Ok for my Online Reading Portfolio, I have to bring from the past one of my articles which was supposed to be marked as 'to be checked', but I did not. So here goes:

Remember during Febuary there was the floods of Johor, the ban of sand exports into Singapore by Indonesia, and Bangkok's cancellation of the visit by our Foreign Minister?

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST IS EXTREMELY SUBJECTIVE.

(I will try my best to look at it from both sides.)

The Chief Minister of Johor blames us for our reclamation work in Pulau Tekong to be the main cause of the flooding in Johor. I personally think that the two cases of Johor and Indonesia are cases of jealousy.

Jealousy and envy are two different things.

Envy and jealousy are very close in meaning. Envy denotes a longing to possess something awarded to or achieved by another: to feel envy when a friend inherits a fortune. Jealousy, on the other hand, denotes a feeling of resentment that another has gained something that one more rightfully deserves

Basically, jealousy has more bad vibes.

Personally, I think this way towards Malaysia: If you are unable to keep your own doorstep clean, why blame others? Reports have already shown that the reclamation works at Pulau Tekong DO NOT affect the floods. And I say do not because it was long ago already proven. Here is an article from Channel NewsAsia:


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Singapore said a coastal hydraulic study undertaken by Malaysia's Department of Irrigation and Drainage in 2002 found that there were no appreciable changes to water levels within the Straits of Johor under projected worst case flood scenarios which could happen once in 100 years.

The study concluded that there was no increased flooding caused by Singapore's reclamation works.

Separately, an environmental impact assessment report prepared by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and commissioned by the Malaysian government also reported similar findings.

So too, did technical studies commissioned separately by the Singapore government in 2003.
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Right. So the study concluded that there was no increased flooding caused by Singapore's reclmation works.


Now there's a little discussion on the Malaysian side whether the floods were caused by the reclamation. Here's another section from CNA.

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Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, however, said it was too early to tell if the flooding was linked to the reclamation.

"There are all sorts of allegations but we can't come to a conclusion unless a thorough technical study is done on the cause of Johor's floods. The real cause is the exceptionally heavy rainfall," he said.
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Now to Indonesia.

I've been holding this view for a very long time. Firstly, I think Indonesia's politicians are not that clean. They get low pay from the government itself, and the country is so big that whou, you just don't know who is doing what and when and where.

It's a good thing Indonesia is like this, because they would never have a plan to attack us someday.

My dad is a serious politician. I mean with him keeping up with the papers everyday, he predicts EVERYTHING. And 2 years before this sand ban in 2005, he actually told me that some day Indonesia (while pointing at the big sand pile in Tampines) would stop selling us sand.

"But we would find alternatives. You see, Singapore never stops because of something happening."

That's what he said. Well, that's what we did. We can learn much from what Singapore does, always looking for alternative solutions to benefit both ourselves and other countries. But back to Indonesia.



Here is a report from CNA about the issue.
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Indonesia has announced a ban on land sand exports. Land sand is used in the construction industry to produce cement.
Singapore says it is disappointed but it believes the ban is unlikely to have a significant impact on the construction industry.
Indonesia says the ban on the export of sand is due to environmental reasons and to protect Indonesia's borders.

Singapore had earlier said it was prepared to work with Indonesia to address these concerns.

It has conducted regular checks to ensure the sand imported is supplied by licensed firms, which have environmental control measures in place, according to Indonesia's laws.
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Indonesia states that the main reason for the ban on sand exports is because of environmental reasons. Up till today I have not heard ANY environmental harms to would come from exporting sand to other countries. Right, now we know the cause of global warming: Sand exports.

Give me one good reason, if any Indonesian is reading this, why sand exports would do harm to the environment.