Elections and their big, bad ‘ungreen’ footprint

Ballot boxes collected from a single polling station in a Penang by-election in 2023 – all these boxes are full of paper representing a whole lot of trees cut down. — Filepic/The Star

SEMPORNA, on the edge of Sabah’s east coast, is where most tourists begin their journey to the stunning – and world renowned – dive havens of Sipadan and Mabul islands.

Overlooking the aquamarine expanse of the Celebes Sea, the town’s name means “perfect” in Malay but nowadays it’s sadly become known by another moniker: “Asia’s dirtiest town”, as dubbed by travel blogger Ben Frier in a video that has gone viral.