Organic-Ally

Sometimes that's how I feel: old and limp, needing a pick-me-up. Family obligations took me back to Singapore where we missed the opening of the Beijing Olympics. When we did see the highlights of fireworks and the lighting of the Olympic flame I felt: what a waste of energy. Fireworks … well… China is the leading exporter of fireworks, I guess, and it should not cost all that much in real terms. (Subsequently, of course, we learned that the fireworks had been digitally enhanced. Still, fireworks were used.) But keeping the flame burning for the duration of the games … well … that would require a good deal more of fossil fuel. Fast forward to 2012 and the London “eco-friendly games”: do we plan to outdo the Chinese in the use of fireworks? Instead of it being the "most expensive", could we make it the most frugal? My husband suggested using a virtual flame. Well, if the Chinese could use digitally enhanced fireworks, I think a virtual flame will be an excellent idea. I wo...

The last time I walked past the local Primark with my son he spotted from the outside "organic cotton T-shirt £4". I was incredulous. Here we are, organic cotton retailers struggling to procure certified organic cotton because the big players now want a piece of the cake and are coming in with their huge buying power, and we see organic cotton T-shirts at £4 at Primark. How do they do that? How much do they (not) pay their workers to be able to afford to sell at those prices? Today I walked past that shop again (as my local sub-post office had been forced to close I now have to take my parcels to the main office) and saw the same sign again. I meant to go in to examine the label, but somehow couldn't bring myself to do so. Maybe on the next trip. What would Mary Portas say? Been watching her series on turning retail fashion boutiques around. How can I run a business without knowing my competition? Here's what she has to say about Primark ( Independent , 12th July 200...

Having been nudged by a customer onto Facebook -- I like to claim that I try to meet customer demand -- I had been dipping into FB gingerly being very careful about being sucked right in. You know what I mean? It can get very addictive. But FB can also be a bit scary. Like every time I log in (which is not often) I get on the left-hand side an advert that usually headlines with "45-49?" followed by small print -- which I am still able to read without my reading glasses, thank you -- about manufacturers requiring people of that age group to test various products. Of course a vehicle like FB requires advertising for all these fun and games to be provided 'free'. Ah, there really is no such thing as a free lunch. I really hate to think that someone has gathered so many of my details as to know what kinds of food I eat so that they could 'target' their marketing at me. This morning we received junk mail sent to my eight-year-old son. He managed to fill in some det...

Last Saturday while out trying to get stuff for husband's birthday we got stopped by a socialist. He alerted me to the TV expose (sorry, don't know how to put accent in) on Primark and I duly signed a petition. I don't shop at Primark. Call me snooty if you must. But I smell a fish when clothes are sold so cheaply. ( See previous post .) In any case I have eschewed 'fast fashion' for some time and prefer fashion on the slow, classic lane. Any way I went home and sought out the programme on BBC iPlayer. The three things that struck me were women quarrelling over drinking water in a village devastated by a huge textile factory (of which effluence has poisoned the natural water supply and drinking water has to be trucked in every day -- criminal!) the smiling faces of the boys being rescued from sweatshops because they know they are headed for a better life, and big corporations like Primark simply washed their hands off the whole issue -- buried their heads in the san...

Husband came back from work on Tuesday looking rather rough. One eye was bloodshot. He went to bed early. We both had a difficult night. I was up blowing my nose, struggling to breathe, etc. He was up counting the hours to the next lot of pain-killers. Next morning he was aching all over and so stayed in bed. It is difficult enough when a husband who has been as healthy as he could be suddenly finds himself not able to get out of bed. But I found that I was now also full of cold and feeling extreme tiredness. So after school drop-off I too went to have a snooze to make up for the rather sleepless night we had. I tried to get life back to 'normal' as much as I could. But husband appeared to be deteriorating and at one point was groaning in some pain. So it was decided that we needed a doctor to call. But it was "too late" for our GP practice to send a doctor. We had to wait for some three hours till "after hours" for the out-of-hours Harmoni doctor to call. W...

Didn't really kick in this year till about two weeks ago. Even then it has not been at all bad. But Saturday was a different story. Cousin has flown in to see her supervisor. As she often does, she took us out for a meal and we went to a nice Thai restaurant. Good food it was. Took my anti-histamine pill as usual. Fell asleep at some point. Then at about midnight it seemed, fireworks went off. Someone close by were letting off fireworks with loud bangs at every second for a while. Why do people wait till midnight to do this? And to celebrate what? Totally inconsiderate. Any way, didn't manage to get back to sleep with my nose thickening up. After getting up every minute or so to blow my nose into hankies which were getting sodden, it was time to move into the bathroom. I sit on the 'throne' reading, and blow my nose into the sink whenever necessary. Dab hot water all over the face. That way it gets a 'steaming' effect and the tubes are cleared a little. I read m...

