Professor

:

Hello Samuel, how can I help you?

Samuel

:

Ok, yar. We need your expertise and we would like to ask you a few questions.

Professor

:

Yar, go ahead. I think I have ten minutes with you.

Samuel

:

Ok, firstly, I would like to ask you about the haze that has been affecting Singapore and South-east Asia annually.

Professor

:

Annually?

Interference and some technical difficulties. Unable to make out words. Professor tries to interpret question.

Professor

:

I don’t think we have a smoke haze annually.

Samuel

:

I mean, around October… It is around the October period

Professor

:

So you are asking me about the environmental impacts of the smoke haze when it comes around October. When you say annually, I think you mean every year?

Clement

:

Urm yes actually it kinds of occur every year. It is just that its more serious some years; it is less serious in other year.

Professor:

:

Okay, so you are asking me what sort of impacts.

Samuel

:

Ai. Good.

Professor

:

And I would say the usual environmental impacts would include change in air quality, reduction in visibility and things that you probably can read off the web. I was thinking that you could be asking me some questions that are more wide, stuff that you can’t get from the web.

Samuel

:

Actually, we came up that, you know haze in a way contributes to global warming right?

Professor

:

No it doesn’t contribute. What gave you the idea?

Clement

:

Um ok so … um sir… can you like… um… explain to us how come it does not?

Professor

:

Why don’t you just tell me why you think it affects… or it… it contributes to global warming, and then I’ll see if you’re on the right track.

Ji Heng

:

Ok sir I’m Samuel’s friend, I’m Ji Heng and we’re doing project together. So can we ah… I just ask you lah. You know during this project we actually went online to research for background information. We found out that the farmers in Indonesia use the ‘slash-and-burn’ method to clear the land because it is cheap, correct?

Professor

:

All the land and as well as the large plantations, yes.

Ji Heng

:

Using this method they burn the land and the fire produces carbon dioxide when combusting. Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gases and will contribute to global warming.

Professor

:

No doubt.

Ji Heng

:

So can we like… actually… know why just now you said that ah… yah

Professor

:

Ok what you meant was that smoke haze is global warming. But what you are saying is that fire contributes to global warming. These are two different things.

Ji Heng

:

Oh oh.

Professor

:

One is the cause, one is the result! So what you say is that the result of the burning causes the global warming, which is inaccurate. What is accurate is that the activity of slash-and-burn reduces the carbon in the biomass in the carbon dioxide and therefore contributes to global warming. Correct. But the smoke haze, being phenomena, whereby the increased air pollution causes global warming, no.

Ji Heng

:

Oh ok.

Professor

:

They are entirely different issues.

Ji Heng

:

Okay.

Professor

:

Mmm. So did you get that?

Group

:

Yes sir.

Ji Heng

:

Moving on to the next question… uh can you suggest any other alternative methods for farmers to clear the land, like because as you explained just now, farmers use the slash-and-burn method. But actually we would ask for your opinion on other alternative methods.

Professor

:

Well, there are alternative methods for various scales of agriculture. At the local field when you’re talking about the traditional agriculture, there are few options for the farmers as they are not economically well to do. For them it probably is difficult to think of other methods to clear the land for cultivation. On the other hand for companies that own large plantations, they probably are the ones who will contribute more to the haze situation. The large plantations should look at the method of their clearing and they have the resources to do that. They can always use machinery and they can also be very careful about how they can minimize the effect of their clearing to the surrounding land. So agriculture is practiced at different scales in Indonesia one at the subsistent level and one at the commercial level. And the change in the practice in large scale plantations that will be more impact on the environment.

Ji Heng

:

Ok thank you. We indeed get a better insight. We did not manage to get this off the web.

Clement

:

Sir I’m Clement, another of Samuel’s project group.

Professor

:

Sure.

Clement

:

So in this year 2007 what’s your take on the haze? Do you think it is going to be worse, like the newspaper said, or what?

Professor

:

Um… at the moment it is still a question. According to the latest predictions by the Ento-centre that basically looks at whether there is a El-Nino or not, there are no clear indications of what the condition would be like at the later part of the year. The predictions are only up to about ___, so we cannot really predict. However, if the type of agriculture activity that are conducted in the next parts of the year, whether is there going to be a El-Nino condition or not will still result in the smoke haze. Because if annually there is some kind of smoke haze, difference comes in the magnitude. So it is very hard to predict because there are two factors that are involved here –one human and two nature. But when both human and nature work in the same direction to increase the smoke haze production then it would be a more terrible one.

Clement

:

Ok yes.

Ji Heng

:

Sir can we ask a follow-up question?

Professor

:

Of course, go!

Ji Heng

:

You know actually the haze situation this year and maybe in future may actually be closely related to the Indonesian government – their role in the solving of this haze situation right? Do you get me, sir?

Professor

:

I got your statement but I didn’t get your question.

Ji Heng

:

Oh ok. Now I just ask… You know this government… what do you think the government should actually imply… uh no.. what role should the government play; what actions should they take to solve the haze problem?

Professor

:

Well I have to clarify – what actions should they take or what actions will they take?

Ji Heng

:

What actions should they take, in your own opinion, because…

Professor

:

Ok fine. It has all been the biggest concern as the world has been focusing on them since the 1997 smoke haze. Um and the worse event on using fire as a method of land-clearing during this Sahara’s rain 1997. What we saw was that there was no follow through of that particular law. By looking at the historical incident what we can understand is that the government level policies such as _____ an example would be useful in inserting the right directions for the rest of the people in the country, whether it is industrialist, agriculturist, and so on. It sort of let them know that the government wants to do something to stop this haze. However having a legislation of such a law is not sufficient. The government should also take part in some kinds of active policing of such legislation. That means you can have a law, but the law is not useful unless you get people to enforce the law and check if the farmers are doing their work correctly. It isn’t simply drawing up a law. It is also after drawing a law drawing up, maybe, committees or departments or organizations that will take part actively and routinely check on the activities around and make sure that people are abiding to those laws. Ok so it is not just law-making but also law-enforcing.

Ji Heng

:

We see the two sides have very great parts to play — the people and the government – the people will have to carry out the law.

Group

:

Anything else?

Samuel

:

No. That’s all the questions that we have for you, sir.

Professor

:

Ok, you have a good day. And I wish you success in your project.

Group

:

Thank you very much!

Professor

:

Welcome! Bye bye.