Why are Malaysian cinemas so cold?!

Over the last few years, the issue of climate change has been bleeping ever more insistently on the global radar screen as increasing evidence surfaces to demonstrate that climate change is real and that humans are at least partly responsible.

British people experienced torrential flooding in 2007 and arctic temperatures this winter - prompting wry jokes about the effects of global 'warming'. Malaysians are also experiencing the effects of erratic weather patterns. Unseasonal flooding in Johore in 2007 prompted the well-known cartoonist LAT to wittily respond with a cartoon in the New Straits Times newspaper, depicting two water buffalo near a lake. One water buffalo has just dunked his foot in the water and pulled it out quickly: " Ohh, hot! " he says to his buffalo friend. Jokes aside, the seriousness of the matter is understood and climate change remains firmly in the headlines around the world.

Over the last three years the British High Commission in Malaysia has been running a series of events to raise public awareness of climate change. On 19 January we hosted a forum for about 300 representatives from government, local businesses, universities and civil society, to discuss the outcomes of Copenhagen*. Forum panellists from a diverse background all agreed that Copenhagen had been disappointing.

Gurmit Singh, Chairman of the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development in Malaysia felt "thoroughly disgusted" at the lack of progress. He argued that governments alone cannot be expected to solve the problem and that progress will only happen when we all take responsibility for the energy we use. Dr Lian of the Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment felt the negotiating process at Copenhagen was not transparent or inclusive enough and was saddened that more was not achieved. Business figures seemed to be far more optimistic about matters. Geoffrey WIlliams of OWW Consulting was literally "bristling with optimism" and felt that the private sector was well placed to raise substantial funds to tackle climate change.

I agreed that the British government shared the frustration felt by the panellists at the lack of progress at Copenhagen. Although a legally binding Treaty failed to materialise and commitments to cut emissions were not forthcoming, other issues such as significant comittments on finance and the Copenhagen Accord* must surely be seen as a step forward.

The questions that followed the forum reflected great interest, with thoughtful musings offered from all sides of the room. I left feeling I had learned a great deal from the discussions and reflected on Gurmit's call for us all to make more of an effort to be 'green'. My personal aims will be:

1) to make an effort to turn off the lights (this reminds me of UK papers reporting amusing imagery of HM The Queen stalking corridors to switch off the lights after her staff have negligently left them on!)

2) to keep the air con at 'moderate' rather than 'Arctic' (why are Malaysian cinemas so cold?!!)

3) to lead the way for the High Commission to join the 10:10 challenge – an ambitious project that aims to unite every sector of British society to achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010: http://www.1010uk.org/

4) to live more sustainably by re-using and recycling. Making good use of leftover food is an excellent place to start and I can recommend an excellent 'Bubble and Squeak' recipe at http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes.

*Copenhagen was a major meeting that took place in Copenhagen in December 2009, which brought together 192 countries from around the world to discuss the steps the international community needs to take to mitigate climate change.

*The Copenhagen Accord was agreed by a group representing 49 developed and developing countries that account for over 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

It's Good to Talk!

Education is a very important component in the relationship between the UK and Malaysia so I spend a good chunk of my time talking to, and visiting, schools and universities. The High Commission works closely with the British Council here in Malaysia and I really enjoy being given the opportunity to explore some of the different initiatives that they are involved in.

Whilst in Penang on my Suffolk House visit I paid a visit to St Christopher’s School in George Town.  This British-curriculum school has been serving the Penang community for over forty years.  And for twenty of those years, it has been headed by Mr Jones, a Welshman and proud of it!  I was delighted to hear that the school is thriving and that the Board of Governors has recently agreed to construct a new teaching block, work on which began the very day I visited!  Mr Jones knows the name of every single child at St Christopher’s and the evident eagerness of the children is a marvellous tribute to the great work he, the teachers and the Board, put in.  I heard that Year 5 had been visiting a local hospital.  When asked what they had seen, one little boy answered “Dracula’s Bank”!

