Towards a greener Malaysia.

Malaysia is a green and beautiful country. It is also one which aspires to be green in the modern sense of the world: its politicians speak of leading the world in creating a green society. Now, this is most admirable, but is it true of Malaysia on the ground? Is there anything not being done that should be done?

Well, yesterday, I saw something I have frequently seen in Malaysia: a vehicle spewing black clouds of smoke out the back of its exhaust. In this case it was a bus, WAJ 5268, if I remember correctly. The clouds of smoke were so thick as to threaten to obscure the vehicle itself. I found myself disgusted with the vehicle's owner: how could they drive such a polluting bus around? Why didn't they service the engine? This bus alone must be producing the equivalent pollution of hundreds or thousands of other vehicles. It was obscene. Yet, it is not alone. Malaysia is defiled by tens of thousands of such vehicles. That is something which must change.

I am impressed with the publicly expressed intentions of Malaysia's leaders to move towards a green society, one that other nations might aspire to be like. It is a good aim. However, they are overlooking problems on the ground which could easily be corrected. There should not be thousands of heavily polluting vehicles in Malaysia, there should not even be one. Getting rid of them would be easy to do. Every time a policeman sees such vehicle the driver should be stopped and the vehicle impounded. The owner should then be given a choice: pay for the repairs to the vehicle - upfront - or have the vehicle scrapped and recycled - with no compensation. Furthermore, the owner should be fined for being in possession of such a polluting vehicle. Were this regime to be implemented the air around KL would become a lot cleaner in a matter of weeks.

The first step to the solution of a problem is its recognition. I have have done that. The next step is to structure penalties - and enforce them - to eliminate the behaviour. It is not difficult and would be another good step on the green pathway that Malaysia has, very vocally, chosen for itself. I hope that it is a step that is soon taken, for I tire of breathing clouds of venomous smoke, on KL's roads.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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A world without the smell of flowers

There is much beauty in the world. Yet, this beauty may not endure. The world of my youth, is not the world of today - and so it shall be for my children, too. The natural world is slowly fading away.

Researchers at the University of Virginia have uncovered a startling and rather disturbing phenomenon: flowers are losing their smell.

All of us have, at one time or another, enjoyed the enchanting aroma of flowers on a summer's day. We may have walked in fields amidst their multi-coloured splendour - yet, a walk in such a field today is not what it once was. These researchers have calculated that the scent of flowers would have wafted some 1,000 to 1,200 metres in the 1800s. Today, in the modern world, flower scent has a range of just 200 to 300 metres in the vicinity of cities.

What is happening? Well the scent molecules are interacting with air pollutants such as ozone and being neutralized: they literally no longer smell anymore.

Why should we be concerned? Well, apart from dulling one of the sensory experiences of the beauty of nature - this does something more: it makes it difficult for bees to find their food. When flowers no longer smell as they used to, bees must search longer and further to find them, relying more on sight. This is not easy - and so they starve. Bee populations in places as far apart as California and the Netherlands are in decline.

Why does this matter? Well, bees are pollinators of flowers. If they can't find the flowers, they won't find food - but also the flowers won't be pollinated - result: no more flowers.

Here we can see how pollution has effects far beyond what we might expect. It leads directly to the decline of bees and flowers alike. We are suffocating the natural world.

I usually write about giftedness - but I feel, at times, a need to write about the environment. It is not really off-topic for one clear reason: anyone who has young children needs to think about the future world they will live in. What kind of world will they have to enjoy or endure? The signs are not looking good.

Do what you can, when you can, to preserve the environment: make it one of your regular considerations. If enough people think about it, perhaps we can do something collectively, to improve it.

As for the flowers: it seems sad that children now live in a world in which not even the flowers smell as they used to. They will not have the sensory memories that prior generations enjoyed of simply witnessing the natural world in its multi-sensory splendour: it is fading and dying all around us.

I only hope that there is time to intervene, before it is too late. I only hope that there is time for nature to recover from what we are doing to it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)