By Pankaj Adhikari (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-22 07:30

As we step into another year, it is time to reflect on the Chinese saying: "As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood."

The Chinese people are as ancient as the hills and rivers and have behind them a history of manifold greatness.

But as the new year dawns, I worry about our future - the future of our planet Earth and the future of humanity.

Our planet is at a crossroads. It is struggling with problems posed by uncontrolled population growth, proliferating diseases, a growing disparity between the rich and the poor, environmental degradation, massive exoduses from the countryside to cities and relentless military campaigns in the name of mercy missions leading to the death of innocents.

I watch with horror and dismay how the postwar states of Iraq and Afghanistan are being exploited in the name of so called peace missions.

A sensitive soul is burdened with thoughts: Will there be a war again? Will we live longer? What technologies will shape our future?

Let's take a look at the discoveries in the last century that changed the world. The advent of satellite television was a silent revolution that created a whole new industry and completely changed the way we entertain and inform ourselves.

It was the discovery of the semiconductor by William Shockley and John Bardeen that gave birth to the IT revolution. The discovery of the DNA structure by Francis Crick and James Watson laid the foundation of modern genetics, biotechnology and medicine, pillars of the knowledge revolution.

But, despite these inventions, we have not been able to ease the planet's pangs. Mother Earth is bleeding. There's conflict, violence and mindless mayhem across the globe.

Recognizing the seriousness of the state of the Earth and grasping its implications is the need of the hour. To save our pristine paradise, we must wake up to the disastrous consequences of man's rapacious consumption and unbridled economic development at the cost of land degradation, depletion of forests and global warming.

Historian Simon Schama said: "History tells us to let go of the past, even as we honor it; to lament what ought to be lamented; to celebrate what should be celebrated ... It is written to inspire the living."

Poverty and unemployment are at the root of problems, including terrorism, that beset today's world. So let's remove the scourge of poverty by creating more jobs and improving the quality of life in the countryside.

Let's ensure that development is focused on human progress.

Let all industrialized nations reduce their spending on defense and renounce weapons of mass destruction. Only then will they attain the moral high ground from where they can ask other nations to follow.

If they can bring themselves to do that, the planet will be brought back from the brink of disaster.

Planet Earth is our home. This is where our journey and discovery must begin. Let's make people aware of the risks of pollution, cut down carbon emissions, stop depleting forests, plant trees and cut energy consumption to make the world a safer place.

So, let's ensure that the "green hills" remain and there is "firewood" for our children and their grandchildren.

As the great Indian Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore wrote in his book Talks in China: "China represents an ideal and it stands for not merely progress in wealth and knowledge and power but a philosophy of life and the art of living."

There is still hope that with energy, enterprise and fortitude we can realize the sagacity of the Chinese saying and achieve the impossible.

E-mail: pankaj@chinadaily.com.hk

(China Daily 01/22/2008 page8)