Lesson on TATAKalikasan Lesson Reference: Earth Day Celebrations Around the World

Lesson on TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University

87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, 11 to 12 a,m, Thursday

International Mother Earth Day, April 22, 2024

 Let's stop destroying the Earth -

our only ship in space

Dr Abe V Rotor

Co-Host with Fr JM Manzano SJ, and Prof Emoy Rodolfo, AdMU

 

A view of the Earth from the moon 

   Two views from Antipolo of  Marikina Valley, a dying ecosystem  

1. Changing Environment, influenced by man, breeds a variety of ailments and diseases. Nature-Man Balance, the key to good health is being threatened.

2. What and Where is the so-called Good Life? The Good Life is shifting with the transformation of agricultural to industrial economy.

3. The Good Life is synonymous to Affluence. People want goods and services beyond what they actually need. Want leads to luxury - to waste.

What is the Good Life when religion becomes an enemy of the environment? 
Millions of trees and palms are sacrificed every Palm Sunday in the Christian World.  Potential loss in coconut alone is immeasurably high, affecting farmers and the industry.

4. The world’s population is about 8 billion. Another billion will be added in less than 10 years. Runaway population is the mother of human miseries

5. The proliferation of cities, growth of cities to metropolises and megapolises, each with 10 to 20 million people ensconced in cramped condition. Cities breed Marginal communities

“People, people everywhere, but not a kindred to keep," in condominiums, malls, schools, churches, parks, sharing common lifestyles and socio-economic conditions. They are predisposed to common health problems and vulnerabilities from brownouts to food and fuel shortage, force majeure notwithstanding.

6. Loss of Natural Environment – loss of productivity, loss of farmlands, and wildlife. Destruction of ecosystems - lakes, rivers, forests, coral reefs, grasslands, etc. Destruction of ecosystems is irreversible.


7. Species are threatened, many are now extinct, narrowing down the range of biodiversity. Human health depends largely on a complex interrelationship of the living world. No place on earth is safe from human abuse. Coral Reef – bastion of terrestrial and marine life, is now in distress.

Reflection of deer in a fountain, UST Manila 

8. Wildlife shares with our homes, backyards and farms, transmitting deadly diseases like SARS, HIV-AIDS, Mad-Cow, FMD, Ebola, and Bird Flu which can now infect humans, allergies notwithstanding.

9. “Good Life” cradles and nurses obesity and other overweight conditions. Millions of people around the world are obese, wih 34% of Americans in the US obese.

10. Global warming stirs climatic disturbance, changes the face of the earth.

11. Globalization packages the major aspects of human activity – trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, the arts, education, science and technology, politics, religion and the like.

12. . Mélange of races - pooling of genes through inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages produces various mixed lines or “mestizos” - Eurasian, Afro-Asian, Afro-American, Amerasian, and the like. Native genes provide resistance to diseases, adverse conditions of the environment. But will this advantage hold on even as the native gene pools are thinned out?

13. Modern medicine is responsible in reducing mortality and increasing longevity. It has also preserved genetically linked abnormalities; it cradles senility related ailments. It made possible the exchange of organs and tissues through transplantation, and soon tissue cloning. It has changed Evolution that is supposed to cull out the unfit and misfits. Man has Darwinism in his hands.

14. The first scientific breakthrough is the splitting of the atom that led to the development of the atomic bomb as the most potent tool of war as evidenced by its destruction at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the nuclear reactor which still holds the promise of providing incessant energy to mankind. The second scientific breakthrough – Microchip led to the development of the Internet which “shrunk the world into a village.”

16. The third breakthrough in science, Genetic Engineering, changed our concept of life - and life forms. It has enabled man to tinker with life itself. Revolutionary industries Examples: In vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, Human Genome Project (HGP or gene mapping), multiple childbirth, post-menopausal childbirth, DNA mapping, etc. Birth of the prototype human robot – pampered, he lives a very dependent life.

