Last To Know

Natalie Shobana Ambrose – (25th February, 2010 – theSun)

In a busy news room, one never wants to be the last to know things. The person with the information first gets further ahead. In the age of mobile alerts, BlackBerries and I-Phones, we all want to be kept up to date with what is happening. It doesn’t have to be the latest news, it can even be what the celebrities are doing or what your friends’ every move is via Twitter.

Receiving updates after the fact is of no value. It’s not fun being the last to know, and so we try to keep abreast on what is happening with the commodity we feel is of most value.

I know that my BlackBerry is used to keep updated on the latest news and views not to mention my Facebook account, and when there is a service disruption, I’m not a very happy telco customer. But that’s because I don’t want to be the last to know things.

Recently I’ve felt like Malaysians have been the last to know. We seem to be getting our news a tad too late to put it kindly. Sometime in mid 2008, two jet engines were stolen and shipped to Uruguay. The issue was brought to light a year and a half later and report last December.

Though, the whole reality that this has happened confuses me, it puzzles me even more how it only took 2 men to remove a jet engine - my mistake two jet engines - all by themselves probably with their bare hands instead of a forklift, authorise the sale not locally but internationally, courier it- they must have had special DHL rates - and remove it out of a high security area – without being noticed.

I can only compare the act to me trying to remove my car engine all by myself without making a sound.

Even if I were a certified mechanic, I’m sure it would be a feat worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book of Records – what more a jet engine … o my mistake again, two jet engines.

So how could all this have happened under the radar and the incident only be brought to light over a year later?

Another piece of news that got to the public late was the canning of three women for acts of close proximity. If nothing more, a lot of people are upset by the stealthy manner in which the punishment was carried out. Perhaps the outrage is even more so because there is another case of a similar punishment that is on hold due to public outcry and international attention.

Maybe I should not comment on this further for it is a private matter, but then why even tell the public after the fact?

What we need is transparency and not just a slogan or fancy organisations and theme songs. We need it in action from the people that we have voted for and from the news desks we diligently follow. What we need is more that just reporters who regurgitate news, because there is a huge vacuum that needs to be filled with investigative journalism but perhaps what we first need is for the media to be allowed to report and comment, instead of be curtailed.

When news is withheld from the public, there is something very wrong and the people in charge loose credibility. The problem with controlled or delayed news is a lot like exchange rates. If the value of a currency is not truly reflected at the present time, there is a higher demand for it in the black market; and the black market is hard to control, even if the so called black market is online news portals.

Someone laughingly called me an activist last week. At first I thought that wasn’t very nice but then I realised that I’d rather be an activist fighting for a better country than be a bystander watching us fall apart.

Natalie is not attached to her phone but likes her news updates and her BlackBerry very much.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Natalie Shobana Ambrose – (18th February, 2010 – theSun)

"It’s so hot!" "Why can’t it stop raining?" "The lightning was terrible" I’m not sure about you but I keep finding myself complaining about the weather.

Global warming, Copenhagen, recycling, climate change – it’s like we just keep hearing it over and over again. Remember last year when we turned off the lights for one hour. I recall it causing quite a confusion for some – do I turn off all my lights or just a few or will one do? Can I still watch TV? What about my laptop, can I use it, or should that be turned off too?

I remember being out in Kuala Lumpur having dinner under the stars, inhaling the pollution and being bitten by mosquitoes – thinking I really like electricity.

I calculated my carbon footprint years ago. I was confident that I’d get a good low score. After all I recycled regularly and was pretty aware of environmental issues. What a reality check that was.

Not only do I have relatively large feet for a Malaysian, my carbon footprint is massive.

Lets face it, it’s too hot to walk anywhere, cycling is not really appealing – I do value my life and Malaysian drivers (me included) do cause serious heart conditions for the few that choose to brave the cars and insurance only covers so much. I’m not fond of the motorcycle because I’m not a fan of helmet hair and I’d rather really not test the strength of my deodorant waving down multiple taxies until I find one that uses the meter.

What more when it rains? Besides, I like the comforts of my car, listening to my music, full control of the air-conditioner and my personal space.

Something taking the LRT doesn’t allow me. Besides, I can eat whatever I feel like if I want to in my car and tell a friend my secrets without strangers looking at me like I’m crazy because they can’t help but eavesdrop on my conversation.

I don’t mean any disrespect to those who rely on public transport in fact I am in awe and have full respect, because I know I can’t do it all the time. It is definitely not easy being sandwiched so close to someone you’ve just met in the train. But I do try and take public transport when I can. It definitely beats traffic jams and paying the toll and crazy high parking rates in central Kuala Lumpur, not to mention it reduces that massive footprint I have.

But this carbon footprint bugs me. What else can I do? Apparently lots more. Even little habits like filling the kettle with just enough water that is needed helps, not to mention buying local produce that is in season and stuff that doesn’t have too much packaging. The packaging part sometimes just makes everything look prettier but in reality it also fills up the recycling box.

Will all this make the weather better? Who truly knows, but it’s worth a try.

If we were living on small islands in the Pacific, climate change means losing our whole country to the rising seawaters. If we’re living in parts of Africa where logging is rampant, it means no more resources in years to come and leaving everything behind to migrate to another land causing serious security issues for countries in the Mediterranean. If we were living in the West, it means snowstorms in the middle of February when it’s meant to be warmer and don’t get me started on the plight of the polar bears.

In many parts of the world, climate change is more than just a change to the physical environment but rather a growing security issue and so complex that all the brains and experts in the world couldn’t really agree in Copenhagen.

So what does it mean for Malaysia? It means that we’ll have more freak weather and it’s scary because our thunder and lightning causes severe damage to trees and rooftops, it also means that we’ll have haze in the middle of the year unless the burning stops.

We can’t change our habits overnight but maybe we can try by carrying our own containers when we tau pau food or buy pisang goreng for a start instead of increasing profits of styrofoam and plastic bag producers.

Natalie is a little more aware of reducing her carbon footprint and will try and give up pretty packaging but not the red Ang Pow packet – Gong Xi Fa Cai.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com