Extreme tempetatures and waning will to green our spaces

We are already creeping up beyond 35 degrees Celsius. The nights are not spared either. Our crops and livestock too will be victims undoubtedly.

What has been and is our national agenda knowing full well these past years that climate change will not spare Malaysia either?

At the rate we are seizing every available space in cities and townships to raise mortar and glass to cash in on ‘returns on investments’ (ROI) it is no surprise if our landscape rape in the name of progress and more money will bleed the nation, eventually.

Despite many netizens and environmentalists sharing ideas and pleading these past decades to green our environ, today we are already buckling under a as little as three days of temperatures exceeding 37 degrees Celsius.

What is so difficult to green our cities and townships?

Instead the repeated storyline each time we spot trees being cut down indiscriminately is “danger to people and property”.

There are nunerous vegetation types that can cool down our streets, dwellings and business premises without becoming a threat. Why are these not being considered with convincing determination to make our environs more liveable?

Even tamans spread all over the country are becoming bake houses given the rising temperatures and the absence of tree lined frontages and kerbsides.

To make things worse we are turning to air conditioned dwellings – now considered a necessity even for low cost houses.

Our flood mitigation stories are a pain in the back, having failed despite decades of spending of public funds.

And as the region is fast experiencing the onslaught of a climate change, Malaysia is yet again set to steal the crown for being the most badly managed environment.

Why can our leaders not see the urgency to pass a bill that will compel all business and home owners to green their spaces according set guidelines?

Why are we pushing this urgent agenda of rising temperatures that have been steadily creeping in these past decades under the carpet?

We talk of patriotism but where are our policy wills to green our spaces?

Perhaps our culture of putting the blame on God has rooted far too deep and wide?