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Widespread calls for climate justice at second in-person climate rally

2023-09-24 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – More than 1,400 people turned up at Hong Lim Park on a sweltering Saturday afternoon with their signs, picnic mats and four-legged friends for the second physical edition of a climate rally since 2019.

Decked in red to symbolise the climate crisis, attendees – mostly youths and young families held cardboard placards saying “The climate is changing, why aren’t we?”, “Litter is a climate crime” and references to the hot weather.

The turn-out this year was slightly lower than the inaugural rally in 2019, which saw more than 2,000 joining the call for stronger climate ambitions in Singapore.

Four years down the road, the focus was climate justice. This includes ensuring that nobody is left behind as the Republic works towards decarbonising, and minimising the unequal impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups. This is also known as climate justice.

Mr Kristian-Marc Paul, a member of climate justice collective SG Climate Rally, which organised the event on Saturday, pointed to how hot weather, for instance, affects low-income families, migrant workers and delivery workers more, since they have limited access to air conditioning.

“The roadmap towards (net-zero emissions by) 2050 is not necessarily something that’s very detailed right now. The ambition has been set but how we get there, is I think, what we’re interested in, to ensure that it is inclusive to different people,” he added.

Several MPs and members of political parties also showed up at the rally, including five Workers’ Party MPs, Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar GRC), Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai, Singapore Democratic Party chairman Paul Tambyah and members of Red Dot United.

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Mr Robin Tan, 46, and his family of three sat on a picnic mat with cardboard posters encouraging a plant-based diet. Mr Tan, who works in the tech industry, became vegan seven years. His wife and nine-year-old son, who turned vegan three to five years ago, also attended the 2019 rally.

Mr Tan said: “When people talk about climate change, we feel the diet angle is under-covered. And I feel that people are not making enough of a change because they expect the government to do it.”

Speakers at the four-hour event included former NMP and ophthalmologist Dr Geh Min, who stressed the links between climate change and health, and undergraduate Syazwan Abdul Majid, 26, who is a descendent of the Orang Pulau (islanders) community on Pulau Ubin, as his mother grew up on the island and Pulau Tekong.

Another speaker was rental flat resident Marlina Yased, 45, who spoke about how the heat and limited ventilation at home makes the environment uncomfortable for her children and has caused skin problems for her neighbour.

“I resorted to spraying water on the walls every now and then to help make the space cooler for my kids. We can’t escape the heat... It’s easy to feel annoyed with one another. It affects our mental health,” said Ms Marlina, who lives in a two-room rental flat in Lengkok Bahru, with four of her five children aged nine to 26.

Rental flat resident Marlina Yased told the attendees about her family’s struggles at home with heat and limited ventilation. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

During heavy rain, the entrance to her flat can get slightly flooded.

Ms Marlina, who also runs a home-based business, noted that rental house residents cannot install air conditioning units unless they write in to the authorities. And while residents can use portable air conditioners, many may not be able to afford them.

Booths run by environmental and social groups were set up at Hong Lim Park as part of the event. Attendees also had a chance to pen climate-related concerns and messages to their MPs on postcards, and 309 postcards will be mailed, said the organisers.

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Dr Wan and WP MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) said they are looking forward to reading the letters from their residents.

“I want to hear what we can do to improve. At the end of the day, the residents know their environment best, and the solutions that are doable,” said Dr Wan, who added that he shares the concerns of rental house residents on cooling options and ventilation since Jalan Besar has one of the highest numbers of rental flats here.

He noted that some rental flats had makeovers and walls broken in to allow more air and light in.

Noting that the rising cost of living and climate change impacts cannot be viewed separately, Ms He said: “Climate change causes changes to crop cycles and that in turn drives costs of foods and other resources… It has direct impacts to people’s livelihoods as well. And of course you talk about the just transition, the economy, all of which are intertwined.”

Rally attendees held placards with messages such as “The climate is changing, why aren’t we?” and “Litter is a climate crime”. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

Saturday’s climate rally follows waves of climate protests around the world, demanding for the end of fossil fuels. On Sept 17, tens of thousands of climate activists took to the streets of Manhattan, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, calling for the US to do more to combat climate change.

Associate Professor Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) said: “I think activists are the vanguard of change and young people are often deeply passionate about change. It is important for us to show that support for activism... but we also want them to channel it towards understanding how we can move forward in terms of credible and practical policies.”

Additional reporting by Cheryl Tan