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 suggest digital textbook to be use in primary & secondary school education. Refer to the link South Korea have introduced digital textbook since 2007. Malaysia have taste a bit of it on 2014 but still too conservative to dive deep into the opportunity digital textbook may offer.
Other than eliminate the burden of carrying weight of traditional printed books, digital textbook is more economy judging from the ability to download thousands of books at a fraction of the printed book price.
Despite higher initial cost to buy the digital textbook gadget but it's return on investment is almost immediately. Other than national textbook student can also download reference book to enhance their knowledge. Digital textbook allow comment& highlight and even may make possible submit homework online. Thus, not only a greener option, lower cost but also reduce burden on student transport.
Less baggage also means more space for school bus. This also means school bus can take more student and student will have less strains on their limbs and shoulders.
As for the less privileged, maybe Education Ministry can consider to rent the digital textbook like how renting printed textbook is done. Each digital device such as phone have unique series number called IMEI, which student can register their device to school in order to prevent stealing as well as facilitate loss& found process. Likewise with renting the digital textbook gadget to student. Education Ministry may register the IMEI unit rented out to student.
I also would like to suggest your ministry to train teachers for basic repair skills to fix basic problem for student digital textbook device. School may expect to have higher electric demand and installation of charging port (e.g. USB port) for student to charge. Set rules to avoid exploitation and vandalisms.
I hope Education Ministry can take the opportunity to install clean energy generator such as solar panels, wind turbine or mini-hydro to supply the electricity demand.
I would also like to take this opportunity to support the black shoes ruling. It is wise to change white to black as student is spending money in buying white liquid to cover up the dirt on their shoes instead of
washing. White shoes also easily stain thus become laborious in maintaining it(wasting time, energy and water).
Additionally, I've submitted a syllabus two years ago for 'Sustainable Living' to your ministry. It is an open book and self-developing syllabus for student. It outline the basic knowledge and require student to use their innovative to further develop it according to their creativity and latest technology & needs.
*The blog is solely created and maintaining with my own resource. No obligation but any amount of ex-gratia is appreciated.
Maybank (Malaysia)account number : 1643 1529 3268 (Tay Kian Guan)
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)
Toward a matured& harmonious society in a multicultural& diverse background country like Malaysia, the government need to consider the sentiment of all. Toward a developed and productive nation, we must have the provisions that allow for self governing civic mind. I've written to SPAD to suggest for the matters in the first two paragraphs above. Malaysia has gained independent 59 years ago, a relatively young for a country but certainly not an infant anymore. well, everyone grow rate is different, depending on your pedigree and environmental factors. I would say in terms of social fabric and geographical landscape, Malaysia is the same as Singapore except that we have natural resources to suck on, they don't. Refer to my email to SPAD; Item 1: I suggested to include multi-languages signage and announcement for all public transport especially LRT& KTM where announcement is pre-recorded. Why need to include Chinese& Tamil if majority is Malay and all of us suppose to understand Malay Language? I belief it is about respect for others ethnic group. Singapore for example, 74.2% is Chinese, 13.3% is Malay and Indian is 9.2% but all the MRT signage and announcement is of 4 language i.e. English, Chinese, Malay& Tamil. Except where some of the area name is like intersex (can be Malay or English). However, if you look at Kuala Lumpur, 45.9% is Bumiputra, Chinese is 43.2% and 10.3% Indian. If would to compare to Singapore, our Chinese and Indian population is more than their Malay& Indian so why Singapore (much fast-pace nation)can make effort to include Malay& Tamil into their public transport communication medium while a much laid back Malaysia can not?
Yet, we still shout 1 Malaysia! 1 Malaysia does not means we should only use 1 language. Shouldn't we be more open minded and inclusive like our Prime Minister Najib said; we should embrace our diversity and be more inclusive. It would be nice for our relatives from China, India or Singapore to notice that Malaysia is mature enough to care all its people, when they visit us. On another hand, Chinese is becoming more important as China economy growing present worldwide. Chinese language is essential to access to China market and welcome Chinese tourist. Likewise with India though Tamil is not the official language of India as a whole but pretty much an official language for south India that is their ICT hub& trading powerhouse. Lastly, most of our aged parents that are not exposed to Malay or English education can hardly recognized a word of Malay or English, especially those visiting new area for the first time. Items 2,3&4: Here I bark about provision of schedule, universal communication mode& orientations. I feel embarrassing for uncountable reiteration to plight for such provisions. To be a productive nation, the people need to be able to plan ahead, know exactly where, and have a common understand if language(pronunciation) is a barrier. I've even sketch an example bus/train schedule to SPAD that include distance travel, duration, name of station, code for that station and if possible design according to scale so user can plan& estimate their journey. After thousands of journey on the same route, it is a wonder why the public transport provider still can not estimate the journey duration for each station. Of course, there is traffic jam on certain time which can be state in the schedule too. e.g. 7am-8am departure from A station expect 20mins additional time. Then there is "Peak Hours" where bus is expected to be fully loaded or delay (due to boarding time of passengers). All this can be noted on the schedule which I given the example. Items 3, mentioned about coding which satisfactorily happening in LRT. I would be delighted if bus station too provided such coding, and of course if there is physical bus station. I've on separate occasion talk about the invincible bus station. In order to have a better orientation, I suggested to have either label exit with alphabet or North, East, South& West. This is particularly useful (for station with multiple exit)if you date a friend to meet up at particular station and tell him/her to meet at exit A. Additionally, it can be use as part of direction e.g. To go XXX Musuem you alight at Station YYY then proceed to Exit C for XXX Musuem. Furthermore, I also find the public transport planner or town planner's qualification extremely doubtful. There's literally lack of coordination and logic in connectivity between stations as well as place of interest. If the purpose of public transport is to enable social mobility and provide an alternative to the use of private vehicle then it should be designed in such a way allow for continuity of transportation comfortably, for all (in a universal fashion). Don't bother about the bus station which many outside city center is still a phantom. LRT,KTM& the coming MRT should be integrated and allow for continual accessibility, away from weather interruption. So far, from what I know, Times Square,Putra Mall& KL Sentral is connected to LRT& Monorail. That also with some money spent to have it happen. The Architect for Nu Sentral told me they spend RMXX millions to build the bridge connect to Monorail and that also after numerous lobbying. Sad to say that our public transport provider is still far from hitting the bull eyes of public transport original objectives. Needless to talk about profit-making(or rather loss making). I think the opposition political party have a lot to talk about it; http://ongkianming.com/2016/08/09/press-statement-five-reasons-why-public-transportation-in-malaysia-is-more-expensive-compared-to-singapore/
I'm not inclined to any political party and hope readers decipher my article as facts and constructive views for further improvement.
I do, however, think our public transport infrastructure has been improved over the years, though not without the heavy cost.
I surely think government should find more innovative ideas to attract public transport ridership and ways to improve the transportation from a more holistic manners, such as create satellite city, increase plot ratio for development in vicinity of public transport (tier 1 within 300m radius& tier 2 within 500m radius)while change the minimum provision of car parking lots requirements.
Embed carbon emission information into cashless card and regular ticket with some form of promotion also a way to encourage public transport taking up rate while creating awareness about environment protection. By doing so, we can be more scientifically gauge the benefit of using public transport(I've suggested this to GreenTech-No news from them yet!).
Ideally, all buses& taxi (private vehicle if possible) should comply with minimum COe emission. The convenience way to do it is to comply with Euro standard.
