Category - Issue 170: May 2020

Seeing extraordinary in the very ordinary

Dear friend, You may have realised that when you stop to really notice and study something closely, you find that it can be truly quite beautiful and fascinating. Next to a sunlit window, dust particles floating in a sunbeam look like a flurry of golden snowflakes. Miniscule pieces of broken glass sparkling on the windowsill become a scattering of brilliant diamonds. Outside, the front and backlights of cars parked along the road seem to be making funny faces at each other. Wherever you are right now, take a moment to be still so that you can look at the simple and familiar things around you. Do you notice anything about them that was previously hidden from you because they had seemed so ordinary?

Linda Yew

Activity

Two adventurous Dutch journalists have been travelling the world exploring great port cities. ZACHARY JOHN introduces them.

Dutch journalists Aafke Steenhuis and Jan Joost Teunissen have started writing a book on port cities. To gather information and images for their book, they travelled to at least 22 ports in five continents.

The couple have been married for 51 years. Ms Steenhuis, 74, was born in Groningen, a Dutch port city. She has always loved the sea and has always lived close to it. Today, Ms Steenhuis and Mr Teunissen, 72, live in a house on a dyke along Amsterdam’s waterfront. 

In 1973, the couple worked on their first book together. It was about the South American country of Chile, where rich people controlled most of the land, making it hard for poor farmers to survive. The couple were living in Chile at the time. As their careers progressed, Ms Steenhuis focused more on literature and Mr Teunissen on economics. They wrote many books and articles in their separate fields.

In 2013, the couple decided to write another book together. It is titled The Big Rough Sea — World Ports and Globalisation. Their latest project began in Chile, where their careers began 40 years earlier. Other ports they have visited include Los Angeles, New York, London, Barcelona, Piraeus, Capetown, Hong Kong, and of course Singapore.

As part of their research, Mr Teunissen and Ms Steenhuis have taken pictures, made sketches, and met many people. 

When we think of international travel, we usually picture aeroplanes. However, 90 percent of the world’s cargo is still transported on ships. This makes port cities extremely important.

By studying port cities, Mr Teunissen and Ms Steenhuis believe they will discover how globalisation affects the world. Globalisation has many benefits. Many of the good things we enjoy, from our food to our toys, come through our port. But, it also creates problems, such as pollution.

Mr Teunissen and Ms Steenhuis hope to find out how globalisation can be less of a burden on the environment and people.

Read about Shanghai in the first part of our Port Cities series, in the print edition of our May issue.

VOCAB BUILDER

dyke (say “daik”; noun) = thick wall to prevent the sea from coming in.

Port Cities Crossword

Type your answers into the boxes. If your word turns green, it means you got it right. If it turns red, you need to try again: you can type over the previous word you entered.

Can’t see all the clues? Just point at the Across or Down list and scroll down to read the rest of the clues.

SUMI THOMAS explains why these energy-saving pumps are a hit with farmers around the world.

Without water, plants wither and die. Can you imagine how hard it is for farmers who cannot get enough water for their crops? In some places, water scarcity and high fuel prices were driving many farmers to poverty, causing years of suffering. Without fuel, they could not irrigate crops with the traditional pumps they had.

“At first, we sold off some of our animals to buy water, but the price just kept getting higher, leaving us with less money for food and medicine. Eventually, we could no longer afford, forcing the owner to cut off our water supply,” explains Rashed Abdullah, a 37-year-old farmer in Yemen.

Now, farmers in Yemen and in many other parts of the world are turning to solar energy to help water their crops. Solar pumps cost less and last longer than their old fuel pumps. Mr Abdullah is one such farmer who has benefitted from using the new technology. Solar pumps were introduced to farmers in his country by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Association (FAO).

Sharing one well

One day, Mr Abdullah was watching over his sheep grazing in a field when he noticed some animals gathered around a patch of green grass. He called for help to excavate the area. He described what they found as “an oasis in the desert”.

FAO and EU helped to develop the newly-found water source into a well. They built a network of water pipes to 40 nearby farms and installed 42 solar water pumps. The farmers were trained to improve their farming practices, and to use and maintain the pumps and the well.

These new pumps use solar energy instead of fossil fuel to water the crops. Energy from the sun is clean and abundantly available in countries like Yemen. Maintenance efforts and costs are also reduced, as solar pumps have fewer moving parts than fuel pumps. The cost of irrigation is thus reduced. In some countries, the government offers subsidies for these solar pumps.

Solar water pumps have improved the lives of farming communities around world. Mr Abdullah is happy to be able to feed his large family again.

