Water sources

Water sources            13/6/2013

        There is a famous Chinese proverb saying [When you drink, you remember the source of water ] (饮水思源 yin shui si yuan).  Figuratively, it means a person “should remember and be thankful/gratitude/grateful for what he has /is now “.   Literally, it is a must for every responsible person to know the conditions of our water source(s)/ water catchment areas and the whole water system which we get the supply of water. 

        Do you have any idea where your source of water is?  

        If we put the quality of water into 6 grades and we rate it according to the level of contamination/  pollution of our water system from the source to the water station, what grade is your water that you drink more / less 8 cups (2500ml) every day and use it for different activities?  Let’s do it this way:

        Grade A:  Pollution free

        Grade B:  contain 20% of pollutants/ contaminants

        Grade C:  30% of pollutants / contaminants

        Grade D:  40% of pollutants / contaminants

        Grade E:  50% of pollutants / contaminants

        Grade F:  51% and above of pollutants / contaminants

        What grade would you rate your water source, water/river system and the quality of water that you drink/use daily?

        Come on, as responsible and concerned persons /Sarawakians /whataver, we should stand guard for the water source/ water catchment areas, the river and the quality of water for our own good.  If everyone cares and is concerned about the water quality in their areas seriously, then who dares to be so abusive and aggressive to exploit and plunder / pillage our resources  at will and brings about so much disaster and hazard to our environment.

        Now let’s assess/evaluate the water source/ water catchments, the river system and the quality of water everywhere in Sarawak / elsewhere and then one by one in Grade and %.  In this way, we can get the results of each river in each division, each division and the country Sarawak as a whole.  It can be really fun and interesting to know the results of the water, one of the most indispensible and precious elements /gems in life. 

        The quality of water and environment will tell us exactly what kind of leaders we have.  Well……when we talk about our water source, water catchments and quality, it is impossible for us to leave out our government and talk on our own only.  In Sarawak, we cannot leave Taib Mahmud and his cronies alone.  Taib Mahmud who started as an MP for 18+ years and has been the Chief Minister of Sarawak  for 32+ years/since 1981 should take the full responsibility for the quality of the environment we have today. 

        He is considered the most abusive, autocratic, corrupt, demonic, devilish, greedy, hypocritical, nepotistic and sinful person to date in the federation of Malaysia. He and his cronies just loot, plunder / pillage our environment and people at will.  He is so indulgent in the evil acts of the devil.  If I had the magic power, I would turn him into a maggot eating pooh for a million year for the damages and plundering he has done . 

Through long years of exploitation and plundering way of development have led to serious soil erosion.  The indiscriminate logging, large scale palm oil planting and other activities have stripped bare hectares and hectares of land. 

Without the cover of vegetation of grasses, plants, trees and the like,  the topmost soil is just washed off when it rains heavily/ not so heavily.   Hence, we see our Rejang River is always Teh-tarik in colour through the year.  Tell me if I am wrong because I might overlook other causes and I don’t know where to get the first-hand information.  I want people’s true experience to tell the true quality of water in their areas.  I don’t trust the official report of any kind.  To me, there are also a lot of cover-ups of the truth when they pose a threat to the reputation to the BN government.  I don’t trust this government at all.

        I hope every individual will be the “eyes and ears” to one another to safeguard our water source in each area for our own good.  We should be well-prepared to protest if needed, scream, shriek, shout, shrill, squeal, squeak, …………… to get our voice heard to alert them to behave themselves:  [Never trade off the quality of water for a lot of money].   

Sustainable living ------Water

Sustainable living-----------Water                  12/6/2013

        There are 3 most  precious and indispensible items / elements /gems in life.   Water is one of them.  Water is “god and gold” to me.  So I always treat water with a lot of respect and care.  I try my best to recycle, save and collect water whenever I can. 

        I cook 2 times a day: breakfast and dinner.  So, I have quite a lot of dishes and pots to wash for 2 meals.  Well, I always soak the dishes, rice cooker and cooking pots first in the recycled water.  Then I clean and rinse them with the recycled water before I wash them in the basin with clean water from the tap.  The water in the basin is kept for recycling.  Ng …….. I might need 2-3 basins of water to wash all the dishes, big and small as well as rice cooker and cooking pots. Oh, ya, I also hot water clean my dishes, chopsticks, spoons, rice cooker and cooking pots.  And this water is also kept for recycling.

