White Phosphorus Kills life

By: Khalid Abu Fayyad



A few days ago, several studies by human rights organisations and medical experts have confirmed the use of White Phosphorus (WP) by Israeli occupation in its last aggression against Palestinian civilians in Gaza strip.

Using the WP for military purposes is controversial issue. While Geneva Convention on chemical weapons does not include the white phosphorus use as one of chemical weapons, some international organizations consider it as a chemical weapon. Regardless of these differences, our concern here what is White Phosphorous? What its effects on the health and environment?

WP is a waxy and transparent substance, with a yellowish colour and a smell similar to garlic odor. It is made of phosphates and reacts rapidly with oxygen, resulting in dense white fire and smoke.When phosphorus exposes to air, it generates a huge amount of heat that detonates phosphate element. Such explosion caused by this heat, produces a yellow flame and becomes aglow in dark.



WP can be used for many purposes. By virtue of the smoke that the WP could create, it can be used as signal to determine the army location. It can be also used to make a smokescreen to mask the enemy vision and its movements. In addition, WP is used to destroy the enemy’s weapons such as vehicles, oils, and petroleum and ammunition storage. Little amount of WP also used in fireworks and pesticides.

Health Effects

Due to extensive burns which WP can cause, it could result in kidney, heart and liver damage. Further, the use of WP can burn the human being body from flesh to the bone.

The inhalation of WP smoke for long period causes illnesses such as breaking jaw bone and injuries in the mouth while the inhalation of smoke for short period does have the possibility to cause irritation of the eyes and the respiratory system.

Environmental Effects

Moreover, W P pollutes air, soil and water and destroys biodiversity. Air becomes polluted with gases which results in burning of the phosphorus. These kinds of gazes are dangerous and poisonous. They can cause damages for respiratory and nervous systems of children and old people in particular.

Contamination of water and soil can be resulted in deposition of WP on the ground and bottom of seas and rivers. Thus, people are exposed to WP by eating polluted fish and swimming in contaminated water.

Finally, the spread of WP substance doses have massive destruction to the natural ecosystem of plants and animals and contamination of agricultural products that can be consumed later in the food chain.

Captive Breeding is not the Right Method to Conserve Animals

By: Azlan Abdul Rahman

“I was born in Sungai Petani, Kedah. My mum was an incubator which hatches me for about 48 days. I was born with my seven other siblings. We live, eat and play together in a small house named cage” … This is a story of a cockatiel bird (nymphicus hollandiscus) which undergoes the process of captive breeding.

Based on WWF Policy Statement 2007, captive breeding is the process of breeding animals outside of their natural environment in restricted conditions such as in farms, zoos or other closed facilities. The total methods and processes of captive breeding are controlled by humans. There are several points and reasons on why captive breeding is important to be implemented. Obviously, captive breeding is carried out to produce animals for commercial purposes, for instance, pets, food, medicine and other human uses. It is also meant to produce animals for zoos, aquaria, research institutions and other public facilities. And lastly, captive breeding is also being implemented to increase captive population numbers of threatened and endangered species.

However, there are many arguments and debates on the effectiveness of captive breeding especially if we touch on the way of conserving the animals. For instance, captive bred animals mostly pets like birds and reptiles are being produced in large numbers and without any control. This situation looks good where it can help us to enlarge the population of animals but, for me it is just a crime. Why is it so? I have the answer based on my own experience with my pets.


I have a couple of cockatiel bird (nymphicus hollandiscus) which I bought last eight months. This bird is commonly found in Australia and being widely popular pet around the world. I bought this bird as my own pet because I like their behavior, physical appearance as well as their tameness. I named this couple of cockatiel as fawkes (male) and flior (female). They are very beautiful with white in colour feathers for the whole body and yellow-orange crest. However, after two months I rear and live with them, I realized that they are not a “real bird” because they lost their own ability as a bird. What does it means??? For sharing the experience, my fawkes and flior were losing their own ability as a bird as they cannot fly and even find their own foods. Sadly to know that they are actually birds which were produced under the method of captive breeding. Until now, they are still in the small cage because they are hardly to live and survive with my other birds in the large cage. They are still hanging and rely much on their peck to move from edge to edge of the small cage. I labeled this method as a crime to animal.

