Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Is Selangor disguising deforestation as ‘conservation’? By Andrew Sia
Saturday, June 11, 2022
Malaysiakini : It turns out that SACF is being bulldozed for it. Yet the MOU makes
it all sound very “eco-friendly”, complete with a plan to gain regional
recognition for PCF as a “protected area" from the South-East Asia
Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP). A headline deceptively declares “PKNS and UiTM to safeguard Green Lung of Shah Alam”.
But
all this fancy window dressing evades the fact that the 34.5ha will
merely be 20 percent of the existing 172ha at SACF. 121.4ha is owned by
PKNS while the balance is owned by the state government directly. In
other words, PKNS will be chopping down some 88ha of forest for
“development”.
Yet they are whitewashing (or rather greenwashing) it as “conservation”. This is sorok-sorok development by stealth.
Natural treasures
SACF is a treasure chest
of signature species such as tapirs, leopard cats, dusky leaf monkeys,
white-handed gibbons, slow loris, mousedeers and hornbills. In other
words, it’s like a mini National Park, right in the Klang Valley.
But
if SACF is slashed down from 172ha to just 34ha, experts believe this
will lead to inbreeding and their eventual extinction.
Dusky Langur, or Spectacled Leaf Monkey, spotted on a tree in SACF
If
Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur was chopped down by the BN-led federal
government, there would be a huge outcry. So why is Selangor, supposedly
led by the more “progressive” Harapan, allowing SACF to be destroyed?
In
fact, SACF, which still has much of its original forests, is even
better than Bukit Kiara, which is an overgrown rubber estate. It also
trumps Kiara because it has seven lakes, which act as natural flood
mitigation ponds.
SACF
is a very popular area for hikers, with over 1,000 visitors weekly. The
terrain of steep hills is great for trekking but terrible for
development as it will mean massive soil erosion and probably flash
floods.
Bandar Sierra Alam, which gets its name from the Spanish
word “sierra” or “mountains”, will ravage the hill slopes. Haven’t we
learned our lessons from the devastating floods of December 2021?
Strange excuses
Nor
Hanisah Mohd Hashim, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture,
Planning and Survey in UiTM is giving PKNS technical advice on
conserving PCF. Her team of students did a three-day survey of some 200
visitors to the area.
“They felt rather upset that PKNS was developing it,” she admitted.
What
is even more astonishing is that development has been justified because
SACF has been classified as a “semi-motorised” area. Hanisah explains
there are six levels of park planning in a spectrum from “primitive” to
“fully urbanised”.
Level 1 (primitive) refers to virgin areas
such as the Royal Belum rainforest while Level 4 refers to kampungs.
Since there are some motocross activities (dirt or scrambler bikes) at
SACF, it has been classified as Level 3 or “semi motorised”!
But
hold on. Even kapcai motorbikes are regularly used by Orang Asli to
gather bamboo, petai and durians in many of the forests. And such bikes
also go into the Endau-Rompin State Park.
Does that mean that all those forests should be classified as “semi motorised” and therefore open for “development” too?
Selangor already has the most unsold residential properties in 2021 at almost 16,000 units. So why the rush to build even more? Is it because some politicians’ terms are ending?
A
source claimed that PKNS intends to build “affordable housing” here.
But it’s “strange” to build such budget residences on steep hills, where
the costs of development are much higher, especially for roads,
retaining walls (for landslide prevention) and other infrastructure.
Or
is “affordable housing” a decoy to make the project more politically
“acceptable”? Is the real goal lucrative high-end residences? After all,
most elite housing in Malaysia is branded as “heights” (eg: Damansara
Heights), and probably suits the lofty setting of the highland “sierra”.
In fact, the Shah Alam City Council’s (MBSA) own Local Landscape
Plan (LLPlan) shows posh “eco villas” for SACF. Is this what has been
truly planned by PKNS?
Any ‘harapan’ for the forest?
Detailed
research by conservationists and the Bar Council has found that the
land at SACF is still legally a Permanent Forest Reserve.
This is because the process of degazetting the forest back in 2006 was never properly done. Thus, any development, including by PKNS, would be illegal.
Selangor Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Orang Asli Affairs Committee exco Hee Loy Sian
Some
Harapan politicians are trying to work behind the scenes to see if SACF
can be salvaged. But they say they have to talk to Selangor Tourism,
Environment, Green Technology and Orang Asli Affairs Committee exco Hee
Loy Sian.
Unfortunately, Hee has a poor track record on green matters. He, and the state exco, was exposed for quietly degazetting another forest at Kuala Langat, a decision criticised by his own fellow PKR lawmakers.
His basic line of argument
for SACF is: hey tough luck buddy, the forest reserve was degazetted by
the bad old BN state government, then headed by Umno menteri besar Khir
Toyo back in 2006. And we can’t do anything about that!
But
wait, why is Hee hiding behind a bad BN decision? The people of Selangor
voted for Harapan because they had “harapan” or “hope” for real change.
And the state exco has the power to re-gazette the area as a forest
reserve.
The state government, which controls PKNS, can make a political decision not to develop
SACF. It can also swap other more suitable lands (such as flatter oil
palm areas) for PKNS to develop instead. After all, a pro-Anwar Ibrahim
group called Otai Reformis, has claimed that PKNS has a land bank of
2,417ha which is still unused.
But even though distraught residents personally went to Hee’s office at Shah Alam in October 2021 to request an urgent meeting, all they got was a deafening silence. Some 75,000 people have already signed a petition to “Save SACF”. There have been protests over the years. How many more people (and voters) need to speak up?
However,
Hee is just the frontman. The real power lies with Menteri Besar
Amirudin Shari, who was famously part of the “Azmin Ali cartel” in PKR.
And that guy (along with Hee) tried hard to justify destroying the Kuala
Langat forest reserve and handing it over to an RM1 company linked to a former Johor Umno Youth leader. Only a mass outcry forced the MB to re-gazette Kuala Langat as a forest.
A
wise government will protect SACF to prevent floods, preserve
biodiversity and attract tourists. This precious green oasis will
provide fresh, cool air to surrounding residents and a hill recreation
area to the public.
Hopefully, the state exco can give all Selangor folks some real “harapan” or “hope” for a greener future.
