Hello nyets! First of all, my condolences to all the flood victims. I hope they can pull themselves back, and hopefully move out of the place because it's the worst place to build a house. I'll explain.
First, let's have a look at Taman Sri Muda on a map:
Pic 1: Map of Taman Sri Muda
Notice that the Klang River encircles the taman on three sides. That's real bad, because of how rivers work.
I'll link you to a video by Andrew Millison about best (and worst) places to build a home or settlement.
Video: 5 Best (and Worst) Places to Build a Home or Village β Andrew Millison
The video explains about how rivers shift and meander through a plain or valley. The effect is that the inside of bends tend to be lower lying than outside the bend. This is true for Taman Sri Muda. Here's a few cross section profile of the elevation, sampled at different points using Google Earth:
Pic 2: Cross-section of the inside of the bend at Taman Sri Muda
Pic 3: ditto
Natural processes such as siltation and vegetation would naturally raise the river channel level and the bank, which leaves the insides of banks lower and lower lying over time. It becomes a bowl that doesn't drain. The situation is basically the same as New Orleans, where the city expanded into the bend of the Mississippi:
Link 1: Map of flooding in New Orleans, 2005
The fact that the Department of Irrigation and Drainage had to pump the water out demonstrates this fact.
Link 2: Kerja Pam Air Di Taman Sri Muda Giat Dijalankan β Harian Metro
You might think building manmade levees would remedy things but if you don't do it right you end up just digging a deeper hole.
The second point is also in the video I just showed. It's that downstream of a confluence is a bad place for a settlement. And what can you see in Taman Sri Muda? It is downstream of the confluence between the Klang and Damansara Rivers!
Pic 4: That river from top of the pic? That's Damansara River
Pic 5: POV: You're Damansara River and you gotta go fast
Long Jawai, Sarawak, September 8th, 1967
The soft sound of rain showers the Borneo rainforest, it is a rainy day today, as a torrent of water flows near the outpost. I have lost the track of time ever since I volunteered for patrol service in Sarawak. Every day it seems to be the same sight. Just more forest, another day has passed without incident. Command says the Indonesians may strike any time and yetβ¦ nothing. Will these long watches end? I can barely recognize myβ¦
βCorporal!β
βYes sir?β
βWant some tea kind, sir?β
ββ¦ Definitely sir, I am famished.β
βHave you seen anything out of the ordinary?β
βNo sir, and if I do, my FAL will take care of it no hesitation.β
βGood, keep at it. Iβll see the others.β
An hour passes as the corporal drinks his tea in his watchtower admiring the view of the Borneo rainforest. Until he notices movement in the undergrowth.
βIs that?β
A bullet whizzes past, missing him and digging a chunk out of the watchtowerβs wooden scaffolding. The Corporal immediately takes cover and yells to the top of his lungs: INCOMING!
The 47th Company of Sibu Battalion of the Sarawak Rangers, alerted by the yells of their comrade in the watchtower, quickly grabbed their rifles and took positions. Some of the soldiers were having a lunch break and others were having a nap, but all knew their training and orders. Indonesian 60mm mortar fire took the small rifle company by surprise, while a raiding party of 200 Indonesian soldiers advanced into the outpost.
Indonesian light infantry moved in with assault rifles and mortar fire suppressing the light defenses of the outpost. Sarawak Rangers opened fire in a fury with light machine guns supplied from hidden weapons caches from years past, some old Vickers machine guns, and FN MAGs. In the first minute, five Indonesians are down, and one Sarawak ranger is injured from the gunfire. The Corporal frantically tries to call for aid from the nearby garrison and he receives support; two UH-1 Huey helicopters for MEDEVAC and gunfire support are dispatched to help the beleaguered outpost. βHow about you take this, penceboroh!β yells the Corporal, throwing a grenade at the raiders while shooting his FAL. Grenades and mortar fire wreck the tropical surroundings as machinegun fire crisscrosses the battlefield. More and more Indonesian soldiers fall to the ground lifeless, but more keep coming out of the woods. The corporal spots an RPG and quickly bails on the tower before it explodes in a fiery ball
... keep reading on reddit β‘Since the days of the First Rajah, Sarawak's fisheries have been the main source of food for the population here and a huge part of the economy. Employment in fishing accounts for a majority of many small villages along the coast and due to the calm waters in the river deltas of Sarawak many interior settlements routinely send fishing vessels out to gather nature's bounty.
