Wednesday, October 27, 2010

我愛地球之--環保達人

Source : China Press

更新: October 26, 2010 18:01


放棄高薪厚職當志工
葉慧麗為瀑布撿垃圾

報導:潘麗婷
攝影:李玉珍、受訪者提供

環保達人:葉慧麗

年齡 :31歲

專長 :通過社交網站,呼喚愛護地球的各方人士,以身作則到美麗的瀑布區清除垃圾,喚醒民眾對地球的愛。

葉慧麗:只要每人盡一點心力,地球氣候就不會惡化。

她只是一名普通的上班族、一名普通的女兒、一名普通的妻子,同時也是一名普通的媽媽。

因為愛地球,不認看見地球媽媽獨自吞噬大量垃圾,獨自一人在哭泣;更不認看見孩子在未來活在一個死氣沉沉的環境;她毅然放棄高薪的銀行工作,成為一名全職的環保志工。

她就是2008年創辦瀑布探險樂園的“鼻祖”──葉慧麗。

葉慧麗指出,她在吉隆坡長大,面對鋼筋水泥還多于翠綠的大自然,對于環保一詞更是陌生。

“因為跟隨朋友去瀑布玩,讓我這名城市人有機會與大自然作出親密接觸,感到大自然似乎有股魅力,能把我們封塵已久、累贅的身心靈打開,釋放壓力。”

家人全力支持

從此她就愛上了瀑布,但接觸越多的瀑布,越讓她感到傷心,因為許多到訪者不單沒有感激大地之母給予他們美好的瀑布,反而一而再的糟蹋地球,讓她覺得又氣又惱。

“這些人可以千辛萬苦的提著大包小包登上最美的瀑布景點野餐,可是下山時,卻不能把那一丁點垃圾帶下山,再丟進垃圾桶內。”

她心痛地說,大馬有許多瀑布風景都非常優美,環境卻是讓人不恭維。

“在我的歲月裡,已很少機會接近大自然,聆聽瀑布的歌聲;人民還要如此不珍惜的摧毀她,我們的下一代還有機會一睹這些大自然的風采嗎?”

于是,她毅然辭去銀行高薪工作,轉當一名愛護瀑布的環保志工,除了丈夫及家人的支持外,更有一大班素未謀面的愛護大自然者響應她的號召,共同為地球付出一分心力。

民眾誤解善舉定義
瀑布垃圾留給志工撿

大馬的瀑布風景優美,民眾卻每次都為瀑布增添不少垃圾。

葉慧麗心痛瀑布探險樂園志工拾垃圾的舉動,卻讓部分愚昧人士歪曲他們的善舉,反而制造更多垃圾給志工去撿拾。

她說,為了還原瀑布乾淨樣貌,她唯一想到的方法是拾垃圾,惟一個人力量有限,而現代人流行瀏覽社交網站,于是她在網上公佈拾垃及地點及日期。

“沒想到反應不錯,並且真的有人願意在約定的時間,到特定地點集合拾垃圾。”

她笑言,垃圾的“數量”竟讓人不敢恭維,單單數星期前號召約200人在萬撓康情瀑布拾垃圾,半日時間就達收集了289包垃圾,每包重五六公斤。

“遺憾的是,這瀑布我們每隔數月就來,但垃圾量不曾減少。可笑的是,稍微有良心者會把垃圾裝入一個袋子內丟一旁,並說留給瀑布探險樂園的義工去收拾。”

她強調,志工拾垃圾目的在于影響瀑布到訪者,自己的垃圾自己處理,勿讓人代勞,保護大自然是大家的責任,不該推由別人去做。

她也遺憾大部分清潔工人沒有公德心,把垃圾往水裡掃,垃圾往下遊沖去,熟不知最終流入大海,令海產誤食,再由人類自己吃回“垃圾”。

環保從自己做起
教女兒不亂丟垃圾

愛地球讓葉慧麗生活變得更環保,更有意義。

她說,因為很在意瀑布的環境遭人糟蹋,因此相當關注這方面資訊,以致接觸到許多關于地球暖化與環保方面的報導,加深她對環保的認識,同時也影響了她的家人。

她以老公為例,對環保沒什么認識,經常會把垃圾亂丟,女兒見了會說“爸爸壞蛋”,令老公不敢再亂丟垃圾。

她強調,從小就教導4歲的女兒不可亂弄垃圾,因此女兒也緊記在心,一旦外出看見有人亂丟垃圾,她會指著對方跟我說,“那是壞蛋”。

同時,她也不鼓勵濫用塑料袋。

“我會將垃圾進行分類,一般廚余土埋,避免使用塑料袋。”

