Let’s make things simple. No fluff, no excess fat, just lean facts.

As a whole, Malaysia’s real estate covers roughly 330,000kmsq. That’s about the size of Vietnam and just slightly bigger than Norway. In a list of countries measured by land size, Malaysia is 67th largest in the world.

Now imagine something half that size. Something in the order of 165,000kmsq. Which of the world’s countries would fit this geographic mould? It’s about the size of Tunisia, a country that, in 2009, was ranked the most competitive economy in Africa. 165,000kmsq can also be represented by two Austrias. Or stretch your imagination to this: as much as 240 Singapores bolted together side to side. That’s quite a large area.

In Malaysia, that same area is all tropical rainforest. Pristine, tropical and permanent rainforest, where trees bask under the scorching heat of the sun and wild animals roam, hunt and habituate. And every monsoon, this rainforest is marinated with rainfall. That area has been untouched and will remain so for many years to come, with all likelihood that not one building, not a single strip of road, not even a house can ever be built on it.

In his book Directions, author James Hamilton shares this insight about the importance of listening: "Before refrigerators, people used icehouses to preserve their food. Icehouses had thick walls, no windows and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the icehouses and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn't find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch. Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. I closed the door,'' the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking.''

In many ways, the coterie of “green” and “civil society” groups such as the oddly named Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth (FOE), the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the WWF and even zoos like the Melbourne Zoo, the Auckland Zoo and the Philly Zoo are not only deaf but also blind!

The word "unfriend" was selected by experts who track the changing vocabulary of the English language as the New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year for 2009. They defined it as a verb, “to remove someone as a friend on a social networking Web site,” such as Facebook. On that site, friends allow each other to access the personal information on their Facebook pages. They may never meet face to face or even exchange greetings online. In our world of fleeting cyber acquaintances, we are beginning to realize that having a true friend means more now than ever before.

When I contemplate on the antics of “green” and “civil society” groups such as the oddly named Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth (FOE), the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the WWF and even zoos such as, wait for this… the Melbourne Zoo, the Auckland Zoo and the Philly Zoo, I can’t help but wonder how many times they have been unfriended by people they come into contact with?