When politicians, "experts" etc. talk rubbish

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Quote: 'How does charging for plastic bags reduce plastic pollution when items are still individually plastic-wrapped, eateries serve disposable dine-in cutlery, and clothes are imbued with microplastic?"
The writer is correct.
Every politician and expert are jumping on the bandwagon and virtue signalling.
Stopped restaurants and fast foods from dispensing straws but allow food vendors to use more plastics to wrap their produce.
Charge individuals for plastic bag usage but turn a blind eye to the much bigger amount of plastics used by companies in wrapping food, fruits, produce tc.

Forum: Actions by individuals can have only limited impact on carbon emissions​

PUBLISHED

MAR 23, 2022, 1:00 AM SGT

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I welcome initiatives that incentivise consumers to reduce their carbon emissions but I disagree with Professor Sumit Agarwal's assertion that "the ultimate users or creators of carbon are the individuals" (Introduce individual carbon scorecard with incentives to keep emissions low: Panellist, March 17).
Much of a country's emissions is beyond an individual's control, generated in areas such as building construction, infrastructure and the global trade network that supports it.
This was most apparent in 2020 when the world came to a standstill due to the pandemic.
Consumer spending fell sharply, and roads, flight paths and offices emptied out. All of these registered a measly 6.4 per cent reduction in global annual emissions.
In Singapore, total industrial emissions accounted for 60.4 per cent of the country's total emissions in 2019. They dwarfed the Singaporean households' emissions of 6.7 per cent.
Even in areas where consumers can effect change, they run up against an economic system designed to increase emissions in pursuit of perpetual growth.
How do consumers reduce consumption when planned obsolescence is the norm? How do they reduce waste when fast fashion is often the only affordable option? How do they make informed choices when their personal data is unscrupulously mined and used to manipulate and condition them to ceaselessly consume?

How does charging for plastic bags reduce plastic pollution when items are still individually plastic-wrapped, eateries serve disposable dine-in cutlery, and clothes are imbued with microplastic?
Such institutionalised wasteful practices run counter to the paradigm shift needed for net-zero emission.
It is good to give consumers incentives to reduce emissions but policymakers must consider the bigger picture and address the perennial issues that plague the system. The size of the carrots and sticks will not matter if you do not clear the road you are on.

Holmberg Dennis

 

[Willamshakespear]

A critical question thus begs - what were Industrial emissions that accounted for 60.4% of total emissions for? Surely it can't be own industrial uses.

Ultimately, such heavy emissions were FOR consumer consumption - local or for exports. At the end of manufactured products chain is the CONSUMER, whom creates the DEMAND for such products, be it a heavy lifting crane, a combustion engine car, or a mere plastic bag.

While ZERO emissions may not possible yet due to slow advancement in science & tech to replace industrial needs or its feasible adoption without loss of jobs to Humanity, such as fossil fuels & its numerous by-products such as plastics, etc, INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERS - locals or foreign importing such manufactured products, HAVE A ROLE to play to help end its lust for such products which will harm our planet. It will take patience & time in education, adaptation to self limit such products. Baby steps, but it has to start somewhere, & it will have to come from each of us.....THE CONSUMER.

 

[mako65]

Bring your own cutleries/plates and bowls or bio-degradable bags..if forget, sorry! No lunch from the eateries or groceries from the supermarkets for u! That's how simple...

 

[bobby]

NTUC should also at same time charge themselves10 cents each time they pack their food in plastic wrap ?

 

[tanwahtiu]

Quote: 'How does charging for plastic bags reduce plastic pollution when items are still individually plastic-wrapped, eateries serve disposable dine-in cutlery, and clothes are imbued with microplastic?"
The writer is correct.
Every politician and expert are jumping on the bandwagon and virtue signalling.
Stopped restaurants and fast foods from dispensing straws but allow food vendors to use more plastics to wrap their produce.
Charge individuals for plastic bag usage but turn a blind eye to the much bigger amount of plastics used by companies in wrapping food, fruits, produce tc.