“Thanks to the project, we have now multiplied the size of my garden four-fold. In a good month, my eldest son helps me to sell our surplus vegetables at the market, and we make up to US$500 (about S$700) in profits. In the end, we still have plenty left over for household consumption and my children can enjoy their favourite meal,” he says happily.

How solar panels work

The solar panels used in water pumping systems look very much like those we see on tops of houses and buildings here. A solar panel comprises many small units called photovoltaic cells. The solar energy absorbed by these cells causes electrons to move, creating an electric current. The electric current makes the motor pump work, pumping out water from a water source and pushing it through pipes to the crops.

Irrigation through the ages

Underground canals

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Drips

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Sprinklers

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Dams

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VOCAB BUILDER

irrigate (say “i-ri-gayt”; verb) = supply water to crops.

excavate (say “ex-ka-vay’t”; verb) = dig a big hole.

surplus (say “ser-ples”; noun) = excess supply.

aquifer (say “ek-kwi-fer”; noun) = a body of porous rock that contains groundwater.

CHEW WEI SHAN profiles a dancer who lost her legs, but went on to dance again.

“Dance is for everyone,” declares amputee dancer Kat Hawkins. But, she did not always feel this way.

While she had other talents and passions as a child, dance was Kat’s first love. She began dancing and performing from a very young age. Through her childhood and her teens, she lived and breathed dance.

“Dance was like a language that my body had learned over a lifetime,” she shares in her story for the BBC. “Time stood still as I leapt and pirouetted. I held the audience’s emotions in my grasp.”

However, when Ms Hawkins was just 19 years old, her life was thrown cruelly off course. One morning, in her first year of university, she stumbled out of bed delirious. She could barely walk or speak. Thankfully, she unlocked her bedroom door just in time to collapse in front of her flatmates outside, who immediately called the ambulance.

That day, Ms Hawkins and her family learnt that she had meningitis B, a life-threatening illness. Her whole body was being attacked by deadly bacteria. Doctors did not expect her to survive the night.

Miraculously, Ms Hawkins fought through and lived till the next morning. Because of how severe the infection was, there had been no blood flow in her legs for too long.

“My immune system went into overdrive,” she explained. “Blood rushed away from my limbs to my internal organs to save them.”

A different life

Then, her world shattered. Her doctors returned with grave news — both her legs would have to be amputated at the knee. Upon hearing this, she could not help but scream out loud.

“How could I look at myself in the mirror? Would anybody find me attractive again? How would I navigate the world?” Her mind filled with despair. “I’m not going to be able to walk, let alone dance.”

The harrowing operation at the hospital may have been 13 years ago, but she remembers vividly how it first felt to lose her legs.

“It felt as if cats were nibbling my toes — a tingling feeling, as though my legs were still alive,” she described. Yet, when she looked down at her body, she could see that her legs — the same legs that had carried her through years of intensive rehearsals, delicate choreography, and across multiple stages — were forever gone.

In the months and years that followed, Ms Hawkins learnt how to use a wheelchair, crutches, and eventually, two prosthetic legs. Like a child, she had to learn how to walk all over again, this time on plastic and metal structures.

The journey was not easy. The process was arduous and challenging, often causing swelling and sharp pains in her stumps. Mentally and emotionally, it was even more taxing.

“After the amputation, I was desperate to try and reclaim my life,” Ms Hawkins wrote in her feature for Stylist magazine. “I didn’t want to feel disabled, I didn’t want to be disabled. I would hide my legs, and I was too embarrassed to tell people I was an amputee. I would see myself in the mirror and feel sick at the sight of my own body.”

At that point, she thought that dance could no longer be a part of her life. She dedicated her time to honing other skills by gaining experience in journalism, film, and other forms of art making. But, Ms Hawkins’ love for dance simply could not be quelled.

Back to dancing

Seven years later, Ms Hawkins found herself back on the dance floor. She discovered Candoco, an inclusive dance company made up of both able and disabled dancers. In that environment, it dawned on her that “all bodies were equal”. There were other disabled performers around her, and she felt safe for the first time in many years.

Before, she did not even know how to think about dancing as an amputee because she had never seen any dancers that looked like her. But now, around her were others who “knew what it was like to be stared at, to feel like they didn’t fit in,” she wrote for the BBC.

She stopped thinking of her prosthetic legs as limitations. Instead, she began to see them as new instruments to expand her physical vocabulary. Now, she had different and unique tools to express emotion and intention with her body.

Ms Hawkins had a life-changing epiphany. Candoco changed everything she had ever thought about dance and who it was for. Indeed, “dance is for everyone,” she realised. “It’s only the way it is traditionally taught that makes us think it’s not.”

Today, Ms Hawkins continues to dance, write, make films, and inspire people around her.

“All bodies are worthy of respect,” she reminds us in her piece for Marie Claire magazine. “No matter what they look like or how they operate.”

