Why We Should Have The Green Corridor

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. – Oscar Wilde

Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) has submitted a proposal, The Green Corridor: A Proposal to Keep the Railway Lands as a Continous Green Corridor, to the Singapore government on 21 October 2010. NSS proposes to retain the current KTM Railway Land as a Green Corridor after the train operations cease.

Background on the Railway Lands

On 24 May 2010, Singapore and Malaysia leaders agreed on the issue of the Malayan Railway Land in Singapore. Malaysia will move the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB station) to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint by 1 July 2011, and will co-locate its railway Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facility there. Both leaders also agreed that the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station Passenger Terminal building would be conserved given its historical significance, and that the old Bukit Timah Railway Station building at Blackmore Drive can also be conserved.

Both countries will also set up a company, M-S Pte Ltd, by 31 December 2010, with Malaysia having a 60% share under Khazanah Nasional Berhard and Singapore having a 40% share under Temasek Holdings. The company will handle the joint development of the three parcels of KTM land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, and another three pieces of land in Bukit Timah.

On 20 September 2010, Malaysia agreed to accept the land swap offer by Singapore for four land parcels in Marina South and two pieces in Orphir-Rochor in exchange for the land parcels of KTM land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, Woodlands and Bukit Timah. This means that all the railway land would be available to the Singapore government for development after 1 July 2011. There is no announcement yet on how the government would develop the land. Read more

Love Letters To Earth

Love Letters To Earth is a new 6-part TV series featured on OKTO, and tells the stories of how environmentalists and nature lovers helped to protect and conserve the remaining nature reserves and wildlife in Singapore. Love Letters To Earth is shown on OKTO every Sunday at 9:30pm, with repeat telecast on Wednesday at 11:30pm.

The first episode shown last Sunday featured how four bird lovers managed to conserve Sungei Buloh. The four heroes from the then Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch) included:

• Richard Hale who discovered the site in 1986 (former CEO of HSBC in Singapore)
• Dr Ho Hua Chew (Chairman of the Nature Society Singapore Conservation Committee)
• Subaraj Rajathurai (wildlife expert and guide)
• Dr Rexon Ngim (plastic surgeon)

They found Sungei Buloh to be a place where many migratory birds visited and decided that the place is worth conserving. So they wrote a proposal to the government titled ‘A Proposal for a Nature Conservation Area at Sungei Buloh’, and sent it to all the ministers, including the late President Wee Kim Wee.

President Wee made a personal visit to Sungei Buloh to take a look for himself and perhaps helped to convince the government to designate Sungei Buloh as a nature park in 1989. In 2001, Sungei Buloh was gazetted as a nature reserve and renamed as Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Remember to catch Love Letters To Earth for more stories of these amazing and dedicated  nature lovers and environmentalists who contributed to nature conservation in Singapore. The second episode this Sunday is about Pulau Semakau.

Source credit for Love Letters To Earth image: OKTO (image from their Facebook page)

[Job Opening] Project Coordinator – SE Asian Corporate Leaders Initiative on Climate Change

Position: Project Coordinator – SEAChange Roundtable 2011

Employment period: November 2010 – May 2011

Base: Singapore

Closing Date: 12 November 2010

The SE Asian Corporate Leaders Initiative on Climate Change (SEAChange) will convene CEOs and senior business leaders from leading Southeast Asian and international companies who believe that there is an urgent need to develop new and longer‐term policies to tackle climate change. Sponsored by the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy with support from the British High Commission of Singapore, SEAChange plans to host a half‐day roundtable for business leaders in early 2011. The roundtable will explore what policies and practices are needed to meet the scale of the threat posed by climate change, and to grasp the business opportunities created by moving to a low carbon economy. Read more

Cradle to Cradle: Eco-Efficiency and Eco-Effectiveness (Public Lecture by Dr Michael Braungart)

Dr Michael Braungart, co-author of the internationally renowned book Cradle to Cradle, will be speaking in Singapore next Monday. He will introduce the Cradle to Cradle design framework, and “point out an innovative pathway for industrialised economies to move beyond just reducing negative impacts (eco-efficiency), to providing comprehensive strategies for creating a wholly positive footprint on the planet – environmental, social and economic (eco-effectiveness).” Read more

Promoting Green Products in Taiwan

綠色生活資訊網 (GreenLiving Information Platform)

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taiwan (行政院環境保護署) has been actively promoting green consumption through its 綠色生活資訊網 or GreenLiving Information Platform. The website focuses on green living and consumption by providing information and resources for consumers, businesses, government agencies and retailers to choose and buy green products, which are certified under the EPA’s Green Mark scheme (環保標章制度). More than 700 retailers and 3,000 products have been awarded the Green Mark label. Read more

Next Page »