Love Will Save This Place - Review for This Changes Everything

Climate change is a boring topic when you live within a community that shows less enthusiasm towards environmental issues as politics are always in the limelight these days. Yeah we know about green house gases, increasing temperature, melting glaciers, rising sea level, extreme weather, but what else? Malaysia is a tropical country where the weather is almost always hot or hotter, we complain about the heat every day, and agree with each other that 'it must be the climate change', and then we switch on the air-conditioner in the house, escaping the hellish weather out there, forgetting about climate change as we can't do anything about it. I roll my eyes all the time when lecturers start talking about climate change, thinking 'I know I know, I am aware of every single mechanism of climate change, I have watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and studied about it for a few semesters. This bad attitude (I admit that it is a really bad attitude) continued until I read this book - This Changes Everything - written by Naomi Klein.

The History of Vaping - Tracing Back to 1963

(photo taken from abc News website)

A few months ago, if I smell a whiff of sweet fruity scent, I would have thought that someone sitting nearby must be eating candy. But today, things are a whole lot different. There is no way to run no way to hide because they are EVERYWHERE including indoor dining area. Well, relax, I was just exaggerating to get the mood started. This sweet smelling vapor is not toxic gas, but something people call 'vape', or electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), which has recently swept through Malaysia especially among young people. I have heard of the term 'e-cigarette' long time ago but had not actually seen one, until this year when I saw some guys puffing away at the shopping centre.

Working with a vape company, Herbert A. Gilbert has launched 1963®.

(photo taken from Ashtray Blog) 

1963: Smokeless Non-tobacco Cigarette

In school, we were taught that e-cigarette is used to 'cure' nicotine addiction, so that smokers can stop smoking and harming their health. And I thought that was the original intention of this invention too until I read an interview with the inventor of the e-cigarette, Herbert A Gilbert. Herbert thought that the smoke produced as a result of combustion was not something pleasant to be taken into our lungs, so he invented the other version of cigarette that did not require burning, just flavoured water vapour powered by battery as heat source. The first smokeless non-tobacco cigarette patent was filed as early as in 1963 but no manufacturer was willing to produce this product because at that time tobacco cigarette was selling like hot cakes and those companies want to protect their market, there was no need for an alternative that might give consumers an implication that tobacco cigarette is not healthy.

Tomorrowland - Review

Spoiler Alert! 

If you want to save time, just watch the last 30 minutes of the movie. =P

(image taken from Moviexplorers website)

Tomorrowland in this 30-minute movie is a place in a hidden dimension where scientists and geniuses gather to build a high-tech city (this was the initial reason of me being dragged to the cinema by my dear lol) for a better world. The origin of Tomorrowland is unclear to me but what I know it is being managed by some automated...err...robots with high intelligence like human, or I should say, more than that. The movie begins with two flashbacks about how Frank, a clever boy got into the Tomorrowland with the help of Athena, a robot girl who never ages (yeah of course) and how Casey got to know about the Tomorrowland and was asked to save that city from destruction.

Getting Back to the Main Purpose of Going Environmental

The title of today's post might sound weird, but it is what all of us should do because we often tend to accidentally miss out the point of going green when we are pushing for a sustainable cause. As an environmentalist (no matter you are studying or working in any field), we want the best for the environment and we also hope that people around us do the same as well. Besides showering our peers with 'environmental-friendly behaviour', we might involve ourselves as the organisers or volunteers for some green events and projects. We want to conserve water by avoiding wastage, we want to encourage the reduction of plastic bag usage, we want to stop the invasion of polystyrene containers to our garbage dump. It seems that the list is endless and we are working hard to attract people's attention on these issues. The problem is, do we miss the target?

(photo taken during my first fieldwork in UPM)
Just a pile of leaves to capture your attention for awhile, hahaha...

