Mangrove forest―First Line of Defence
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（writen by Paul 张建和）
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Before our round peninsular trip, I never notice that Malaysia is the Southernmost part of mainland Asia. Tanjung Piai holds the title of the Southermost Tip of mainland Asia. We were brought there by a teacher from Pontian Pei Chun High school. According to him, Tanjung Piai is actually a state park. It covers 526 hectares of mangrove forests.
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We entered the park and started to walk towards a pier at the far end of the park. At first we thought that was the southernmost tip. It was not. We were walking inside the mangrove forest on a bridge like structure towards the pier. At first it was dark, warm and humid. But with every step closer to the pier, the sea breeze blew stronger and the sound of wave grew closer.
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We were out of the forest and the sun was shining. Cool sea wind blowing strongly at our faces reminded me of when I was in Penang running on Gurney Drive before dawn. It was refreshing. Located on the far end of the pier was a 3D directional signboard. There were many arrows there which pointed at the direction of major cities all over the world. It reminded me of which phase of life I am currently in---- A crossroad. Not only the direction of cities were shown, even the distances were clearly stated. I felt that the sign was meant for us. The crossroad sign showed us which direction---places--- we may want to go, and the effort we must put ---distances--- in order to reach it.
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From the pier, we could see the coastal line of the mangrove forest. The sight of waves continuously pounding on it reminded me of my biology class. I was thought then that mangrove was our first line of defence against pounding waves. Back then, I could not understand what teacher meant by first line of defence. Now, everything was unfolding in front of my eyes. If not for these mangroves, waves will gradually erode our coastal lines. Gradually eating into our lands. Now I can justify the many signboards that we came across which wrote “save our wetlands”.
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I saw how the fearless mangrove trees withstood the strong waves. It taught me that no matter how others try to convince us, we must never sway from our objective and our principle. “Stand firm”, that is what these mangrove trees had taught me. In a few months time, Max, Siew Lan and I are going to enter another society, another life. The university life. Many people have warned me of the temptations that I might encounter. Whenever I come across these temptations, I must stand firm like these mangrove trees. Never be swayed or budged by them, I must protect my main objective, my aim, my dreams.