In modern times however the Rajah does not arbitrarily prohibit rice cultivation, nor does he insist on the use of so-called "traditional techniques" over modern innovation, and as such Sarawakians have adopted fishing methods basically in-line with the other nations of the South China Sea. Filipino, Malay, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Chinese fishermen routinely interact and this is by and large peaceful.
What it is not however is profitable. Fishing produces food for Sarawak but not extra money, and now the new MLA government of Sarawak wishes to intensify certain sectors of fishing and ensure that they can become strong sectors of the economy along the western coast... and more importantly provide wages capable of reducing the allure of migration to the oil refineries in Miri and Bintulu.
The first proposal is trepanging, or cultivation of sea cucumbers. These... things... are very highly-valued in Chinese cuisines, and fetch extraordinary prices when sold in China. Chinese entrepreneurs have been agitating for years to be allowed to set up farms for these in Sarawak. Therefore, Sarawak will open a new centre for Trepanging in the small town of Simanggang. Here, sea cucumber larvae will be "seeded" into the Batang Lupar delta, where it is hoped that they will grow into commercially viable populations. Given the warmth of the waters, sea cucumbers take only a year or so to grow to maturity and thus by around 1970 we believe we will be harvesting them for sale, mostly to China and the Chinese market.
The second proposal is for shrimp aquaculture. Small-scale shrimp farms can be established by 1 or 2 farmers, or by a family. They can produce a lot of profit via export, as shrimp is a relatively high-demand product that can be sold to Australia or Japan for good profit. Shrimp farms are best built in tidal areas in estuaries, because this saves money and prevents high-power water pumps from being necessary. Luckily for us, Sarawak has dozens of such estuaries. We will provide seed capital for 10,000 new shrimp farms over the next 5 years, promoting it as an ideal occupatio
... keep reading on reddit β‘I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Do your worst!
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies π
It really does, I swear!
Kuching, the humble capital of the Maharaj, is famed across Asia as a capital where decidedly not very much happens. Life here is relaxing and slow, with little of the bustle of Manila, the rapid construction of Tokyo, the revitalisation after war of Seoul or Hanoi or any of the festivals and processions of Bangkok. Kuching is a city of stability and peace, where economic growth is moderate, just like everything else.
However by now this is coming to be seen as not so much of an advantage. Of the 5 major cities of Sarawak, all others aside from Kuching were heavily bombed during the war and so their repairs and restorations have given them a vitality and modernity not seen in Kuching. Meanwhile rapid population growth in Kuching due to refugee influxes as well as internal migration has led to the development of "kampongs", unofficial settlements that are described in government documents as "slums not out of place in a Dickens novel".
The masterplan for a new Kuching has been divided into 2 sections: Kuching Garden City to be built south and west of the existing town centre and ** Fort Margherita**, to be built north of the Sarawak River and the Sarawak Astana.
Kuching Garden City
Kuching Garden City is designed to be full-integrated district of the city, focused on daily life and public amenities. The area, roughly 12km^2, will be bounded on the east by the upgraded and expanded Market Street, on the north by the Sarawak River, on the south by Stone Pot Road and on the west by Elizabeth Road.
The main unit of KGC will be small "new kampongs", each consisting of 4 7-storey tall residential towers which face each other around the edges of a square, creating an enclosed communal space in the centre. 4 new kampongs will collectively form a "garden". Every garden will also host a titular garden park, as large in surface area as all residential areas combined, as well as a small public centre which will contain public amenities, small shops, a bank, and so on. These garden parks will become prime areas for public socialising, and on festivals and holidays will be the designated areas for public celebrations. Around the edge of the gardens will be the places of worship, carefully positioned so that from each mosque you may see a Buddhist temple, a church, a Taoist temple and vice-versa. Diversity and coexistence will be built into our town plan.
In total there will be 12 new gardens established, named on the recommendation of the Mahar
... keep reading on reddit β‘Theyβre on standbi
Buenosdillas
Pilot on me!!
