Ravi Philemon
“Earth Hour Singapore is taking place this Saturday March 28 at 8.30 pm…(and) official celebrations will be taking place at the Botanic Gardens…”, announced World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Singapore recently.
The Online Citizen was invited to the press conference which was to be held at the Botany Centre in the Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG). But the press conference was not to be. If there was a proper media conference as announced, a question was begging to be asked, “Why was Singapore Botanical Gardens chosen as the venue for the press conference and the multimedia presentation for the Earth Hour?”
This question begs the asking because SBG recently hosted an orchid naming ceremony for Thein Sein, the Prime Minister and the fourth-highest ranking general of the junta which rules Myanmar. The junta is well known for its atrocities against its own people and for the curbing of social and political rights.
A brutal indictment
In 2005, former Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel and South Africa’s retired Bishop Desmond M Tutu, wrote a report on Burma for the United Nations Security Council. The 2005 Havel/Tutu report was a complete indictment of the most brutal military dictatorship in the world today. The report indicated that the military kidnaps male children at an early age and trains them in the use of weapons by age eleven. It is estimated that nearly 70,000 children have been forced to join the military in this manner. The country is also the world’s leading producer of heroin and is heavily involved in drug trafficking.
In addition to the drugs and rampant child abuse, thousands of Burma villages have been systematically destroyed by the military Junta. Over 200,000 refugees have fled the country to escape the brutality of the regime. In Burma, there are no basic human rights, healthcare, education, political rights, or free speech. Atrocities like murder, rape, and forced labor are quite common.
In addition, HIV and AIDS are a major problem in the country as well. In effect, the military’s corrupt ruling Junta has succeeded in making Burma one of the poorest countries in the world.
More recently, Amnesty International reported on the Rohingyas, a Muslim ethnic minority in Burma who are subjected to multiple restrictions and human rights violations by the ruling junta – among them, restriction of movement, forced labour, forced eviction and land confiscation and various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation.
A virus amongst the bona fide
SBG has tarnished and dishonored the true VIPs after whom orchid hybrids have been named in the VIP Orchid Garden of SBG. The orchid hybrids of bona-fide world leaders like Dendrobium Margaret Thatcher and Renantanda Akihito must have bowed their heads in shame to be placed alongside Dendrobium Thein Sein. Dendrobium Memoria Princess Diana and Vandaenopsis Nelson Mandela, the orchid hybrids of real social and human-rights activists, must have surely felt that Dendrobium Thein Sein was actually a virus among them.
Even if the WWF does not concern itself primarily with issues of human rights abuses of any regime, should not WWF havreconsidered using SBG as one of its main venue for its Earth Hour activities in Singapore to show its displeasure at the Botanical Gardens’ hosting of the orchid naming ceremony for Thein Sein; considering the fact that wildlife and natural resources are being abused by the ruling junta of Burma?
WWF itself has named Burma as a hot-spot for ivory and elephant trading and it had also cited that tiger and wildcats parts are often sold openly in Burma. London-based environmental group Global Witness estimates that 1.5 million tonnes of illegally logged timber; worth at least $350 million was shipped illegally into China in 2005.
WWF Singapore has no response
The Online Citizen queried WWF International with this very same question and they replied, “Thanks for your email and interest in WWF’s Earth Hour. Unfortunately, do the huge number of events happening around the world covering Earth Hour, we are not in a position to know the specific details of the event you mention. This would have been organized by the WWF-Singapore office…” after which they indicated the contact details for WWF Singapore.
Upon querying WWF Singapore, they replied, “I understand that you had some concerns regarding the use of the Botanical Gardens? I was interested to hear about your concerns from my colleagues but unfortunately on this occasion the issue you raise re: Myanmar is not really something the WWF has a response on.”
How could WWF Singapore not have a response to such a pertinent query? By refusing to answer a question that has a logical and precise relevance to the matter at hand, has WWF Singapore reneged on being the well-renowned environmental activist organisation that it is reputed to be? Did Weber Shandwick, the public relations firm which touts itself as “one of the world’s leading public relations firms with an unprecedented and award-winning network across Asia Pacific, reaching from China to Australia and India to Japan”, and hired by WWF Singapore to help organise the Earth Hour events, fail to advise the latter properly on the implications of using SBG by WWF Singapore for its events?
For over four decades the Panda logo has been a recognizable symbol of WWF and its efforts in wildlife and habitat conservation. But the Earth Hour celebration by the Panda in SBG is indeed a sad day; for it was a day when the Panda trampled on the true Orchids.
Organisations like WWF Singapore are in best position to exercise their corporate citizenry, to pressure SBG over the orchid naming issue. Having said that, should every organisation which professes to support human rights and green issues, now avoid using SBG since Dendrobium Thein Sein in all probability may not be removed from the SBG’s VIP Orchid Gardens? It is a decision best left to the organisations themselves. But such decisions should be done only after careful consideration of all options. And when queried on their right in exercising these options, such organisations should not reply “we have no response”, which actually means that they have not thought through the implications.
This year SBG celebrates its 150th anniversary. In conjunction with the celebrations SBG has organised a month long exhibition titled, “The seed that changed the world”. Should concerned Singaporeans boycott this exhibition because of the “Orchid that tainted the Gardens?”
Cartoon of orchid from My Sketchbook.
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I smell lame political opportunism – mixing up Earth Hour and the naming of a flower after a despot.
I honestly see no link between the hosting of Earth Hour and the naming of the orchid after a militant despot. I don’t think it is a very big issue, after all, the SBG is merely a location, and the holding of Earth Hour at the garden should not be misconstrued as being misguided.
