The Singapore of old was humorously observed as the Five Cs: Cash, Car, Credit-Card, Condo, and Country-Club. Times have obviously moved on – hopefully we’re all a little less materialistic and now we’re turning our attentions to another letter in the alphabet, the Five Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot.

Much of the following, you’re undoubtedly already doing – or at least variations of. Many people I’ve spoken to from Australia and New Zealand are more than aware of the benefits of recycling, keeping an eye on their impact on the environment. But we can always do with a little booster lesson and an opportunity to share the info.

You’ve watched Al Gore and Leonardo Decaprio’s climate change documentaries; you’re conscientious  on what you buy and where you buy it; you enjoy the outdoors and want to keep it as pristine as possible. But it’s all about doing our bit and being educated so don’t just recycle, refuse plastic; don’t just re-use your clothes, reduce the fashion you buy. It’s incredible the impact we can have collectively so no change in lifestyle is too small. I’m starting today.

REFUSE

Straw Wars

Just say no. Americans use over 500million straws EVERY DAY, and in a world where up to 43{fad86f5e3336133246a213aa2a2588200b27e4ae08b3f6f25405093f2c4991ee} of plastic ends up in a landfill site, these tiny tubes – which, FYI, take 200years to break down – are taking up way too much space. Drink directly from the glass or purchase a metal or bamboo re-usable straw.

Plastic Not-So-Fantastic

By 2050, the ocean will contain more plastic than fish at the rate we’re disposing one-use items. Remember your reusable bag when heading to the supermarket and say “No, I do not need three plastic bags to individually wrap my bread rolls.”

To Market

Heading to the Tekka or Chinatown wet markets means you’re buying your goods directly and they’re not pre-packaged in a styrofoam tray and enough clingfilm to wrap your first born. Also – although its obviously difficult to avoid in Singapore – you can keep an eye on where your food is flying in from. Buying local produce or picking Asian vegetables over the European counterparts for example reduces the farm-to-table footprint. Tick tick.

REDUCE

Takeaway Your Need

Oh the ease of the food delivery app. A quick select ‘n’ click, and food is enroute within 30minutes – along with three bags, a set of plastic cutlery you won’t use and a container for the three leaves of your side salad. What about your daily coffee from the shop to your desk? I am dreadful at this and my over-flowing bin of disposable cups puts me to shame. Essentially here, it’s about trying to use your supper leftovers for lunch the next day and packing them into reusable tupperware.

On Your Bike

In a city as accessible as Singapore, there really is no excuse not to use the MRT or walk – although sometimes getting to meetings a little flushed and flustered isn’t always the impression you want to start with. There are also the great bike initiatives such as oBike, the “stationless bike-sharing platform”. Download the app, locate your nearest oBike, scan the QR code to unlock it and off you go. Your carbon footprint AND your calories go down. Win, win.

Why to Buy?

Take a look at the Story of Stuff on YouTube: it tells the story of production from extraction to disposal or the “material’s economy”. I found the psychology behind what and why we buy absolutely fascinating – especially as many of us are part of a generation that has grown up on brilliant marketing and the social media pressure for bigger and better. It’s about 20minutes of easy-to-digest info that gets you thinking about what you really need and what your possessions actually mean to you.

Wasted Energy

We’re all concious of turning off the light when we leave a room, but I know I’m still guilty of leaving the TV on standby. I spoke to a firm who look at the energy efficiency of various businesses and advise them on how to reduce costs with the by-product that it is sustainable and good for the envrionment. They drew to my attention that when looking at the business accounts, every last dollar was accounted for but energy isn’t as scrupolously looked at.

Finding out exactly what appliance uses what, could effect your use and in turn, reduce your overall cost.

And it probably goes without saying, but try using a fan instead of your AC blasting out arctic air all day. I don’t want to run the risk of being called an alarmist if I tell you some of the scary figures surrounding AC usage and carbon released into the environment!

REUSE

Fix it, Don’t Bin It

We live in a world where companies deliberately produce items less durable so we have to buy new things; or the technology is developing so quickly that our products rapidly go out of date. However, check out Repair Kopitiam which runs a repair workshop on the last Sunday of every month – they have a Facebook site to confirm locations, dates and registration.

Also, make a point of trying to buy the best you can, when you can – a higher cost to begin with can prove more energy efficient and durable. But you know that.

