LETTER | “When the last tree is cut down,

The last fish is eaten

and the last stream is poisoned

you will realise that you cannot eat money.”

- Cree Indian Prophecy

There was a time when the sea off Straits Quay was open and free

The red egg-yolk sun rising on the horizon - a glorious morning to see

The sea breeze swept away stress or sigh

Waves rolling in and breaking lifted spirits high.

Sailboats and fishing boats were a sight to enjoy

Families of otters darting in and out of the waters - a joy

Eagles soar high up every morning in the vast sky

The sea a calming space of silence, a dream in a lullaby.

The making of a 280ha island has since transformed this natural beauty

Revealing the red and ugly face of the CCCC

Its fleet of teratais, barges, and tugboats intrusively scour the sea

Drowning sanity and serenity with its 'artillery’ in a flurry of activity.

From Gurney Drive to the approved/proposed Tanjung Tokong jetty

The intrusion of the CCCC looks like an insidious ‘rape’ of the sea

Splurging sand and mounting boulders hastily

A Great Wall is erected to alter the tides and dam the sea.

Despair turned to anger to see otters feed on styrofoam bobbing in the sea

A ‘floating factory’ in close proximity giving a new meaning to ‘living-by-the sea

Excavators drummed up at odd hours a racket too much to bear

Assaulting the silence of the sea, puncturing the peace of the air.

What use is a RM5 billion budget allocation for a Green Financing Scheme

When conservation and protection of our green lungs - the forests and sea are a scream?

How effective are provisions for monitoring and evaluating social and environmental impacts when it's enforcement is volte-face?

As greed, profits and politics take precedence over a good eco-system in the first place?

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.