It is understandable if the WWF has no response to the query, after all, they are a NGO primarily concerned with animal welfare.
I certainly will boycott the SBG exhibition and alert others to do so.
Terence Lee@2: Is SBG merely a location? Is it not part of the Government Statutory Board NParks? If SBG was merely a ‘location’, how could it host the Orchid Naming Ceremony for Thein Sein? The fact remain, SBG is a legal entity. Even if it was a mere venue, could you imagine the tragic irony of holding a human rights exhibition today in Tienanmen Square? And there was no implication that WWF Singapore was misguided in their decision. Perhaps just misinformed. The article suggests why WWF Singapore being an ‘animal welfare; NGO should have done better homework before choosing SBG for its events.
hmm.. sorry to say but i find the association and argument contrite and pedantic. everything/everywhere in singapore, by your definition, can be a legal entity. so does that mean these places must be answerable to you? i wish your argument was stronger, if not, another topic altogether.
Ravi,
SBG is a place which encompass more things than the administrative entity, be it statutory board or NPark. Just like Singapore is a place which encompass more things than PAP or the ruling government.
Hold the administrative entity accountable by all means, but the place is innocent.
Regards.
While I wouldn’t go as far as to call for a boycott of SBG, I would like to see the Thein Sein orchid removed or renamed.
Andrew Loh – you wrote in your earlier article that George Yeo responded to your comments on his Facebook about this. What did he say and can you publish it?
There are many of my contemporaries in the UK who would say that Dendrobium Margaret Thatcher deserves to be along side Dendrobium Thein Sein.
“Hold the administrative entity accountable by all means, but the place is innocent.”
I love the place, SBG.
why make life so complicated. botanical garden is a nice place to visit so dont mix politics with visiting. it is your loss just because some flower is naned after some guy and u boycott visiting the place. really silly loh
Quite the connection you’ve made between two totally unrelated events. Why bother? What an utter waste of time.
Hippies. Those where the days, when you go to San Francisco with a flower in your hair. Flower power.
Looks like this is a different kind of flower power.
What a waste of time reading this article. Good intention but tenuous linkage between the condemntation of the junta and environmentalism.
By the same logic, foreigners should be advised to boycott all of Singapore, since ultimately Singaporeans and their government are responsible for the orchid naming, right? Perhaps people who honor a despot should also share in his sanction.
the underlying point in these issues, WWF/Earth hour and honouring despotic leaders with crime against humanity records, as mentioned boils down to ethics and morality. if these issues have no relationship, why did China send diplomatic protest to japan when the pm visited the shrine but the intention was not to pay tribute to the war criminals?
Well, I can suggest one reason in defence of WWF. This Earth Hour activity is probably in the plans for quite some time. I’m not sure when the orchid naming was announced, but it is not too early and thus I don’t think WWF can easily change the location of their activity on such short notice.
Suppose WWF makes a last minute change, giving people only a few days’ notice. Think of the resources needed to publicise this fact, as well as the fallout (to environmental efforts) if people turned up at the SBG to find that it has moved elsewhere.
Furthermore, environmental activism is still fragile in Singapore, and I doubt WWF will want to make opponents with entities like SBG. It will setback the environmental movement as a whole.
While I condemn the naming of the orchid, I don’t think WWF should modify its original plans, given that the harm to environmental efforts may be greater. Of course, anyone is free to disagree with me (and WWF), but personally I hold environmental activism above social activism (if I’m really forced to rank those two in a naive fashion), so I don’t think it is really fair to level too severe a criticism against WWF.
a question was begging to be asked ,”Why was Singapore Botanical Gardens chosen as the venue for the press conference and the multimedia presentation for the Earth Hour?”
Because the location fits the theme of nature conservation and preservation. As simple as that, and #15 Jackson’s reasons are sensible too.
This question begs the asking because SBG recently hosted an orchid naming ceremony for Thein Sein
So? WWF, or any other organisation, cannot hold an event there because an orchid was named after Thein Sein? Some people think Thein Sein should not be given this honour, because he is part of a repressive (or even illegitimate) regime. This is the issue. How is the location where he is given this honour relevant at all?
SBG has tarnished and dishonored the true VIPs after whom orchid hybrids have been named
I can say, because of the orchids named after the true VIPs, that is why WWF and other organisations should hold their events there.
Should concerned Singaporeans boycott this exhibition because of the “Orchid that tainted the Gardens?”
Nope. Because both are entirely separate issues. Furthermore, the “Orchid” is not exactly tainting the Gardens, but actually drawing a question on how pragmatic the S’pore govt should be in treating foreign guests, no matter what they had done in the past. There’s a good TOC article on this topic a few days ago.
In conclusion – misdirected concern.
Now that I remember it, the government has had a history of pimping honours away to dubious leaders who don’t really deserve it.
It was after all a few years ago that NUS decided to award an honorary doctorate of laws to the Sultan of Johore….the same Sultan who was happy enough to act above the law to beat his own golf caddy to death, prompting then prime minister Dr Mahathir to abolish royal immunity from criminal prosecution for all the royal families in Malaysia.
Let’s hope only the orchid is used as foreplay with the Burmese junta and never our entire botanical gardens. Because if this becomes a yearly affair, very soon some part of the garden will be dedicated to the Burmese junta. Afterall they do have many members and a system of rotation.
It may dawn on Thein Sein since he supplied S’pore with sand, it would be appropriate for our govt to suck up more,
like naming some part of Marina bay, resort, beach, building, etc after him.
And of course should this happen, we S’poreans can just ignore the name and simply enjoy the place. lol