Photograph of a slump near the top of a hill slope along Bartley Road, Singapore, on 12 November 2011.
The slope has been covered with a large sheet to prevent further soil erosion since then. The large sheet also helps to prevent a possible landslide, especially during heavy rains.
The photograph below of the covered slope (shown on the left) was taken on 17 June 2012.
Update (December 2012 - about one year after the first photograph was taken)
The hill slope has been restored as new grass has been replanted to hold the soil firmly. The photograph below shows the result of good soil management.
This afternoon, I went to find a hot spring in the northern part
of Singapore and managed to find it about two hours of walking. I knew about it some years ago from the newspaper but didn't think of visiting it since I thought it's just a small spring located in a remote part of the rainforest.
Recently, while reviewing an article for my magazine project about green or renewable energy, I came across more information about the hot spring. I learnt that some university academics wrote about doing a feasibility study of harnessing the hot spring for geothermal energy in future. So I decided to find out where this mysterious hot spring is since my idea of hot springs is that they are usually found in some remote volcanic regions, and there aren't any volcanoes on the small island of Singapore. The hot spring proves elusive because it is actually located nearer a newly built residential area than I thought, and the entrance to the hot spring isn't very noticeable.
Entrance to the Sembawang hot spring, along Gambas Avenue (opposite Seletaris condominiums)
A signboard introducing the history of the hot spring
Pipes and taps have been constructed to regulate the flow of the hot spring
Warm water (about 70 degrees Celsius) trickling from a hot spring tap
Steam emerging from the gurgling water at a hot spring outlet
The
photo is the “Pulitzer Prize” winning photo taken in 1994 during the
Sudan Famine. The picture depicts stricken child crawling towards a
United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away. The vulture is
waiting for the child to die so that it can eat him. This picture
shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child,
including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as
the photograph was taken. Three months later he committed suicide due to
depression.
In
the past few years, insanely greedy, heartless wall street speculators
have more than doubled the price of food in countries where people live
on less than $1.00 or 2.00 per day. Around 30,000 people die of hunger
each day. An estimated 25,000 of them are children 14 & under. They
are NOT dying because of a food shortage (tons of food rots in
warehouses every day), but simply because they have no money. Meanwhile
the rich get richer and their hearts grow colder. Our world won't be
civilized until everyone has enough food. Please Share this and insist
that very serious & intense wars on hunger & extreme greed be
started asap!
PLEASE: Take a part in your local Occupy Movement or support the Movement.
Yes, the
problem isn't food shortage but unequal distribution of food, and greed
has resulted in those companies who are capable of supplying food
trying to control prices to maximise profits, causing those in other
places unable to afford the food. We all can do our part to address the problem of famine in our own way. It all starts with the power of one.