17. Genetic Engineering gave rise to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Gene Therapy. It has also primed Biological Warfare into a more terrifying threat to mankind and the environment. On the other hand Gene Therapy aims at preventing gene-link diseases even before they are expressed; it has actuallty revolutionized medicine. More and more countries are banning GMO crops and animals through legislative measures and conservation programs, including protection against “biopiracy”

No to Genetically Modified Organisms Campaign all over the world

18. Today’s Green Revolution opened up non-conventional frontiers of production – mariculture, desalination, desert farming, swamp reclamation, aerophonics (rooftop farming), hydroponics, urban farming, organic farming, Green Revolution adapts genetic engineering to produce GMOs and Frankenfoods. We may not be aware, but many of us are eating
genetically modified food (GMF or Frankenfood) everyday – meat, milk, chicken, corn, potato and soya products, and the like mainly from the US. Many food additives and adjuncts are harmful, from salitre in longganiza to pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables, aspartame in fruit juice to MSG in noodles, formalin in fish to dioxin in plastics, bromate in bread to sulfite in sugar, antibiotic residue in meat to radiation in milk.

• Hydroponics or soiless culture makes farming feasible in cramped quarters, and it increases effective area of farming.
. Aeroponics or Multi-storey farming Vertical Farming Farming in the city on high rise buildings 
• Post Harvest Technology. is critical to Food Production. PHT bridges production and consumption, farm and market, thus the proliferation of processed goods, supermarket, fast food chains, food irradiation, ready-to-eat packs, etc.

19. Exploration into the depth of the sea and expanse of the Solar System - and beyond. We probe the hadal depth of the ocean. We build cities in space - the Skylab. Soon we will live outside of the confines of our planet earth. Now we aim at conquering another planet, another Solar System to assure continuity of mankind after the demise of the earth.

20. Regional and International Cooperation is key to global cooperation: EU, ASEAN, APEC, CGIAR, ICRISAT, WTO, WHO, UNEP, WFO, FAO, like fighting pandemic diseases – HIV-AIDS, SARS, Dengue, Hepatitis, Bird Flu, etc.

Lesson on TATAKalikasan Lesson: Earth Day Celebrations Around the World

Lesson on TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University

87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, 11 to 12 a,m, Thursday

Earth Day Celebrations Around the World

             Ecology in the Unifying Element of World Peace 

Researched by Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)

Also visit Naturalism -the Eighth Sense

Over the past decades, over 193 countries have observed the Earth Day celebration—empowering local communities, students, and governments to create a positive change for the planet, charging forward with the popular slogan, think globally, act locally. Internet

Children-Pioneers of ECOLOGICAL ECUMINISM Movement

 

 

Ecological Ecumenism through Children's Art Workshop 

in expressing love and reverence in God and Nature.

Living with Nature Center, San Vicente Ilocos Sur

Here is a random list of some countries leading the celebration of Earth Day. 

• Glastonbury Festival, one of the world's largest music and performing arts festivals, takes place in Somerset, England.
• Yoga & Outdoor Activities in Gulf Shores, Alabama
• Sustainability and Social Good Pop-Up, NY
• Party for the Planet in Kansas City, MO

The people of Denmark celebrate this day with lots of pompous drums playing pointed at the four corners of the world. Then they attend the March for Science, which is a march done to hold their elected government officials responsible for green initiatives.

• Empower Earth Day Celebration, London
• TreeVolution, an annual festival dedicated to tree planting and conservation,      Nurrangay Reserve Nature Walks, Sydney Australia
• Hakka Tung Blossom Festival, Taiwan

Envision Festival, an eco-conscious festival held annually in Costa Rica.
Envision Festival is a four-day extravaganza held on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, near the town of Uvita. Set against the backdrop of pristine beaches and dense rainforests, this immersive eve

• Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup, USA
• Earth Day Parade and Festival< Vancouver, Canada
• Global Unity and Regeneration Gathering, Lanjaron, Spain

In the Philippines, April 22 of every year has been declared as the Philippines' Earth Day under Presidential Proclamation 1481, signed on April 10, 2008, by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to raise the level of awareness on environmental degradation and destruction in the country that threatens the very quality of life.

