Global warming: A cyclist passing by dry trees in Rawang during the recent extreme hot weather. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
THERE is a saying that we don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors but borrow it from our children.
As news about flooding, extreme hot weather, and other natural disasters continue to proliferate, have we thought about what kind of earth we are leaving for our children in the future?
Even if adults are not, the youths are certainly anxious about their future on a planet with a rapidly changing climate.
Founder of Kolektif Iklim Aidil Iman Aidid says the uncertainty of climate change can be scary.
“The anxiety exists long-term when you’re constantly worried about your future given extreme weather events are more frequent and intensified.
“As a young person, you also feel that you are being left behind with so much responsibility to address climate change,” says the 25-year-old.
Aidil Iman worries about the lack of climate resilience in Malaysia.
What he worries about the most is the lack of climate resilience in Malaysia, as there is a pressing need to adapt to the intensifying precipitation and heat, and rising sea levels.
“The physical risks of climate change hurt Malaysia and its people, and I am very worried about the slow progress of climate adaptation here.”
However, he doesn’t think climate anxiety is necessarily bad as it has motivated him to take action to combat climate change.
“Whether it is done individually or as a collective, doing things to mitigate and adapt to climate change helps.
“This is where you can find solace in yourself or a community,” he says.
However, some like 21-year-old Nur Aisyah Hisham feel helpless.
The world is dying, she says, yet everyone still seems to be living their lives as if everything is normal.
“We are still using so many single-use items and wasting material. Consumerism is so real, companies want me to keep buying.
“Honestly it is a bit overwhelming. I can only see the world around us getting worse,” says Aisyah, who is studying environmental science.
“It is just not sustainable for us to keep using up the earth’s resources to produce stuff, only for most of it going to waste, she says.
“And that waste takes up so much space and toxifies our beautiful environment.”
While the fate of the planet is far from student Farah Shoffi’s mind at the moment, the 16-year-old is worried about her family’s safety with the extreme weather we are experiencing due to climate change.
“Whenever it rains, I do get anxious about going out, even to school. I keep thinking: what if a tree falls on us or if we get stuck in a flash flood.
“I also worry about my parents and little sisters – will they be safe?”
Others like Muhammad Ilman Firdaws are not just anxious about how climate change will affect their family, but how it will affect the economy and even medical costs in the future.
“I’m still in university and I’m looking forward to joining the workforce.
“But whatever I’m making in the future, will it be enough?
“If climate change becomes worse, not only could it cost lives and lead to a lot of damage, I am expecting the costs of hospital treatments to go up as well,” says Ilman.
For 22-year-old Kenneth Shi, he worries that the increasingly unpredictable heat and rain will affect the industry he plans to join.
In university, he is studying quantity surveying, a degree related to the construction field.
“The direct sunbeams are getting more and more unbearable. Workers can’t work for too long under the sun anymore.
“I don’t know what will happen to the construction industry in the future,” he says.
With more extreme weather events, such as heavy rain and strong winds, happening more frequently, he is also worried about whether our towns and cities are capable of withstanding them.
“Our drainage systems and roof designs sometimes are not capable of withstanding such weather.
“Where can I stay that will be guaranteed to be safe?” he says.
Heavy rain again caused flash flood in KL's city centre recently. —Facebook
But not every youth is consumed by anxiety over how climate change will affect their future.
Samantha Chen, 24, is certainly aware of the extreme weather that is happening and does her small part by recycling but she does not think she will be affected by the worst of it.
“I’m worried about climate change but I don’t feel anxiety because if I don’t have children, doesn’t that mean the next generation is none of my business?
“But I think now what I care most about is whether it will rain tomorrow or not.
“Maybe after five years I will care about climate change because maybe I will feel the effects more, but for now it is not something I really think about,” she says.