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After enjoying the sea breeze, we continued our journey to the southernmost tip of mainland Asia. It was in another part of the mangrove forest. When we reach there, there was no 3D signboard like in the pier. Only a huge sphere of the globe in front of us. At the platform, we took many photos together with the huge globe. We spent more than 1hour relaxing in the strong breeze and comwhoring. While walking back from the platform, we suddenly noticed many mangrove trees had been uprooted by the waves. Bags of soil were put there to prevent the seas from further eroding our land. The makeshift defence would not stand against the waves for long. That is why we must keep on conserving and replanting our mangrove forests. We must protect our wetlands. We must protect our first line of defence!
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东南亚大陆的最南端
（撰写 陈抿川）
眼前是一条长长的木桥，两旁都是红树林，远远望去是一间小小的亭子，隐隐约约可以看到亭子的后面有着一只柱子，柱子上有着许许多多小箭头都指着不同的方向。
自己很快的在心里打了个问号 ：这些箭头是什么？我越走越近，也渐渐解开心里的问号，原来这些箭头指着不同国家的方向，箭头上还写着有关国家的名字和距离，真让我出乎预料。。。
啊！忘了说明我们现在笨珍，杨敦祥副校长正带我们进去笨珍的沼泽森林。在进门的时候我们 一直重复看到同样的句子：<<欢迎来到东南亚大陆的最南端>>。东南亚大陆最南端是怎么回事？我们把这个问号带着走、去发掘，毕竟我也未曾到过这里，很想知道那到底是什么地方、什么样子。
我们四个人就这样边走边聊。在木桥上走着的时候，旁边偶尔会有一些站牌写着一些类似爱护大自然的句子。走到一个转角处，我无意间看到海边倒下很多红树，原来这是海浪惹的祸，又想起红树的功用之一原是防止海浪侵袭陆地，是陆地天然的围墙。
看到这情景，回想刚才看过的那些句子，忽然有些体会，升起一股强烈的环保意识，有想要拯救这片红树林的疯狂想法。不过说真的，生态学我也是很有兴趣的，也想过要加入世界环保组织去服务，跟随他们到世界各地共同保护地球。
过了不久我们终于到了东南亚大陆的最南端，那里有一个很大的地球模型，我们在那里可以看到新加坡，在那里我们还可以享受海风、海浪声。
过后我们去了一个渔村，我们坐船到附近的养鱼场参观，看到很多鱼种，最特别是一种会射水的鱼。它会朝着水面上的食物喷射，真的很神奇。之后我们到渔村内的 一所小学参观，听老师说这里的小学设备很不错，因为附近的渔夫都很肯出钱办学校。其实我们走到校门前时已很惊讶，在这么简陋的渔村里竟然有那么雄伟的小学！
一进校门，就看见保安人员和小学生在打乒乓，这是多么难得一见的情景！我们向保安员说明我们的来历，所以他很乐意的让我们进入参观。难以想象的是课室下面都是烂泥，听说涨潮的时候，课室下面都是海水，可以想象是多么的靠近海边！当我们离开时，那天真的小孩子还会向我们说下次再来，我看到这样的情景，听到那么说，心里顿时有所感动，这里的生活是这样的朴素和安详、和谐，我真的很喜欢这里生活和气氛。
谁才是主人？
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（撰写 陈秀兰）
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犹然记得让我印象深刻的影子，他们是一群理工大学毕业生，个个都是正宗的工程师，可是他们却选择了“灵魂工程师”这条路，在他们言行举止看来，个个都称得上是合格的导师，除此之外，更有另一面让我为之惊叹的是…他们之间竟有人曾经参与抗议、示威的行动。他们口中说出来的社会真相，简直是让我们大吃一惊。这些数据，这些事实，根本没办法在报章上读取，就连网路新闻也没办法寻获此类讯息。
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社会正义难道就这样荡然无存了吗？真相被埋没，事实被扭曲，这就是我们社会的惨象吗？每个人只要是事不关己就可以袖手旁观了吗？当这些不幸事发生在你身上你又有何感受呢？旅程一路走来拜访了不少前辈，他们所叙述的社会正义，足以显示虽然极大多数人民都抱着自扫门前雪的态度，但是依然有少部分公民意识甚强的知识分子正在社会中努力地维护正义、教育新生代。
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脑海里浮现种种的疑问，不禁让我想起了让人难以忘怀的事。父亲过世也将近七年了，只是一直让我很不解的是，为什么事情过了七年，死者的屋业还没办法转到儿女的名下呢？这简直是天大的笑话啊！说出来肯定没人会相信，可是这确确实实发生在我身上，发生在马来西亚这片土地上。曾经以为自己倒霉，可是却无意中却发现受害者不仅仅是我们一家人，而是确实发生在这片土地的人民身上。有些人花了五年、八年才成功转名，可是我们已经等了七年却一点消息都没有。我真的很怀疑，我们国民纳税的钱到底花在哪里了？那些公仆都没得薪水吗？可不见得啊！他们个个可是吃得肥肥胖胖的呢！可能身形的关系吧！工作效率特别低，行动力也很慢。就连签个名字，也要签个五年、八年的，你能想象那种情形吗？简直是荒谬！
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报纸每天刊登这一篇篇申冤报导，难道是记者没事干，自导自演吗？不是的！这就是我们整个国家的社会趋势，这个社会已经生病了！讲什么国泰民安？谈什么经济昌盛？政府机关是最容易显现整个国家的状况，可是目前我国政治腐败的程度，我们四年一次的大选选出来的议员，到底素质在哪里？我们人民需要的是会在国会会议里骂架、闹情绪的议员吗？常常人民被政府给误导了，到底谁才是这国家的主人？是人民啊！怎么政府却成为这国家的主人了呢？政府是我们选出来管理国家大小事的，不是来剥夺人民的权利，只要政府管理的不当，作为人民更有权利更换他！就好比，老板聘请员工工作，反而却要看员工的脸色！这是何等的道理啊？
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杨敦祥老师说：“我们每消费一次，就已经间接式的在缴税给政府了！”。他的一番话，在我脑海里不断地思索。每年人民缴交的纳税钱，那不是一两百块的小数目，而是上亿的一大笔数目，到底花在哪里了？难道人民没权利知道吗？就算是大公司也有个损益报表，为何政府却做不到呢？每年的财政预算，首相公布的每项发展计划，花的是几十亿或是上百万的，这些钱到底从哪里来？还有到最后又落入谁的手中？以个人财务管理来说，收入与支出都会详尽的记录下来，至于国家财务管理嘛！那是关乎整个国家人民财富的收支，不用说详尽记录，但至少也该让人民知道钱到底是花在哪？实际上又赚了多少呢？
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政府时常制造假象，让人民误以为我们国家面临巨大的亏损，总以一大笔开支作为主题，激起人民的怜悯心，可是往往我们总是看不到国家赚取的收入实际数字又是多少？今天，作为人民是贫困的，可是若是成功争取成为国家管理的一分子，那你的钱途就会一片光明。就像老板聘请员工，老板越来越穷，反而员工却越来越富有。这是谁的错？这当然是老板的错啊！因为老板没好好监督员工，让员工有机可乘，也因为老板没有相关的知识，所以常常被员工绕得团团转的。这个道理若转到人民与政府的立场上，你们说，我这样的推断合不合理呢？
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