Forum: Actions by individuals can have only limited impact on carbon emissions​

PUBLISHED

MAR 23, 2022, 1:00 AM SGT

FacebookTwitter

I welcome initiatives that incentivise consumers to reduce their carbon emissions but I disagree with Professor Sumit Agarwal's assertion that "the ultimate users or creators of carbon are the individuals" (Introduce individual carbon scorecard with incentives to keep emissions low: Panellist, March 17).
Much of a country's emissions is beyond an individual's control, generated in areas such as building construction, infrastructure and the global trade network that supports it.
This was most apparent in 2020 when the world came to a standstill due to the pandemic.
Consumer spending fell sharply, and roads, flight paths and offices emptied out. All of these registered a measly 6.4 per cent reduction in global annual emissions.
In Singapore, total industrial emissions accounted for 60.4 per cent of the country's total emissions in 2019. They dwarfed the Singaporean households' emissions of 6.7 per cent.
Even in areas where consumers can effect change, they run up against an economic system designed to increase emissions in pursuit of perpetual growth.
How do consumers reduce consumption when planned obsolescence is the norm? How do they reduce waste when fast fashion is often the only affordable option? How do they make informed choices when their personal data is unscrupulously mined and used to manipulate and condition them to ceaselessly consume?

How does charging for plastic bags reduce plastic pollution when items are still individually plastic-wrapped, eateries serve disposable dine-in cutlery, and clothes are imbued with microplastic?
Such institutionalised wasteful practices run counter to the paradigm shift needed for net-zero emission.
It is good to give consumers incentives to reduce emissions but policymakers must consider the bigger picture and address the perennial issues that plague the system. The size of the carrots and sticks will not matter if you do not clear the road you are on.

Holmberg Dennis

Bulk goods in pallet need securely wrapped for transportation.... pass...

Going down the chain .... some chain station can do away with plastic usage. Like manhood wear condom and womanhood don't have to... if womanhood wear condom manhood don't.

So you want to fuck a whore who wear plastic condom? She can reuse it many times or is it better manhood wear it is safer....

Your option...

 

[mojito]

A critical question thus begs - what were Industrial emissions that accounted for 60.4% of total emissions for? Surely it can't be own industrial uses.

Ultimately, such heavy emissions were FOR consumer consumption - local or for exports. At the end of manufactured products chain is the CONSUMER, whom creates the DEMAND for such products, be it a heavy lifting crane, a combustion engine car, or a mere plastic bag.

While ZERO emissions may not possible yet due to slow advancement in science & tech to replace industrial needs or its feasible adoption without loss of jobs to Humanity, such as fossil fuels & its numerous by-products such as plastics, etc, INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERS - locals or foreign importing such manufactured products, HAVE A ROLE to play to help end its lust for such products which will harm our planet. It will take patience & time in education, adaptation to self limit such products. Baby steps, but it has to start somewhere, & it will have to come from each of us.....THE CONSUMER.

That is simply the illusion of individuals making a difference by doing something, anything. Regulating the corporations is the government's job and now they pass the buck to you, silly man. Blame u for not doing enough.

 

[batman1]

They are overpaid clowns.

 

[laksaboy]

The anti-carbon, anti-plastic, 'sustainability' BS is part of a greater agenda. Since pappies are the bitches of (or part of) the Davos globalist cabal, they have to toe the line. If you're still expressing concern for things like carbon emissions and carbon footprint and being carbon neutral, you are part of the problem, and I suspect a useful idiot.

Temasek-BlackRock decarbonization deal:
https://www.blackrock.com/corporate...launch-decarbonization-investment-partnership

The carbon-climate stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. Other things include transhumanism and 'smart cities', gender identity politics, indoctrinating children with the 'globalist' mindset. promoting GMO food e.g. fake meat, communist-style redistribution of resources.

Everything sounds nice and noble but it is in reality a blueprint for your slavery.

 

[Rus]

The biggest contributor on plastic waste

Breadtalk - 897 outlets
Revenues - $292,000,000
Assuming each bread costs $2
292,000,000 = 146,000,00 plastic wrappings dumped.

 

[Leongsam]

Climate change is a big hoax anyway so don't worry too much about all this emissions crap it's a lot of "hot air".

 

[Rus]

Have scientists detected the changes in the axis of the earth rotation and revolution?

 

[saynotomsm]

What happen to the ozone layer talk where in the 90s they said it will be destroyed in 10 years?

 

[syed putra]

Have scientists detected the changes in the axis of the earth rotation and revolution?

That means we may experience the 4 seasons?

 

[Rus]

That means we may experience the 4 seasons?

Getting nearer to the Sun

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Have scientists detected the changes in the axis of the earth rotation and revolution?

Even more dramatic than that: the magnetic poles may flip i.e. North becomes South and vice versa.
That would be interesting.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

All the reasons given by Ng Eng Hen are bullshit. The PAP government is afraid of losing the female votes.

