Sunday, May 13, 2007

A special Sunday...Just Think..

Well, it is Sunday again with bright sun. We need the rains now but as yet to comes. Anyway lets enjoy this Sunday. It is Mother's Day here and I wish them all a Happy and Prosperous Mother's Day. May they all have a great time always. It is also the Thirteen of May. An infamous day in our history. A day that changed the direction of the country. So let us not lament about it but instead let move forward toward making a brighter future for all Malaysian.

I sat here in front of the TV watching a program about Bhutan. A beautiful country indeed. In the hearts of the Himalaya. The programme is about an angler who when in search of trout in the Himalaya. On this hot Sunday morning it is nice to watch such cool scenes of those magnificent sights on the top of the world. Beautiful running streams, green hills and mountain with blue sky and patches of white clouds. Seeing those clean running streams and rivers bring me back memories of the days of my childhood in Kuantan of the forties and the fifties. Where the river and streams were clean with crystal clear water. As a child growing up in those great days, we would go out to the countryside to camp for the weekend. Most of the time near a riverside or beside a beach. Sometime at the beach there are small streams that flows toward the sea. Its water is crystal clear and clean. We just use this water for cooking and of course to wash ourselves. There was no pollution than and we need not worry of drinking water direct from the streams and rivers. It was great then and now it is no more. Most of the river has been populated and unsafe for drinking unless one filtered it.

It is real nice to watch those scenes in faraway Bhutan. Oh! How I long to get back to the days of the forties and see those clean streams again like what I am now seeing on my TV. I still dream of getting our streams and rivers back like it was before. I am sure with the sciences and technologies we could find ways and means to nurture our waterways to its once glorious days. Clean and crystal clear water of our rivers and streams. Our southern neighbour once had a very dirty river running in that city state. It has been cleaned and now back like before again with fishes and clean water all the year round. If countries in Europe and that of our southern neighbour could do it I see no reasons why we could not do that as well.

Water is the source of life and it is our streams and rivers that stored these precious resources. I think that our government should take a serious look at these problems. Perhaps setting up a special institution to just handle our water resources would help to give this aspect of our environment a special attention. Why not set up a Department of Water and Environment in every states to handle this very important aspect of our living condition. It is time we focus on this issue that is staring in front of us. Before it is too late...Why not!!! Have a nice day and take care.

9 comments:

Madame A said...

I think it would be better for the government to educate Malaysians on the importance of keeping our rivers and beaches clean. Have more campaigns on the electronic and in the printed media. We don't need to spend millions of ringgit to clean rivers knowing that people would keep polluting them. Let us learn from a tourist who commented that he has been to a beach in Europe which is cleaner than our beaches and what is more significant...the number of people who frequent that beach is 3 times more than the number of people who frequent our beaches.

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Pak Idrus
Aaaah, armchair traveller on a Sunday, I love doing that!
If only our travel programmes are just as good, I wouldn't wait for the next day to make the arrangements to visit.
I wish our rivers are as crystal clean as those in Europe or the US.
We need to educate our people about the environment. Without education, we cannot raise the awareness.

Pak Idrus said...

damelehrer, fauziah, thanks for the visit and the comments. I agree that we should educate the masses but that is not enough. We should have an agency that do nothing else but to take care of our streams and rivers. Not like now Water is just treated as an ordinary commodity. It should be treated a very important resources and given due attention. Have a nice day.

Berisman said...

Education is important, but in dire needs at this time for Malaysia is the enforcement of the laws and regulations.We had failed!

The failure to act earlier is why our rivers are in a big mess.

Pak Idrus said...

berisman, thanks for the visit. Education Yes but still there must be a big rotan around. Have a nice day.

bnaipal said...

To the best of my knowledge, Malaysia only uses 1% of its underground water resources whereas UK uses 80%. Malaysia with its vast water resources must educate our people about saving water & not polluting our water resources. Take for instance Australia - it is rapidly turning into a dry continent but the Government has taken strict measures to educate the people & have imposed very strict rules about water usage. Malaysians have a 'tidak apa' policy which is highly detrimental to our sacred environment.

Pak Idrus said...

balram, thanks for the visit and the valuable comments. I am with you that we seem not to really understand the value of Water. If we are to continue to enjoy a better quality of life, than the authority must be smart in managing our natural resources and in this case Water. Have a nice day.

mutalib saifuddin said...

pak idrus,

your article really made me remember the tranquility of Beserah beach. And Sungai Galing. My father said during his time in the 60's, the water in the river can be drink, and bath. Now, no longer.

yes..i think it's not yet too late for us to preserve the river (in the other words, water itself). And, EVERYONE must play their roles into this. Not only the government, not only the NGO's. But everyone.

For the prople, no rubbish, or contiminant is to be thrown into the river. For the government,continious monitoring of the Water is essential AND the law rules. For the NGOs, promote the importance and values of the Water, and educate the newbie, who are naives about it.

Have a nice day.

Pak Idrus said...

mutalib, Yes your dad is right. Sungei Galing was my playground too. Clean water and there is a small pond where we would swim at weekend. Yes it is not too late to clean our streams and river. But the authority must act fast as well. take care.