Take ironing for example. As a young child one of the first tasks I was allowed to do was sorting the clean clothes, folding them up neatly, and putting them away. Then I graduated to being able to 'moisten' the clothes that needed ironing. This entailed getting an enamel jug of water and sprinkling water all over the clothes with some deft wristwork and rolling them up. I've often wondered why we didn't just iron the clothes while still wet, rather than wait for them to dry and I had to wet them again. These were then bundled up in a large piece of cloth for a few minutes. Then Mum would do the ironing. She would have a bowl of water with her and would sprinkle the clothes with water when she saw fit. That was 'steam ironing'. Later I watched for the first time my sister-in-law use a steam iron and I thought how marvellous the steam iron was. In my married life -- just coming up to ten years -- I cannot remember how many steam irons we'd gone through. The h...

Many years ago at university someone -- who's now someone very important in Singapore -- said to me, "You have old men and women who like to tell stories, and young boys and girls who like listening to stories. Why not just put the two together?" There are scientists who argue organic agriculture will not solve the world's food problems because there is not enough people to do the labour. Or it gets too expensive. In the UK we have an exploding prison population and concerns that prisoners do not get to spend more than an hour outside their cell. Why not put these prisoners to work in organic farms? Lots of sunshine (are you seriously talking about the UK?) and fresh air to give them lots of exercise. Tire them out and keep them out of trouble and off the drugs. Why not? Prison has become so comfortable that for some it's a better place than to be on the streets. I hear stories that illegal migrants controlled by 'gangmasters' prefer a prison bed to themse...

Didn't get round to saying it before. The workers that the six British young people got to see in India in this TV series can be said to be caught (up)/trapped in a 'culture of poverty'. While education in most countries allow people to experience 'social mobility', those trapped in poverty do not have the wherewithal to better themselves. Once they stopped working, they stop eating. Education or any form of training really becomes a luxury. (Something that Richard in the series learned, eventually.) That is why everywhere where education becomes available and children are able to make use of it, they do better than their parents: social mobility. (And also family size comes down, easing over-population.) In Britain, however, we are negating the effect of universal free education. At least some parts of the population are. Instead of using education to achieve social mobility, it is easier for some to choose a 'culture of dependency': the government will pro...

I went ballistic yesterday. Then I was tearful. Then I felt a part of me died. My elder brother told me that he had just -- last week -- thrown away my Brownie uniform. This was all the more difficult to bear because I had just told a sister to look after it for me because on my next trip I would be collecting that item from her flat. You see, my son has just joined Cub Scouts and has really taken a fancy to the challenge of badge-collecting. This is a little boy who is so shy and finds it difficult to get out of his comfort zone. He joined the Cubs, asked to be enrolled and has now set sights pretty high. Many years ago I was just like that. I worked very hard to pass all the tests I needed to become a full-fledged Brownie. The Golden Hand, the Golden Bar, etc and became the Sixer of the 'Fairies'. I turned 12 before I could complete all the tests I needed to get me my Golden Wings. One could only get those Wings if one passed a series of tests before one turned twelve. The po...

The last episode of this series is a bit of an anti-climax. Basically all six young people decided to be more cautious as to where their clothes come from. The person who stood out this time was Stacey, she with the inimitable smile and indefatigable spirit and an ever-ready 'Namaste!'. She went about looking for child labourers and at the end of the show we found her returning to the factory where a boy labourer was to be sent home. She was indignant when she found another young child there. The team also visited a rescue shelter for boys rescued from child labouring. (Whatever happened to the girl child labourers?) There they hit upon the brilliant idea of repainting the walls. The children added their favourite pictures and everyone seemed happy. Stacey then managed to procure pictures drawn by these children and auctioned them off at a private function she organized. Meanwhile Tara went off in search of an organization that promotes fair trade and which shares out its profi...

We went to a different church on Sunday because my soon-to-be-enrolled Cub Scout son wanted to attend a ceremony at the church which sponsors his pack. We learned that it is Christian Aid Week. There is a little old lady who faithfully comes round to every house on the street at this time of year with this little envelope, and she'd come back again to collect, hoping that people would put some money in it. I really take my hat off to people with that kind of committment. And so we faithfully give. Present Aid is the 'shopping' outlet for Christian Aid. Through this site you could buy various gifts -- even a can of worms -- that will make a significant and positive change for those who need it most. Back to Organic-Ally .

In line with my current interest in the Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts series, I thought it worthwhile to link to some ethical / organic shopping sites. Apart from People Tree listed by Laura in a previous post (thank you, Laura.) : Sale on here for 10th to 18th May My husband is looking for some casual organic cotton shirts (to replace those from the last millennium). Any recommendations? Back to Organic-Ally .

