Last Sunday was Earth Day.
Sadly, we remember our planet just for a day, though our Earth is the only liveable place we have.
Never mind the attempt by Elon Musk to establish a human colony on Mars. A piece of advice to decision makers: think before sending in the excavators.
True, we have slightly more than 50 per cent forest cover, but we should not allow complacency to set in. Or worse still, greed.
Cameron Highlands in Pahang and Lojing Highlands in Kelantan are good examples of what happens when we turn a blind eye to the lethal mixture of our complacency and greed.
Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson wrote in 2016 that we need to set aside half the Earth to save ourselves. We are blessed that we have just slightly more than that. Let’s keep it that way.
But how do we become a developed nation and yet keep our forest and hills? Balance. One word.
The rest is attitude and action. The same balance that makes Taman Tugu and Bukit Nanas possible.
And there is a practical example of a “how to” right here in Malaysia, built by native talent, with Chinese characteristics: the Rawang Bypass. Here, art and science come together to save biodiversity.
The 2.7-km elevated bridge which forms part of the 9-km long Rawang Bypass is where the magic happens. Sited metres above the ground at places, the bypass is almost level with the tree tops of the forest reserve.
Opened on Nov 29, 2017, the bypass has an elevation of 58.2 metres, making it the tallest in the country.
It is a living exhibition of how the balance between people and place is struck.
The bypass gets commuters from Rawang to Kuala Lumpur in just 30 minutes, cutting travel time by 90 minutes. And above all, the elevated bridge of the Rawang Bypass saves the pristine ecosystem of Taman Warisan Selangor where some unique tree species grow.
One such is Merawan Kanching or Giam Kanching (Hopea Subalata), found only in Malaysia. And that too only in Taman Warisan Selangor, the state’s heritage park. Just 400 of them are left in the world. This respect for biodiversity may have taken all 12 years and cost RM628 million to finish, but it stands as an example to emulate.
Perhaps we could use the same thinking — designing to minimise deforestation — in getting people to Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands. And elsewhere, too, where hills and forests have to be navigated.
Managing director Wan Anuar Wan Endut of Arup Jururunding Sdn Bhd, the bridge, infrastructure and geotechnical engineering firm behind Rawang Bypass, says a similar design will work elsewhere. And one construction method makes this possible: born-in-China Moveable Scaffolding System (MSS).
MSS requires only a narrow corridor for construction. Result: no extensive earthworks and deforestation.
It would be good if the MSS could be used to build homes without disturbing the hill slopes. But it is not slope-friendly. If it were, there will be no ghosts in Highland Towers.