English speech text-Ecotourism

M.Faruq Ubaidillah

Probolinggo, 06 Agustus 1993

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, today I would like to begin with a story. There was one physical therapist who travelled all the way from America to Africa to do a census about mountain gorillas. These gorillas are a main attraction to tourist from all over the world, this put them severely under threat of poaching and being put into the zoo. She went there out of curiosity, but what she saw strengthened her determination to devote her whole life to fighting for those beautiful creatures. She witnessed a scene, a scene taking us to a place we never imaged we have ever been. Where in the very depth of the African rainforest surrounded by trees, flowers and butterflies, the mother gorillas cuddled their babies.

Yes, that’s a memorable scene in one of my favorite movies called Gorillas in the Mist, based on a true story of Mrs. Dian Fossey, who spent most of her lifetime in Rwanda to protect the ecoenviroment there until the very end of her life. To me, the movie not only presents an unforgettable scene but also acts as a timeless reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our ecoenvironment. Today, we live in a world of prosperity but still threatened by so many new problems. On the one hand, tourism, as one of the most promising industries in the 21^st of century, provided people with the great opportunity to see everything there is to see and to go any place there is to go. It has become a lifestyle for some people, and has turned out to be the driving force in GDP growth. It has the magic to turn a backward town into a wonderland of prosperity. But on the other hand, many problem can occur, natural scenes are not natural anymore.

Deforestation to heat lodges is devastating Nepal. Oil spills from tourist boats are polluting Antartika. Tribal people are forsaking their native music and dress to listen to U2 on walkman and wear Nike and Reeboks. All these appalling facts have brought us to the realization that we can no longer stand by and do nothing, because the very thought of it has been eroding our resources. Encouragingly, the explosive growth of global travel has put tourism again in the spotlight, which is why the United Nation has made 2002 the year of ecotourism for the first time to bring to the world’s attention the benefits of tourism, but also it’s capacity to destroy ecoenvironment.

Now every year, many local ecoenvironment protection organizations are receiving donations, big notes, small notes, or even coins from housewives, plumbers, ambulance drivers salesmen, teachers, children and invalids. Some of them can not afford to send the money but they do. These are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in the hospital, who are suffering from ecological damage in their neighborhood. Why? Because they care. Because they still want their mother nature back. Because they know it still belongs to them. This kind of feeling that I have ladies and gentlemen, is when it feels like it, smell like it, and looks like it, it’s all coming from a scene to remember a scene to recall and to cherish. The other night, as I saw the moon linger over the land and before it was sent into the invisible my mind was filled with songs. I found my self humming softly, not to the music, but to something else, someplace else, a place remembered , a place untouched, a field of grass where no one seem to have been except the deer. And all those unforgettable scenes strengthened the feeling that it’s time for us to do something, for all and our coming generation.

One again, I have come to think of Mrs. Diana Fossey because it’s with her spirit, passion, courage and strong sense of our ecoenvironment that we are taking our next step into the world. And no matter who we are, what we do and where we go, in our mind there’s always a scene to remember a scene worth our effort to protect it and fight for it. Thank you very much

“ if you can not do a great thing, please do alitle thing in a great way”…………………………………..masterof English.

Written by M.faruq Ubaidillah

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

• Which is more important for you knowledge from books or personal experience??

I remember, on my very first day at my beloved university. One of my professor said to me, “ from now on you will be on the journey between who you thing you are and who you can be. The key is to allow your self to continue the journey in the ocean of the books I do learn a lot from books, I know the geometry of Euclid, logic of Aristotle, fable of Aesop known to children around the world. Well, no offense to all those authors of the books, but during three years at my university, I do realize that personal experience through practice means more to me. As we are in this globalization age where both economic growth an individual opportunities are based on ideas, a commitment to providing all human beings the golden opportunities to develop themselves is so vital, not only to the people here but all around. As we are in this transformational age where communications and commerce are global, investments are mobile, and technology is almost magical, and the ambition for a better life is now universal. And I think this is why we are here today, we want to earn our personal experience through practicing our oral English, sharing our opinions of tourism and ecology with all the judges and audience here. And I think we are so lucky to be alive at this moment of the history. Never before have our nations enjoyed so much prosperity and so much social progress with so little internal crises. And never before have our young people had so much great opportunity to practice our self, and therefore, have a profound obligation to build a more perfect nation of our ancestor’s dream. Even if we know some rules, some regulations, and experience from our books, but we still simply can not graft it onto today’s busier, more impersonal, complicated world. Instead, our challenges is to arrive at a consensus values and a common vision of what we can do today individually and collectively. And above all make the world a better place for us to live. Thank you very much.

• Could you explain to us the difference between ordinary tourists or e-tourists and ecotourists ???

And I think the key issue is the differences between our awareness. For example, if you want to go to a place to have a trip, enjoy your trip. And I think before you get on board, get on the bus, you can have the awareness that “I am not a polluter but an environment keeper”. We don’t go to all those scenic spots to destroy all those beautiful scenes but we to appreciate the Mother Nature giving us so much thing.

• Now that information technology is becoming more and more accessible to all people in the world, do you think books will become less and less important ???

Well, I think, maybe, . I don’t think that all those technology can replace the importance of books. We are in our modern village where so many industries, IT industries, tourist industries crop up everyday and this brave new world seem a little bit dehumanizing and inhospitable to a lot of people. The world can no longer be defined as a place on a map or a list or people in organizations, but I think the true value, the essence of our village remains the same. It is the network of values relationship that support our lives and we can learn those things from our books, because books is the very first beginning stage of what we learn.

• You mentioned that UN has declared the year 2002 The Year of Ecotourism, and I think it was. The question is do you think such gestures really serve a purpose ???

And I think one of my teachers said to me, when I prepared my prepared speech, and he tells me that if we pay more attention to something like environmental protection or ecotourism. It is more, it is better for us to bear in our minds, we should learn something in our hearts, we should have something about the awareness about how to pay more respect to our environment. Not to talk about something orally but to bear something in our hearts. Follow our hearts, our environment can be better.

Written by M. Faruq Ubaidillah