Ma Jun Quotes

Powerful Ma Jun for Daily Growth

About Ma Jun

Ma Jun (马钧) is a renowned Chinese environmentalist, economist, and investigative journalist, born on January 19, 1971, in Wuhan, Hubei Province. His journey into environmental activism was sparked by the devastating pollution incidents that he witnessed during his childhood. In 1984, a severe oil spill incident occurred on the Yangtze River near his hometown, leaving a lasting impression on him. Ma Jun studied at Fudan University in Shanghai and later worked for the China Securities Journal and Caixin Media. He gained international recognition with his groundbreaking work, "China's Pollution Crisis: Toxic Wastes in China's Rivers," published in 1999. This book, which documented the extent of water pollution in China based on over 4000 environmental impact assessments, was a significant milestone in the fight against environmental degradation in China. In 2006, Ma Jun co-founded Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), an NGO dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility and transparency in pollution control. One of IPE's most notable contributions is the "Pollution Emergency Response System" (PERC), an online platform that tracks and reports on environmental incidents across China, holding companies accountable for their actions. Ma Jun has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2006, and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2017. His work continues to inspire and influence environmental policies in China and beyond.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Everything that counts can be counted, and everything that can be counted counts."

This quote suggests that only things which are quantifiable or measurable hold value or importance in a system or analysis. In essence, it reinforces the idea that data, numbers, and facts are crucial in decision-making processes because they provide an objective means of assessing what matters. It implies that if something is not quantifiable, then it may not be considered valuable or significant in some contexts.

"Statistics without theory is a bore; theory without statistics is blind."

This quote emphasizes the importance of balancing statistical analysis with theoretical understanding in research or decision-making processes. Statistics provide valuable numerical data, but they lack context and interpretation without a solid underlying theory. On the other hand, theory provides the framework for making sense of the data, but it's insufficient if not backed up by empirical evidence from statistics. In essence, the quote suggests that a well-rounded approach to problem-solving combines both statistical analysis and theoretical understanding.

"Data analysis should aim at understanding rather than merely describing."

This quote suggests that data analysis should not only present facts or descriptions, but also strive to delve deeper into the underlying patterns, causes, and meanings within the data. The goal is not just to report what is happening, but to truly understand why it's happening and what it might imply for future events or decisions. This approach encourages a more holistic and insightful understanding of the data, rather than merely providing a surface-level interpretation.

"Statistical modeling is the science of ignorance."

This quote by Ma Jun suggests that statistical modeling, which involves creating mathematical models to describe relationships among variables, serves as a means to understand complex phenomena when precise knowledge or understanding is lacking. In essence, it's a way to make informed predictions and draw conclusions based on limited information or data, hence it can be seen as the science of dealing with uncertainty and ignorance in our pursuit of knowledge.

"The most important thing in statistics is to ask the right question, for it determines the answer."

The quote highlights the crucial role of formulating the correct question in statistical analysis. This implies that the question or problem being addressed sets the direction for the statistical methodology employed and ultimately shapes the conclusions drawn from the data. Hence, asking a relevant and meaningful question is indispensable for obtaining accurate and useful insights from statistical analysis.

On April 16, 2010, 34 Chinese environmental organizations, including Friends of Nature, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Green Beagle, questioned heavy metal pollution in a letter sent to CEO Steve Jobs.

- Ma Jun

Pollution, CEO, April, Steve

Even the government understands that the environmental challenge is so big that no single agency can handle it. It needs collaboration among all the stakeholders - companies, governments, NGOs and the public. Public accountability will be the ultimate driving force.

- Ma Jun

Big, Governments, Handle

If major companies sourcing in developing countries care only about price and quality, local suppliers will be lured to cut corners on environmental standards to win contracts.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Cut, Lured

Pollution is a serious one. Water pollution, air pollution, and then solid hazardous waste pollution. And then beyond that, we also have the resources issue. Not just water resources but other natural resources, the mining resources being consumed, and the destruction of our ecosystem.

- Ma Jun

Waste, Other, Consumed, Hazardous

Globalisation has powered economic growth in developing countries such as China. Global logistics, low domestic production costs, and strong consumer demand have let the country develop strong export-based manufacturing, making the country the workshop of the world.

- Ma Jun

Strong, Country, Powered, Logistics

With its imagination and large sales, Apple has become the world's most valuable IT company. However people are starting to have doubts regarding Apple's silence on heavy metal pollution problems.

- Ma Jun

Doubts, However, Large, Regarding

Like in those cancer villages, a group of old ladies kneeling down in front of me, you know, holding a bottle of polluted water and hoping that they would get help, this is the voice that got drowned in this complex, globalized supply chain system.

