Where are you on the global pay scale?

Selected Highlights

Luxembourg - is the country with the highest national average wage, $4,089
Tajikistan      - is ranked lowest (72nd), average wage $227
Malaysia,      - ranked 45th, has an average monthly wage of $961
Singapore      - is ranked 10th, average wage of $2,616 almost identical with that of Australia's (11th)
The other two ASEAN nations included in the ILO's calculation:
Thailand        - ranked 62nd with average monthly wage of $489
Philippines    - ranked 70th, average monthly wage $279

If you are living in Malaysia, in order for you to be earning an equivalent of Luxembourg's average wage, you need to be drawing a salary of RM8,833.00 a month. Head on over to BBC News Magazine and type in your monthly salary to find out where you are on the global pay scale.

ILO said that the world average wage is $1,480. Do you earn more or less than the world's average wage?

The average wage, calculated by the International Labour Organization (ILO), is published by BBC for the first time. It's a rough figure based on data from 72 countries, omitting some of the world's poorest nations. All figures are adjusted to reflect variations in the cost of living from one country to another, and it's all about wage earners, not the self-employed or people on benefits.

Image: BBC News Magazine

Note: The figures in this histogram are given in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars. One PPP dollar is equal to 1 US dollar spent in the US. In other countries, 1 US dollar can give you more purchasing power than if you are in the US.

E.g. with US10.00 you can buy more food of the same description in Malaysia than if you were to be in the United Kingdom.

Cypark and TNB signed Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement

Cypark Resources Berhad is one of the earlier takers of the RE quota made available by the federal government under the Renewable Energy Act 2011. 

Through this Act, the government formed Sustainable Energy Development Authority of Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia), a statutory body that administers and manages the implementation of the feed-in tariff (FiT) mechanism. Four renewable energy sources covered by this Act are Biogas, Biomass, Small Hydro and Solar PV.

I understand that another winning bidder of the non-individual category is Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC) in a joint-venture exercise with Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), a subsidiary of Tenaga National Berhad. The JV secured but all the available quota for the state of Sabah. Not very healthy for a noble intention to get more Corporations involve in reaping the benefit of the FiT.

Cypark's initiative can be seen moving aggressively; refer to the following images. We are yet to hear where and when is the JV of SEC-SESB going to start.

Dec 2011 file pix of Cypark's solar plant under construction, next to the Pajam landfil.
Image by The Star Online

Cypark's solar farm - Image by The Edge Malaysia

The rest of the news:

As reported by Business Times on 30-3-2012, environmental engineering and renewable energy specialist Cypark Resources Berhad, via two wholly-owned subsidiaries, has signed the renewable energy power purchase agreement (REPPA) with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) for a FiT concession period of 21 years.

The deal sealed by Cypark Suria (Pajam) Sdn Bhd and Cypark Suria (Negeri Sembilan) Sdn Bhd is for electricity generated from the parent company's 8MW solar park in Pajam, Negri Sembilan.With the deal signed under the Renewable Energy (RE) Act 2011, Cypark can sell its solar energy to TNB grid starting from March 28 this year.

"Cypark will start receiving payment from TNB within 21 days after monthly billing is issued. The total green energy sales from the 8MW solar plant is about RM11 million annually," Cypark group chief executive Daud Ahmad said in a statement.

He said Cypark is now focusing its effort in building other new solar projects in four states, with targeted additional solar power installed capacity of 25MW by year-end.

Starting from year 2013, Cypark expects to generate annual combined revenue of up to RM45 million from the implementation of 33MW solar farms alone and the revenue will be recurring until year 2033. Cypark's Pajam solar park, identified under Economic Transformation Programme, is part of the 15MW integrated renewable energy park project undertaken by the Main-Board listed company.

Who named Earth?

As if this question is about life and death. But really, sometimes this would've crossed your mind, wondering why the earth is called Earth.

The tiny globe called Earth

I scooped this from Science Focus magazine and it said the Greeks and Romans named most of the planets in the Solar System after particular gods, and we have kept those names in English. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, all unknown in classical times, were named by the modern astronomers who discovered them, but still after Greek and Roman gods.

Earth is the one exception. Its name, according to the official gazetteer of planetary discovery, comes from the Indo-European base 'er', which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho', the modern German 'erde', Dutch 'aarde', Danish and Swedish 'jord', and English 'earth'.

Hmm, not definitive enough. But what's in the name anyway? What's important is how we live our life on it and how we maintain it so that the next generation enjoys the same privileges we enjoy today. One way to do that is to be thankful for what we have and by 'living green'.