Cost of enlisting women into NS, even in non-military roles, far outweighs benefits: Ng Eng Hen​

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen cautioned that enlisting women into NS would delay their entry into workforce. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Kok Yufeng
Transport Correspondent
UPDATED

May 9, 2022

SINGAPORE - The societal cost of enlisting women into national service (NS), even for non-military roles, would far outweigh any benefits, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Monday (May 9).
Compulsory national service can be justified only if it serves a critical need of national security and defence, he said, adding that there are "distinct pitfalls" if conscription is implemented for any other reason, whether it is for men or women.
Responding to Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC) and Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC) in Parliament, Dr Ng cautioned that enlisting women into NS would delay their entry into the workforce, and this would have the immediate effect of accentuating a decline in the local manpower pool and a reduction of household incomes.
"Even if women are enlisted for non-military national service roles to augment our healthcare and social services, it may make manpower shortages in other industries worse," Dr Ng said.
"Over the long term, it will impose a great cost, not only on women themselves, but also their families, children and spouses, and society as a whole," he added.
"Is that cost justified to send a signal or to reverse stereotypes? From the Government's perspective, no. I think most Singaporeans would say 'no' too, from a security perspective."
During the debate on the White Paper on Singapore Women's Development in Parliament last month, Ms Tan had suggested expanding the scope of national service to include care vocations, enlisting both young men and women to these roles.

​

She suggested that this would help to support the community with their caregiving needs, reduce the stress of Singapore's people and workforce, and more critically, help care work be seen as a shared civic responsibility.
In her third IPS-Nathan Lecture last year, Ms Corinna Lim, executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), had also called for NS to be made gender neutral, and expanded beyond the traditional domains of the army, navy, air force and police.
On Monday, Dr Ng said the primary reason for enlistment into the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) must be to train soldiers who are able to defend Singapore, and repel, if not defeat, enemies who want to invade the country.


Similarly, enlistment into the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has to be based on the national need for homeland security and emergency services, he added.
"It is very far off from the proposals to conscript women to serve in roles such as caregivers and healthcare workers, or to send a signal, a powerful signal, of gender equality," he noted.
"These are inadequate justifications or reasons to mandate that someone must suspend individual liberties as a civilian, give up two years of his or her life, and if they do not, they go to jail, as our courts have sentenced NS defaulters."
Dr Ng added that proposals for women to enlist into NS are not new, and that the issue was debated as early as 1967 when conscription was introduced.
He said the Enlistment Act, passed in 1970, does not exclude women, but the Government at the time thought it would be an “extra burden” to enlist women, given the acute shortage of trainers and commanders then.
When the issue resurfaced in 1983, the assessment was that the SAF could cope with the manpower shortage, Dr Ng added.
While he acknowledged that birth rates have continued to fall, Dr Ng said the use of technology and the optimisation of resources have produced a modern SAF that is more lethal and effective despite a smaller number of soldiers.
"If Singapore is ever threatened with an existential threat by an aggressor, and there is a sudden and grave need to boost our military, I am certain that Mindef (Ministry of Defence) and the SAF will call on the government of that day to enlist not only women, but even teenagers and older men into military service... The Ukrainians did exactly this when their homeland was invaded," he added.

Dr Ng said there are currently more than 1,600 uniformed servicewomen in the SAF, making up about 8 per cent of its regulars.
Women make up 5 per cent of SAF regulars holding senior ranks of lieutenant-colonel, military expert 6, or master warrant officer and above.
Additionally, more than 500 women have also been trained and deployed in different roles as volunteers in the SAF Volunteer Corps since 2015, the minister said.
"There is currently no need for us to enlist women (into) national service," he told the House. "Women are already contributing to national building as regulars and volunteers," he added.
Ms Poh, a former helicopter pilot with the Republic of Singapore Air Force, asked if Mindef had plans to recruit more full-time servicewomen, and do more for those looking to start a family beyond flexible work arrangements.
In response, Dr Ng said the SAF’s recruitment has been fairly successful and attrition has been low, but he did not provide specific figures.
“We have stepped up our recruitment of women because the SAF wants more women to join our ranks,” Dr Ng said, citing the establishment of the SAF Women Outreach Office in July 2020 as an example.

