Social norms in Malaysia and their relations to SDGs
Chan Yu Nin
Due to the all-year hot weather in Malaysia, several practices have been developed in the daily lives of Malaysians to cope with the environment. In this report, two of the issues will be discussed; the use of air conditioners with very low temperatures and heavy reliance on private vehicles such as private cars.
It is common in Malaysia that public facilities such as shopping malls, governmental offices, banks, post offices, and etc. operate under very strong air conditioners with low temperatures (normally under 20℃). Some people would often feel cold inside shopping malls instead of comfortable and would need to bring an extra outer jacket for the sudden change of temperature. Other than that, we would also often hear that people visit shopping malls not necessarily for shopping, but also to enjoy the air conditioners there while having their leisure time.
The next issue is regarding the heavy use of private cars which causes severe traffic congestion in the urbanized areas in Malaysia. Due to the inadequate public transportation, inefficient urban planning, and the hot weather, many Malaysians prefer using their private vehicles such as cars and motorcycles instead of walking or taking public transportation like buses. It is often that people would feel slightly irritated if their parking spots are slightly far away from their destinations as it is too hot to walk outside. Therefore, it is a common scene that people would park or stop by right outside shops just to shorten their walking time outdoors.
In relation to the SDGs, we first looked at the negative impacts of these practices. From SDG 11 point of view, which is related to the sustainable cities and communities, the inappropriate city planning has made the roads in Malaysia not pedestrian-friendly. This has caused Malaysians to heavily rely on private vehicles especially cars that come with air conditioners and caused heavy traffic congestion. As a result, many people in Malaysia, especially in the big cities, are spending more time commuting, which has affected the quality of their lives. Other than that, from the viewpoint of SDG 13 which focuses on climate action, it is intuitive that the increase in conventional vehicles (not electrical cars) will increase carbon emissions. The habit of setting low temperatures on the air conditioners has also led to heavy energy consumption which imposed burdens on the environment. Hence, it is important that we look into these issues immediately before irreversible damages are done.
On the other hand, there are opportunities from these daily habits of Malaysians if we look at them from a more positive side. First of all, related to SDG 7 “Affordable and Clean Energy”, it is an opportunity for Malaysia to take an energy shift from oil and gas to renewable energies. Currently, the use of renewable energy in Malaysia is only 6% of the total energy consumption. Therefore, it is a good chance when we can shift to clean energy and contribute to climate actions while still relying on private vehicles. Besides that, this is also a sign to improve the public transportation and urban planning related to SDG 9 “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure”. If the development and connection between pedestrian pathways and public transportation can be improved, I believe that more people would be willing to decrease the use of private cars and ease the traffic condition.
Discussion
1. Are there any similar daily practices in your country or any country you have visited?
One of our lab members pointed out that it is quite different in France compared to Malaysia as the public transportations are quite good and reliable most of the time. Besides that, the public’s awareness towards environment is relatively stronger; people would actively reduce the use of private vehicles if they understand how they are affecting the traffic and the environment. Japan is known for the well-developed public transportation like the railway systems in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. However, according to our Japanese lab members, it is still very common for people in the rural areas to rely on private cars as facilities are geographically dispersed, and bus stations are also relatively far away from each other. According to another lab member, there are no trains in Bogota, so it is also normally congested as well. However, due to the high gas price and considering time efficiency, most people would prefer using the motorcycle. In the Philippines, people would still walk even if it is hot outside as gasoline is quite expensive. They would use umbrellas to tackle with the sunlight instead of using cars.
2. How would you make small changes in these habits if you were in Malaysia?
In terms of promoting the use of renewable energies, Laos is currently having 0% tax for EV energy, introducing an increasing trend of electrical car use in Laos. Due to the abundant oil and natural gas resources in Malaysia, fuel prices are relatively cheaper. This is why most of the people are still relying on conventional cars and are still reluctant to consider electrical cars due to the prices and the insufficiency of charging stations. One of the members suggested that increasing gas prices would be a good alternative to encourage the use of public transportation. Regarding the use of air conditioners with low temperatures, some of the lab members have pointed out that there should be some regulatory policies that limit the use or control the temperature to a certain limit like what they are doing in Japan. Others have also mentioned that sudden change from hot to cold environment might impose health risks to an individual. Therefore, if the public can be educated with this issue, it could promote the change of temperature from “cold” to “comfortable” instead.