Crossword puzzle

Try our crossword puzzle and improve your vocabulary. (But, don’t miss the rest of this story!)

Advanced technologies

Affordable prosthetics

Prosthetic limbs are very expensive. One prosthetic leg typically costs thousands of dollars. How do people in poor countries manage?

“In many developing countries, the best option for amputees is a bamboo staff to walk with,” says Krista Donaldson, the chairperson of D-Rev, a non-profit group that designs products for the poor. To help them, D-Rev launched a prosthetic leg in 2013 that cost just US$80 (S$110).

Thankfully, other groups around the world are also working hard to craft and manufacture more affordable devices. Egypt’s Coptic Evangelical Organisation for Social Services is one of them, and they have received generous donations from the Japanese government. There is also LIMBS International, which operates in nine countries to build and deliver prosthetics to people in poverty.

In more recent years, remarkable individuals have stepped up to help, too. Guillermo Martinez, a 24-year-old engineer from Madrid, has been using 3D printing technology to produce prosthetic limbs more cheaply, making it more accessible to many more people. Truly, human beings around the world never cease to inspire in their endless quest to invent and innovate, to make beautiful art, and most of all, to help one another.

VOCAB BUILDER

pirouetted (say “pi-re-wet-ted”; verb) = whirled around on only one foot.

delirious (say “dili-ri-es”; adjective) = unable to think clearly because of fever.

prosthetic (say “pros-the-tik”; adjective) = relating to an artificial body part.

arduous (say “a-du-es”; adjective) = very difficult and tiring.

quelled (say “kwel’d”; verb) = stopped.

epiphany (say “i-pi-fe-nee”; noun) = a moment of great realisation.

NURUDIN SADALI finds out why some artists throughout history stayed anonymous.

People do all sorts of things to get famous. Some writers and musicians struggle for years in the hope of becoming well known someday. Others might even film themselves doing silly stunts hoping that the videos will go viral. On the other hand, there are some artists who choose to remain anonymous. Even when their works get famous, they would much rather remain unknown.

One such artist is the mystery book sculptor of Scotland. Not much is known about her except that she is “a woman, who had been a girl whose life would have been less rich had she been unable to wander freely into libraries, art galleries, and museums”.

She gained international attention when she left behind a series of intricately carved books all around Scotland between 2011 and 2013. She would carve sculptures depicting scenes from various stories, on nothing but old worn out books. Along with these sculptures, she would also include a note which usually ended with the phrase, “because reading matters”. When asked by the BBC why she would rather remain anonymous, she simply replied, “Why would you focus on one ordinary individual? Libraries, galleries, museums etc are a better focus and a lot less ordinary.”

Choosing to be unknown

This practice of remaining anonymous is not limited to secretive street artists (see our other story on Banksy) or book sculptors. Sometimes, there are artists who enjoy performing to an audience, but they would much rather avoid the limelight. Musicians Daft Punk are one such example. The French duo have been making and performing electronic music for almost 30 years.

Although they are very famous and have performed all over the world, most of their fans don’t even know what they look like. This is because the duo wear robot helmets when they perform. There are hardly any photos of them without their helmets on. In an interview with Rolling Stone, they joked that they “are not models — it would not be enjoyable for humanity to see our features”. They also added how being anonymous meant that they could do everyday things without “people constantly coming up” to them.

Sometimes, artists release art anonymously because they want to try something new. Take the British virtual band, Gorillaz. In this band, all the members are animations with their own names and personalities. Even when they play live, the animations will be the ones performing on a screen, and sometimes even as holograms!

It was later revealed that Gorillaz was actually created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, both of whom were famous artists. Albarn was the frontman of Blur, one of the most popular bands of his time. Hewlett, on the other hand, is a famous comic artist, who some speculate is Banksy.

Forming Gorillaz allowed them to experiment and create something without being judged for it. It allowed Albarn to create music which was totally different from his previous band. Being anonymous also created a lot of excitement when the band first started — listeners wanted to know who was behind the band and were curious to see how these animations would perform live.

Why do artists remain anonymous?

Some artists chose to hide their identity because society was not ready to accept them. One such person was Mary Ann Evans, an English author from the 19^th century. When she first started out, Evans used the pen name George Eliot. At that time, people thought female writers were only good at writing lighthearted romance stories. It was believed that only men could write serious novels.

Evans knew that if she wanted her writing to be taken seriously, she had to use a male name. However, her anonymity was short lived.

Her novels were so well received that other people tried to claim credit for it. Evans had to reveal her identity and, together with her publisher, managed to convince the public of the truth. She then went on to become one of the leading writers of her time. She wrote several novels which are still widely read today. In fact, her novel Middlemarch has been described as being one of the greatest novels written in English.

