Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Who is 'Yi-Fu Tuan' or 'Tuan Yi-Fu'?

Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan

A Biography of the Famous Chinese-American Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan

From Amanda Briney, Contributing Writer, for About.com

Mar 13 2009

Yi-Fu Tuan is a Chinese-American geographer famous for pioneering the field of human geography and merging it with philosophy, art, psychology, and religion. This amalgamation has formed what is known as humanist geography.

Humanist geography as it is sometimes called is a branch of geography that studies how humans interact with space and their physical and social environments. It also looks at the spatial and temporal distribution of population as well as the organization of the world’s societies. Most importantly though, humanistic geography stresses people’s perceptions, creativity, personal beliefs, and experiences in developing attitudes on their environments.

In addition to his work in human geography, Yi-Fu Tuan is famous for his definitions of space and place. Today, place is defined as a particular part of space that can be occupied, unoccupied, real, or perceived (as is the case with mental maps). Space is defined as that which is occupied by an object's volume.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the idea of place in determining people's behavior was at the forefront of human geography and replaced any attention previously given to space. In his 1977 article, "Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience," Tuan argued that to define space, one must be able to move from one place to another, but in order for a place to exist, it needs a space. Thus, Tuan concluded that these two ideas are dependent upon one another and began to cement his own place in the history of geography.

Yi-Fu Tuan's Early Life

Tuan was born on December 5, 1930 in Tientsin, China. Because his father was a middle class diplomat, Tuan was able to become a member of the educated class, but he also spent many of his younger years moving from place to place within and outside of China's borders.

Tuan first entered college at the University College in London but he later went to the University of Oxford where he received his bachelor's degree in 1951. He then continued his education there and earned his master's degree in 1955. From there, Tuan moved to California and finished his education at the University of California, Berkeley.

During his time at Berkeley, Tuan became fascinated with the desert and the American Southwest -- so much so that he often camped in his car in the rural, open areas. It was here that he began to develop his ideas of the importance of place and bring philosophy and psychology into his thoughts on geography. In 1957, Tuan completed his PhD with his dissertation entitled, "The Origin of Pediments in Southeastern Arizona."

Yi-Fu Tuan's Career

After completing his PhD at Berkeley, Tuan accepted a position teaching geography at Indiana University. He then moved on to the University of New Mexico, where he frequently spent time conducting research in the desert and further developed his ideas on place. In 1964, Landscape magazine published his first major article called, "Mountains, Ruins, and the Sentiment of Melancholy," in which he examined how people view physical landscape features in culture.

In 1966, Tuan left the University of New Mexico to begin teaching at the University of Toronto where he remained until 1968. In that same year, he published another article; “The Hydrologic Cycle and the Wisdom of God,” that looked at religion and used the hydrologic cycle as evidence for religious ideas.

After two years at the University of Toronto, Tuan then moved to the University of Minnesota where he produced his most influential works on organized human geography. There, he wondered about the positive and negative aspects of human existence and why and how they existed around him. In 1974, Tuan produced his most influential work called Topophilia which looked at the love of place and people’s perceptions, attitudes, and values surrounding their environments. In 1977, he further solidified his definitions of place and space with his article, “Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience.”

That piece, combined with Topophilia then had a significant impact on Tuan’s writing. While writing Topophilia, he learned the people perceive place not only because of the physical environment but also because of fear. In 1979, this became the idea of his book, Landscapes of Fear.

Following four more years teaching at the University of Minnesota, Tuan cited a mid-life crisis and moved to the University of Wisconsin. While there, he produced several more works, among them, Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets, in 1984 that looked at man's impacts on the natural environment by focusing on how humans are able to change it by adopting pets.

In 1987, Tuan's work was formally celebrated when he was awarded the Cullum Medal by the American Geographical Society.

Retirement and Legacy

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Tuan continued lecturing at the University of Wisconsin and wrote several more articles, further expanding his ideas in human geography. On December 12, 1997, he gave his last lecture at the university and officially retired in 1998.

Even in retirement, Tuan has remained a prominent figure in geography by pioneering human geography, a step that gave the field a more interdisciplinary feel as it is no longer simply concerned with physical geography and/or spatial science. In 1999, Tuan wrote his autobiography and more recently in 2008, he published a book called, Human Goodness. Today, Tuan continues give lectures and writes what he calls “Dear Colleague Letters.”

To view these letters and learn more about Yi-Fu Tuan's career visit http://www.yifutuan.org/.

source:



http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/yifutuan.htm

What is 'topophilia'?

Topophilia

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Topophilia is described in Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language as literally love of place. It is a term used to describe the strong sense of place or identity among certain peoples.

It combines the Greek word topo- or top-, meaning place, with the ending -philia, meaning love of/for.

It is generally believed that it was coined by Chinese-American geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in his 1974 book entitled Topophilia: a study of environmental perception, attitudes, and values. Tuan claims that topophilia "can be defined widely so as to include all emotional connections between physical environment and human beings." But W.H. Auden used the term already in his 1948 introduction to John Betjeman's poetry title Slick but Not Streamlined. Perhaps more germanely, it appeared in French philosopher Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space, published in French in 1958.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topophilia

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sustainable, SustainableDevelopment & Education for Sustainable Development

Yesterday we had a meeting to discuss the aspect of 'Sustainable Development for Higher Education'.

First, the terms - 'sustainabilit', 'sustainable development' and 'education for sustainable development'. What do they mean exactly? What are the Malay correspondence for them? All I can recall was Anise's suggestion - find a tight definition for both Malay and English which can be used in all disciplines. Hmmm...

Second, are the terms limited to environment, which, according to some, would correspond to 'alam sekitar'. Need to register myself in geography after this.

