Sustainable Development and Worldviews

About 43% of Taipei's residents uses public transport.[1] There is much Malaysia can learn from Taiwan if we want to hit 40% public transport usage by 2030.[2] All the more so for the state of Penang that is currently implementing the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). Last week, I get to check out Taiwan's various public transport systems such as inter-city buses, inter-state high speed rail, Kaohsiung's tram, Taichung's bus network, and Taipei's metro. Here are some observations. Inter-city, inter-state network Travellers who land at Taipei airport can get around Taiwan's northern region easily. There is a bus terminal attached to the airport with various bus companies providing connecting services from the airport directly to other cities and states. I took a two-hour bus from Taipei airport to Taichung, located in middle of Taiwan. I also took the high speed rail from Kaohsiung in the south to Taipei in the north. The inter-city and inter-st...

Fishermen boats at Permatang Damar Laut, near the area earmarked for Penang South Islands Studies on 7,800 marine species around the world’s ecosystems by global marine experts concluded that nearly 90% of global fish stocks were either fully fished or overfished. (Source: https://tinyurl.com/skdx5qq) The recent case of a turtle was hurt in Penang sea was not because of reclamation but because of fishermen net. (https://tinyurl.com/wlx9hu9) Penang’s fish supply from sea-fishing only contributes 4% to national output, which makes Penang the fourth lowest in Malaysia. (Source: Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia, Laporan Risikan Pasaran Tahunan 2017, p.13: https://tinyurl.com/rko2b2w) Overfishing in Penang was so critical that in 2015 the fisheries department had to restrict the issuance of license to fishing vessels, reducing them by 30%. However, that did not deter overfishing as unlicensed fishermen continue to purge the sea. (https://tinyurl.com/rg9rwsb) Biggest ...

Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California have recently unveiled the Urban Mobility Readiness Index that ranked cities with the best public transport system. Singapore came up on top.[1] Separately, McKinsey & Company had also produced their own index last year to measure the best public transport system in the world. Singapore also appeared at the top.[2] There must be something right about the city-state’s public transport that we can learn from. The first thing to notice about Singapore’s public transport is that it is multi-modal, which means the entire infrastructure adopts several modes or types of public transport such as bus, mass rapid transit (MRT), light rail transit (LRT), and monorail. In the late 1970s, Singapore was deliberating between having an all-bus system or a bus-rail system. Despite having a team of experts from Harvard University pushing for the all-bus system, the government opted for the more expensive bus-rail system and begun t...