Lai Cheng – Page 3 – Consumers Association Penang

This Bird Uses Its Beak as a Needle to Sew Its Nest

Lai Cheng June 16, 2026 0 Comments

Found across South and Southeast Asia, the common tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) is just 4 to 5 inches long and weighs less than half an ounce. Despite its tiny size, it pulls off one of the most impressive engineering feats in the bird world. This small songbird is the ultimate tailor, using its beak like a sewing needle to carefully pierce leaves and thread fibres through the holes. Why Does...

Think City: Malaysia’s Public Housing at a Tipping Point, Urgent Overhauls Needed

Lai Cheng June 16, 2026 0 Comments

More than half a century ago, Malaysia embarked on an ambitious housing mission to move the urban poor out of squatter settlements and into homes with access to basic necessities such as water, sanitation and proper infrastructure. The efforts would eventually become one of the country’s development success stories, helping to sharply reduce urban poverty while avoiding the sprawling slums...

How Car-Centric Planning Punishes 70% of Malaysians

Lai Cheng June 16, 2026 0 Comments

The cost-of-living crisis is partly a result of decades of car-centric planning that make car ownership an expensive necessity while eroding public space and affordable alternatives. For most Malaysians, the gap between income and living costs is growing. And if you want to know where much of that missing money goes, look no further than the family car. For decades, Malaysian cities (especially...

An Orangutan’s Desperate Attempt to Protect Its Home

Lai Cheng June 16, 2026 0 Comments

In 2013, deep in the rainforests of Borneo, a wildlife rescue team filmed something that stopped the world cold. An orangutan watched its tree come crashing down under an excavator's bucket. With nowhere left to go, it did the only thing it could – it walked straight toward the machine and grabbed the bucket with its bare hands. It wasn't a threat. It wasn't an attack. It was an animal that...

Choose Less Waste

Lai Cheng June 16, 2026 0 Comments

One disposable cup doesn’t look like a problem. But one cup every day becomes 365 cups every year – from just one person. Now imagine offices, cafés, schools, events, and millions of people doing the same thing daily. A reusable mug may look small, but it quietly saves hundreds of disposable cups from becoming waste. Before you sip… think. The planet doesn’t need more “use once, throw...

HEALTH BENEFITS FROM FORESTS

Lai Cheng June 12, 2026 0 Comments

Most of us sense that taking a walk in a forest is good for us. We take a break from the rush of our daily lives. We enjoy the beauty and peace of being in a natural setting. Now, research is showing that visiting a forest has real, quantifiable health benefits, both mental and physical. Even 5 minutes around trees or in green spaces may improve health. Think of it as a prescription with no...

Electric Vehicle Battery End-Of-Life Management in Malaysia

Lai Cheng June 11, 2026 0 Comments

The shift to electric vehicles (EV) must go beyond the narrow “zero-emissions” narrative. Mobility must be both clean and just. For this to happen, we must look at the full life cycle of batteries, from extraction to disposal. Developed with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, this report by the Consumers’ Association of Penang, "Electric Vehicle Battery End-of-Life...

Vaping Likely to Cause Cancer, Major Study Finds

Lai Cheng June 11, 2026 0 Comments

Nicotine-based vapes, or e-cigarettes, are likely to cause cancers of the lung and oral cavity, according to a new study led by UNSW Sydney and published in Carcinogenesis. The study analyses a wide body of global research and was led by UNSW cancer researcher Adjunct Professor Bernard Stewart AM, with investigators from The University of Queensland, Flinders University, The University of...

Build a Circular Economy

Lai Cheng June 10, 2026 0 Comments

A healthy economy shouldn’t create overflowing waste. When things are made to be used once and thrown away, the problem does not end in the trash bin. It moves into landfills, waterways, soil, and the air. It also means more raw materials have to be taken, processed, shipped, and replaced again. A circular economy looks at waste differently. It keeps materials in use for longer through repair,...

The Paradox of Human Intelligence

Lai Cheng June 9, 2026 0 Comments

“Mankind invented the atomic bomb, but no mouse would ever construct a mousetrap.” This observation strikes at the heart of the paradox of human intelligence: we possess the unique capacity to innovate tools for our own destruction. Animals act to survive, not to destroy their own kind. A mouse builds a nest strictly for protection and breeding. It would never construct a tool designed to...

Author: Lai Cheng