps.