Sweating over a real water plan

There’s a heatwave in some states. And it’s pouring in others. Padi fields are drying up in Kedah while housing areas are getting flooded in Selangor. We need an all-inclusive water plan to get the balance right.

ON Labour Day, a doctor was named the country’s best employee. Dr Malar Santhi Santherasegapan certainly deserves it.

She is quite a character. The 40-year-old, who speaks immaculate Bahasa, has made healthcare simple. She speaks to the common man in his language.

During the pandemic, she was a reassuring presence, informing everyone on social media about hygiene, preventive care, vaccination and how it works.

Her recent video was also a very important one – about the heatwave in the country.

She spoke about the “radiator” in our head – the hypothalamus, a structure deep in the brain that acts as the body’s control coordinating centre, which also keeps our body temperature under control.

Overheat it, she said, and it goes poof, just like the radiator in a car.

We all know what happens to the car then. And that, says Dr Malar, is what would happen to the body.

She was talking about the heat, but it was quite chilling.

For the first time, we have heard of children – or at least one child – dying of heatstroke in the country.

There had hardly been any such cases in Malaysia, except maybe those involving children locked in cars parked under the sun.

It’s not just in Malaysia. The heatwave is sweeping through much of Indochina,

India and even Europe. Southern Spain, Portugal and Morocco are seeing temperatures approaching 40°C.

Dr Malar says 41°C is when heatstroke becomes common. Malaysia hasn’t quite come to that although we are hitting above 37°C quite often these days.

The government knows something has to be done.

It has already given students and teachers permission to wear sports attire in school.

Both students and teachers no longer need to be in hot, stuffy and sweaty clothes in classrooms. They can wear their PE outfits for some semblance of comfort.

All outdoor activities have also been halted. Keeping them indoors, however, may not be the answer.

In the Philippines, they are actually going outdoors to escape the heat.

A teacher got his kids to carry their chairs to a spot shaded by the long shadow of a school building, and held his class there.

“Outside, there are trees and fresh air,” said the teacher.

So, it isn’t about staying indoors. It’s about staying hydrated.

Children need about two litres of water a day. With the weather as it is, they may need more.

For that, access to water is important.

A few years ago, I was at the Ocean Race in Auckland, one of the world’s biggest sailing events – and it was searing.

While some friends came home tanned, I ended up a few shades darker.

A walk on the pier was a thirsty affair, but the hosts were well prepared. You could buy ice-cold water in many places, but there were also signboards everywhere telling people to bring their own bottles.

There were water dispensers every 100m or so, and you could drink from the tap or top up your bottles – for free. It was so convenient.

Which is why I think the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) is on to a good thing.

It is urging the Education Ministry to order all students to carry water bottles to school.

And those bottles, it says, must be plastic-free.

CAP’s education officer NV Subbarow feels the ministry should even start providing the children with such bottles.

Why not plastic bottles? Well, warm plastic bottles release a carcinogenic chemical into the water.

More importantly, these bottles almost invariably end up in the garbage, and plastics are almost impossible to recycle.

They also end up in the rivers and oceans, killing the fish and polluting the water.

It is quite impossible to expect children to bring enough water to last them a whole day in school, or to keep going to the canteen to buy water.

So, it makes sense that they should bring bottles while the ministry sets up water dispensers in every school. Water is what matters.

But where do we go for water? After all, it is becoming a scarce resource – at least in some parts of the country.

Padi fields are going dry in Kedah and Kelantan.

Selangor has also been beset with water problems, and Penang is running low. With three new islands and probably thousands more industries there, water will be a problem.

Fruit trees and vegetables need water, and so do rice fields.

Did you know that for every kilogramme of rice produced, about 2,500 litres of water is needed? And that each chilli plant needs a litre of water a day? That’s 5,000 litres a day for an acre of chilli plants.

Things are not going to get any better soon.

The El Nino is expected to hit next month, taking temperatures even higher.

But strange things are happening too.

Despite the heatwave, there is a deluge of water in some places.

In the Klang Valley, for instance, it has been pouring, with sporadic floods as well.

There must be some way we can get the excess water to those who really need it.

We need a national water plan that allows the precious liquid to be channelled from one state to another – from where there is too much rain to where there is too little.

The Federal Government has to step in, and states have to stop squabbling about sharing this all-important resource with all Malaysians.

With El Nino coming, experts say the government needs to activate emergency response plans, explore alternative water sources, encourage the conservation of water – at a time of heatwave – as well as do cloud seeding.

But it cannot be a quick fix.

The protection of our water catchment areas – the rainforests and riverside areas – has to be a long-term plan.

Rainwater harvesting has been touted as the answer since the late1990s, but nothing seems to be in the pipeline despite all the hype.

We cannot let the resource go to waste.

It is time for a full-fledged water plan.