While Evans’s name is still remembered today, some artists’ names have been forgotten even though their art still remains. Historians are able to establish if an artwork is made by the same person by studying it closely. Art historians refer to these artists as using “notnames”.

These are invented names used to give an identity to artists whose names have been lost. One famous example is the Berlin Painter, a Greek vase-painter who lived more than 2,000 years ago. Art historians marvel at how his vases have given “so many insights into the life of ancient Greeks”. Another example is the The Essankro Master, whose sculptures were found in the Ivory Coast. These artists may have been forgotten, but their art offers us valuable windows into the times they lived through.

VOCAB BUILDER

anonymous (say “e-naw-ni-mus”; adjective) = not known by his or her real name.

limelight (say “laim lait”; noun) = the focus of public attention.

experiment (say “eks-pe-ri-ment”; verb) = to try a new way of doing something.

He is the world’s most famous unknown artist. He is called Banksy, but we do not know his real name. NURUDIN SADALI tries to find out more about him.

In a story that recently made headlines, Banksy published a series of photographs on Instagram with the caption “My wife hates it when I work from home”. Look at the photos above and you will understand why his wife complains. Banksy had decorated their toilet with a bunch of rats wreaking havoc.

Banksy, a graffiti artist, is probably the most famous living painter today. Even if you have not heard of him, it is very likely that you would have seen his work. Because he is so creative and so famous, Banksy’s works are very expensive. It is not uncommon for people to pay more than a million dollars for Banksy’s work!

• Three of Banksy’s works.

However, Banksy does not do graffiti to make money. In fact, he has made it clear on many occasions that he does not like his work being sold for so much money. This can be seen in a prank that he pulled in 2018. He built a shredder into the frame of one of his paintings which was being sold at an auction. As soon as the work had been declared sold, the painting started shredding itself in front of all the horrified art collectors. This was captured on social media and Banksy himself posted it with the caption “Going, going, gone…”.

Art for everyone

Banksy has always firmly said that art should be for everyone, and not just for those who can afford it. This is why he paints his graffiti on walls all around the world. Although he started out painting walls in his hometown of Bristol, his works have appeared in places as far as Palestine, New York, and Melbourne.

Banksy uses his art to meaningfully comment on social and political issues. This is why communities treasure his work even though painting graffiti is illegal in many countries. Steve Lazarides, Banksy’s former manager, describes how Banksy’s work “was interesting — [while] so much art is boring”. He says, “The reason people liked it is because they could get it. He didn’t make people feel stupid. He resonated with people.”

In 2016, he surprised Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol by painting a mural on one of its walls. The school had named one of the houses after him and to show his gratitude, Banksy secretly painted them a mural during a term break. He even left a note for the students, reminding them that it is “always easier to get forgiveness than permission”. Instead of being upset, Geoff Mason, the principal of the school, described Banksy’s work as “inspirational and aspirational” for the students.

In 2013, Banksy put on a disguise and set up a stall in New York’s Central Park. There, he sold his paintings for US$60 (S$85), but at the end of the day only sold seven. The following day, he posted about this experiment on social media. It is believed that the paintings that he was selling are worth more than US$35,000 each (S$50,000)!

Who is Banksy?  

Although Banksy has been active since the early 90s, his identity is still a mystery. Only a handful of people know who Banksy is. Many have tried to uncover his true identity. Nobody has succeeded thus far.  

Some researchers claim that Banksy is actually Bristol-born artist Robin Gunningham. A man resembling Gunningham was caught on video at the auction where Banksy’s painting shredded itself. Others claim that Banksy is actually Robert del Naja, a famous British musician, who is also from Bristol. This is because wherever in the world Del Naja’s band Massive Attack plays, a Banksy mural will soon be discovered.  

One journalist even claims that Banksy is not a person, but actually a group of people led by an unnamed woman. However, despite all these exciting theories, as well as the multiple reported sightings and photographs of Banksy, none of the evidence presented has ever been convincing enough.

How does Banksy hide his identity?

In an interview with Sky News, Steve Lazarides spoke about his experience working with Banksy for 11 years.

Mr Lazarides revealed how Banksy would paint in broad daylight when he first started out. All Banksy did to avoid being caught was put up some cones and put on a high visibility vest — the kind construction workers wear. Mr Lazarides said, “I have seen police officers, I’ve seen everybody, walk past if people are wearing a high vis jacket.”

Despite knowing Banksy’s real identity however, he has no interest in revealing it. He explained, “If I revealed his face, it’s like telling a five-year-old that Santa Claus isn’t real. Why would I do that? And I think, you know, the general public have constructed a folk hero, and I’m not going to take that away from them.”