The SAF has also set up “work near home” sites in north-east, south-west and central Singapore. “Work away from office is very much, we believe, an entrenched concept... We are going to embrace it, see how it works,” Dr Ng said.
In a Facebook post later in the day, Ms Tan said she appreciated the minister’s reply and clarified that her suggestion for women to be enlisted in roles beyond the military was not driven by a simplistic ideal of equality but to meet national caregiving needs in the face of an ageing population.
Reiterating her call for NS to be expanded to include caregiving roles, she wrote: “If national service means service to the nation, it only makes sense that we evolve it to meet the most pressing needs of our nation.”

 

[laksaboy]

All the reasons given by Ng Eng Hen are bullshit. The PAP government is afraid of losing the female votes.

We can exploit this and say that the PAP govt is sexist, doesn't believe females are good enough to serve NS.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

We can exploit this and say that the PAP govt is sexist, doesn't believe females are good enough to serve NS.

https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/discriminatory-practices-by-the-pap-government.306204/#post-3605941

 

[rushifa666]

Whybare retarded countries not arresting crooks whi throw rubbish into seas but blame us? Fucktard thinking

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Where is the diversification when Malaysia accounts for 34% of all imported live chickens?

Food supply disruptions regrettable, but S'pore has been building buffer, diversifying sources: PM Lee​

Singapore imports over 90 per cent of its food, and diversification is a key strategy to ensure a supply of safe food. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

Walter Sim
Japan Correspondent

May 27, 2022

TOKYO - It is regrettable but not surprising that Singapore is affected by disruptions in the food supply chain due to the Ukraine war and high inflation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday (May 27).
The Republic has been working to secure its supply of food for several years, including by building a buffer of stocks and diversifying its sources of imports, so that Singaporeans are not unduly affected in the event of shocks, he added.
"Governments are under pressure and sometimes they take unconventional measures, for example, interdicting exports of products, and several governments have done this.
"It is regrettable that as a consumer country which imports food, we are adversely impacted," PM Lee said in an interview with Singapore media on the final day of his four-day working visit to Tokyo.
While he did not single out any country in his response, Malaysia said earlier this week that it would halt exports of 3.6 million whole chickens per month from June 1 until production and prices stabilise.
India has also announced plans to restrict sugar exports to prevent a surge in domestic prices.
PM Lee recalled how, in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions meant masks and personal protective equipment or PPE were in short supply.

​

Some countries scrambled to meet their own needs by interdicting and requisitioning supplies which would be manufactured in their own country, or sometimes even when transiting in the country.
Seeking redress at the World Trade Organisation is an option if there are violations of global trading rules, but PM Lee said this was a lengthy process.
In the current situation, the immediate urgency is to secure the supply of food.

"The answer is not what we do now, but what we have been doing now for several years, which has been to build up our buffer stocks and resiliency and diversify our sources," PM Lee said.
"So that (when) any single source is interrupted, we are not unduly affected and if you can't buy chicken from one place, you can buy from other countries. This time it is chicken, next time it may be something else. We have to be prepared for this," he added.
Singapore imports over 90 per cent of its food, and diversification is a key strategy to ensure a supply of safe food.
While Malaysia is the main source of fresh chicken, it accounted for 34 per cent of the Republic's chicken supply last year, with the rest imported from Brazil, the United States and other countries.

On Thursday (May 26), Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Desmond Tan said there is adequate supply of chicken in Singapore, and urged people to refrain from panic buying.
Supermarket chain FairPrice also said it had a stockpile of frozen chicken that can last about four months, with another two months of supply on the way.
As for sugar, importers said Singapore is not likely to be affected by India's export curbs. On Friday (May 27), a Singapore Food Agency spokesman said sugar is imported from over 40 countries, including Australia, India, Malaysia and Thailand.
The spokesman added that should there be a disruption to any one source, it would work with importers to tap on alternative sources to keep supply stable.


PM Lee was in Tokyo to speak at the 27th International Conference for the Future of Asia, organised by Japanese media group Nikkei, where he stressed that collective security and economic engagement were key to staving off conflict.
He also met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and they discussed bilateral cooperation and broader global developments, including Ukraine, and United States-China relations.
“It was a good discussion, we had a very lively exchange, and I hope that before long, I will be able to invite PM Kishida to Singapore and we can continue the conversation,” he said.
PM Lee also told reporters that inflation and cost of living are pressing issues in a very unsettled world, but cautioned: “In the scheme of things, many more disruptive things can happen than just some price adjustments. And we are seeing some of that now.”