WHAT AN INSULT!

These recent news on the proposed development of the Southern Islands have got many people on their feet, e.g. BlueBabe, WildSingapore. There are many ways to think about this issue, and I am trying hard to not jump out of my chair, thinking of various ways these developments can be good for anyone, e.g. more jobs created, more tourists, less nature areas to worry about, more money saved not diving in Singapore etc... many many more...

So I tried to put myself in the shoes of a natural plant/animal in the Southern Islands... like a coral, or a reef crab, or just a simple protist like a dinoflagellate/zooxanthella. You know, looking at things from different perspectives mah... It seems that those people with the ideas are saying that Singapore's natural environment in the Southern Islands are not good enough to bring in the visitors... WHAT AN INSULT!

The simple coral with its zooxanthellae, and the associated reef crabs apparently bring in more than AU$2 billion a year for Australia. So they think resorts are great... wait till tourists check into the possible luxurious resorts in the islands and find themselves bored to death! No fish to fish, no reefs to dive, no rocky beaches to walk on, etc. - only white artificial sand that I can buy and put at home even... These remaining biodiversity has survived all the #$%# prior developments/reclamation (remember I'm speaking on behalf of the corals and crabs - explains the expletives) with such resilience, just to be unappreciated at the end. WHAT AN INSULT!

Let's see who get's the last laugh... Probably not the natural organisms above (but I bet they would if they could). I would, at least from watching tourists who can only eat, sleep and walk along white sandy ARTIFICIAL beaches in the future (possible) Southern Islands.