As the world marked World Environment Day on 5 June, we have to ask why governments are not throwing their full weight behind the urgent need for policy and public awareness.
Climate experts have warned that Southeast Asia remains exposed to rising temperatures, extreme weather and ecological damage. Climate adaptation and sustainability, they say, should be key components of national policy, not an afterthought.
Activist Lee Lam Thye has expressed concern, calling for urgent action.
The situation is worsened by greed, indifference and a glaring lack of political will.
Southeast Asia is, by most credible assessments, highly vulnerable to ongoing climate adversity. The situation is worsened by human negligence and exploitation.
The Philippines now holds the Asean chair for 2026, but Malaysia, which led Asean in 2025, could and should have done more to place climate action firmly on the regional agenda.
Malaysian leadership has been vocal, even pioneering, on the Palestinian crisis. Yet we do not see that same fire when it comes to the climate disasters mounting on our doorstep. Why?
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Lee has called for stronger environmental laws and more effective enforcement measures to tackle the growing impacts of climate change.
Time for common sense
Perhaps common sense action plans should be galvanised by the government, starting in our own backyard. That would be true leadership.
It starts with a national will to change the teh tarik colour of our rivers back to clear water.
Tackle the logging. Stop offering hollow explanations.
Line our streets with trees. Stop uprooting them on the warped pretext of minimising property damage.
Replacing natural greenery with potted plastic flowers and leaves – a common sight in Kajang – is perhaps the most absurd policy in practice.
We can learn from Ipoh, where the city council prunes old trees to provide good shade and reduce the risk of their falling during thunderstorms. It is a model worth emulating elsewhere.
Littering and the mindset gap
Littering is a silent but major killer of our environment. Malaysia has failed badly here, despite huge sums of public money spent on lip-service campaigns that change nothing.
We need to tackle the mindset. Learn from Japan. After all, we have practised, or at least proclaimed, a Look East Policy since 1982. It is time to actually mean it.
Our biggest setback is the lack of a maintenance culture. Compounding this, too many of our politicians are forever burrowing into the marrow of race politics and religious point-scoring rather than confronting the climate crisis head-on.
The time for excuses is over
Think right. Act now. Common sense solutions are where we must begin if we are to weather the dangers already encroaching on every home and street.
We have lost good time. What is needed now is serious crisis management — or we will face mounting socioeconomic damage in the years to come.
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