It Turned Out to Be Something I Want [guest post]

For Nature and animal lovers, there might be a problem when choosing they want because there are many courses which are animal or plant related such as Veterinary (which often come first into mind), Animal Science, Zoology, Botany, Forestry etc. And usually, Environmental Science will not pop into our mind because it does not sound as related as much as other courses. Soil, water and air that we are using are directly related to the Nature. So do the animals and plants which often succumb to human development. Quality of the environment should be monitored so that our life will be balanced with life of flora and fauna which might live just adjacent to us or even within us.

This is a guest post from a second year student of Bachelor of Environmental Science from University Malaysia Sabah (UMS). There are not much public universities (and also private ones) that offer this easily-overlooked course. As far as I know, besides UMS, only University Malaya (UM), University Putra Malaysia (UPM), University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), University of Nottingham and University of Monash offer this course (I believe that there are more). In this course, one of the thing we do (no matter which university we are studying in) is to go into Nature.    

This Course Was Not One of My Choices [guest post]

There is a chance where students received offer for a course which is not in their priority list when applying for public universities due to competition among so many pre-university graduates. Some of them might get courses that are not that well-known such as material science, forestry, instrumental science and also environmental science. Basically students who did not put these courses as one of their choices will react in either of these ways:

1) Oh my goodness what is this??? Why do I get this course??? *overcast sky*

2) Ok... Well, since I don't know what I want to study I will just go for it. *positive aura*

It is not surprising to see juniors asking around on Facebook about this course, looking for guidance from seniors. And probably there are some who do not ask at all because they are shy or they just lose hope and want to change the course as soon as possible. I can't help to have empathy towards juniors as there are not much information regarding this course in Malaysia, at least, not yet. They could be lost and worried about what is coming ahead and how do their futures look like. There are less than two weeks left until the orientation week of universities. While doing the final preparation, mental preparation is also important so that you will not get stressed out even before you enter the university. Having a light and excited mood throughout the orientation week is always a good start, you know.

One of my coursemates has written a short article of her experience when she enrolled in this course and she did not know much about this course either. Hope that it can give you some inspirations and motivations to keep going. Cheers!

Malaysian Environmental Sustainability Youth Movement (MESYM)

Every time when people first heard about MESYM (pronounced as 'me-sym'), they will be like, 'what is that?' or 'huh?', including almost all of my friends, haha. Yeah, MESYM or Malaysian Environmental Sustainability Youth Movement is a grassroot green non-governmental organisation originally founded in 2011 by Japheth Lim as a personal project. Now MESYM is being developed and run by Leo and Jun-E as leaders with a bunch of dedicated volunteers of different backgrounds. Besides, we are also on our way to establish this organisation officially!

Let us get into the main topic: What is MESYM about?

MESYM is basically a medium which gathers all the information on various environmental movements run by many green organisations in Malaysia so that the information is easily accessible by everyone just by clicking the link to this website. It is all about the sharing of information and to make green movements more reachable. The involvement in green events or movements becomes easier because the details we need to know (what, where, when, how) are at our finger tip. Everyone can be environmentalist and we need to expand our view in order to get updated on what's happening now regarding environmentalism and sustainability in our country. We encourage networking and collaboration on MESYM no matter it's among individuals or organisations to build stronger environmental force to fight for a better future.

This is how it works:

The first element on the menu bar from the left is Profiles. Creating a profile means creating an account on MESYM so that you can post or comment on articles on MESYM (you do not need a profile to browse through the articles). Under the profile section, it is divided into the individual section and organisation section. Individual section is for normal people like you and me who registered as our own identity while organisation section is for various green organisations which have been playing a part in environmentalism and sustainability.

The second element is Events. It shows the upcoming green events that will be going on soon with important details such as the date, time and location and also the organiser. If you are interested in that particular event, you can click on it to see the description about the event and how you are going to participate in it. To participate, all you need to do is to click on a green button stated 'volunteer' on the right hand side of the page to send an email to the organiser. There is an event calender too which gives us an overview about events that will be going on in the whole month.

