UTAR Alumni

FEBRUARY 2013

I Am the Earth, You Are the Earth

Ricky Ong Shen-Yin

Bachelor of Science (HONS) Chemistry

Batch of August 2009

The terrifically daunting natural occurrences of the 21st century have been tormenting our conscience to its core. Two of the world's most portentous environmental hazards 'global warming and climate change'have reached alarming levels that trigger the need for immediate action. The irony is that while talks have been rife about guarding Mother Earth, the implementation of effective measures has been far from adequate.

Therefore, I would like to thank UTAR Vice President (Student Development and Alumni Relations), Assoc. Prof. Dr Teh Chee Seng, for giving me a chance to speak on the reduction of carbon emission. UTAR is indeed playing an eminent role in the dissemination of environmental awareness.

I am here, to impart a simple awareness to the person who is sitting right in from of the screen, be it an undergraduate, lecturer, UTAR employee or alumni. I am trying my best to educate people on the repercussions of global warming. If I am able to educate 1% of the people, it is enough to turn the 99% of fence-sitters into staunch supporters. These people are, startlingly, oblivious of the ominous threats posed by menacing climate changes. The temperature in Malaysia has increased dramatically over the years, which has stoked the incubation of Aedes mosquitos and contagious malaises. Among other calamities discerned was irregular raining seasons, sinking of beautiful God-made islands and scarcity of fresh water. A big chunk of money has been plowed into sustainable restorations of our surroundings yet the root cause of the grievous problem has not been aptly tackled. Come to think of it, we may be standing at the rim of destruction should these practices deemed unsolicited and detrimental to nature continues to exist. Our unscrupulous deeds today may incur woeful backlashes that dawn upon us someday; acute interruptions in food chain, humans butchering one another and tyres melting are among the spine-chilling catastrophes conjured in our wildest of imaginations.

The effort to conserve nature begins with you, me and our self. A small and seemingly insignificant step may go a great length in conserving nature; it is not redundant. Here are some steps that you may want to adopt to contribute to the applauded effort:

− Reduce usage of plastic bags when shopping (instead, bring cotton bag)

− Install solar heaters

− Encourage carpooling

− Replace your normal light bulb (60W, used 4 hours per day) with energy saving bulb

− Choose a 1hp air conditioner with a load rating of 850W over one with a rating of

950W for 6 hours a day

− Reduce your daily part load wash to three full load wash per week. (Washing machine)

− Set the temperature at -18 Celsius instead of -21 Celsius. (Refrigerator)

− Encourage paperless work, assignment and presentation

− Avoid using Styrofoam to pack food

− Plant a tree that will absorb 1 tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime

− Reduce consumption of meat in at least one meal per day

− Set your yearly goal to reduce 10% of carbon footprint

− Practise 4R- Reuse, recycle, reduce, and rethink