• Earth Expo, Johannesburg, South Africa
• The March of Science, USA and Elsewhere

Curated by the horticultural team at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Love Your Nature has over 20,000 plants on display and one of the largest living green walls in the Southern Hemisphere. This year’s exhibition celebrates all kinds of plant-love. From prehistoric plants that use clones, spores and seeds to reproduce, to flowering plants that employ colours, shapes and scents to attract animals, and humans matchmaking for bigger fruit, brighter flowers and to protect wild plants for the future.

• Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons, Wales,
• Earth Day at Ix Art Park in Charlottesville, VA
• April is Arizona Water Awareness Month,
• Burning Man, Nevada's Black Rock Desert, Burning Man is an experimental   community-based event on radical self-expression, art, and communal living.

 
Earth Day actually lasts from March 11 to May 30, but the main festival days will happen on the weekends April 13 to 14 at Yoyogi Park Events Square and April 20 to 21 at Miyashita Park.

Glastonbury Festival located on Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset Scotland is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. The archive shows how the Festival has developed exponentially over the past 50 years to become the global cultural phenomenon it is today.
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Earth Day turned 51 years old this year. On April 22, 1970, its humble beginnings occurred when Gaylord Nelson conducted the first environmental awareness protest against industry-caused air pollution. 20 million Americans participated in the protest, spreading the importance of climate awareness in our world.
Earth Day is a day of connection and education, and Jarvisen believes a healthy relationship with the world facilitates a stronger bond with its people. Earth Day may have had its start in North America, but cultures around the world help spread environmental awareness through their traditions. This blog shows you how other cultures have spent their Earth Day in the past and the present.
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Earth Day Activities and Ideas

• Clean Up Plastics in your community
• Go to a Park with your family.
• Plant a Tree!
• Use Wildflowers and Native Plants.
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in the Garden.
• Stop Using Chemicals in the Garden.
• Conserve Water!
• Convert your home lot into a garden, Bahay Kubo style
• Organize, participate in watching birds and animals
• Organize, participate in festivals or events that attract tourists to see live natural activities, such as volcanoes, and astrological activities, including solar and lunar eclipses.
• Write, compose poems, songs, draw, paint - be an artist.

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Earth Day April 22, 2024 Global Warming is accelerating!

 Earth Day April 22, 2024

Global Warming is accelerating!
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activity since the mid-20^th century.

Dr Abe V Rotor
Professor, UST, DLSU-D Lesson in Advanced Ecology UST and DLSU(D) Graduate Schools. How can an ordinary citizen help in cushioning global warming.

Lesson in Photography. Present your best photo (one only) on the subject. Original (with bonus), or downloaded. Give a short explanation.
                        Sign of the Times: Smog, acid rain and ozone depletion rolled altogether. 
                                                        Photo by AVR Fairview, QC 2010

Acknowledgment: Time Magazine

Here are scientific evidences released by the 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

It is a fact that the Earth's climate has been changing throughout history. In the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization.

The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, with most of the warming occurring in the past 35 years with the five warmest years on record taking place since 2010. The warmest year on record after 2016 is this current year. The IPCC report continues with these alarming developments:

• The oceans are getting warmer. 
• Ice sheets are shrinking, especially Greenland and Antarctic. The Arctic sea ice is declining. 
• Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa (Mount Kilimanjaro),.
• The snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is melting at an earlier rate. .
• Sea level is rising. Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and is accelerating slightly every year.
• Extreme events such as extreme temperature, intense rainfall, and other force majeure 
• The acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

This global scenario calls for an urgent collective action. It is a plea addressed to governments, organizations, individuals all over the world>  It is a plea beyond message of an Internationally famous broadcaster, natural historian and author, David Attenborough. To wit:

"When we look at the rising ocean temperatures, rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and so on, we know that they are climbing far more steeply than can be accounted for by the natural oscillation of the weather … What people (must) do is to change their behavior and their attitudes … for our upcoming generation we have to do something, and we have to demand for government support

"Right now we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon".