Hats off to these young people for their cooking skills. I am suitably impressed. While five of the team were slaving at the cotton mill, Amrita who found herself allergic to this work took to the market and cooked up a meal for the team. No one complained, so the food -- which looked good -- must be good. Several of the team members complained about headaches. It might be the sun, or it could be the pesticides, we will never know. Apart from finding it difficult to complete the task set for them, leading to the owner of the mill having to resort to asking his regular workers to work overtime, there was also the ongoing dispute over who should clean up the toilet. The girls insisted that the boys had blocked it up and the boys insisted it was the toilet tissue used. No one -- and nothing -- budged. So the stand-off and stench continued. By the end of the programme we still didn't know how it was resolved. But a plumber would cost 120 rupees. It just reminded me of how boys and plum...

Having posted three times about mothers (even though I sometimes meant 'mothers and fathers') I guess it is only right to post this. But I found it too difficult to write about this. It challenges all that I held about fatherhood. The news is still about the Austrian father who imprisoned and abused his daughter. It has also affected my faith in thinking that "God does not make mistakes". Did God make a mistake in allowing the birth of this very evil man? Did God make a mistake in allowing the birth of these children/grandchildren? Having learned that I nearly did not get born because of the impoverished state of my already large family (Mum was advised to abort me) I thank God that I was given an opportunity to life. I love my life. I feel that I have been able to do so much about my life. Then we think of those children, many such children especially in areas of civil and political conflict, born of rape and we wonder "Why does God allow these children to be bo...

In this episode my attention was drawn most to Richard the working-class boy made good on a journey discovering that good intention and even stellar motivation alone does not eradicate poverty. His point was that -- because he has done so -- anyone could make a better life for himself. All you need is an education. Go to night school if necessary. I think it is good for this nation that young people can have role models like Richard: I was poor, I worked hard, now I am doing well. I, too, was poor. I grew up with five other siblings sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor in a one-bedroomed flat. We were then allocated a two-bedroomed flat elsewhere. We still slept on the floor. We had one table which was used for food preparation, meals and then homework. We had no wardrobes and clothes were kept in boxes (old wooden fruit crates), etc. As for clothes I wore discards all the time. When I made it to university (thank God Singapore had a meritocratic system then) there were times when ...

I was ironing a shirt and I thought, hmm, the colour is a bit faded. I've had some of these shirts for so long. They are cotton, but not organic, with pretty lace on the collars and sleeves. I bought these years ago before I knew that conventional cotton was harming the environment. B are still sending me catalogues and I have studiously avoided their cotton and polyester clothes in recent years. I must confess that some (not all) of their styles appeal to me. More importantly they do clothes in my size. Recently, having not bought any clothes for more than a year, I succumbed and picked out a couple of wool numbers. The company -- like most companies these days -- claims to have an "eco and ethical" policy. (You could read on their site.) They claim fair trade policies, re-plant trees, etc. I wonder what other pro-organic folk think. Back to Organic-Ally .

This was my gripe of the day. I came across this comment: A world of hemp lingerie? No thanks ( Timesonline , 21st April 2008) and felt outraged that the writer implied that it is not worth sewing a button back on an item of clothing, or that doing so (sew) is akin to slave labour. If Melanie Reid wants to know what slave labour really is, I would suggest that she reads Made in China: Women Factory Workers in a Global Workplace by Pun Ngai. Pun (pronounced 'Poon') and I crossed paths while doing our PhDs in London. I read some of her original writing for our thesis-writing workshops. Let us just say that after reading her harrowing ethnographic accounts of what these dagongmei (girls who leave their villages to work in the cities for a few years to earn as much money as they can) go through in their factories and dormitories, I could not sleep that night. I think I became sensitized to the possible abuse involved in anything 'Made in China' after that. I don't kn...

Sadly I only learned about this programme a few hours before the first episode was aired, and so did not have time to flag this up on my other websites. What can I say? The factory scenes brought back vivid memories of my own stints in garment factories. Between my O and A Levels I found a 'finishing' job in a garment factory. That made me the lowest of the low in the hierarchy, short of the tea lady. So when the tea lady was not around, the supervisor made me serve tea to visitors. The rest of my time was spent cutting the loose ends of thread, ironing the finished products, folding, packing, and so on. My most painful memory at this factory was the tea lady hovering around the office, refusing to go home, waiting for the boss to come back to the factory to hand out that week's wages. The boss had left the factory earlier on for a meeting. She didn't come back that evening and we never got paid. The tea lady moaned that she didn't have the money to pay her children...

Interesting headline and report this: Exposed: the great GM crops myth "Last week the biggest study of its kind ever conducted – the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development – concluded that GM was not the answer to world hunger. "Professor Bob Watson, the director of the study and chief scientist at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when asked if GM could solve world hunger, said: "The simple answer is no."" Do read some of the stories related to this report. Compare with The city-dwellers who are becoming front garden farmers Back to Organic-Ally .