Hazy Days
Porcorosso has a solution to the haze problem blighting South East Asia at the moment. As far as we know, these are caused by fires in Indonesia. Most are started at the behest of plantation owners. Most of these plantation owners have private bank accounts in Singapore. Most of these people would not like the Indonesian tax authorities to know about these accounts. If we get the MAS to tell the Indonesian tax authorities about these accounts, Porco is certain the fires will stop before the MAS can finish reciting the numbers which identify these accounts. And we will have blue skies over Sentosa – just you wait and see.
October 16, 2006 at 9:51 am
Haha! Very clever. Worth $100 as a WITs suggestion,
October 16, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Yea but not worth much to our economy.. oops! haha
October 16, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Quick Quick, let us calculate. Lost tourist $$$ vs. lost plantation $$$. Hmm. doesn’t look good for clear skies.
October 17, 2006 at 12:58 am
well, we’ll just have to see if anything gets done …
October 17, 2006 at 1:12 am
If we implement this excellent solution, we will have clear skies and lots of unemployed private bankers and share prices for big local banks going south. Do you want to have private banking trained taxi drivers?
October 17, 2006 at 3:03 am
porco thinks rich indonesian plantation owners would not be banking with local banks, in any event, porco is not about to shed any tears for private bankers …
October 17, 2006 at 1:24 pm
in the first place, i think subsistence farmers are the main culprits. they “slash and burn” the land for the cultivation of their own crops, selling whatever extras for monetary income. i may be wrong about this.
whether these farmers are working the land under the control of a landowner, that i have no idea.
but it may well be the big plantation owners who are behind this smoky pall.
October 17, 2006 at 1:30 pm
add on to post no. 7:
why do they “slash and burn”? the matchstick is way cheaper than renting/buying trucks or bulldozers to clear the land properly. most of these farmers aren’t educated about environmental damage. even if they do realise it, they continue to raze the forest so, knowing that fire is a good slave but a bad master. if it gets the job done and at minimal cost, why not give a shot?
October 17, 2006 at 3:21 pm
porco is inclined to think these fires are on a much larger scale than subsistence farming would indicate – the area cleared for a family to farm would be small and is unlikely to cause the amount of haze we see – also if there is a correlation, when the Indonesian economy is doing well, the haze gets worse. Surely subsistence farming remains the same regardless of the health of the domestic economy.
October 20, 2006 at 1:36 am
“when the Indonesian economy is doing well, the haze gets worse”
I think this is not a direct correlation. While clearing land, stock market shoots up? Of course not. As a banker, I’m surprised you made this coffeeshop-esque comment. I hate the haze too, but your sentence is grasping at straws. Money is only made when the crops are actually harvested. Economy growth has many factors anc contributors from many sectors besides agricultural.
October 20, 2006 at 5:08 am
I have an idea too. Turn the plantation into a live firing area. Hold live firing exercises. Regularly.
October 20, 2006 at 11:27 am
the last time the haze was so bad was in 97/98… wasnt that when the indo economy was at its worst?
November 25, 2008 at 3:19 pm
very nice site with some great post keep up the great work