Third, since someone said it is difficult to get hit on the search engines, I am putting all three terms to see if this blog will get hit. According to Prof Ruslan Rainis, wordpress has a better chance than proper papers. Now let me try with blogspot. Here goes nothing... Wait, I think I'd better create twitter and do it ala Ashton Kutcher (http://twitter.com/aplusk)

Whatever it is - Human must take care of Earth so that the future generation will have the opportunity to savour the beauty of all systems that make Earth.

I only wish that all wars (political and military) will end so that we can truly live in harmony and symbiotically with each other and with others in the ecosystem.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Bukit Larut: Alahai Kerajaan Negeri - Do not echo what the previous government had said and planned!!!

2009/01/15
RM60m cable car for Bukit Larut planned
By : P. Chandra Sagaran

IPOH: The state government has approved in principle the construction of a RM60 million cable car system at Bukit Larut in Taiping.

The contract will go to "a company with a good track record" with the assurance that the resort's ecological settings would not be disturbed.

State Education, Local Government, Housing and Public Transport Committee chairman Nga Kor Ming said the project had the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Department of Environment.

A visitor will take 11 minutes to reach the 1,250m peak of the resort from the bottom of the mountain, compared with the 30-minute, 13km ride via four-wheel-drive or government Land Rover.

"The cable will stretch up between 5 and 6km and will have 26 cable cars in the first phase and 46 cars which can carry 1,000 visitors."
Construction will be done by using helicopters.

Pilling works will use the latest technology to ensure the fauna and flora are untouched.

Nga said: "The company, which has a good track record of operating the Langkawi cable car system for the past five years with a 100 per cent safety record, will make a prospective study and will take about a year to complete the project."

The hill is a haven for birds such as the rhinoceros hornbill, large moths and butterflies, beetles, monkeys and Pope's Pit Viper.

Other attractions include a playground, watch tower, suspension bridge, camp site and century-old buildings.

There is also the 90-year-old Sri Kaliamman Temple.

Formerly known as Max-well Hill, Bukit Larut is the oldest hill station in the country dating back to 1884.

On another matter, Nga said the state executive council had approved the conversion of a 5.33ha site for the new Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Poi Lam building in Seri Klebang here to replace the school in Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang, which had become congested with 4,000 pupils.

The school was built in 1919.

The school would only pay RM1 as quit rent.

Present yesterday was the chairman of board of governors for the school, Datuk Lim Kok Cheong.

sumber: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2454544/Article/index_html

Must find the semantic properties of "an eco friendly cable car system".

Do you think Bukit Larut should be "upgraded" so that it will attract more tourists. especially foreign tourists? For example, the present type of accommodation available may not appeal to most of the foreign tourists as they are used to be pampered in more luxurious surroundings. And getting up there by Landrovers isn't everyone's cup of tea. How about an eco friendly cable car system? Tell us what you think. Use the form below and let us have an opinion. Try to back up your opinion with some reasoning or arguments :-)

source: http://taipingtalk.com/bukitlarut/

Is there such a thing as "an eco friendly cable car system"??? And what's up with the people of Malaysia - the clice reason - tourist, especially foreign tourists. And are we 100% certain that "hey are used to be pampered in more luxurious surroundings"? Even if they do, why should we cater to their every need. If they want to continue living in a luxury surrounding, then they should have stayed at home or go to a 5-star-hotel. I bet that most foreign tourists would appreciate nature the way it is, not the way man made it to be... only politicians use these stupid excuses, I mean not all, but some politicians;)

Lay off Bukit Larut and her surrounding areas!!!! Ada je tangan gatal - BN ke, PKR ke...pliiiizzzz

What's up with Malaysian politicians - their hands are alwayz very itchy when it comes to hill areas.

2009/01/19

Fomca against cable car

insidepix1

IPOH: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) wants the state government to put off plans to build a cable car at Bukit Larut so as not to disturb the eco-system.

Its president, Datuk N. Marimuthu, said the proposal was first made in 1997 but was abandoned in 2007 after a memorandum was sent to then menteri besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali.

"We have also confirmed that the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) does not support the project, contrary to a statement that they are for it."said.

Marimuthu also took a potshot at the DAP, saying that when the party was in the opposition in the state, they had supported Fomca in its bid to stop any development at Bukit Larut.

"The hill belongs to future generations and I urge Taiping residents to protest against this ridiculous idea."
Marimuthu said there were several reasons why the project should not be implemented.

Among them is the need to protect the 21.53 square km water catchment area and the unstable slope which recorded loss of soil at 150 tonnes per hectare a year, making it unsuitable for man-made structures.

The hill had been classified as one of the "regional centres of plant diversity" under the United Nations Environment Programme but now risks losing that status.

In 1910, some 7,130ha were gazetted as forest reserves. In 1962, a further 2,747ha were gazetted as the "Larut Hills virgin jungle reserve". It was also acknowledged as a habitat for flora and fauna in 2002 by the Federal Government.

Sanitation and solid waste management projects would also force animals to leave their sanctuary, said Marimuthu.

State Education, Local Government, Housing and Public Transport Committee chairman Nga Kor Ming had said on Thursday a RM60 million project had been approved in principle.

He had said the company to be awarded the project had been told not to endanger the environment.

Construction work would be carried out using helicopters so that the flora and fauna would not be harmed.

The cable would stretch between 5km and 6km. It would have 26 to 46 cars, capable of carrying 1,000 visitors on an 11-minute trip to the top.

Formerly known as Maxwell Hill, Bukit Larut is the oldest hill station in the country, dating back to 1884.

Government four-wheel-drive vehicles now ferry visitors up a 13km road up the 1,250-metre hill.

source: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/2457085/Article/index_html