My own experience with my pets makes me agree on the statement declared by WWF where they said that captive breeding process is the last idea or a “last resort” strategy to conserve animals. Even though there are some captive breeding activities which succeed such as breeding the endangered animals like Iberian Lynx (lynx paradinus), Peregrine Falcon (falco peregrines) and Golden-Lion Tamarin (leontopithecus chrysomelas), this process is still need to be think twice before it be implemented. By taking apart the animals from their own habitat, environment, preys as well as their predators are not the effective actions because we need to know that their natural environment and surrounding is the best place to learn and live as an animal. So what is more important is not breeding them in “artificial way” but conserving and taking care of their habitat and natural environment. By taking care the natural environment, we are not only conserving the animals but also our own live for the next generation.

Elak Kemusnahan Khazanah Laut

Oleh: Afra Fardillah Zai Mustapar

Bingit dengan deruan enjin kenderaan di kesibukan kota, kadangkala membuatkan kita terfikir untuk menikmati deruan ombak menghempas pantai disamping dapat merehatkan minda yang sesak dengan bebanan kerja. Kebiasaannya, pulau peranginan akan menjadi pilihan utama pelbagai jenis lapisan masyarakat bagi menikmati keindahan laut Malaysia yang sememangnya kaya dengan khazanah laut dengan lebih 400 spesies batu karang dan lebih 1,000 spesies ikan. Namun begitu, keseronokan hanya sebentar sahaja kerana apabila sampai di tempat yang tujui, harapan musnah dan mata semakin sakit melihat air laut yang semakin tercemar dan bertukar warna serta pantai yang sudah tidak lagi terpelihara. Akta Kualiti Alam Sekitar 1974 mendefinasikan pencemaran adalah sebarang perubahan samada secara langsung atau tidak langsung kepada sifat-sifat fizik, kimia, biologi atau aras-aras radiasi mana-mana bahagian alam sekeiling dengan melepaskan, mengeluarkan atau meletakkan buangan hingga menjejaskan kegunaan-kegunaan berfaedah, yang menimbulkan sesuatu keadaan berbahaya atau mungkin berbahaya kepada kesihatan, keselamatan atau kebajikan awam atau organisma-organisma lain seperti tumbuhan dan haiwan.

Akibat kerakusan manusia yang tidak pernah puas merompak hasil perut bumi, khazanah laut turut menjadi mangsa dek kerana sikap manusia seperti ini. Di Malaysia, pencemaran sisa industri yang mengalir ke laut terutama di negeri-negeri perindustrian seperti Johor, Pulau Pinang harus diberikan perhatian sepenuhnya. Ini kerana pencemaran seperti itu dipercayai boleh menjejaskan hidupan marin dan seterusnya sumber makanan dan ekonomi nelayan yang menangkap ikan secara tradisional. Berbeza pula dengan pulau-pulau peranginan yang terletak di pantai timur Semenanjung Malaysia seperti Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang dan Pulau Lang Tengah yang dikatakan kaya dengan pebagai jenis biodiversiti laut seperti terumbu karang yang telah diwartakan sebagai Taman Laut dalam beberapa kajian. Pulau ini juga dikatakan sering menjadi tumpuan pelancong kerana pantainya yang bersih dah masih terselamat dari pencemaran dan aktiviti manusia. Kawasan ini perlu dipelihara memandangkan ianya terdedah kepada ancaman kemusnahan sama ada secara semulajadi atau kesan daripada aktiviti manusia. Langkah mewujudkan Taman Laut Malaysia sebagai kawasan perlindungan laut sejak 1994 melalui Akta Perikanan 1985 merupakan satu permulaan yang baik dalam usaha untuk memulihara khazanah laut.

Di samping itu, pembangunan baru seperti chalet dan resort harus dikurangkan bagi mengelakkan berlakunya pencemaran seperti di Pulau Langkawi dan Pulau Pangkor. Bagaimanapun, dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan sektor pelancongan, perlu ada keseimbangan antara langkah pemuliharaan dan pelancongan. Ini bagi memastikan dengan kehadiran pelancong tidak akan menjejaskan terumbu karang dan menjejaskan usaha-usaha pemuliharaan yang diusahakan oleh pelbagai pihak yang terbabit.

