The 3Rs, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

As of the year of 2008, 23,000 tonnes of waste is produced each day in Malaysia, with less than 5% of the waste is being recycled. In Selangor alone, waste generated in 1997 was over 3000t/day and the amount of waste is expected to rise up to 5700t/day in the year 2017(Yachio Engineering, 2000 cited in Muhd Noor Muhd Yunus, 2000). An alarming 19% of waste ends up in our drains, which then causes flash floods and drainage blockage. This situation has been and will be reducing our environmental capacity to sustain life.

Solid waste affects climate change through landfill methane emission. The source of manmade methane gas is from the landfills themselves, which happens when organic waste is left to decay anaerobically.

The 3Rs, reduce, reuse and recycle were introduced to help on this matter. The no-plastic bag campaign is as one of the way to reduce the waste production. But that does not close the loop. Where other recyclable waste does goes. Shall we practice the reuse and recycle?

Those are some questions we may need to consider before throwing away anything to our bins. Let’s save our mother earth from get sinks with solid waste. I hope below picture helps in giving some tips.

See you soon in my next entries J

Palm Oil industry in Malaysia. Is it sustainable ?

 - Most of us cook our food using vegetable oil where the source mainly comes from palm oil, soy based & rapeseed.

- Malaysia and Indonesia are the top two world largest palm oil producers accounting for 85% or 42 million tonnes of the total world production last year

- According to the latest report:  "Malaysia is expected to run out of suitable land for new oil palm plantations in the next three to four years, while Indonesia will have another 10 to 12 years for the crop's acreage expansion"

- The palm tree in only plantable within the equator band

- With mature palm trees in Malaysia today will also reduce production level. Replanting is costly and will take time to get reach the optimum yield.

- In the context of sustainability of this industry: People, Planet and Prosperity, SD raises the following concern:

PEOPLE: Will we have enough fruit harvesters in our local plantation given the fact that majority of the plantation workers are Indonesians?

PLANET: Will we focus on Replanting or expansion growth outside Malaysia ?

PROSPERITY: The industry contributes at least 5 % of National GDP and employs more than 1.4 million people in the industry.  Should we now make a concerted effort in terms of moving up the value chain (e.g. downstream business & biofuel) in the industry.  This is all about the concept of having less (land) and getting more (value).  

Start ACTING now or we will be having more olive oil in our local delicacies instead :)

Dear FUTURE YAB Prime Minister,

To all Under 21 Year Old Malaysians,

The GENERAL ELECTION in MALAYSIA will happen very soon (at least that's what we are predicting at SDMalaysia ). As a responsible RAKYAT, you need to play your role to choose the future Government that will run our beloved country. BUT it doesn't stop there !

SDMALAYSIA knows that while government come and go, the RAKYAT should put in place a Government that looks into the well being of the country in the next General Election. By that, we would want a government that develops the country in a sustainable manner and consider the well being of the future generation.

Unfortunately, the law states that eligible voters in Malaysia must be above 21 year old. Ironically, it is the age group below 21 year old that will play the most important role to drive the country by 2020, the year when we aim to reach a developed state.

SDMALAYSIA is thinking outside the box and offering the voice of the future generation to be heard by the potential Wakil Rakyats. Here, we are offering Malaysians Under 21 Year Old of age to send us a letter to the  FUTURE PRIME MINISTER.

Your letter should in such a way express your hope on how the country should be run by the elected Government. We will choose the best letter and publish this in our blog.

You will start your letter with the intro: Salam YAB Prime Minister,
For the rest, we will let your creative juice flow........


As an incentive, SDMALAYSIA will post the best letter and reward RM 100/- cash to the individual. For all you know, this is the platform for you to meet the future PM himself :)

If you want to have your say in shaping the country; start writing the letter and send it to: Gmuitnys@gmail.com . Kindly include your name and Date of Birth for our reference.

Happy writing :)

Dr Muiz on National TV this morning !

As working people, we occasionally suffer from the Monday Blues. However, SDMALAYSIA thought that today is an exceptional case !

On Hello On Two (HOT), a daily English morning talkshow on TV2 (RTM), our very own Dr Muiz Murad was invited as a guest in the TV programme to share great insights on the Green Building subject matter. He was joined by two other guests (Mr. Ahmad Najib of GEDS Sdn Bhd & Mr Matthias Gelber aka The Greenest Man on Earth) . Those who saw him live this morning will vouch on the fact that he is VERY Passionate in championing the green building agenda in the Malaysian context.  

The most profound statement that he raised was on the distortion on perception made by many developers to target only certain group of affluent consumers when marketing green Properties. Unlike most developed countries, Malaysians of middle to lower income groups may not have the luxury to embrace sustainable living due to limited choices they have in the property market.

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Not to be discouraged, he has provided various solutions to address this matter and shared his experiences in helping developers, local councils and other key stakeholders.  

SDMalaysia congratulates him for that EXCELLENT Breakfast talk this morning. This is definetely a great inspring way to start the week ! (Note: Next show BBC & Al Jazeera !)