她認為,環保很簡單,只要地球上的每一名人士可少制造一點垃圾,再循環資源,就為地球出了一分力。

此外,葉慧麗也對雪州沿海漁村一帶的優美環境被大量的垃圾破壞感到難過。

“有一次我在瓜雪的餐館吃海鮮大餐,膳后招待員就上前收拾碗碟,他們的動作是一邊收碗碟,一邊順手把用后紙巾往窗口丟下海,令我看得目瞪口呆。”

“這些垃圾除了污染海水,也會影響海洋生態,同時影響漁民的漁獲及收入。”

無論如何,她希望日后可號召一班人到漁村清理垃圾,還給大自然一個乾淨原貌。不過,最重要的是民眾可做到不亂丟、製造垃圾的習慣,否則她與一眾志工無論如何努力也沒有意義。

Monday, October 18, 2010

Global Work Party Aims to Solve Climate Crisis

Source: KL Lifestyle http://www.kl-lifestyle.com.my/2010/10/global-work-party-aims-to-solve-climate-crisis/

October 18, 2010 by admin

Filed under Features

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Global Work Party Aims to Solve Climate Crisis From Selangor, Malaysia to the roof of the president’s house in the Maldives Islands, people from 183 nations will be joining in the largest day of carbon-cutting the planet has ever seen on Oct 10, 2010.

This year, Waterfall Survivors once again joins its partners at 350 and 10:10 in the 10/10/10 Global Work Party to fight climate change. In thousands of cities and towns worldwide, people will get to work on local climate solutions – installing solar panels, planting community gardens, painting bike lanes, and more.

The event kicked off with the “My 10% Change for Mother Earth Photo Pledge” contest followed by a collection campaign of plastic bottles, aluminium cans and newspapers at all Fitness First outlets from Sept 20-26. The main event will be held on Oct 10 in Rawang. To date more than 200 people have confirmed their participation in the 10/10/10 Global Work Party.

To join in the action, log on to http:// waterfallsurvivors.blogspot.com or call 019- 678 7460.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Major clean-up at Kanching Waterfalls

Thursday October 14, 2010

By JASTIN AHMAD TARMIZI  jastin@thestar.com.my

source: The Star

MORE than 300 people joined the Waterfall Survivors in their ‘Save Our Waterfalls’ campaign by picking up rubbish left by picnickers at the Kanching waterfalls in Rawang recently.

The event was held simultaneously with

the 10-10-10 (Oct 10 2010) Global Work Party, the world’s largest day of practical action to fight the climate crisis coordinated by the international climate campaign 350.org.

Waterfall Survivors organises cleaning activities at waterfalls with the mission to educate picnickers and campers every year.

“We are here to help clean up our waterfalls and we hope that by doing this it will make picnickers realise that other people are cleaning up their mess. We hope that the message is sent across,” said one of the volunteers for the campaign.

Loads of rubbish: Waterfall Survivors and volunteers cleaning up the waterfall’s picnic and camping area.

The event was supported and endorsed by the Selangor state tourism, consumer affairs and environment committee, Tourism Selangor, the Selayang Municipal Council as well as the Public Service Department of Malaysia.

Waterfall Survivors’ secretary Cindy Ho said that this was the third time that they have worked with the state government to clean up Kanching Waterfall.

“The amount of rubbish littered outweighs what the caretakers can handle so people have to understand the consequences of their irresponsible actions,” she said.

Auspicious date: The Waterfall Survivors and volunteers forming the number 10:10 before the cleaning up started

“We need more initiatives to educate people on proper disposal of waste and to have better appreciation of nature,” she added.

The event also drew support from Fitness First, Olympus Malaysia, Teva Footwear, World of Sports, Bacfree, Pansing Marketing and Southern Lion as well as Star RFM 988 and China Press as the official media.

Waterfall Survivors founder and President Joe Yap said they hoped that the event could send the message and bring awareness to people on the consequences of littering.

“We are taught not to litter. We do not litter at home but we litter everywhere else. We hope that we can change the mentality of the people,” she said.

Monday, October 11, 2010

A Big Bang Event: Save Our Waterfalls Campaign

I woke up today with sore arms, yet I am feeling darn good. Yesterday marked my special 10th October 2010, together with 200 passionate volunteers, we cleaned up Kanching waterfalls for the 3rd time. I am sadden that visitors to Kanching, like other waterfalls in Malaysia, have yet to learn to be more responsible with their rubbish. Cleaning up is an immediate solution, behavior change of visitors is a sustainable solution. Hence we welcome any constructive ideas, you can email to me at clarence@waterfallsurvivors.com.my

The Save Our Waterfalls (SOW) campaign started off with a big bang from the 98.8FM Environmental Machis, and emceed by Arthur Tan.

