Of balloons and political rallies

(Photo by InSingPaparazzo)

Over the past week, Singapore has been abuzz with talk about the upcoming General Elections. With Polling Day taking place tomorrow (7th May), all of the various political parties have made great efforts to encourage citizens to vote for them.

Unlike many others, I'm choosing not to blog about my personal political views, but wish to mention something that occurred last night, the final night of the hustings.

Last night, I saw this tweet made by the Twitter account of The Straits Times:



This is the picture attached:



Apparently, balloons were released at the rally held by the People's Action Party (PAP) at Ubi.

Melissa, a friend of mine who was attending that rally tweeted this:



This is the photo she posted:



You can see more photos of the balloons at the rally in these photos that were posted on Facebook. I was unable to get permission to post these photos here.

I was quite displeased by this apparent disregard for the environment; the problem of mass balloon release has been mentioned a number of times over the years, not only by me, but also by other bloggers such as Ria Tan and Darryl Kang (better known simply as DK).

I sought clarifications from Melissa, and she explained to me that the balloons had been given out to members of the audience as gifts, and that at the end of the rally, some individuals decided to release their balloons. Based on her estimate, about 10 balloons or so were released into the sky; the rest of the audience continued to hold on to their strings. So it wasn't actually a case of coordinated mass littering, but more the behaviour of a few people who didn't realise the consequences of their actions.

It does raise a number of issues about helium-filled balloons being freely given out at open-air events. While this incident did not involve the release of hundreds or thousands of balloons, like what has happened in the past (4 separate links to reports on past incidents of mass balloon release), I do wish that more people would be aware of the potentially harmful effects of releasing balloons, and the impact on marine life.

In future, if there are any groups that wish to give out or sell large numbers helium-filled balloons at open-air events, I hope more can be done to remind people not to let go of their balloons. Hopefully, more people will realise that releasing your balloon into the sky may seem to be a harmless act, but is actually merely nothing more than delayed littering of another place.

Check out this beautiful mould!

STOMPer Whye Kok saw this beautiful mould growing on a fence at Ubi.

In an email to STOMP today (Sept 18), the STOMPer says:

"I saw this by accident on Sept 15 in the afternoon.

"This is a fence surrounding a building located at 51 Ubi Avenue 3 and I saw some beautiful mould growing on it."

That isn't mould, but is actually a clump of eggs laid by an insect known as a lacewing.

Lacewings are delicate-looking insects that belong to the family Chrysopidae, which in turn belong to the insect order known as Neuroptera.


(Photo by macropoulos)

As adults, many species subsist chiefly on nectar and pollen.

Their eggs are laid singly or in small clumps, with each egg sitting at the tip of a stalk.


(Photo by Tapperboy)

The larvae look and behave quite differently from the adults.


(Photo by Lord V)

True to their fearsome appearance, and unlike the adults, lacewing larvae are voracious predators. Each hapless victim is seized in those massive jaws before a paralysing venom is injected. Subsequently, the prey is then sucked dry. Aphids, beetle larvae, mites, small caterpillars, and other small arthropods are all fair game. In the absence of suitable prey, the young lacewings will simply turn into cannibals. Some lacewing species are employed as a form of biological control, and are used in farms and gardens in many parts of the world to keep pest numbers low.

Why were all these trees chopped down?

A STOMPer was having lunch at the Ubi Ave 1 area when he noticed that many trees were felled there and wondered why this was the case.

In an email to STOMP today (June 23), the STOMPer wrote:

"I was having lunch at Ubi Ave 1 when I came across these.

"I wonder why the authority felled so many trees when the weather is getting so hot?"

The STOMPer added that this was at the open space near block 301.

Lightning, then tree crashes into dad's van: He loses sole source of income

STOMPer Nazrah's dad, a school bus driver, lost his sole source of income after lighting struck a tree and caused it to crash into his van.

In an email to STOMP today (May 13), the STOMPer says:

"Recently on May 9, Vesak Day, there was a freak accident along Ubi Ave 1.

"I believe lightning hit this particular tree at the carpark, and caused it to tumble and hit my father's van.

"The van is now badly damaged. Many other cars around the carpark also suffered the same fate. A lot of other vehicles in the carpark have many scratches due to tree branches grazing them.

"I also heard that someone's third floor window balcony broke into pieces after a tall tree tumbled down on it.

"What frustrated me most is that after meeting with the town council, HDB board, and my father's insurance company, none could offer any form of help when we were seeking compensation.

"Why is that so?

"Instead, they asked us to engage a lawyer and make further complaints to the LTA or NEA, or settle the bills ourselves. I believe damages cause by lightning falls under the category of accidents.

"It really saddens me as my father is a sole-breadwinner and self-employed school bus driver who uses the van to provide us with bread and butter.

"Seeing my father having to 'beg' insurance for his claim for the damaged van is really heart-wrenching."

Destruction in Ubi Ave left behind by thunderstorm

This was the scene left behind at Ubi Avenue 1 by the thunderstorm this morning (May 9).

STOMPer Lim, who took these photos, said:

"There was a heavy storm this morning (May 9) which caused many trees at Ubi Ave 1 to fall apart.

"Can the authorities please send someone to clear the field and check the stability of trees to prevent a similiar occurrence?"