VOCAB BUILDER

resonated (say “re-zo-nay-ted”; verb) = had a powerful effect.

inspirational (say “in-spi-ray-she-nel”; adjective) = giving hope or encouragement.

aspirational (say “as-pi-ray-she-nel”; adjective) = showing people that they can be better than they are now.

Sumatran rhinos live next door to us, in Indonesia. CHEW WEI SHAN finds out what is being done to conserve the species.

The Sumatran rhinoceros has just gone extinct in Malaysia. Their last rhino, Iman, died in November last year. Now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says there are less than 80 Sumatran rhinos left in the whole world. This makes them critically endangered.

Iman was a 25-year-old female Sumatran rhino. She had been suffering from painful tumours that were growing in her uterus. Because of the pain, her body went into shock, explained Datuk Christina Liew, minister of State Tourism, Culture and Environment. Iman’s organs could not receive enough blood flow to keep her alive despite the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary’s care. Iman’s death is a “tragic development for this species”, laments Jon Paul Rodriguez, chairperson of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission.

Smallest of rhinos

The Sumatran rhino can grow up to 1.5 meters tall, 4 meters long, and weigh over 900 kilograms. Even at that size, they are the smallest of the rhinoceros family. They are also the hairiest of the rhinos and have reddish-brown skin. They have two horns, but do not use them for fighting. Instead, their horns protect their noses as they travel through dense vegetation, and also help them to scrape mud and pull on plants for food.

These rhinos were once found all over Southeast Asia. They thrived in the mountain forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, and even the Himalayas. Today, there are only a few left in isolated pockets within Indonesia.

Poaching and habitat loss have caused the Sumatran rhinos’ numbers to fall more than 70 percent in the past 20 years. They are hunted for their horns, even though horns are made of the same material as our fingernails and hair — keratin. But, as rhino horns are believed to have healing properties, they are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Some cultures in the Middle East and North Africa also use rhino horns to make decorative handles for daggers.

Now, their biggest threat is isolation, warns the BBC. Their populations are too fragmented. This means that they must travel very far to find a mate to have babies. The more forested areas are segmented by roads and towns, the further separated the rhinos become. Worse, if female rhinos go too long without mating, they are likely to develop tumours that then make them unable to give birth.

Last hope

“The species’ last hope lies in Indonesia,” says Mr Rodriguez. “We are committed to continuing our work to support the government of Indonesia’s Emergency Action Plan to save this species.”

Indeed, organisations around the world are ramping up their efforts. In 2018, global organisations such as the National Geographic Society teamed up with the Indonesian government, forming an alliance to protect the Sumatran rhino.

The Sumatran rhino is now legally protected. Their habitats are guarded by Rhino Protection Units. These police the Indonesian forests and catch poachers. Elsewhere, other groups such as the Sumatran Rhino Rescue capture wild rhinos and bring them into sanctuaries. There, scientists help the rhinos to have babies safely before releasing them back into the wild.

These conservationists are working hard to give rhinos a chance at survival. We can also all do our part to raise awareness and support these efforts in our own little ways.

Rhino conservation in Africa

The white rhinoceros, also known as the square-lipped rhinoceros, is the biggest in the rhino family. It has a wide mouth and loves to socialise with other rhinos. There are two subspecies of white rhinoceros — the northern white rhino and the southern white rhino — and they are found in different regions in Africa.

Today, there are only two northern white rhinos left in the world. Sadly, both are female, so they will not be able to mate and give birth to any more baby rhinos. They live in Kenya, under the care of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Armed guards protect them day and night. Like the Sumatran rhino, they are nearly extinct because of poaching.

Thankfully, southern white rhinos are not yet endangered. They are classified as “near threatened” by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). About 20,000 of them still roam in protected areas across South Africa.

The African black rhinoceros is smaller than its white counterpart. You can tell them apart by looking at their lips — while white rhinos have square lips which allow them to graze on grass, black rhinos have pointed lips which help them feed on leaves from bushes and trees.

Wildlife crimes are the black rhino’s biggest threat. Because of European hunters, black rhinos had almost completely disappeared by the 1990s. But, thanks to conservation efforts across Africa, they made a tremendous comeback. Their numbers have doubled in the last 20 years, to about 5,500 now. The black rhino is still classified as critically endangered. This rhino species too needs our help to survive.

VOCAB BUILDER

alliance (say “e-lai-yens”; noun) = close partnership for a common cause.

fragmented (say “frag-men-ted”; adjective) = separated into several parts.

isolated (say “ai-se-lay-ted”; adjective) = remote, far away from others.

sanctuaries (say “sank-chue-riz”; noun) = places of refuge from danger.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim believes that if people combine different types of knowledge, we will have a better chance to protect our planet from climate change.