DSC_7820Some of the volunteers joining in games with the 988 Happy Cruisers.

Waterfall Survivors Founder, Joe Yap and Special Assistant of YB Elizabeth Wong from Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment of Selangor State Government, Adrian Yeo lifted everyone spirit with an impactful message. Fitness First instructor took the stage to warm up the volunteers, and Brandon Chee from Great Adventure Consultants briefed on the safety and first aid. DSC_5789

Adrian and Joe with the 10:10 Pendant made of recycle plastic bags

ONE WORLD ONE GOAL! Cut 10% of Carbon Footprint

Volunteers takes the opportunity to pledge for the reduce of 10% carbon footprint.

Last year a formation of "350" bags of rubbish was created, this year we form "10:10" with our volunteers!

SOW1010Kanching_030

Our committee, Aaron Chai drew another bang with ice-breaker before they broke into smaller groups. While the majority of them hike up to the waterfalls to clean the area, children from underprivileged homes cleaned the streams area. They later participated in the Olympus Amazing Tough Race.

SOW1010Kanching_047 Dumpsite at the upper falls. 30 mins from base

By noon, packed lunch was sent up to the peak for the volunteers. Shortly after a human chain was formed to bring down bags of rubbish. It was physically exhausting! Nonetheless all of us managed to reach the event area by 2.30pm for a photography session to mark our dedication for a cleaner environment. I got to join the the second session of Olympus Amazing Tough Race. It was truly an exciting race, and guess what my team won! So the day ended with another big bang for myself. Was it the same for you as well?

 PA100011 Rubbish collected waiting to be transported to base

Thanks to Fitness First, Olympus Malaysia, Teva Footwear, World of Sports, Bacfree, Southern Lion and Pansing, as well as the ongoing support from the Selangor State Government, Tourism Selangor, Majlis Perbandaran Selayang and our members and volunteers.

SOW1010Kanching_066Group Picture after the cleaning upSOW1010Kanching_067WS Committees Family Potrait 

Special thanks to medias, photographers, videographers, first aiders and ad-hoc committees.

Waterfalls are beautiful but extremely DANGEROUS. Only attempt with experience guides. Take Nothing but Photographs, Leave Nothing but Footprints

300 spend 10.10.10 cleaning up tourist spot

New Straits Times

2010/10/11

RAWANG: Armed with shovels and heavy-duty bin bags, 300 young people from the city flocked to Kanching Waterfalls to celebrate yesterday's special 10.10.10 date.

The group, comprising young professionals, tertiary students and 40 underprivileged children, gathered at the popular tourist spot as early as 7.30am for a massive clean-up.

By the end of the day, the group had filled 289 bin bags during the Social Enterprise Waterfall Survivors' 10.10.10 event as part of the larger "Global Work Party" initiative which has drawn over 7,000 community events in 188 countries.

In the Philippines, students and environmentalists planted mangrove trees. In Thailand, hundreds planted 1,600 teak trees in Chok Chai, northeast of Bangkok.

Waterfall Survivors founder Joe Yap said 18 similar events were held

in the country, from tree-planting in Penang to a beach clean-up in Sabah.

"Malaysians love their waterfalls but we find they don't know and don't bother to take care of them. Go to any waterfall and you'll find plastic bottles and bags. We want to drive home the message to use less (resources) and pick up after themselves."

She said the date 10.10.10 was significant as participants aimed to cut Malaysia's carbon emission by 10 per cent by the year-end.

Selangor Standing Committee for Tourism, Consumer and Environment representative Adrian Yeo said such community events, held simultaneously worldwide, helped send a strong message to leaders that environmental issues concerned the youth.

"Such events rally people together to take the green agenda into their own hands. They show they want results."

Read more: 300 spend 10.10.10 cleaning up tourist spot http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/6wang/Article/#ixzz13rNSdcpV

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

10/10/10 Global Work Party by 350.org

Just a few days away... We want you to be apart of this climate action to solve our current climate crisis. Join us at Save Our Waterfalls at Rawang this weekend. You can register for the event HERE

Hari Raya trip to Lata Cemerong and Terengganu beaches.

The night drive all the way to Lata Cemerong was not too tiring but it was raining since 1am form Bentong all the way till we reached the campsite.

We reached the park at 6.45am. We were the first group at the park. The guard told us that it has been raining since few days back.

We started our trek at 11am to the waterfalls. We all prepared our lunch to bring to the waterfalls.P9100395

We took a very slow and leisure walk all the way to the waterfalls. We reached the waterfalls after 2 hours hike.