Upcycle

Recall the Blue Peter programme? What those guys couldn’t make with an old yogurt pot and some sticky back plastic. This is a great aspect of eco-lifestyle that the kids can get involved with. Best advice for some inspiration here is to check out the Festival for Good (see pages 42).

Pass-It-On

With so much disposable fashion, we’re buying and getting rid of more clothing than ever before – and much of it is ending up at landfill. So make sure you donate your second-hand clothes to charities such as the Salvation Army (salvationarmy.org/singapore). Or stores such as H&M have installed recycling bins in their 10 outlets across Singapore to encourage you to drop off unwanted items. Last year, they collected 64 tonnes of second-hand fashion.

RECYCLE

Eeek! E-waste

This is the biggie. With new designs and tech companies wanting us to upgrade and repurchase, it’s no wonder that there’s so much getting thrown in the bin. E-waste (phones, computers, kettles) contain harmful chemicals and so we need to get better at managing this aspect of recycling. Watch out for the RENEW bins at 274 locations across the island – head to www.starhub.com/about-us/corporate-sustainability-and-responsibility/recycling-nations-electronic-waste.html for a full list of what you can and cannot dispose of and bin locations. Also take a look at ReCYCLE (www.recycle.sg/), a programme launched this year between Singtel and SingPost. Unwanted devices can be dropped at Singtel stores or mailed so that the components can be recovered and given a new lease of life. Just trashing your e-waste results in incineration – and all of those toxins smoking up into the atmosphere you live in.

Battery Operated

Rechargeable batteries are best, but the chemicals in any are harmful to the environment. Traces of mercury are found in these as well as fluorescent lamps so there can’t just be thrown into your regular recycling. Currently there is no official programme for your batteries – only for computer and mobile batteries. Problem. However, if you’re near an IKEA, they do take lamps and batteries for recycling. It may be worth the trip.

Where does it go?

So scarily, more than 90{fad86f5e3336133246a213aa2a2588200b27e4ae08b3f6f25405093f2c4991ee} of Singapore waste goes to the incinerator…at this rate the country will need to build a new plant every decade or so and one Sentosa-sized landfill every 35-45 years (thefinder.com). That’s costly and not even sustainable. Make a point to separate your recyclables and drop them in the clearly marked bins at your condo or HDB. Most malls offer a recycling service too, so there’s really

no excuse.

ROT

Compost-ition

Over half of your daily waste is food stuffs – it’s the equivalent of each citizen throwing two bowls of rice in the trash every 24hours.  Put another way, cutting food waste by 15{fad86f5e3336133246a213aa2a2588200b27e4ae08b3f6f25405093f2c4991ee} would have the same impact on CO2 emissions as taking 86,000 cars off the road. So how about composting rather than throwing down the chute? Or going one-step further and getting a worm farm? They don’t need much space (you can buy worm farms to fit under the kitchen sink) which is great news in our square-foot-poor city living. I found a great website, www.zerowaste.sg with lots of tips on how to get started.

Midnight Oil talk to ANZA ahead of their stop in Singapore for the Great Circle Tour.

Midnight Oil by Olliver Eclipse

Is there a particular song you love to play because it means something to you? Or perhaps it is one that the fans love hearing?
That’s difficult to answer. All the songs are like your kids in one way or the other and none of us like to just play the favourites. Songs like Hercules, Beds are Burning and Blue Sky Mine are the hits which people go pretty apeshit to when we play them. On this tour, we’ve rehearsed more than 170 songs, which we can draw on at anytime. We rehearsed for four months for this tour. It will give a deeper Midnight Oil experience for those that love the older stuff especially, and means we never get bored playing the same set over and over.

What is your favourite aspect of your career?
We’ve always loved the studio and would stay behind watching and learning because the Oils always worked with great producers and engineers. And writing we love too; words, music, arrangements and instrumentation. Touring in the old days was difficult as it was relentless but now it’s easier for some reason – we stay in better hotels perhaps! It’s great to visit our old friends, fans and family that we’ve made over the years out there on the road.

Biggest musical influences at the beginning of your career? Have they changed now?
We don’t think our influences have changed at all, we don’t think anyone’s does, but we try to keep up with the new bands. King Gizzard, Olympia, The Drones, Holly Throsby et al, but also vintage gear like The Beatles, Creedence, The Faces, avantgard stuff like Pierre Henri and Rhys Chatham, and a lot of Canterbury scene people like Soft Machine, Syd Barrett and Robert Wyatt.

