Global Warming is Coming to Town!

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/260859/1/.html

http://www.singeo.com.sg/?p=86

The issue of global warming has been discussed and publicized so much in the recent years that even publicised so much that even a 5-year-old would at least have a faint idea of what global warming is. However, global warming had always seemed like a far away issue that did not concern the tropical dwellers of Singapore. After all, how much can the melting of ice caps at the freezing North Pole affect tropical Singapore which is located at the equator? The answer is surprisingly complicated.

First of all, the greatest change that global warming would the rising of the sea level due to the higher temperature. The melting of the polar ice caps would bring about the increase of sea level from anywhere between 28cm to 6m. This, coupled with climate changes that might follow, is what has been worrying scientists all over the world for the past decade.

Singapore, with its low-altitude reclaimed lands, is at a high risk of being submerged under the water. Singapore’s main tourist attraction, sentosa would have been submerged underwater. The second best airport in the world, Changi Airport would also be swallowed by the sea water. Our ever important industrial base, Jurong Island, would also not be spared.

These frightening prospects may seem like science fiction, but the danger is there. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments, deltas and small island states may be particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, although sea level changes have not yet been implicated in any substantial environmental, humanitarian, or economic losses to small island states.

Singapore is an example of such a Island state as mentioned above. Thus we are very vulnerable to the effects of Global Warming.

Although National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan reassured us that Singapore would not be at risk, there is still the possibility of a 6m rise in sea level, if the Greenland icecap melts. Thus Singapore should be well prepared to face this possibly devastating disaster.

Minister Mah has already mentioned the fact that the authorities have been monitoring the regional water levels around Singapore. This is a good start towards preparing Singapore against the effects of Global Warming.

However, the public’s mindset is also very important. I feel that the government should go one step further to make Singaporeans become more aware of how close global warming is to home. The fact that the chance of Singapore being relatively safe for the time being does not mean that we would be safe forever. The government should bring about more awareness, and perhaps involve the people in monitoring the water levels in Singapore. Only then can we truly feel secure about our future.

Not another MRT accident...

http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2006/12/05/mrt_track_accident_again.html

“Another one?

These are the kinds of response people have been giving upon hearing the news of recent MRT jumps. Note that the “jumps” is in plural form.

Recently there have been a disturbing amount of MRT accidents happening in Singapore. This created concern over the safety of MRT stations, as well as sparking debates over the morality of ending one’s life on the MRT track.

Singapore’s MRT system is one of the few things that are uniquely-Singapore. However, due to the recent incidents, SMRT has been criticized and was put under pressure to install more safety features to its MRT stations, such as railings in stations that are above ground.

However, the installation of railings expensive, and the SMRT would have to bear the expenses of both the installation of the railings as well as the service disruption caused by them.

On a closer look, would the installation of railings really prevent anymore MRT accidents?

The older accidents a few years ago might have been caused by crowds pushing the victim onto the track, but the majority of the recent incidents are mainly suicide attempts of victims who got onto the track on their own free will. In such cases, the railings would do little to prevent them from getting onto the tracks. They can get either crawl over or simply get onto the track through the entrance.

I feel that the problem cannot be solved merely by physical barriers in front of the track. A better solution would be to get to the core of the problem and start from there.

So just why were there so many suicide attempts at MRT stations recently? The answer lies in the media. The first MRT suicide incident that was widely publicised caused a storm in Singapore at that time. The victim had decided to take his own life due to his inability to support his family financially. His story was broadcasted in all the major Medias. Donations soon flooded in to help his family, mainly due to the wide publicity. The donations eventually amounted to $500000.

This is what encouraged the victims to resort to this extreme way of supporting their family - through death. By broadcasting such incidents, the media is in fact encouraging such acts, albeit unintentionally.

Although the people have already gotten used by such incidents and donations to the victim’s families has been steadily decreasing, the frequency of the incidents has only increased.

Thus, I feel that in order to prevent anymore incidents from happening, the media should minimize the amount of exposure given to such incidents, so that no more lives would be lost.