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17th of February was the day I left for Kuala Lumpur from my hometown Miri in pursuant of my second degree in doctor of chiropractic (DC). The place where I came from is in the north of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo, a legendary island renowned for boundless adventure, rich cultural heritage and natural wonders. This land of Hornbills overlooking the South China Sea, is the 2nd largest city in Sarawak with a population of 300, 000, and it is the birthplace of me. Hailing from Miri, I was the only odd family member being a Sarawakian while the rest originated from a place called Penang. But the good side of it is that it makes me stand out amongst the rest of the natives and indigenous tribes in the town however the downside of it is that, I can be easily targeted may it be good or bad perhaps if the myth of headhunters is true. However, I was told that Miri is also the birthplace of Malaysia’s first petroleum industry and its affectionately called ‘The Grand Old Lady’ which is located on Canada Hill and is now a state monument and one of Miri's tourist attractions. Ever since oil became the major industry of Miri, the town has had burgeoned into the modern and dynamic business, commercial and also an educational Centre like the establishment of Curtin Perth Sarawak Branch.
I was just imagining by highlighting Curtin University as a major tourist destination in the ‘Tourist brochure’, that’s really scraping the bottom of the barrel! Opps, my sweetheart, Brenda who is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Chemical in Curtin is going to staple my mouth for stating this; I was just ‘puling your legs’ as she always says i.e. her favorite terminology. And sorry if I had snatched that term from you so as to use it whenever I feel the time has come to annoy you whenever it’s appropriate. Jokes aside, I wish her all the lucks in her future endeavors and watch out as there will always be a constant reminder and bragging to her from my side as to keep her rolling with her studies and vice versa.
Miri town aerial View and quite eye pleasing indeed
Ever since I touchdown to KL, I was blanketed with much heat and with the added pollution as I suspected prior to my arrival and above all the air index here was the complete opposite to the ones in my hometown .This pall of noxious fumes, smelling of ash and coal made me sick and the feeling of uneasiness was felt in my stomach and my hatred towards this capital was beginning to rise, but I would have to learn to tolerate it.
Landmarks in Kuala Lumpur, such as the tops of the Petronas Twin Towers vanished in the haze
Thus it is that time of the year again in which temperatures are high, matched by high humidity I would expect a hotter and drier days at least for the next couple of months as an El Nino phenomenon may be evident by the look of it. To worsen the situation, open burning throughout the county and neighboring country i.e. Indonesia, whereby the wind blow most of the fumes across the narrow Strait of Malacca had multiplied the so called catastrophe. In other worlds, where the hazy will cover is entirely dependent on the direction of the wind carrying the end-product of open burning here and from abroad. In short, hazy is pretty much an annual affair in Malaysia, affecting both East & Peninsular Malaysia unless the top guns of this government governing the country does come with some drastic measurements which sadly to say THEY have not done much for the environment we live in.
Lots of prominent politicians are talking about saving the planet and reducing the greenhouse emission but what have they done thus far? For me the topic about ‘reducing the greenhouse emission’ is quite cynical because the world is becoming even more industrialized and economically competitive. But at the end of the day, if we don’t take care of the planet it will destroy us. Sometimes what I personally feel is that people who are environmentally concern or even myself at times put ourselves in a position that we are saving something and this may be good for our ego but it is ultimately unrealistic. If we don’t care of the planet, mankind together with the rest of the living species will be eventually vanished phase upon phase. But that is just my opinion and I look forward to hear yours.