The third element is Projects. A project is an ongoing environmental effort which is run either by an organisation or individuals (yes you can always create your own personal environmental projects such as beach cleaning for example, and invite others to join on MESYM!), unlike event which is only held for one or a few days. Each project works on respective causes and if you see the word 'volunteer' on the top right corner of the poster, you can join in the effort as a volunteer to contribute as well!

The fourth element is Stories. This section is specifically arranged for volunteers to share their experiences during their volunteering work to give people a picture how does volunteering look like. Reviews written by past or current volunteers posted in this section can be a motivation and inspiration to many many people out there who need a little more push in determination to get started in green volunteerism.

The fifth element is Announcements. Announcement provides a channel for green organisations to make announcements to call for internships, exhibitors, petitions, proposals and so on. It is neither event nor project but other forms of support towards green movements.

The sixth element is Discussions. This is the place where people discuss about environmental related issues such as pollutions, policies, green technologies, renewable energy etc. People are encouraged to share environmental knowledge here to equip ourselves to face environmental challenges. Discussion is important to gain new information or to clear any misunderstanding towards the concept of sustainability.

The seventh element is Featured. This is the section where MESYM interviews people who have made contributions towards the environmental field. It is really an eye-opener as we can see what others have done and sacrificed to save the environment. What they have been doing inspire others to care more for the environment.

The eighth element is Resources. Resources is a collection of videos or documents with precious environmental information in them. If you come across something you find would be useful and informative to others, please share it here! It can be helpful!

For all the elements above, there is a filter for each element. In case you couldn't find the topic you want, you can just use the filter and it is really convenient. Map is also provided for most of the elements to mark the location of each happening or individuals. Location does matter when it comes to direct involvement in green movement.

Last but not least, the About. You can see everything about MESYM, from the story of how MESYM grows since three years ago to ways to work with us. You will know who are the people behind this MESYM team and if you are interested to join us, contact us via email! We also call for sponsorship for this organisation because we do not earn profits in things we are doing. Sponsor us if you support our project!

So what can you do?

1. Log on to http://www.mesym.com.
2. Get started by creating a profile.
3. Join in discussions or comment on articles you find interesting.
4. Look for a suitable volunteering activity and just do it!
5. AND if you are an organiser of green event, share it there!
6. ALSO if you are someone related in the environmental field, share you knowledge!

There are a lot more you can do to be part of the environmental efforts. SHARE this awesome website to your friends! The more the merrier! 

P/S: In 2013, I found MESYM on internet while looking for volunteering opportunity where I can really get started. So I became a volunteer and started sharing my blog posts on MESYM regarding environmental events or things we learnt as an environmental student. I am really obsessed in writing sometimes, haha. I became really active starting year 2014 in it and now I am one of the outreaches for MESYM (together with Mathi) trying to get more institutions and organisations and also individuals to join us!

Introduction to My New Blog!!! (Archives for Older Posts from the Other Blog)

Hey guys! As stated in the title of this blog, this blog is going to focus on life of an environmental student and also environmental-related stuffs as promised in my the other blog post that I will start a new blog to separate my personal life from this topic, hopefully that this blog will be informative and more serious on the articles posted (and to prevent confusion about the main point of my blog). But of course my very first blog is still alive and kicking, haha!

The existence of this blog mainly is to give people a picture of who we are and what we do (or study) as an environmental student besides raising environmental awareness among people who come across this blog. There are lots of environmental issues public do not know or aware (except those who are working or studying in the related fields) such as e-waste, groundwater contamination etc. and it is our responsibility as environmental students to make the knowledge we gained open to everyone else.

These are the links of the environmental-related posts that I wrote before (they might be overlapped):

• Nature
• Tasik Chini Fieldwork 2014
• Green
• Confession of An Environmental Student (yes this is the inspiration for this blog!)

I will keep this intro short and sweet. Stay tune for more post updates! Cheers!