KUCHING: The public have been advised to think of sustainability in everything they do in life.
Dr Florianna Lendai Michael, a senior lecturer of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development (FSKPM) at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), pointed out that the environment, for instance, must be protected for the benefit of humanity and future generations.
She gave the advice during a live talk entitled “Introduction of Sustainable Development” on Pustaka Negeri Sarawak’s Facebook yesterday morning.
“Any human activity or action concerning the environment should be carried out in a standardised manner so that it does not have a negative impact on the environment.
“Whatever development projects we carry out today must also benefit future generations and are not wasted.
“Environmental preservation must also be broad; every component of the environment must be preserved in order to attain sustainability.”
Dr Florianna pointed out that public awareness on sustainable development in Sarawak was still poor.
“For example, in Kuching, people are building more houses and buildings. Our main concern is that after the new buildings are built, the old buildings will be abandoned, causing an imbalance in between human basic needs and the development of the country,” she said
Sustainable development, she explained, had to do with the belief that civilisations must survive and meet current human needs without endangering the needs of future generations.
“Whether we like it or not, the industrial revolution has had an undeniable impact on our environment, which is why we need sustainability in our lives,” said Dr Florianna.
“What saddens me is that the inequality gap between the rich and the poor is widening in this era and is affecting humanity, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic hits us.
“The rich appear to be still rich while the poor are becoming poorer, indicating poor sustainability in our lives,” she added.
“As human population grows, there are environmental and societal problems. Basic human needs are not met, resources decrease, the quality of life is low, there’s industrial pollution, and tragically, these will not stop anytime soon,” explained Dr Florianna.
“When our basic human needs are not satisfied, our quality of life will suffer greatly. For example, in the case of basic necessities such as food, when the prices rise but earnings remain low, life goes out of balance.”
Dr Florianna stressed that numerous actions must be taken to maintain sustainability in life.
“We can provide adequate health care quality not just in the urban areas but rural areas as well, take actions against climate changes and protect the biodiversity in life.
“The most important action to consider is ensuring everyone has access to education. Some people need to buy or repair laptops for educational purposes but they simply cannot afford to do so because they do not have the money. That is why we must understand other people’s problems.
“For instance, during this pandemic, not every teacher can teach online and this, in a way, has affected the education system. This leads to poor sustainability development since the quality of education is now low,” Dr Florianna concluded.
