In my last term at Chula, I was given an opportunity to work as a news magazine editor. Echo was the name of the magazine; this piece of writing was an editorial showing my personal idea towards the issues of environmental problems and the magazine itself.
1. Pimpisa Jular (no.26)
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For ECHO Magazine
Editorial
Thinking of Bangkok, I imagine we all have so much to say about this
wonderland; being in Bangkok could perhaps be comparable to stepping in
the woods, discovering a rabbit hole and falling into the big space burrow
and finding yourself in the land where everything and anything is possible.
With an ability to provide its inhabitants with so much freedom to
experiencing pleasurable moments, we exploit Bangkok to its limit,
neglecting its heart and soul feeding death to its root day after day. And
even though many refuse to utter the words out loud but the ‘So what?’
thinking exists - it isn’t my responsibility to be the Bangkok-sitter, so what
do I care, one might possess. But halt there, while we unconsciously keep
falling deeper and deeper for the alluring world at the other end of the
tunnel, the clock is still ticking waiting to turn this land into one super
massive black hole.
For centuries, Bangkokians have been gaining so much from this
land, and just like the sounds of echoes, what we have done to Bangkok will
sooner or later be done to us if we all continue to lack support. Now it’s
about time that we all need to think reciprocally by returning benefits to our
city before it’s too late. I realized myself that it is never easy changing who
you are neither giving up what you have; with today’s several life-savers such
as mobile phones, computers, cars, and so on, how could one ever say no to
convenience? But the truth is without sacrifice, maybe no human existence
will be walking this earth in the next few decades, let alone Bangkok. Here at
this point in time, I am not asking for martyrs, but participation and
cooperation.
Echo is willing to be the Bangkokians’ guidebook to sustainable
happiness – both for your minds and your purses. Only if you care enough
2. to step your feet out of your cocoons, you will find that going green could
be a fun activity and isn’t at all a heartache rip off. There are ways that
everyone could join in to green our lives and Bangkok simultaneously. The
easiest means are to understand the concept of recycle and the utility of
renewable resources and employ the new knowledge in your daily lives.
Echo represents a hub of various practical ideas about making come back of
used materials to reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials while
gathering facts about the declining rate of the reproduction process of
natural resources for our readers to acknowledge the current situation that
we are facing.
Echo wants to be a mechanism that leads our generation to see that
one day, going green will not be just a trend; it will be a part of our
conscience and responsibility. I’m certain that no one wants to hear that ‘the
grass is greener on the other side’ – the new generation Bangkokians can
help grow a much greener glass on our soil. Or we can wait till we are
battered by unexpected disasters and then we could really learn the ‘no pain
no gain’ saying the hard way.
After all, my mind often wonders what if the ‘so what’ question never
goes away, then how much losses do we need to suffer before we can finally
hear this wake up call? It’s us, human beings, whose power are of great
creations and destructions and it’s our choices to make – to save or abandon
this mother land. Don’t linger till the day that the clock stops ticking; simple
steps can be taken to avoid going back to the very beginning of when
everything once started. It’s time to stop living in denial and being
indifferent and start acting. It’s time to hear the echoes of this land. It’s time
for an epiphany.
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