Most memorable concert?
The Oils have done a few, but we’d have to honourably mention the protest in 1991 where we set up a stage in front of the Exxon building in New York and stopped the traffic, protesting the oil spill in Alaska. And the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 where we wore the Sorry suits in front of the world to shame John Howard into an apology to the First Nation people in Australia.

What do you think of Australia’s present music industry? What are the biggest differences you see now to when you started out?
There are always great bands in Australia, the sense of isolation from the rest of the world creates unique and interesting art. The trouble is, you find it hard making money if you’re on a major record label or even an independent artist, as the music delivery systems are constantly changing and it’s hard (but possible) to keep tabs on it all. Go Between’s drummer Lindy Morrison is inspiring in her work to help artists find money under the hidden rocks and shoe boxes where it ends up, including radio airplay, film licensing, downloads and streaming through bodies like APRA, AMCOSS, PPCA. It’s changed so much, but in a way live performance is now the best way to earn a crust, a bit like it was in the early 1900’s before records were even invented.

What should ANZA members and Oil fans be looking out for with the Full Circle tour?
A celebration of Aus’ music. It’s a big show production-wise, but still organic and human, no computers or dancers, just flesh and blood. We change the set every night, but it’s always a deep retrospective of our history with all the hits peppered throughout. Hopefully, it will make you think and dance at the same time.

Ken Hickson, climate change consultant, advisor and six-time author including The ABC of Carbon and Race for Sustainability looks at Singapore’s place in climate departure.

In travel terms, we know exactly the difference between arrivals and departures. At Changi Airport it’s made very clear where to go for one or the other. But when it comes to “climate departure”, it actually means the point in time when the impact of a warming world “arrives” on the doorsteps of your city or country. Not signed quite so easily.

Not to be alarmist, but a very scientific study by the University of Hawaii published in Nature (October 2013) worked out the point in time when the earth’s climate stops resembling what has come before, and moves into a new state. One where heat records are routinely shattered and, what was once considered extreme, will become the norm. This is the point of no return – in travel talk – when we cannot turn the clock back, ask the pilot to turn around or delay our check-out because we’re having such a good time.

Some of us can be forgiven for thinking that the impact of climate change is something that the human race will likely experience in the distant future going by the inaction – and indifference? – of many Governments and industries. There needs to be a sense of urgency, because climate change is already having an impact.

Temperatures are increasing. Every year is warmer than the last. Sea levels are rising. We are seeing more extreme weather situations around the world than ever before.

Of course, action is being taken in some instances. The Paris Agreement at the end of 2015 means every country in the world is set to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. To turn away from burning fossil fuels and switch to clean renewable energy. But perhaps we’ve left it too late.

Because, going by the climate departure study, we are all in line for the arrival of the impacts of climate change sooner than most of us expected.  If we take action to drastically reduce and stabilise emissions we might be able to delay or lessen the impact. Tropical locations – that’s us! – will feel the effects of this shift first. In the 2020s! Of all places on Earth, Indonesia will face its point-of-no-return first, in 2020. That’s a mere two and a half years’ away.

The researchers have identified a place called Manokwari – capital of the province of West Papua and a tourist area – as first in-line for climate departure. Other South East Asian cities next in-line are Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) 2027, Singapore in 2028, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur in 2029.

Australia has a little more breathing space. Perhaps surprisingly, Sydney is the first of the Australian cities to be impacted in 2038. Darwin, Brisbane and Perth are expected to see a time of change in 2042.

Of course we should not take this to mean we can just sit around and wait for the worst to come. We can change our ways. We can save water, energy, waste. That will make a difference. We can also – like good boy scouts and girl guides – be prepared. Just like Singapore accepts that sea levels are rising. With 30{fad86f5e3336133246a213aa2a2588200b27e4ae08b3f6f25405093f2c4991ee} of the island state being less than five metres above sea level, protecting the coastline and improving drainage is one of the priorities in dealing with the effects of climate change. To cater for long-term sea level rise, the minimum land reclamation level in Singapore was raised from three metres to four metres above the mean sea level in 2011.

Singapore is doing a lot more to not only mitigate – change our wasteful ways and cut emissions – but also to plan for the future by assessing the risks and adapting to unavoidable changes.

We can all do our bit. Better late than never. But we have to recognise that climate change is for real and it’s coming to a city near you sooner than most of  us expected.

Maybe we can delay the inevitable. Maybe we can prepare for the worst and it won’t be so bad.