- Ma Jun

Voice, Bottle, Supply Chain, Ladies

Environmental agencies in China are hamstrung by local officials who put economic growth ahead of environmental protection; even the courts are beholden to local officials, and they are not open to environmental litigation.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Ahead, Beholden

I tell them the rules are made by the government. Every firm should comply. It doesn't mean they can't compete.

- Ma Jun

Tell, Compete, Made, Comply

While cheap products are exported to western countries, the waste is dumped mostly in China's back yard, contaminating its air, water, soil and seas.

- Ma Jun

Waste, Yard, Mostly, Western Countries

We copied laws and regulations from western countries, but enforcement remains weak, and environmental litigation is still quite near impossible.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Laws, Still, Western Countries

In some cases, it's not just about cleaning up the factories. It's about cleaning up the nearby rivers and lakes that have been tainted with heavy metals.

- Ma Jun

Cleaning, Rivers, Some, Metals

We firmly believe the environmental issues cannot be addressed without extensive public participation, but people need to be informed before they can get involved.

- Ma Jun

Participation, Firmly, Extensive

The motivation should come from regulatory enforcement, but enforcement is weak, and environmental litigation is near to impossible. So there's an urgent need for extensive public participation to generate another kind of motivation.

- Ma Jun

Kind, Need, Participation, Extensive

We can't go to courts in China, so we have to find alternate ways, like working with brands to try and create a level playing field by identifying the most obvious polluters.

- Ma Jun

Like, Identifying, Brands, Level Playing Field

It's true that hydropower exploitation can bring economic development, but not necessarily to the benefit of local people.

- Ma Jun

True, Economic Development, Exploitation

We're manufacturing to meet the demands of our own people but, in the meantime, for the entire world as well, and that definitely put a lot of extra pressure on our environment.

- Ma Jun

Pressure, Own, Entire World, Extra

Of course, as consumers, we want cheap and good products; however, if these production processes are exceeding wastewater discharge standards and even causing heavy metal pollution, they will cause long-lasting damage to the ecological environment and public health.

- Ma Jun

Exceeding, However, Damage, Discharge

Ever since we published the first Apple report, we've had some other brands turning more proactive.

- Ma Jun

Some, Other, Brands, Report

Globalised manufacturing and procurement mean that a lot of high-polluting, heavy duty jobs are transferred to China. We will ask major companies, such as Wal-Mart, Microsoft and IBM to put pressure on their Chinese suppliers.

- Ma Jun

Wal-Mart, Transferred, Manufacturing

Greening the globalised manufacturing and sourcing will be the single biggest help multinationals could make to the tough pollution control in China and other developing countries.

- Ma Jun

Will, Other, Could, Manufacturing

Multinationals are more sensitive to public pressure because they have bigger brand names, and they have made commitments to be environmentally sensitive. Chinese firms are not used to this kind of pressure yet.

- Ma Jun

Bigger, More, Commitments, Multinational

In America, you complain about job losses because of China, but here, we carry all of the environmental costs.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Here, Costs, Job Losses

I hope they can see that as a consumer, if they express themselves, they may make an impact and leverage their impact on the brands, and the brands can leverage their buying power on tens of thousands of polluters - suppliers - in China.

- Ma Jun

Leverage, Tens, Brands, Consumer

What we aim to do, through public pressure, is help the environment protection bureau to enforce the law.

- Ma Jun

Help, Environment, Through, Enforce

We must strictly enforce the Environmental Law, closing down the polluters that fail to meet the standards.

- Ma Jun

Law, Standards, Fail, Enforce

Regulatory failings mean that the cost of breaking the law is far below that of obeying it - businesses are happier to pay fines than to control pollution.

- Ma Jun

Law, Cost, Below, Businesses

China should cut heavy industries' share in gross domestic output by 9 percentage points between 2013 and 2030 to meet its pollution cuts target.

- Ma Jun

Pollution, Cut, Gross, Industries

If you publish something in traditional media, it's one-way. With social media, we get all this info coming back from those who read our posts.

- Ma Jun

Social, One-Way, Read, Social Media

China's environmental conundrums will not be solved by changes within government alone. New mechanisms are needed to allow the communities which may be affected by a given plan, and citizens concerned about the environment, to join in.

- Ma Jun

Needed, Concerned, Allow, Communities

Environmental groups are not completely against dams. We approve of appropriate development.

