My objective writing to Singapore's Attorney General is hope there's synergy cooperation between Singapore government and dissident.
Economy stagnantation due to COVID19 will be burdensome for government around the world including Singapore. Thus, climate change activists should not exacerbate the situation by creating unnecessary protest or pressure to government but to work hand-in-hand to find viable solution targeting carbon emission reduction.
From legal point of view, I do not think some laws inherited from colonial era still relevant and effective since most of them are inconsistent with Constitution. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and shall prevail against any law made inconsistent with it thus it doesn't show any wisdom for Singapore to keep those obsolete law that suppress the civil liberty of the people. Those law were made to facilitate British control over their colony with purpose none other than gaining profit for themselves rather than protect the interest of local people. British is not wrong because this is what all other colonial master do but to keep them alive after independent is a sign of weakness in Singapore democracy and make the country look so frail to stand as an independent sovereignty. However, Singapore still far better compare to any country within ASEAN in terms of equality and judiciary independence.
I would like to congratulate Nayang Technology University of Singapore for announced the "The Moonshot", a six storey wooden campus, 40,000 sq m GFA（Gross Floor Area), costing S$180 million. The Mass-Engineered Timber building come with a price tag of S$4,500/ sq meter (GFA), double of average construction cost using reinforced concrete, S$925 to S$1,165 (as of 2015 Primary& Secondary school) or S$2,854 to S$3,152 if compare with shopping mall construction cost per square meter as of 2017.
Arcadis: Cost Index year 2015.
Note that I derived S$4,500 from GFA instead of construction area which the two are different though negligible. The cost comparison also didn't take into consideration of the cost index of the period. Broadly speaking, timber building is 1.43 to 4.8 times more costly than building built with reinforced concrete.
So what make the highly efficient Singapore chose to invested in the timber building? What more it is (The Wave) the biggest of its kind in Asia.
I personally very proud of Singapore for pioneering the modern wooden building. It will act as a yardstick for future building to follow suit, at the same time building local industry expertise in wooden building construction. Nonetheless, my support only applicable if the materials is sourced from sustainable manage forest, certified by FSC(Forest Stewardship Council) or equivalent.
What so great about wooden building that still stay reasonable despite its high price tag?
Many would argue that isn't chopping down trees is bad for the environment? It is true if not done properly. Unsustainable logging will cause lost of biodiversity, flooding, landslide, soil erosion, water pollution, lost of carbon sequestration potential of the forest and land (yes, land also sequestrate carbon) and carbon emission. Others negative impact directly affected human are loss of shelter for the indigenous people, loss of livelihood(hunting and small scale agriculture), loss of source of water.
The coming 2020 Olympic games stadium in Japan for example is an unfortunate story for the rainforest. There are at least 4 Japan based NGO protest and pursue the unsustainable source plywood from Sarawak for the Olympic stadium construction. However, government from both country is mute and blind about it as though they never acknowledge any petition and protest on the matter. The disappearance of pristine rainforest and suffering of force eviction of the indigenous settlement is irreversible.
Cash is King here!
Forest that support 1.6 billion people is losing it presence by 30 million acres every year and contributed to 20% of the world carbon emission. Reality is sad, despite FSC is meticulously designed to be environmentally and socially just but its adoption is only up to 10% of the world total working forest. Ten basic principles of FSC reflect the holistic approach of the certification yet there is little motivation for government around the world to make it into by-law. For some egoistic reason or what not, different country may want to create their own certification with their own logo but the bottom line is the content. These certification may mutually recognise each other to have the same effects and gain wider acceptance worldwide since timber industry is very much an international business.
The Ten Principles of FSC are:
PRINCIPLE 1:
The Organization shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations and nationally-ratified international treaties, conventions and agreements.
PRINCIPLE 2:
The Organization shall maintain or enhance the social and economic wellbeing of workers.
PRINCIPLE 3:
The Organization shall identify and uphold Indigenous Peoples’ legal and customary rights of ownership, use and management of land, territories and resources affected by management activities.
PRINCIPLE 4:
The Organization shall contribute to maintaining or enhancing the social and economic wellbeing of local communities.
PRINCIPLE 5:
The Organization shall efficiently manage the range of multiple products and services of the Management Unit to maintain or enhance long term economic viability and the range of environmental and social benefits.
