Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink..

Today, I saw a burst water pipe dispersing out water endlessly to the ground without the water authorities coming to repair. This, apparently, had been going on for hours! The owner of the building or its tenants did nothing to quickly solve the problem and everyone else said it wasn't their problem and only God knows whether or not the water authorities were informed of the burst pipe! The end result - tonnes of water went to waste..this is only ONE burst pipe. How many are there out there today?

Malaysia is building so many water dams to collect water as there is supposedly a need for more supply of water in the Klang Valley as the population continues to grow. The water transfer project from Pahang to Selangor will see to a whole new dam being built in Pahang, which will see to the loss of habitat of many animals including a few endangered species, the loss of a precious forest reserve and the loss of dwelling for the aboriginal people within the area. Research has shown that the need for water kept growing but steps to conserve and to reduce wastage of water had not been carried out in a systematic way. Many communities have not been encouraged to save their daily use and a lot of people are not well informed on how much they are using per capita per day. A recent study in 2007 showed that individuals living in Georgetown, Penang were using up to 310 litres of water per person per day! Sahabat Alam Malaysia made a conclusion in their study on the current water usage that the increase in water demand was mainly to meet the lack of systematic usage by users.

This phenomenon is only because most of us fail to realise our own selfishness and most of us do not realise that by  letting the water tap run, there will be forests vanishing, people displaced and animals losing their habitat. A simple act of uncaring for the usage of our natural resources have far-reaching effects. Whether we realise it or not, our actions will mark the way the world will be in the next few decades. Perhaps our future generation will have to pay a very high price for our present ignorance/'misdemeanour'? Water will be an expensive resource not long from now, if we do not learn to conserve and minimise our wastage. Our land will be set aside not for greeneries but to build blocks and blocks of dams. Forget forests with its natural lakes and rivers, welcome the vast nothingness for kilometers on end with concrete walls stretching along the way. This is what we will be leaving behind for the rest of the world if we continue to be selfish.

Ecotourism - Responsible travelling

These days, so many resorts claim to be ecotourism resorts. Many of us have heard of ecotourism and many are interested to spend some time holidaying in jungles or within nature rather than taking a break in the cities. A lot of people see this type of travel as creating a new identity of sophistication or merely as an affirmation of what is expected of them and therefore, ecotravel is the new big thing in tourism. Be wary, though, that not all resorts that claim to be eco-resorts are really what they claim to be. If you find that there is a huge five star hotel in the middle of the jungle, that should be the first obvious clue that something is amiss. Displacement of aboriginal communities for the mere building of resorts is also a great indication that sustainability has been compromised in creating a supposedly environmentally-friendly holiday vacation resort. So trying to be responsible in the way we choose our holiday destinations is the least we can do.

For us in Malaysia, there are a few eco-resorts that have been identified internationally as being supportive of this type of travel and are not merely labelled as ecotourism resorts. Try to have a look at these places listed in the following website for now:  http://www.eco-tropicalresorts.com/Asia/Malaysia.htm