        The water that I use for washing vegetables and fruits will be collected for recycling.  I hope one day I can collect water from the rooftop.

        When I recycle water, I save water and that means I save $, too.  Saving water to me is more than water bill.   I see that less water used in each household means less energy required for water treatment as a whole.  It is a great way to save our Mother Earth together.   

        Ya, I machine wash all my clothes and of course, I only start the machine when the clothes have piled up to 60%-70% of the tub to be washed with the full volume of water.  But for table rags, floor rags and garden gloves,  I start when the pile is about 40% with half a volume of water. 

         I use one milk scoop of soap powder stirred in water before I pour into the tub.  Then I soak the clothes in soap water for about half an hour. 

        So far, I have not been able to collect water from the washing machine as it is not easy to do.  You have to keep the level lower than the discharge or the water will be sucked back and be recycled by the machine. 

        I  mop my kitchen almost every day and other places once a week.  So, I don’t use much water for mopping.  My husband washes his cars (the company car and his new car) once a week.  I seldom wash my car.  I mainly  rely on rainwater to wash the outer part of the car and the inner part, well………..once in a blue moon (too lazy to wash/clean the car regularly ).  I collect rainwater for my poultry.  I only resort to tap water when the rainwater has run out. 

        My husband and my son only take a bath once a day and I bathe 2 times a day.

For all these activities, we only spend RM 9 – 10 a month in average.   I believe there are people who use less than this amount.  If the amount of water used is grouped into 10 based on the RM:  Group 1 RM5 and below;  Group 2 RM6 -10; Group 3 RM 11-15;  Group 4 RM 16 – 20;  Group 5 RM21 -30;  Group 6 RM31- 50; Group7 RM 51- 80; Group 8 RM 81- 110; Group 9 RM 111- 150; Group 10 RM151 – 200 /more.  If they are expressed in %, I wonder how many are in each range. 

Sustainable Living

Sustainable Living                       4/6/2013

        According to [An advanced learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary], the word “sustainable” means “the use of natural resources and energy in a way that does not harm the environment”.   However, to me,  the word  “sustainable “ means  conservation, preservation and protection  of our natural environment at all cost so that we can have fresh air, clean water and natural/organic foods wherever we go.      Sustainable living also means there is no wastage at all/at its minimum.  Without wasting, I believe there is less wanting to an individual / plundering to a government .  (Waste not, want not ; greed not, plunder not.)

      To an individual, what do you think you can do to make Sustainable Living possible?  Or what can an individual do to conserve,  preserve and protect our natural environment?  To Green Seed Project organiser, Ling Mio Ting, it is planting trees.  She and her husband can rope in friends and friends’ friends in groups /troops/ herds to go tree planting. 

        They have planted many trees already.  They also find tree planting so meaningful and are happy to do so.  (You can access Green Seed Project website to get the details how they did the work in Kampung Stass in Bau and Chinese Primary School No. 6 in Kuching. )  I must admit I am touched to see what they have done.

        This is what an individual can do to a community and I think they are going to foster Eco-villages and encourage Sustainable Living .   Eco-villages and Sustainable Living should be the trend we are heading in for the good of our Mother Earth and our own good as a whole.   It is a holistic approach to conserve, preserve and protect our environment for generations and generations to come.   Sustainable living enables our future generations to enjoy as bountiful and rich natural resources as we enjoy / possess now. 

        Forest-wise/ land-wise,  they still can see as rich flora and fauna in terms of quantity and variety.   Water-wise, be they natural lakes,  rivers, seas or oceans, water creatures still find their habitats habitable.  I hope stingrays, sharks, starfish, mackerel, silver pomfret, black pomfret, groupers, snappers,……. will  still be swimming happily and freely in quantity and variety in generations to come to see and enjoy. 

        We cannot afford to be selfish anymore.  Look, if we do not make effort to conserve, preserve and protect our environment, our future generations will suffer ‘real hell’ on earth here.  They will not be clean air available easily for them and have to buy clean air in packages.  For water,  well, it will be many, many and many times/10，000 times or more, more expensive than we have now.  Can you imagine that?  

        For food, m/well,  of course,  you can hardly find any clean food around.   If the food conditions are also 10，000% plus worse than the contaminated food we have today,  will there be any meaning to carry on life like that ?  Will there be anyone who still has the desire to give birth?    Do you want this thing to happen?