I also dropped in on The University of Science Malaysia. Designated in 2008 as the Malaysia’s “Apex” university, it is also soon to be home to the British Council’s English language operation in Penang. The Vice Chancellor expressed his delight to me that the teaching of English, so critical to the success internationally of Malaysia’s young people, would be so accessible to his students. We also discussed opportunities for research collaboration and ways in which we can take advantage of funding offered under the UK Prime Minister’s Initiative (PMI)*.

My last stop was a local school, SKM Dato’ Onn. I met the winners of a Global Citizen competition, which had brought participating staff and children to a grand final in Taiwan.  I was shown Christmas and Hari Raya cards, which children had prepared while learning about the meaning of different festivals and traditions. The school was also hosting a web conference with schools in Bromley (near London) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). This link-up is part of the British Council’s excellent “Connecting Classrooms” programme – designed to bring children from the UK and Asia closer together. I found the pupils enthusiasm to be utterly infectious! I was particularly struck by the real potential of  “Connecting Classrooms” and I hope that it succeeds in its aim of building lasting partnerships between pupils from different cultures. Find out more at http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms.htm

*PMI: The UK Prime Minister’s Initiative has made funds available for research as well as providing opportunities for British students to spend time at Malaysian universities. There are some 12,000 Malaysian students at UK universities, but only a handful of young Brits in Malaysia.  We are doing what we can to achieve a bit more balance.

*Connecting Classrooms: This innovative programme is designed to build lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and others around the world through web conferences, facebook and other online media. These ‘virtual’ relationships are then strengthened with real ‘live’ visits! 

Breathing Life Back Into Suffolk House

Penang* is one of my favourite places in Malaysia and George Town is without doubt my favourite city. It has inspiring colonial architecture, a bustling atmosphere and fantastic food.

In 2008 the old city centre of George Town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The Penang state authorities have since been working to develop a strategy to ensure that George Town is preserved for future generations. The UK, being mildly obsessed with heritage preservation, has a great deal of experience at regenerating inner city areas by using art and culture to breathe life back into old spaces. The British Council have therefore been working hard to bring the Penang state government and Khazanah together with experts in the field. In January, Donald Hyslop, of the Tate Modern and a veteran of the Bankside Development on the south bank of the Thames spent a few days talking to local experts and explaining some of the things we have done right – and wrong.

This provided an opportunity for Mandy Johnson, Director of the British Council in Malaysia to host a reception at Suffolk House*. I joined her at the event and was glad to have the opportunity to meet up with old friends from the Penang Government, the Penang Heritage Trust and the local community. It was a particular pleasure to meet up again with Laurence Loh, the architect responsible for the splendid restoration of Suffolk House.

Consular staff at the reception

Suffolk House

*Penang: The island of Penang was the first part of Malaysia that the British discovered.  Capt. Francis Light of the East India Company recognised the island as a safe and suitable harbour for the Company’s ships and managed to negotiate a Treaty with the Sultan of Queda (now Kedah), which allowed the Company to use Pulau Penang “in return for a force to assist him against the people of Selangore”.  Light was appointed Superintendent of Penang in 1786 and christened the new settlement Prince of Wales Island in honour of the heir apparent, the future George IV.  He named the capital George Town after the reigning sovereign George III.

*Suffolk House: This was Francis Light’s residence and was named after the county in which he was born. It has recently re-opened to the general public following extensive restoration. The total cost of refurbishing and restoring Suffolk House was RM 6 million comprising RM 2 million each from HSBC, the State Government and public fund raising. To mark Donald Hyslop’s visit I handed over to YB Chow Kon Yeow, Executive Council member responsible for Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment (representing the Chief Minister) a facsimile copy, found for me by the British Library, of Francis Light’s 1791 Treaty with the Sultan of Kedah, under which “the English Company” undertook to pay 6,000 Mexican dollars a year for the use of the island of Penang.