SAM deserves our support

IT is disturbing to see Registrar of Societies (ROS) Datuk Mohd Alias Kalil’s transparent attempt at intimidating an NGO who even the ROS admits has done nothing wrong in its 30 years of existence (“ROS: SAM will be deregistered if it threatens nation’s interests”, Dec 28).

This looks as if the ROS is actually soliciting complaints that will enable it to act against Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), an organisation they perceive as troublesome but which is in fact acting legally in defence of the environment most Malaysians want to protect and foreign visitors pay big bucks to come and see.

Far from being pilloried by the Government, SAM should be congratulated for its impeccable operating procedures which have kept it on the right side of the law for 30 years, despite having brought to public attention many unpalatable truths about the ruthless destruction of the Malaysian environment.

If you care about the rainforests, indigenous people, and wildlife, then show your support for SAM. You need SAM as much as it needs you.Together you will be stronger and better able to save what is left of the environment for your children and future generations. SAM is protecting the nation’s interests.

Sean Whyte,
Nature Alert, www.naturealert.org,
England.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/1/focus/5398394&sec=focus

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.