But we cannot bury our head in the sand on our tropical island and pretend climate change will go away.

Combining exceptional design, the laid-back luxury of a friend’s home and total care for the environment, Cempedak is an example of the future of sustainable tourism as Charley Larcombe discovers.

A faint tropical shower is dripping into the fresh seawater pool in the early morning light over the South China Seas. The jungle percussion of raindrops on palm fronds is only broken by a lonely fisherman skimming across the Riau Archipelago and the slight whir of the bamboo fans overhead. The toughest decision this early in the morning is whether to step out of the billowy muslin shrouding the bed and pad downstairs to make a coffee, admiring the extraordinary bamboo architecture of the private villa as you go. Stretch and come to life; there are white sands to leave footprints on, elusive pangolin to pray to find, and island tales to hear. Welcome to Cempedak.

Sister property to the well-known Nikoi, the island – so named after a local fruit tree – is the new sustainability haven that is quickly gathering column inches in travel magazines throughout the world. 17hectares of virgin rainforest ringed by talc-soft sand studded with Jurassic-esque granite boulders, this adults-only, private paradise has been years in the making. Painstakingly and meticulously planned so as not to disturb the original inhabitants of sea otters, hornbills, eagles and nesting turtles, this is a place to share with nature.

What makes it so ideal – apart from the fact that it looks like Eden – is that it’s a mere three hours door-to-door from central Singapore. Grab a ferry from the Tanah Merah terminal to Bintan where you’ll be picked up by a smiley face who’ll tell you childhood stories about the island en-route to the private jetty. Having driven for roughly an hour through jungle and ramshackle villages with only bare-chested children and scrappy dogs as residents, you’ll enter the gates of Nikoi and Cempedak’s own pier. Say “yes” to a cup of ginger tea and settle into the island-crafted chairs – so beautiful we wanted one as a souvenir – and wait for the private boat, Mana to come chugging into view. Then it’s just a 15-minute race across the blue, past uninhabited islands until your new home appears on the horizon, a perfect half-moon of verdant greens sitting above an azure ocean.

Barefoot luxury is all about paring things back; reaching for a book, not your email; taking the paddle board out to find an even quieter cove on the island, not because you’re desperately searching for something to do; leaving the strains and the stresses behind and reconnecting. And as soon as you step onto the pontoon here, you instantly feel your knotted and tired muscles release.

This is quickly followed by child-like excitement as you take in the beauty of the surroundings. We arrive at lunchtime and are led along the vaulted walkway – a masterclass in bamboo construction – to the restaurant and down reclaimed teak steps to one of four table ‘pods’ overlooking the sea. A light breeze takes off the heat of the day, butterflies flutter (Cempedak doesn’t use toxic methods to eradicate the mosquitos, instead using a natural and still successful one) and a delightfully chatty waitress talks us through the menu. Delicious prawns, spiced chicken, crisp vegetables and coconut rice sets quite the tone for the rest of our stay and I warn you now, you will find it very difficult to say “no” to the encouragement of “just a little more”. Nearly all of the produce used is grown on the island or purchased from local markets and small traders and you can taste that freshness.

There is no room service as the team encourage you to eat together and there isn’t strictly a menu. Instead, as you leave your meal to meander back to some shaded day-bed or for a massage appointment, you’ll be talked through what’s being prepared later. Personally, I can’t even think about my next meal having just eaten, but really it’s the kitchen’s way of being able to whip-up an alternative should they need to.

It’s these little touches – the invitation for sunset cocktails at the Dodo Bar, the jokes with the staff, the conscientious thinking towards the menu – that create a truly personal feeling on the island. It’s almost like you’re staying with friends at their weekend place – I say almost, as how many of us actually have friends with tropical islands as crash pads? But it’s a really lovely ambience to recreate and one you instantly feel as you check-in.

At present, about half of the eventual 20 villas are are complete and you can choose between ones with little paths straight onto the beach or opt for ones higher up in the canopy. We check into the latter, villa number 9, which is so new you can smell the freshly carpentered wood. The great bowed, alang-alang roof curves into the hill-side and manages to both envelop our private rooms, holding back the forest leaves, whilst also immersing us into the surroundings. Bali-based and New Zealand-born architect, Miles Humphreys and the on-island team created these incredible dwellings specifically to add to the environment, not to jar against it.

And they’ve succeeded. Open plan, large lofty spaces, private plunge pools and naturally cooled using the island breezes, the design is practical as well as aesthetically stunning.