- David Attenborough, 2018.

* Earth Day is marked across the globe on April 22 to support environmental conservation efforts. It was first celebrated across US college campuses in 1970 — months after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara. The movement has since mobilised more than a billion individuals in over 192 countries. The annual event is being marked on Monday with the global theme ‘Planet vs. Plastics’. Internet

Begging for a Seat in School - Neutral Morality in Disguise

 Begging for a Seat in School - Neutral Morality in Disguise

"He who feels for the needy

   with but some coins is a fool,

   in a world deaf to a poor boy 

            begging for a seat in school." - avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

It pains me so much - personally and as a part of humanity - 

to see a boy beggar in rags, or incognito walking with us, 

or abandoned in some dingy corner, when the world proudly 

proclaims, "never in history has Homo sapiens, the thinking, 

reasoning man, reached the pinnacle of progress way, way 

above the banner of enlightenment." 

Wrong. I still feel guilty seeing the likes of this young beggar.  

millions of them around the world - in rich and poor countries,

industrialized and agricultural, for this is not a matter of mercy,

not even compassion - or neutral morality.  Words come easy, 

mother statements as universal truth, prayers are empty still.~  

  

 

An Iranian student of mine at the UST Graduate School c. 1996 gave me this almost worn out reproduction meticulously wrapped in plastic as a souvenir and as an expression of gratitude to me as his professor in natural science. "I carried this with me," he said, "as a source of challenge with the hope that I will succeed in my studies - and to be of help later to children like this boy.  Now I am going back to my country."  

I was speechless. I examined the painting.  There is no name - title and artist, or any note for that matter. A good follower of this blog mentioned the painter artist in passing - for which I am grateful to him. The painter, based on his style and subject apparently belonged to the post classicism era at the dawn of realism, when art began to transcend to the people, which we know today as people's art."*

A disturbing scene to Maslow -

    could he have been wrong?

What is self-actualization

    to the striving throng?

What's good is the Bastille trilogy -

    pillars of modern society:

equality, fraternity,

    liberty - sans dignity?

Motherhood words may come easy;

    they cannot be mistaken,

for the lips that speak of promise

    are easily forgotten.

And the world goes on as it seems;

    a beggar boy, its conscience:

lost youth, lost hope, lost future

    in the midst of affluence.

The door is jarred to full view

    and knocking wouldn't lend an ear;

indifference makes man blind

    or takes him to the rear.

He who feels for the needy

    with but some coins is a fool,

in a world deaf to a poor boy

    begging for a seat in school. ~

  

 Typical scenes in marginalized societies mainly in metropolitan suburbs. 

(Internet photos) ~

"Please sir I want some more" - from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens 

 Acknowledgement: Pinterest

* Nikolay Petrovich Bogdalov-Belsky (1868–1945) was a Russian painter.

Re-writing the Book of Life through Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering 

 Re-writing the Book of Life

Dr Abe V Rotor

After man has "perfected" the model of the DNA, the code of heredity, he has succeeded in cracking the code itself, which is the “code of life.”

This feat was preceded by the cracking the atom which brought out the first genie, the atomic bomb. What would the second genie look like?

Mutation through Genetic Engineering, acrylic by AV Rotor, 2002

1. Does GMO cause cancer and other diseases? There is no evidence to this yet. But cancer is too complex a disease for us to understand fully. Whatever triggers the disease is not immediately determined until we accurately read it in the human genome map. Questions are asked: “Where did prion (protein infective principle of mad cow disease) come from? “How does it cause Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy (BSE), and the human the Crueztfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD) to which the mad cow disease is associated?” “Other than cancer why are there more young people contacting diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases?” We do not know the answers to these questions. We cannot blame these to GMO either. It is too early to say. But we have to be wary.