Oleh yang demikian, bagi mencapai objektif sebenar pemuliharaan laut, pelbagai pihak seperti orang ramai, Jabatan Perikanan, Jabatan Taman Laut, Kementerian Pelancongan dan Jabatan Alam Sekitar perlu bekerja sama mengurus dan mengekalkan keaslian laut secara tegas dan lestari.

Stop Cruelty to Animals

By Gowri Sritharan

Humans have always been regarded as the supreme species in the animal kingdom. Besides being the most intelligent and civilized, the trait that sets us apart is the fact that we’re able to effectively express feelings, feelings such as compassion and thoughtfulness.

We saw just how true this was in the recent events of war and catastrophe that unfolded across the world, following which people from miles and miles away, whether they were directly involved or not, felt so strongly for the misfortune that had descended upon their fellow humans. From building shelters and new homes to burial sites and memorial grounds, men did all in his power to help the living and honour the dead. All this warmth and compassion for mankind during times of destruction and devastation was moving, for it was a real comfort that people were not selfish but put the needs of the less fortunate before theirs. Yet, is this the case when the less fortunate we’re talking about are not humans, but animals?

In Spain, at the end of the hunting season when dogs are of no further use to the hunters, they are hanged to death from trees and left to rot. In laboratories all around the world, animals are abused for the purpose of research. For example, the legs of dogs are deliberately shattered for reasons of studying psychological stress, with no medical treatment given even once the experiment is completed.

Is this considered human compassion and warmth? No. Cruelty to animals is what it’s called.

Although these may be minor incidences of abuse to pets, in actual fact, animal cruelty has been pushed to such extents that for most it is an occupation, a way to make a living. Wildlife crime is the second most profitable illegal trade after that of drugs. It is estimated to be worth 25 billion US dollars annually, a huge sum of which comes from the sale of animals as food. Commonly known as “gourmet cruelty”, it reveals just how man’s greed for self-satisfaction and wealth has driven him to such atrocious exploitations.

The dog: man’s best friend? To most yes, but to a certain few it’s food. Moran Market in Sungnam City boasts one of the largest dog markets in Korea. At the entrance of this market are guards who prevent foreigners and animal activist from entering, as dog meat dealers have become hostile to those who disapprove. Dogs throughout Korea are bred and transported to the market in tightly crammed cages, where the selected dog is then dragged away to its death. A fire torch is used to burn the fur off the dog before they are stripped off their skin and slaughtered.

In the Philippines, dogs are usually sold whole while still alive. Their front limbs are dislocated and tied painfully behind their backs, and a tin can is jammed over their jaws to make them easier to handle.

Sharks are one of the many animals threatened to extinction because of man’s greed. Sharks are dwindling in population throughout the world due to sharks fin soup, a symbol of wealth and a meal of honour in uptown China. Finning sharks is a brutal practice carried out all over the globe. After a shark is caught, its fins are sliced off and packed away. The bleeding, limbless shark is then thrown back into the sea, in most instances still alive. They later die as other sharks and fishes feed on them, or die through suffocation as they can no longer swim. Is a bowl of soup worth the survival of the sharks?

It is not only in Asia that animals are exploited for food. The famous French culinary delight, “foie gras”, is not the liver of just any duck or goose, but it is the grossly enlarged liver of these birds. Birds raised for this gourmet are fed enormous amounts of food through a long metal pipe three times a day. The painful feeding continues for over a month, during which time the bird’s liver swells up to over 12 times its actual healthy size. In some cases, ducks literally burst open because of overfeeding, or choke to death on their own vomit.

Why are people allowing themselves to be driven by greed? What is money earned over the suffering and death of another life? This injustice has to stop! Law enforcements and education alone are not sufficient to end animal cruelty. People need to set aside their arrogance and realise that between humans and animals, none is dominant. People have no right to take control over the lives of animals they co-exist with on this planet. The authority to do that still lies with mother nature.

An appeal to fellow humans: The next time you sit down to a meal, take a good look at what is on your plate. Do your bit by making sure it didn’t get there through torture, suffering and cruelty. Your disregard to do so would make you no better than those actually involved in the act of killing. Have some compassion, and remember, when the buying stops, the killing can too.