Most of us check the weather on our smartphones before we go out. Not Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim (below). In her TED Talk, she says, “My best app is my grandmother.”

“She can tell you not only today’s weather, but she can predict the next 12 months, if it’s going to be a good rain season or not. She can tell you just by observing her environment, by observing the wind direction, the cloud position, the bird migration, the size of fruits, the plant flowers. She can tell you by observing the behaviour of her own cattle. That’s how she knows better the weather and the ecosystem that she’s living in,” says Ms Ibrahim about her grandmother.

Ms Ibrahim is from Chad, a country in north-central Africa. She comes from a community of nomadic cattle herders, also known as pastoralists. They move from place to place to find water and pasture for their cattle. They can move up to a thousand kilometers a year, while living in harmony with their ecosystem.

“We understand each other. For us, nature is our supermarket, where we can collect our food, our water. It’s our pharmacy where we can collect our medicinal plants,” she says. “But, it’s our school, where we can learn better how to protect it and how it can give us back what we need.”

Impacted by climate change

Ms Ibrahim’s community has been impacted by climate change. Her community lives near Lake Chad, a large freshwater lake in Africa. When Ms Ibrahim’s mother was born, Lake Chad was about 25,000 square kilometers. When Ms Ibrahim was born 30 years ago, the lake had shrunk to 10,000 square kilometers. Now, it is just 1,200 square kilometers. Some 90 percent of the water has disappeared.

More than 40 million people live around Lake Chad and depend on it, including cattle herders, fishermen, and farmers.

“They do not depend on the end of the month’s salary. They depend on the rainfall. They depend on the crops that are growing or the pasture for their cattle. The shrinking resources, you have many communities that are fighting to get access. The first come is the first served. The second have to fight unto death,” says Ms Ibrahim.

Climate change is also impacting social life in Ms Ibrahim’s community. Men and women have different roles in her community. The men are supposed to feed their families and take care of their communities. When climate change makes it hard for the men to do that, they migrate to the big cities. If they find jobs there, they will send money back. If not, they will try to migrate to Europe. “Some of them die there, but none of them stop going,” says Ms Ibrahim.

While countries hosting migrants may face problems, Ms Ibrahim says that the women and the children left behind have even bigger problems. “They have to take care of the security, of the food, of the health of the entire family, children and old people,” she says. She says these women are her heroes, because “they are innovators, they are solution makers, they are changing the little of the resources into the big for the community”.

Traditional knowledge

Ms Ibrahim’s people use their traditional knowledge to survive the difficulties of climate change. It helps them to be resilient. Ms Ibrahim explains that, among the indigenous peoples from the Pacific, “the grandma and the grandpa, they know where to get food after the hurricane hits them”.

She wants to share the knowledge of the indigenous people with the rest of the world, to help people survive the impact of climate change. Ms Ibrahim points out that indigenous people around the world are saving 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. This is based on a World Bank report which shows that indigenous territories overlap with areas that hold 80 percent of Earth’s species.

Ms Ibrahim shares an amusing anecdote. One day, she invited some scientists to her community. She says that as they were sitting down to talk, the nomadic people suddenly started to pack their things. The scientists asked if they were moving.

“No, we are not moving. It’s going to rain,” Ms Ibrahim told them.

“Oh, there’s no cloud. How do you know it’s going to rain?” the scientists said.

Heavy rain poured down just as the locals finished packing their things.

“We are seeing the scientists running around, hiding under trees and protecting their stuff. We already packed ours,” recalls Ms Ibrahim.

Using all knowledge

After the rain stopped, the scientists were curious as to how the indigenous people knew it was going to rain.

“Well, the old woman observed the insects taking the eggs inside their homes. And, while the insect cannot talk or watch TV, they know how to predict to protect their generations, how to protect their food. So, for us it’s the sign that it’s going to rain in at maximum a couple of hours,” explained Ms Ibrahim.

“I think, if we put together all the knowledge systems that we have — science, technology, traditional knowledge — we can give the best of us to protect our peoples, to protect our planet, to restore the ecosystem that we are losing,” says Ms Ibrahim.

Ms Ibrahim feels that the traditional knowledge of indigenous people is important for all people. “Science knowledge was discovered 200 years ago, technology 100 years ago, but indigenous peoples’ knowledge, it’s thousands of years ago,” she points out.

Climate change will impact not just developing countries but developed countries as well. “We need the decision makers to change, scientists tell them, and we tell them, and we do have this knowledge,” she says. “We have 10 years to change it. Ten years is nothing, so we need to act all together and we need to act right now.”

– By NG SOCK LING.