PRINCIPLE 6:
The Organization shall maintain, conserve and/or restore ecosystem services and environmental values of the Management Unit, and shall avoid, repair or mitigate negative environmental impacts.
PRINCIPLE 7:
The Organization shall have a management plan consistent with its policies and objectives and proportionate to scale, intensity and risks of its management activities. The management plan shall be implemented and kept up to date based on monitoring information in order to promote adaptive management. The associated planning and procedural documentation shall be sufficient to guide staff, inform affected stakeholders and interested stakeholders and to justify management decisions.
PRINCIPLE 8:
The Organization shall demonstrate that, progress towards achieving the management objectives, the impacts of management activities and the condition of the Management Unit, are monitored and evaluated proportionate to the scale, intensity and risk of management activities, in order to implement adaptive management.
PRINCIPLE 9:
The Organization shall maintain and/or enhance the High Conservation Values in the Management Unit through applying the precautionary approach.
PRINCIPLE 10:
Management activities conducted by or for The Organization for the Management Unit shall be selected and implemented consistent with The Organization’s economic, environmental and social policies and objectives and in compliance with the Principles and Criteria collectively.
I belief Singapore, in this context is genuinely wanted to be showcase how wooden building is parallel, if not exceeding, the quality of conventional building construction. In comparison to reinforced concrete, timber has relatively lower weight ratio and able to perform the same fire resistance if properly treated and designed. Unlike reinforced concrete, instead of emitting carbon timber itself is a carbon sink store as much carbon as 50% of its weight. Trees sequestrate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it for body building. Of course, not only the trees in the forest serve as carbon sink the soil on the forest serve the same purpose too thus it is important to manage forest sustainably because wipe up the forest irresponsibility not only lost the potential carbon sequestration from the trees but the carbon sequestration potential of the soil too. Likewise, if manage sustainably, trees is harvest when reach Optimum Rotational Age or Maximum Sustainable Revenue and replanting of trees to ensure regeneration of carbon sequestration potential by aforestation(plant trees at area not a forest)or reforestation while meeting the business objective (profitable).
The YouTube Video reveal how Sustainable managed forest to achieve both economy and environment objectives. Therefore it is almost certain that timber is a better choice as building materials if source from sustainable managed forest. The question that bugging me is whether land on earth is enough to supply for all human needs if would to build with wood? what is the break-even point for forest to cope with demand? is there technology that expedite the production of timber without negative side effects? Human population will hit 9.6 billion in year 2050, the world need answer for the future as much as solving the current problem otherwise we might not even have chance to see the future coming!
Not only wooden building technology improved tremendously to cater for the market needs but conventional building materials such as concrete and steel also evolving to become more environment sensitive. Conventionally, not only cement do not sequestrate carbon but its power intensive production and process that convert calcium carbonate into lime and CO2 as by-product is main reasons for 900kg of CO2 emission for every ton of cement produced. Concrete is made out of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), aggregate, sand and water. A 14% cement content emit up to 410kg/m3 of carbon dioxide which is approximately 180kg/tonne for a concrete mix with density of 2,300kg/m3. With the introduce of Fly ash, a by product from coal power plant generator, can replace up to 30% of cement content in the concrete mix effectively reduce carbon dioxide to 290kg/m3. One of the main culprit for the need to fire temperature to 1,500 °C is alite (Ca3SiO5), an ingredient of cement that responsible for early curing (gain strength) of concrete. to reduce the intensity of fossil fuel for that kind of temperature Belite (Ca2SiO4) is an alternative for replacement which can do the same tricks at 1,200 °C however it is not for sure Belite is greener since it take more energy to grind and require more time, like a few days even months to cure, though it yield greater strength than alite. Magnesium can be added to expedite the setting. Other than changes within cement, innovative ways to reduce CO2 is to pump liquid CO2 before the concrete mix thus making it storing carbon into the concrete.
In general, wood is still far superior as a building materials in terms of environmental friendliness, as well as, bring others benefit such as reduction of heat island effects in the urban area and healthier (if not treated with harmful chemical).
It is said that wood is link to spiritual property in many custom belief from the North West Viking to far East Japan and our very Malayunesia (Nusantara- Malay world).
