Category: Development EN

What if everything we’ve been taught about "progress" is completely backwards? For decades, we’ve been conditioned to look at bulldozers and concrete as signs of a booming economy and a developing world. But what if real growth isn’t about what we build — it’s about what we manage to protect? True development doesn't destroy value; it sustains it. When we lose our forests, we lose the...

Europe Returns to Basics: BOOKS, PENS, PAPER – AND FOCUS Europe is quietly admitting something big: screens may have gone too far in the classroom. Across countries like Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, France, and Italy, schools are now bringing back printed books, handwriting, and fewer digital devices after growing concerns over falling reading skills, shorter attention spans, and too much...

Norway is drawing a hard line in the classroom. Starting in the 2026 school year, Norway implemented a strict, age-based restriction on generative AI in schools. The policy completely bans AI for children aged 6 to 13, limits usage for 14-to-16-year-olds to direct teacher supervision, and allows independent AI use only for students aged 17 and older. The new standards will be imposed from the...

Famous linguist, philosopher, historian and social critic Noam Chomsky once said, "As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome." Chomsky warns that power grows strongest when people stop paying attention. When society is...

In a fascinating but sobering digital experiment, researchers at New York-based AI lab Emergence AI created "Emergence World", a simulated society where an artificial intelligence system was given full autonomy over its environment. Various AI models were placed in charge of a virtual world populated by autonomous digital citizens. They could make decisions, interact with one another, manage...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) refers to the decision of the Court of Appeal on 30 June 2026 concerning the Penang South Reclamation Project (PSR) and the response by the Penang state government to media reports yesterday. The following is the excerpt from the Court of Appeal judgement, paragraph 49, p. 58. “…we dismiss this Appeal and affirm the High Court’s Decision on either one or both...

By Predeep Nambiar In a ruling with wide ramifications, the Court of Appeal says the territorial sea and its seabed remain under the federal government's jurisdiction until reclamation is completed. The Court of Appeal has found that the state planning authorities acted beyond their powers in approving the reclamation for the Penang South Reclamation project. A three-member bench, comprising...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is deeply disappointed by today’s decision of the Court of Appeal to dismiss the appeal brought by the fishermen and environmental groups, SAM and Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim (JEDI) against the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, despite the Court stating that the planning permission granted was without lawful authority. The Court of Appeal decided today that the...

A "data heat island effect" is the very last thing we need right now. By Victor Tangermann As Europe bakes in the throes of a deadly heatwave, residents living near the continent’s largest data centre in Slough, a town just west of central London, UK, are enduring extreme temperatures. As The Guardian reports, the enormous facility 10 miles from London Heathrow is making the sweltering heat...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) is deeply concerned by the findings of Think City’s recent report, From Roof to Resilience: A Social Assessment of Malaysia’s Public Housing, which highlights growing social and economic challenges within Malaysia’s public housing communities. Malaysia’s public housing programme has been crucial in reducing urban poverty and improving access...