VOCAB BUILDER

pasture (say “pas-cher”; noun) = grassland suitable for grazing by sheep or cattle.

shrinking (say “shring-king”; adjective) = becoming smaller.

innovators (say “in-no-vey-ters”; noun) = people who introduce new ideas or ways of doing things.

indigenous (say “in-di-je-nes”; adjective) = native, the original people of a place.

A boy who loves buses grabbed the chance to talk to a bus driver who was on his way to work. ZACHARY JOHN writes about the warm exchange.

Twelve-year-old Theodore Tan loves buses. When he boarded a Downtown Line train with his father, he did not realise the journey to Tampines would be a dream come true. Theodore sat down next to a man in an SMRT uniform. Theodore asked him, “Do you drive trains?” The man, Shandran Shederen Raman, 53, told him he was a bus driver. Mr Shandran was on his way to Tampines Bus Interchange to start work. Neither of them realised they were about to get famous.

Theodore, a student of Pathlight School, immediately had tons of questions for Mr Shandran. “What bus service do you usually drive? Is your bus new or old? How do you feel about the buses now compared to older ones?”

Mr Shandran answered all of the boy’s questions, even the more difficult ones about pollution standards. The pair had a lengthy discussion. Mr Shandran told Theodore about the differences between buses from long ago and buses today. He even showed Theodore pictures he had on his phone of the different buses he had driven during his career as a bus driver in Singapore and Malaysia.

Mr Shandran later told Channel News Asia that while some members of the public smiled or greeted him when they saw him in his SMRT uniform, they had never asked him what he thought or how he felt about his job. “It was so nice of him,” Mr Shandran said of Theodore.

Gone viral

Another passenger, who was on the way home, happened to be sitting within earshot of the pair’s discussion. The passenger, Kelvin Ang, took a picture of the newfound friends, deep in conversation. Mr Ang uploaded the picture to his Facebook page, writing that he was touched to see the interaction between Mr Shandran and Theodore. He praised Mr Shandran for taking the time to answer Theodore’s questions and was in awe of Theodore’s expansive knowledge on buses.

“He could mumble about technical specifications like Euro 5, Euro 6, and he knows what they mean!” Mr Ang wrote in his post. Euro 5 and Euro 6 refer to European Union regulations on how much pollution vehicles are allowed to produce.

Mr Ang’s post went viral on social media before Mr Shandran even got to work. When he reached his workplace, his colleagues teased him about his picture being online. Mr Ang concluded his post by calling Mr Shandran an “amazing human being”. Mr Ang also commended Pathlight School, as he was impressed by how Theodore conducted himself. Pathlight is a special school for children with autism who are able to function well academically.

Mr Shandran enjoyed reading the kind comments from netizens on Mr Ang’s post. “They really touched my heart,” he said. Many of the comments echoed a similar sentiment — that the post was a welcome burst of positivity amidst trying times. As a Malaysian working in Singapore, Mr Shandran was going through a difficult time himself. He had not seen his wife or children for the three weeks since Malaysia closed its land links with Singapore due to the coronavirus.

Theodore’s father, Ernest, told Channel News Asia that while children with special needs may seem socially awkward to some, “there is always a reason for the behaviour”. Mr Shandran, meanwhile, said he had no idea Theodore had special needs — instead, he was impressed by the boy’s expert knowledge on buses. Mr Shandran, who has been a bus driver for more than a decade, had a wealth of experience to share with Theodore. Mr Tan revealed that Theodore knows so much about buses because he enjoys reading up about them on the internet. Such is Theodore’s enthusiasm that sometimes, he memorises bus licence plate numbers for fun. Naturally, he was excited to have a chance to talk to a bus driver. In an email to Channel News Asia, Mr Tan said, “Thank you, Mr Shandran, for being so kind and patient with my son and for engaging him in his interest.”

Bus facts and figures

There are 22 bus models on Singapore roads today. Below are the three newest buses and the three oldest buses still operating today.

VOCAB BUILDER

expansive (say “eks-pan-siv”; adjective) = wide-ranging, broad.

commended (say “ko-men-ded”; verb) = praised.

trying (say “trai-ying”; adjective) = difficult.

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected supply chains. This means some items are taking longer to be produced and delivered to customers. ANNABELLE LIANG explains.  

Many schools use hula hoops during physical education lessons.  A hula hoop can be swung around the waist, or used as an obstacle for games.

It is one of the simplest objects you can imagine. But, a lot of work goes into making it, according to Jeremy Ko.

Mr Ko is the co-founder of Javy Sports, which sells hula hoops and other sporting equipment in Singapore. The hula hoops are of three sizes. They come in four colours — red, blue, yellow, and green. Customers pay between $4 and $5 for each hula hoop, depending on its size.