MET(Mas Engineered Timber) is 30% lighter than concrete and has higher strength-to-weight ratio than concrete and steel, allowing The Wave spanning 3 basketball court or 13 badminton court equivalent distance without any internal column. Prefabrication of MET component reduce 25% of manpower and labour cost saving which is a way to improve productivity. Needless to say, it is more sustainable, not only itself act as carbon storage, to as much as 50% of its weight, but the nature of its fabrication allow smaller trees instead of large piece of solid dimension lumber to be used thus matching sustainable managed forestry. Unlike the old days, MET is treated to be more durable from moisture and termite invasion, better fire resistant and thermal insulation. it chars at 0.75mm per minutes instead of burn like what we imagine for BBQ. As for The Wave, it have 50mm allocate for the purpose hence 66.6minutes (~1hr) equivalent of fire resistance before fire meet MET's core.
*General assumption is 1 cubic meter of wood equal to 1 ton of CO2 stored thus prevent CO2 from release into atmosphere and cause climate change.
MET give an example that sustainable construction materials may be found in primitive materials. Others natural building materials are bamboo (have faster growth rate), earth(adobe and mud,), strawbale, hemp and stone. There are 2 billions people in the world still living in mud houses and there is every reason for it, from thermal comfort, affordability to cultural value. Green materials in the recent decades such as used tire (earthship house), glass bottle, aluminum cannes, plastic, ICF (Insulated Concrete Foam) and others recycled materials is used as building materials. Not only it is not any lesser meeting the functional requirements of building in comparison to the conventional building materials but offer benefits such as divert waste from landfill, reduce GHG emission, and provide very affordable option that contribute to social growth.
I have written an email to the Ministers to suggest the shift to replace cashless card transaction such as touch n' go& Rapid Card to biometric such as eye verify or palm print which is cashless and cardless.
Not only it is the most environmental friendly but it is also very convenient and secured. despite card is lighter weight compare to cash but it is still prone to being stolen, missing and damage. biometric is a more secured way and literally it produce no additional carbon footprint. The only carbon emission need to be consider is from the verification side.
Nonetheless, biometric is not 100% perfect thus a combination of all option from palm print, eye verification and face detection would be more holistic. this way person with special needs such as blind, limb amputee or congenital defects may also enjoy the same benefit.
On top of that, I also suggest improvement of bicycle infrastructure in public transport so that the notion of first and last mile cycling is viable. First and last mile means public transport passenger may choose to cycling maximum 1 miles from home to take public transport then another 1 miles or so to their final destination after exit from public transport. Most of the train in Kuala Lumpur such as LRT, MRT and KTM can considered bicycle friendly but there's still a lot of room for improvement.
Some of the things I've suggested to Prasarana& RapidKL to make public transportation more bicycle friendly are;
1. Install 'bicycle wheel ramp' on staircase.
2. Install 'bicycle lift storage' inside the station to prevent thief. Since the bicycle is stored on high elevation it do not take up space and reduce the risk of being stolen.
3. Provide shower room. Malaysia is a hot and humid tropical country thus shower room is a good avenue for grooming before going to school or work after some miles of cycling.
4. Provide compartment and space for bicycle inside the train and bus.
MS 1884:2002 is code of accessible for disable person but also in some way relevant for elderly. In Singapore there is 'Code on Accessibility in The Built Environment' that cater for each groups of person needs i.e. elders, disabled and infant. By complying the MS1884 it will increase the mobility of wheelchair bound person specifically the disabled. This will make their economy better and improve their lifestyle as well as lessen their dependency on aids.
Among others thing that I am advocating are CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). A few proposal has been submitted to the previous government silence in reciprocal. I strongly belief crime prevention is everyone responsibility and thus Architect and everyone have a role to play in preventing crime before costly remedy is needed to respond to crime committed i.e. police resources in investigation and bring perpetrator to prosecution, judiciary cost and penalty such as jail.
Refer to the previous email, about the CO2 emission information for public transportation and rewarding program, I would like to reiterate my previous suggestion to use palm print (a more secured method compare to thumb print) as alternative for cashless card (plastic). However it might have legal issues about privacy and personal identity leak issues. Face recognition may also be another alternative as many financial transaction is moving toward that direction (e.g. Alipay& McDonald at developed countries).