- Ma Jun

Development, Appropriate, Approve

In the future, officials will feel more pressure to protect the environment. But how to assess the officials' efforts to protect the environment is still a pivotal issue.

- Ma Jun

Will, Still, Issue, Officials

Some of the areas in China have been under very grave water scarcity: for example, the north China plain; they are facing a very serious water shortage. Per capita levels have dropped to very serious levels, including in Beijing.

- Ma Jun

Some, Been, Very, Levels

Beijing was such a different city. There were so few cars, I could walk in the middle of the road. In the summer, the streetlamps attracted swirling bugs. I loved those bugs: crickets, praying mantis, all kinds of beetles. I also have a vivid memory of dazzling sunlight coming out of the sky.

- Ma Jun

Memory, City, Kinds, Vivid

Urban residents, most of them middle class, have a much better sense of their environmental rights, and they're willing to take to the streets.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Middle, Middle Class

To deal with local pollution, China has put on the agenda the capping of coal, which has long been a sensitive issue.

- Ma Jun

Deal, Been, Which, Agenda

The situation is quite serious - groundwater is important source for water use, including drinking water, and if it gets contaminated, it's very costly and difficult to clean.

- Ma Jun

Drinking, Very, Including, Costly

At the end of the day, the government, local government all bow to public pressure.

- Ma Jun

Government, End, Public, Local Government

When I look at China's environmental problems, the real barrier is not lack of technology or money. It's lack of motivation.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Motivation, Problems

They pollute. It's not because morally they have a problem, but more because the mechanism now is rewarding those who cut corners to save cost.

- Ma Jun

Cost, Rewarding, Cut, Mechanism

Environmental problems cannot be resolved here the way they are resolved in other countries. I heard that 80 per cent of the environmental problems in the U.S. are solved in court. That can't happen here.

- Ma Jun

Here, Happen, Other, Per

China leads the world in energy consumption, carbon emissions, and the release of major air and water pollutants, and the environmental impact is felt both regionally and globally.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Release, Consumption

China's energy is very much focused on coal, and the economy is very focused on heavy industry, which is carbon intensive, so restructuring won't be easy.

- Ma Jun

Industry, Very, Which, Intensive

China has leapfrogged into this information age, and Web users have grown very significantly, which knocked down the cost of doing the environmental transparency.

- Ma Jun

Very, Which, Information Age, Users

People realised this is real pollution; it is not fog. Now everyone has to face the data and come out of their comfort zone.

- Ma Jun

Data, Everyone, Realised, Comfort Zone

It has been shown that public participation can limit powerful interest groups, while competing interests can help find a reasonable balance between development and environmental protection.

- Ma Jun

Participation, Competing, Interests

I think there are a few brands like Nike and Patagonia which are quite progressively minded.

- Ma Jun

Think, I Think, Which, Minded

One thing most people would agree is that climate change would add further uncertainties to our already quite tight water supply situation in China.

- Ma Jun

Change, Add, One Thing, Further

In China we need to do our own part to try to combat global climate change.

- Ma Jun

China, Own, Need, Climate Change

I hope to see an integrated solution created to deal with both the local pollution problem and the global climate change problem.

- Ma Jun

Change, Deal, Created, Climate Change

We haven't seen the turning point yet, but we're sticking to our bottom line, for the environment and the health of the country.

- Ma Jun

Country, Line, Bottom, Bottom Line

Everyone knows the link between the environment and their own health.

- Ma Jun

Environment, Own, Everyone, Knows

I think its time to change and balance the environment and growth. If we don't do that, we're going to suffer a hard landing one day very soon.

- Ma Jun

Think, I Think, Very, Growth

Everyone else has some interest in economic growth and development, which often happens at the expense of the environment and community. We need the other side to join this to check and balance.

- Ma Jun

Development, Some, Which, Expense

Brands who come to China, often they just care about price - so they actually drive the suppliers to cut corners on environmental standards to win a contract.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, Cut, Brands, Contract

There is a growing recognition of the importance of really bringing pollution under control.

- Ma Jun

Growing, Importance, Bringing

China is bearing the environmental cost for much of the world because China is the factory of the world.

- Ma Jun

Environmental, World, Cost, Factory

Apple has made this commitment that it's a green company. So how do you fulfill your commitment if you don't consider you have responsibility in your suppliers' pollution?

- Ma Jun

Green, Made, Fulfill, Suppliers

I know the government needs to ensure economic growth... we just hope it takes care of the environment, too.

- Ma Jun

Hope, Needs, Economic Growth, Ensure

We want to use the environment to shift the way our society works.

- Ma Jun

Society, Environment, Works, Shift

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