Although the hula hoop is such a simple thing, its “supply chain” is quite complicated. A supply chain is made up of all the steps it takes to get something made and then delivered to the user. It involves raw materials, factories, shops, vehicles, and many different jobs.

You will hear adults talking about supply chains more than usual these days. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic affects many supply chains. Sometimes, the results are quite unexpected, like how supermarkets suddenly run out of toilet paper!

Hula hoops made in India

To understand supply chains better, we asked Mr Ko to explain how hula hoops reach schools in Singapore.

To keep costs low, hula hoops sold in Singapore are made overseas, he said. In this instance, they are made in India.  “When it comes to Singapore, all we do is unload the shipment, put it in a warehouse, and send it to customers,” Mr Ko said.  “We want to reduce the work done in Singapore, mainly because the monthly wage in India is US$200 (S$280). My warehouse workers in Singapore are paid US$1,000 (S$1,400),” he said. Therefore, the amount paid to workers would be around five times more if the products were made in Singapore. This would make the hula hoops more expensive.

The journey starts in Meerut, a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. There, a factory produces hula hoops and other sporting equipment. It takes orders from businesses like Javy Sports via WhatsApp.

Hula hoops are made from plastic pellets. These pellets arrive in 100kg sacks that are sorted by colour. They are melted and moulded into pipes. Factory workers bend the pipes into perfect circles while they are still hot. Then, the ends are joined to form a hula hoop. The hoops are cooled. Finally, the Javy Sports logo is placed on them.

“This is simply a transparent sticker that is stuck on,” Mr Ko said. “Because the hula hoop is such a cheap item, it doesn’t make sense to have an additional printing process.” The logo is printed on costlier items such as sports balls and cones, he said.

Ready for shipping

Next, the hula hoops are packed for transport. The factory usually puts hula hoops in boxes, according to size. Small hula hoops are placed together. The same goes with medium and large hula hoops. But, this means a lot of space is wasted. As a result, fewer goods can be transported in a large shipping container. So, Javy Sports requested that boxes be filled with all sizes of hula hoops.

When a small hoop is placed inside a medium hoop, and the two placed within a large hoop, they take one-third the space as stacking three hoops of the same size one on top of the other.

“Our warehouse workers in Singapore who have some spare time will sort them into individual boxes. That way, we save on shipping costs because we pack more items in the same shipping container,” explained Mr Ko.

The boxes take as long as 15 days to be transported to a port in Mumbai. Then, they can take another 15 days to arrive in Singapore. According to Mr Ko, it takes around 40 days in all for hula hoops to be ordered, produced, and shipped.

Arrival in Singapore

A driver picks up shipments from the port. Workers then sort the hula hoops by sizes. Now, they are ready to be delivered to customers. Most customers will place their orders online.

“If we have ready stock, they will usually receive their orders in three to five working days,” Mr Ko said. “With the coronavirus, we might take a little bit longer,” he cautioned. This is due to increased demand for other sporting equipment such as dumbbells.

Because of the long process, it is important to order items like hula hoops in advance. Javy Sports keeps a stock of 3,000 hula hoops at a warehouse in Woodlands.

A warehouse is a building for storing things. Warehouses are an important part of the supply chain, allowing companies like Javy Sports to order big quantities of stuff without overcrowding shops, which usually do not have much storage space. The products can be moved to the shops as and when shops run out.

Demand and supply

Hula hoops are used mainly in schools here. The demand for them was lower when schools closed during the circuit breaker. In contrast, dumbbells are flying off the shelves, Mr Ko said.

Most factories that produce dumbbells are based in China. They are made of scrap metal from industrial processes. However, China has been producing less, due to the virus.

“There is much less waste metal to be recycled, while demand has increased significantly,” Mr Ko said.  “Because much of world is on lockdown or gyms have closed, everyone wants to exercise at home, even those who usually do not exercise,” he added. “So raw material costs have gone up. Demand has gone up, and the supply is currently unable to keep up with demand in Singapore or around the world.”

When it restocks, Javy Sports buys what would usually be two years’ supply of dumbbells. During the circuit breaker, the store’s two-year supply was sold in just two weeks.

Supply Chain Management: it’s a subject you can study

Getting the supply chain right is so important that it is an actual job by itself, called supply chain management. Universities in Singapore even offer degrees in this subject. Watch this fun video from a university in the United States explaining how smart supply chain management helps businesses to succeed.

VOCAB BUILDER

warehouse (say “wair-haus”; noun) = a big building where goods are stored.

pellets (say “pel-lets”; noun) = small hard balls or cylinders.

supply (say “se-ply”; noun) = an amount of something that is available for use.