This will further cut down CO2 emission and enhance security. The only problem is Malaysian is known slow in adopt new technology and least willing to try new things. Thus the million ringgit lottery will be a good marketing strategy.
I will also forward to you my letters I wrote to previous government about eco-mobility such as bicycle infrastructure in public transportation and compliance to MS1884 Universal Design for the aging population. I have been talking to government for more than 7 years yet not significant result achieve except KTM now allow bicycle in the train. We are far behind others country.
*The blog is solely created and maintaining with my own resource only. No obligation but any amount of ex-gratia to support the continuation of my writtings is appreciated.
Maybank (Malaysia)account number : 1643 1529 3268 (Tay Kian Guan)
Perhaps out of desperation UK is trying to divert the plastic waste originally dump at China to ASEAN. the rationale is simple, cost.
Although UK recycling rate is above Europe average but there is still lack of capacity to recycle the plastic waste. It is a very good business prospect for UK recycling business since there's no problem getting the inputs materials.
Despite the advanced technological breakthrough over the century, human is inseparable with nature. It is in natural landscape that we still find our soul, our connection as human being and one of the sentient being on earth.
Every city should have sufficient area of open space to fulfill the psychological and spiritual hunger of hectic lifestyle.
I'm delighted to find the revitalization of Perdana Botanical Lake Garden that have been depleted over the past decades.
Baobab trees
One of the notable structure is the large glazing canopy,Adansonia Grandidieri or known as Grandidier's Baobab tree, a unique trees distinguishable from the movie Madagascar (which indeed from Madagascar). However, my favorite place would be the bamboo complex. I'm particularly fond of bamboo, as it is one of the greenest building materials since the dawn of time, a type grass (not tree) that can grow very fast (sequestrate carbon) and greater tensile strength than alloy steel and comparable good compression strength to concrete.
sheltering
I also notice that not many visitor during the weekend despite the make-over and free wifi. Probably due to poor accessibility from public transport. KL Sentral LRT station is nearby but the route to Perdana Botanical Garden is still secret even for locals. A more common access is from the Jalan Parlimen where tourist maps (also bicycle maps) is drawn.
Anyway, my suggestion to the Mayor is to add a public pool for swimming, water activities and bathing. For tropical people like me, we enjoy bathing during the hot day especially the kids. KLCC park is one good example where people patronage day and night everyday especially the pool area.
Swimming pool provide a cooling effects and hydrotherapy. A bathing facilities also refresh bicycle rider after a long excursion at various itinerary surrounding botanical lake garden; Planetarium, Grand Mosque, Islam Civilization Museum, Butterfly park, bird park, Tun Razak Memorial&etc.
Beside Perdana Botanical Lake Garden, I also wrote an email to Kuala Lumpur's Mayor about another location, directly opposite DBKL Building that have existing water features that would be more meaningful if converted into swimming pool and bathing facilities for public.
The area is very strategic as it is near to LRT and bus interchange where bicycle transit point could be designated if bicycle parking lots is provided (which I've make noise to them for ages), moreover, it also near to homelessness hot-spot, thus would be great if bathing facilities is provided for public. Public, bicycle rider and homelessness can clean themselves after a sweaty day under hot sun.
Around mid of 2015, I couldn't recall how, but somehow, I came across 100 Resilient Cities, Rockefeller Foundation, where cities within the community will help each others to build up capacity for resiliency and provide emergency aid when necessary.
There's no better city I wish to claimed the title than Kuala Lumpur, the very city I was born into. Singapore have been in the community for sometimes and the next city I fervently fond of is Johor Bahru. Of course, these are those cities I'd like to pay tribute, for I was born into, grown up and spend my career life but not necessary the city I might build my own family or spend the rest of my life.
There's a myth about my letters and emails sent to government and local authority. Either the reply is "Keep in View", "Will get back to you", or no reply at all. I hope they just take a really deep look at my writings and another deep contemplation or perhaps meditation. Anyway, the world is moving, time is ticking and environment is depleting!! Earth is a tiny dot within the cosmos yet nature permit only a few planet of such dwell living things but let's not take it for granted. Earth flow with the nature and regulate itself much like how human body function, flush off harmful toxic(In this case, Human is the toxic). The chances of human survival is rivaling with our own action.