2. GMO and the Terminator. In this case, the genie is a multinational organism placed by fate in its hands of the farmer. This problem is worse than the conditions imposed by producers of hybrid corn seeds, where farmers are forced to renew their seed stock every time they plant. The Terminator is a GM corn variety carrying genes which automatically kill the crop embryo after harvesting. Consequently, the farmer needs to buy new seeds from the company. The creator, Monsanto, got the ire of many people. It projected a bad image of biotechnology.

3. Processed Food from GMO. Seemingly, you do not see this kind of genie. We do not know but we are eating GM Food, often referred to as Frankenfood, after the novel Frankenstein, no matter how much we try to avoid it. There was no referendum conducted or public consultation before GMF was put to market. Today, GM soybean is processed into cooking oil, soy sauce, TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein), taho, tokwa, etc.  GM potato finds its way through fast food chain. There are steaks, burgers, corned beef and milk which come from GM cows. But who is accountable when things go wrong, and how can we seek redress?

4. GMO touches the fiber of culture, beliefs and religion. People are generally sensitive to many things: cultural, religious, personal. Protests may be felt even in their silence. Could it be that people are silent since to protest can mean deprivation of food? As they say: Beggars are no choosers.

5. "The genie obliges only to its master's command." Who’s afraid of the big werewolf? Ask George Orwell. Anyone who has read his book, “1984” will understand. His definition of big brother is one that is benevolent and abusive at the same time, according to his will. Susan George, in her book, How the Other Half Dies, is equally provoking. She claims that part of the world is without sufficient food. One half of the world’s population is hungry and deprived of many basic needs, while the other half simply has much more than it needs. What guarantees do we have that GMO will not fall into hands of capitalists? Monsanto gave the early signals. One wonders who controls (owns) the gene banks at the International Rice Research Institute, the International Wheat and Maiz Research Center (CYMMT), and other research centers.

6. GMO may be useful in medicine, but it can also create havoc to the living world. Genetic engineering (GE) is as young as dawn. As light breaks, we take a glimpse before the sun is up. Genetic engineering, according to its proponents, is the key to the control of malaria and dengue. Entomologists have already isolated parasite-suppressing genes in mosquitoes. GE in medicine, such as insulin production, has expanded into the production of more potent antibiotics and hormones. If we can modify the efficiency of beneficial organisms, so can we increase the virulence of pathogens. Genetic engineering may wake up one day the sleeping Bubonic Plague bacteria (Yersinia pestis) that killed one-third of human population in the Dark Ages. Or propel Anthrax into pandemic proportion. Genetic engineering can increase the virulence of potato blight fungus that caused starvation of Ireland in the 18th century. It can trigger the dreaded tungro virus disease of rice, so with rice blight fungus and other rice pathogens, and wipe out ricefields in unimaginable scale.

The incorporation of drugs in genetically modified food plants opens a new field of pharmacology, called biopharming. GMO mixed with vitamins can reduce infant mortality, blindness, and other associated defects. But do we need to take medicine when we are not sick? What would be the effect of biopharmed food crops to our healthy body? Conventionally man derives medicine from products of organisms and from naturally occurring sources. Today we are modifying these sources - even before discovering the potential ones. Scientists believe that we have yet to find out the uses of more than 95 percent of all plants. Man has bare knowledge of the creatures in the deep ocean, and the rich diversity of the living world. The thrust of research has shifted to the gene rather than the species.

7. Modern Frankenstein. It is inevitable that genetic engineering will be applied in human cloning. Today, we have so far applied human biotechnology mostly in helping childless couples bear children, such as through in vitro (outside of the womb) fertilization. But with current results in animal cloning, a technique is being developed to clone the human being without encountering the problems that beset Dolly the sheep, which is premature aging. If this is not handled well, we may be bringing forth a new Frankenstein monster into our midst. x x x

Mother Nature Dismembered by Genetic Engineering

 Mother Nature Dismembered by Genetic Engineering  

The advance of genetic engineering makes it quite conceivable that we will begin to design our own evolutionary progress. - Isaac Asimov

Dr Abe V Rotor

Dismembered Nature in acrylic AVR

Scenario: A rat glowing in the dark carrying the phosphorescent gene of the jellyfish - for what motive drove the crazy scientist? People jump off their seats, children shriek, there is fun and pandemonium.  This new creature became a novelty and celebrity, a symbol of a postmodern technology. It is now an orphan detached from its natural gene pool. To return to its population, it must escape from the laboratory, and share its new gene with its kind. Soon enough a population of glowing rats fills the "village of a Hamlyn".  Now we need a modern Pied Piper to wipe these Genetically Modified pest out.  Could he?   

