Concerned about expensive vegetables? Why not do something about it… Blog reader Anthony Louis comments from afar: Hello Malaysians, I live in Germany. You guys will be surprised how many people grow their own veges in their homes and then share them with their neighbours.
On 4 December 2009, Sime Darby Bhd, through its plantation arm, Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd, bought the entire issued and paid-up capital (50,000 shares of RM1 each) of an obscure new company, Nature Ambience Sdn Bhd, for RM16.8 million. What makes Nature Ambience, which was incorporated only a year ago (on 12 December 2008), so special? Although it will become an oil palm plantation firm, a company search reveals its nature of business to be “general trading”. On 2 October 2009, the Ministry of Land Development, Sarawak granted Nature Ambience approval to be the investor/developer for 26,211ha of Native Customary Rights land in Kapit and Julau, Sarawak. This was reportedly in line with the Sarawak state government’s “new concept of development on NCR land”. The Ministry is headed by James Masing, who is also the state assembly member for Balleh, one of the constituencies in Kapit. With its purchase [Read more]
Friend of mine bought a tomato for RM1.20 at the Tanjung Bunga market. Now you would think a RM1.20 tomato would have to be pretty special. No, this was just a little tomato, not even big and juicy. Unlike ordinary tomatoes that would rot in a few days if left in the open, this one could keep for a while. Makes you wonder. If a tomato could cost RM1.20, imagine the prices of other fruit and vegetables. The question is, how are the lower-income group coping? As food prices soar, as real wages remain stagnant and as overtime pay is slashed, many among the working class are struggling to put food on the table for their families – while some of our leaders squander our nation’s resources and their spouses go on shopping sprees abroad.
After attending a conference on climate change and the food crisis in Penang, I was supposed to write an article and that left me wondering how I should write the introduction. And then it struck me that even as the conference was taking place, the climate was wreaking havoc in the region. Among those worst affected are the farmers, who rely on disctinctive seasons for an optimal harvest. How are they coping? PENANG, Malaysia, Oct 9 (IPS/IFEJ) – When organisers of an international conference on climate change and the food crisis first scheduled the event here for late September, little did they realise the event would be sandwiched by two typhoons buffeting the region. Ironically, the first typhoon, ‘Ketsana’, delayed the arrival of conference delegates from the Philippines.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu made some claims about the Penan while lashing out at NGOs. He said the NGOs were taking advantage of the plight of the less than three per cent of the Penan population who were still nomadic. This excerpt from the Borneo Post: “They (negative NGOs) are living off the misery of the few, and manufactured lies. This is what we must fight. “I have known the Penan community for more than 40 years. They are striving for advancement. Only less than three per cent are still nomadic. “And it is this three per cent that the negative NGOs speak up for. Is this a fair representation when we have another 97 per cent of Penans who have settled down?” he asked. He said most of the Penans were successful people after they had followed government programmes to get them out of poverty. He said [Read more]