Everything happens for a reason. Everybody would tell you that. For me, I tell myself that quite often enough to remind myself, that everything that happens around me, is a sign of where I should be turning my head to. Of course, you can say 'like attracts like', and that is also probably another reason how I found out about this organised study visit to the Selangor State Assembly. The fruitful visit - organised by Adrian Yeo, who has also founded Power Shift Malaysia, a youth organisation where the younger generation strives to redeem the public attention towards the climate crisis - is a testimony of why I should be convinced that waking up early on a Monday morning, and driving one hour to Shah Alam to visit a mundane-looking governmental organisation is worth every pounce of the effort.
Why is it fruitful?
There was a time where I always wonder, what is so amazing about watching something live? What has being physically there for band concert, a sport match, or an orchestra got to do with instead watching every single detail from Live TV? Or couldn't I read about it later from a magazine? The answer is: the experience. We learn and collect informations through sounds, sights, scent, surrounding energies and the people that were present in the experience itself. Hence, touring around the Dewan, watching the 13th Conference of the assembly live from the visitor seating area, learning about the state legislative and their database website at dewan.selangor.gov.my (yes, their website is quite up-to-date, thanks to the dedicated Azira, Head of the Research Unit of the Speaker's Office), meeting the honourable Speaker, Hannah Yeoh, and the current executive committee member in charge of environment and tourism, Elizabeth Wong - are all part of my knowledge of the Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor now. Did I also mention that they served vegan lunch consisted of spicy delicious curry, fragrant black pepper seitan and long beans? It is really not very difficult to earn a space in my heart, as far as a veggo tag is present, you have my keen eyes.
Climate change is real, and it is affecting millions of lives, humans and animals alike. In Ghana, severe droughts and floods, together with rising temperatures, rainfall reduction and its erratic patterns - is decreasing crop yield and soil fertility, as a result plundering incomes and social securities of the mostly already poor farmers and agriculture workers. Among many other examples, our changing climate is also causing looming threats to animals, including to the Great White. Rising sea water temperature has made the sea unliveable for many fish, causing their death (imagine to live in a haze situation for a full whole year round), and this has plummeted the food supply of the sharks. In order to feed, there is a current phenomena where the sharks move closer to the shore in search of food, to swimming and boating areas of humans, sometimes bumping into surfers and swimmers. Climate change is known to have brought about extreme flood, bush fires, thunderstorms, ocean dead zones, disappearance of ice caps, inundation of villages, wilting crops, among the many others. What could you do to help? Become Vegan. A vegan diet can reduce 87% of global warming. In precise, the greenhouse gas emission by a vegan is 87% lower than that of a meat-eating person, while that of an organic vegan is 94% lower. If you'd like to read more about it, there an article published by the UK Parliment at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmenvfru/213/213we70.htm
or from Foodwatch, a Germany Non-Profit that exposes food-industry practices that are not in the interest of the consumers at
https://www.foodwatch.org/uploads/media/foodwatch_report_on_the_greenhouse_effect_of_farming_05_2009_01.pdf.
My favourite foodwatch demands: Agricultural policy must be part of climate change policy.
Why is it fruitful?
There was a time where I always wonder, what is so amazing about watching something live? What has being physically there for band concert, a sport match, or an orchestra got to do with instead watching every single detail from Live TV? Or couldn't I read about it later from a magazine? The answer is: the experience. We learn and collect informations through sounds, sights, scent, surrounding energies and the people that were present in the experience itself. Hence, touring around the Dewan, watching the 13th Conference of the assembly live from the visitor seating area, learning about the state legislative and their database website at dewan.selangor.gov.my (yes, their website is quite up-to-date, thanks to the dedicated Azira, Head of the Research Unit of the Speaker's Office), meeting the honourable Speaker, Hannah Yeoh, and the current executive committee member in charge of environment and tourism, Elizabeth Wong - are all part of my knowledge of the Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor now. Did I also mention that they served vegan lunch consisted of spicy delicious curry, fragrant black pepper seitan and long beans? It is really not very difficult to earn a space in my heart, as far as a veggo tag is present, you have my keen eyes.
Hence, this study visit to Dewan Negeri Selangor, where the state laws are discussed, passed and enforced - would be considered as one of my baby steps, towards delving deeper to the solutions of any climate crisis, social problems and education gaps. I truly believe that public policy, the principled guide to action taken by the admins of the government and organizations, is the best platform to effect large-scale social and economic justice gradually. Public law and policies govern actions of people, and organizations, and subsequently their thoughts. In time, this becomes a habit and form a collective consciousness of what is rightful and what is not, even when the norms perceived as socially acceptable could in reality be far from ideal. I believe a kind, intelligent and informed society is common sense, and is not impossible if our societal platform encourages everyone to become the best of themselves.
Photo with YB Elizabeth Wong
Photo of DUN (Dewan Undangan Negeri) Selangor
Climate change is real, and it is affecting millions of lives, humans and animals alike. In Ghana, severe droughts and floods, together with rising temperatures, rainfall reduction and its erratic patterns - is decreasing crop yield and soil fertility, as a result plundering incomes and social securities of the mostly already poor farmers and agriculture workers. Among many other examples, our changing climate is also causing looming threats to animals, including to the Great White. Rising sea water temperature has made the sea unliveable for many fish, causing their death (imagine to live in a haze situation for a full whole year round), and this has plummeted the food supply of the sharks. In order to feed, there is a current phenomena where the sharks move closer to the shore in search of food, to swimming and boating areas of humans, sometimes bumping into surfers and swimmers. Climate change is known to have brought about extreme flood, bush fires, thunderstorms, ocean dead zones, disappearance of ice caps, inundation of villages, wilting crops, among the many others. What could you do to help? Become Vegan. A vegan diet can reduce 87% of global warming. In precise, the greenhouse gas emission by a vegan is 87% lower than that of a meat-eating person, while that of an organic vegan is 94% lower. If you'd like to read more about it, there an article published by the UK Parliment at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmenvfru/213/213we70.htm
or from Foodwatch, a Germany Non-Profit that exposes food-industry practices that are not in the interest of the consumers at
https://www.foodwatch.org/uploads/media/foodwatch_report_on_the_greenhouse_effect_of_farming_05_2009_01.pdf.
My favourite foodwatch demands: Agricultural policy must be part of climate change policy.
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