DAP MP pens poem about interfering with nature

PETALING JAYA: With the Tanjung Bungah landslide tragedy still fresh in Malaysian minds, DAP veteran Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw penned an ode to the importance of environmental stewardship.

“This (poem) is just to make sure you do not interfere with the environment.

“Because if you interfere with nature, you are courting disaster,” said Dr Tan yesterday.

He said the authorities should not “touch any hills” unless environment experts have surveyed the selected areas and given their approval for the development, provided that all conditions set by these experts have been fulfilled.

“It is not just in Penang. I go around Malaysia and I see the same thing,” he said.

On Sunday night, Dr Tan took to Twitter to post his poem, titled Tanah runtuh di lereng bukit (Landslide on the hillslopes). The poem reads: Ibu jaga anak kan sakit (A mother takes care of her child who is sick), Darah tubuh beban kesihatan (The blood in the body is a burden to health); Pemaju bina leretan bukit (Developers build on a row of hills),

Tanah runtuh korban insan (Lives are sacrificed in landslides).

Dr Tan also tweeted the same poem in Jawi.

This is not the first time Dr Tan has spoken out about the environment.

In June, Dr Tan faced backlash from members of his own party after he criticised the Penang government on Facebook, saying Balik Pulau had become “less green” of late.

However, Dr Tan asserted that his poem was not a jab at the state government or his party.

According to him, it had nothing to do with politics and was purely about the environment.

He was only speaking out against development that did not place enough emphasis on the environment.

“I just don’t agree with it, whether it is Penang, Johor, Pahang or Kelantan.

“In Malaysia, we must be very strict. We must look at all of it again, these hillside developments. We must review the whole situation,” he said.