This is true to GM plants, animal, microorganisms - the foreign gene will remain forever as it crosses the boundaries of fields, colonies, populations, countries, islands, or in short, the boundaries of time and space. 

There is no way to sweep away genetic pollution, unlike conventional pollution.  It even surpasses radioactive fallout because  radioactivity has a self life even if it takes hundreds of years to declare the level safe to health and environment.  Perhaps the only time the spread of genetic pollution in a particular carrier comes to an end is when its own species becomes extinct.  By then it shall have found other hosts to continue the transfer. 

When protein gene from say peanut is spliced into soybean, you transfer allergy susceptibility as well, and doctors may not be able to trace it at all. Meantime we say it is safe.  How about protein gene coming from non-edible source?  The problem with GM products is the lack, or impossible, pre-test guarantee. By the way allergy is not limited to humans; it is universal to living things in various manifestations. This is not good because allergy is a safely valve of the body system. 

There is this case called "Suicide Gene" spliced into a high value crops allegedly by the exclusive distributors of a GM crop like hybrid corn. The mechanism is simple. Combine the suicide gene with the DNA of a hybrid corn so that the progeny or F1 will not produce seeds for a second crop, thus preventing farmers to source and share seeds, an age old farming tradition.  Because suicide gene is transferable by natural pollination, it easily finds its way to pollute natural gene pools not only limited on a particular crop but other crops as well. It is chain reaction ad infinitum. A never ending Big Bang. 

Genetic engineering, through aggressive promotion claims, is the messiah of agriculture. It is as if it is the ultimate solution to feed an exploding population with both its needs and affluence. In the first place it is a senseless race. It may give a feeling of triumph for the day without reference to the future, to our children and children's children.   

How can we assure sustainable productivity of our farms ruined by erosion, soil nutrient depletion, water loss due to excessive cultivation? The rule is that,
the more you plant and harvest, the more your farm gets overworked. Declining productivity will result to declining yield of whether GM or non-GM crop. 

We cannot hurry up nature. It needs fallow, it needs to go with the seasons, to complete the natural cycles operating for through eons of time. Destroy the integrity of the Carbon cycle and you will disturb photosynthesis. Nitrogen cycle and you will stunt growth. Phosphorus and fruiting will fail. Potassium and your plants are sickly and weak. Calcium and your soil becomes acidic.  Even minor elements have far reaching consequences. Disturb Iron (Fe) cycle and your plants get anemic (chlorotic).  Manganese, which is a catalyst, and nutrient conversion (inorganic to organic compounds) slows down. Disturb the Water cycle and you will end up with drought.

The farm becomes an orphan, and we need subsidy, a guardian, benefactor.  We need rehabilitation, the cost of which is more than the value of many harvests. Meantime the farm has to recover like a sick person. Where is GM on the rescue.
We asked this question before: Where is modern agriculture on the rescue? When we introduced heavy inputs of commercial fertilizers, pesticides, miracle seeds, (and now GM seeds), coupled with mechanization for large scale production, borrowed money, etc. We shifted from traditional to modern with little innovative transition. 

We pushed the frontiers of agriculture too far out to the sea (mariculture), to the hills (Slope Agriculture), and deep into the forest (agro-forestry). Grossly these proved to be disastrous particularly to nature, to ecology, sustainable productivity. 

