Even as most of us are still in shock over the tragedy in the US, it is time for us to ponder the destruction closer to home, especially the continuous pollution of our environment by irresponsible individuals and companies with a couldn't-care-less attitude.

Some examples of their destructive actions:

- Dumping acids from batteries into drains, eventually ending up in rivers.

- Throwing plastic containers, sometimes with traces of poison, practically everywhere.

- Picnickers making campsite fires too close to the roots of trees.

- Leaving empty gas canisters to rust at campsites.

- Throwing cigarette butts out of cars indiscriminately, sometimes resulting in forest fires.

- Dumping construction materials by the roadsides.

- Diesel engines spewing forth fumes as if the Road Transport Department enforcement officers never existed!

- Overuse of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilisers at highland farms, which are usually washed off into rivers downhill.

- Construction of mega-projects on highland ranges without conducting Environmental Impact Assessment reports, resulting in bare mountain tops that bring down tons of mud during downpours.

- Destruction of trees like Kayu Gaharu, Tongkat Ali, and others without studying them for conservation.

- Not maximising the use of land, resulting in large forest areas being sacrificed and endangering our own ecosystem.

- Factories releasing wastes into drains, usually in the wee hours of the morning when no one is around to report on them.