Unsurprisingly, it’s difficult to leave your villa, but when you do, set-up for the day on a lounger with the pool behind you and the sea, sand and view at your feet. We take over a day-bed and taste the refreshing home-made cordials – sipping on Cempedak-hollowed bamboo straws – whilst idly deciding on what will encourage us off the cushions into activity. There are paddle boards and kayaks, a catamaran for sunset sails, excursions to local villages and wind-surfing when the breeze is right. A few hours later as the sun climbs in the sky, we finally head off down the beach to snorkel in the shallows. We spot only brilliantly-coloured fish, but there’s more to see on the dive trips the boat crew can organise nearby to coral reefs and ship wrecks. Coming back to shore, I get into conversation with one of the guys who looks after the nesting turtles and he quietly shows me one such nest that he has carefully protected. It’s like a very glamorous Enid Blyton story where you’re washed ashore to simpler times – but

with fabulous cocktails only an ask away.

You’ll rapidly fall into step with Island Time on Cempedak. You’ll drift between private pool, the beach, looking for the gamboling family of resident otters and sampling yet more delights from the kitchen.

One afternoon, I’m taken on a nature walk by Boyan who has worked first on Nikoi and now on the new development for several years. He, like all but Valentina, the guest co-ordinator, is Indonesian and is a true example of the other socially-responsible aspect of Cempedak.

In 2009, the owners set up The Island Foundation, which works with the local community on Bintan and neighbouring islands in establishing a network of learning centres. Education programmes focussed on honing English and IT skills are an aspect of the responsible tourism the company professes, educating not only guests but the local population on sustainability and protecting the environment. It’s clear that all the staff are passionate about where they work, about educating themselves on the island and contributing to the future of the island.

Boyan shows me the “100-use tree” aka the different palms, the Tarzan vines and any number of plants which all have a use on the island. He tells me about the water monitor lizards and its clouded cousin which hang in the trees, and the pythons which keep any rats away. There are ponds of fish fed by the waste management-produced larvae, a kitchen garden blooming with chillies – a personal project by Boyan which means the island is totally self-sufficient in spice – and around every corner there is another story or titbit of information. I take a look at the staff areas built around the trees – one in particular which is said to be home to a female spirit – and marvel at the water systems and the behind-the-scenes eco-ethos which presides here too. Nothing is just for show. Everything and everyone works here to create this oasis. It’s a way of life, rather than a marketing gimmick.

I first met the owner of this perfect drop in the ocean, Australian banker-turned-hotelier, Andrew Dixon for coffee in Singapore pre-trip. In keeping with this issue’s theme of  “being green”, I found it fascinating to discuss essentially ‘Cempedak The Business’; to hear how this private island resort is a pioneer in terms of its bamboo architecture, its low-waste materials and its ethos on the impact of the nature, culture and community. Andrew was measured and almost forensic on explaining the many aspects they implement on the island, combining the economics of the businessman and the passion of the idealist.

And it’s not superficial “Eco-tourism” that Andrew is after; he doesn’t believe in guests paying for the privilege, but more about how sustainability is good for the bottom line too. With an engineer-like analysis of solving problems, the Cempedak team have solutions for most things to make them truly self-sufficient. From the bamboo construction – the incredibly versatile material that regrows so easily, ticks the sustainable-box – to dealing with waste management, things are covered.

Back to the present in paradise, and after my inspiring lesson, I’m on my way back to the villa for a massage. The spa itself is yet to be built (although I confess, I had a sneak peek and it is going to be glorious) so the masseuse sets up on our deck. No whale music, no strongly-scented lotions; just the sound of the surf below, natural oils and a massage which leaves me with jelly-like limbs.

As a pre-evening turn around the island, we take delicious gin and tonics down to the croquet lawn and tennis court with their lovingly cared for real-grass, before walking back along the sands to watch the sunset at the Dodo Bar. The second-story tower offers an uninterrupted view of the sun dipping below Bintan, baskets of very moreish belinjau nut crackers and evening aperitifs under the watchful eye of a taxidermy dodo – a nod to another island resident, the Nicobar pigeon, the closest living relative to the extinct bird. It’s the perfect spot to wind down after a long day of…. Well, as the Italians call it: il dolce far niente.

The true traveller adage is to take only photographs and leave only footprints so you can leave paradise intact for future searchers of pristine beaches. With Cempedak, you really feel that they are actively helping in preserving that ideal.