Now we are combining modern agriculture with GM agriculture.  GM rides on modern agriculture, the kind millions of farms all over the world failed before. But wait for these scenarios to unfold. GM agriculture with aeroponics (multi-storey urban agriculture), hydroponics (soiless culture) and stem cell farming (laboratory farming of hamburger). All these our Wise Men claim to be agriculture in Postmodern times. 

Would we ask them again like before, "Where were you when we needed you most?." ~ 

Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, Vietnam: Fastest growing university in the region

Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, Vietnam:

Fastest growing university in the region

Dr Abe V Rotor

Visiting Professor

The mythical bird Phoenix deserves a place in history. It is not confined only in the imagination shaped by the gods and goddesses of Mt Olympus. Go to Vietnam. Here mythology lost much of its myth. Myth after all is reality when people are able to rise from the ashes of war, specially by themselves alone.

I have visited their museum - the War Museum - and saw the atrocities committed during the two-decade US-led war against the Vietnamese enshrined in history and memory.

I have entered the Cuchi Tunnel, the underground network dug by bare hands which runs through more than 500 kilometers. It is an underground city complete with hospital, kitchen, living quarters and offices. It is indeed an engineering feat. Above it all, monumental human endurance and determination for freedom - first from their colonial masters the French, afterward the US invaders.

What I least expected in my visit in Vietnam is their tremendous zeal for self-improvement through education. Most scholars think of the West when it comes to superiority in education. Wrong. Go to Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, named after the national hero in the Vietnam War. It is here where my wife, a friend of ours - Atty Edna Loberia, and I found Vietnam of today and how it is going to face the world - and win another war.

Author and wife, pose with Vietnamese alumni at the entrance to the University

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) is the leading university in teaching and research activities of Vietnam. It plays the active role in the fields of talents cultivation and providing manpower with strong technical skills to the Southern areas of Vietnam .

HCMUT is a center of technology - industry and management training. Graduate students from HCMUT have strong professional skills, which are recognized to be equivalent to those in advanced countries in the Southeast Asia. Its training activities have made remarkable contribution to satisfy the requirements of manpower for the industrialization and modernization of Vietnam generally and Southern Vietnam areas in particular.

Moreover, HCMUT is also the science research and technology transfer center which plays the key role in providing information and applying advanced technologies of developed countries and transferring to concerning industries in the Southern areas of Vietnam .

Peace and quiet in the shade of trees contribute to an ambiance conducive to learning.

Professors are relatively young. They are idealistic and nationalistic. Many trained abroad, particularly in the Asian region.

HCMUT has 11 faculties, 10 science research and industry transferring centers, 4 training centers, 10 functioning offices and one limited company. During the past 30 years since the Liberation of South Vietnam and country unification, 45,000 engineers and Bachelors have graduated from the university. Since 1994, it has granted 20,000 Bachelors of Science, 1,503 Masteral and 25 Doctorate, many of whom are either keeping management roles and or leading experts in state-owned or foreign-investment enterprises of different industries in Ho Chi Minh City and other southern provinces. HCMUT celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007 highlighted by a national conference on science and technology.


The university is linked up with well known institutions like the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Maastritcht of Netherlands, and Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. Vietnamese students studied agriculture at UP at Los Baños and IRRI. Today the Philippines import rice from Vietnam, the second largest rice exporter in the world.

New buildings have been built after liberation and reunification on the university's sprawling campus half an hour drive from the heart of the city - Ho Chi Minh, formerly Saigon

HCMUT's publishing house and book store.

A laboratory for microbiology

Environmental awareness outreach program of the University

The University continues to build new buildings to keep pace with research, education and training needed by the rapidly growing nation. Vietnam has posted an average growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 10 percent in the last decade, second highest in Asia after China.

A few minutes drive from the university is the city's plaza and garden which takes pride in protecting trees spared by the war. Third to the last photo is the historic brick cathedral built by the French during their occupation in Vietnam for more than two centuries.

Acknowledgment: Chi Minh University of Technology E-mail: webmaster@hcmut.edu.vn 268 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Ward 14, District 10, HCM city. From Internet.