The spectacular beautiful gushing waterfalls was awaiting us. This round, none of us in the group has been to this place. Joe was not in good condition and not able to join this trip. But with the experienced Waterfall Survivors Committees, we made it to the falls.

We spent about an hour plus there. Which was definitely not enough… but we had to make it back to the campsite as it''s getting late.

P9100290

We got back to the campsite then prepared our dinner. Some went to bed real early as it was very tiring without sleep the night before.

The next day, we woke up about 7am to prepared breakfast. We then packed up and left for Kuala Terengganu heading to Crystal Mosque.DSCN8188

After the nice photo shoot up, we proceeded to Teluk Bidara beach. The beach as defined by Joe was quiet, but it was so crowded during the 2nd day of Hari Raya. DSCN8190

We all relaxed around the beach area, while some went for a swim at the beach. We then unloaded the stuff from the car to prepare our campsite and dinner around 7pm+.

The night was still early, we went for a night swim in the open clear warm sea. Later we then walked to the tower behind the beach to have a look at the night sea. And off to bed around 2am.

Next morning we woke up early for the sunrise. Too bad, the sky was too cloudy, hence we could not see the full sunrise but anyway it was still very beautiful with the blue clear sea ahead of us.

After breakfast, we went for a swim then went to the small little cave for picture before leaving to Kuala Abang. We started our drive around 10am to Kuala Abang. A nice beach side with a funny rock at the beach side. We spent about 1 hour and had our lunch at Kuala Abang before leaving back to KL.DSCN8206

A fun filled trip with a great group of co mpany.

We’ll be back for Lata Cemerong again… Next year!

Olympus Amazing Tough Race on 101010

For those of you who are attending the Save Our Waterfalls 101010 event organized by Waterfall Survivors, Olympus E-system Malaysia will be there to show our support as well!!
We will be organizing an AMAZING TOUGH RACE that is similar to the popular TV series, The Amazing Race. There will be three sessions of this game and we urge anyone interested to participate to pre-register with us!
Session 1: 10am - Age 18 and up only
Session 2: 12pm - Below age 18 only
Session 3: 2pm - Age 18 and up only
There will be exciting prizes to win. Register now to have a good time with us! To register for The Amazing TOUGH Race, please email us at jennette_tan.oml@olympus.com.my by FRIDAY OCT 8, 5:30PM with the following details:
1) Name and age of participant(s)
2) Contact number
3) Session that they wish to participate in
There will only be limited spots in each session, so hurry up to register now! If you miss the deadline, you may also sign up on that day PROVIDED that there are still spots available.
Hope to see you there!!
To register for Save Our Waterfalls 101010, please visit http://waterfallsurvivors.blogspot.com/2010/06/save-our-waterfalls-101010-registration.html to download the registration form. Please contact Lok Man Hoong – 012- 3695531 for more details.
For more info:
Joe Yap - 019-6787460
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=123543537672527&ref=ts

Monday, October 4, 2010

Eye Sore No More

by: Clarence Sim
The rubbish littered or uncollected trash bins in front of our house or apartment, the rubbish we stepped on while walking on the street, and the rubbish left behind at parks and waterfalls by picnickers, hikers and campers have something in common. They are all an eye sore created by irresponsible people. If you see a 10 Ringgit note you will probably pick it up, but why is it different for a used plastic bottle? Akinori Ito, a Japanese inventor will tell you otherwise. He created a portable machine (http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2010/08/31/japanese-man-s-invention-converts-plastic-back-to-oil/) that uses just electricity and heat to turn plastic back into oil. Imagine your own Dubai oil field in the comfort of your home.



Why do people litter? There are all sorts of theories to what would stop people from littering, as many as there as all sorts of excuses for littering. Some common reasons include:-
  1. They can’t be bother or too lazy to find a bin
  2. They have no sense of pride or appreciation of their community
  3. There is a lack of education or poor parenting of young people
  4. If an area is already dirty, why bother to look for a bin?
  5. They don’t realise the consequences of littering
  6. Our culture encourages “touch & go” packaging, from street stalls to fancy wrappers
  7. Littering will provide job for others, benefiting the economy and social welfare
  8. They think small litter is not littering, like cigarette ends, chewing gum, bus tickets, sweet wrappers
  9. They can’t find a bin, or there aren’t enough bins
  10. The bins are in the wrong place
  11. The bins aren’t emptied often enough or aren’t big enough
  12. There is no law or enforcement of punishment for littering
  13. One person can’t make a difference
  14. The Council aren’t doing their job properly
  15. There are much worse things in the world or their lives to worry about than litter

Colleen Morgan wrote on her blog (http://middlesavagery.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/why-do-people-litter/) an interesting piece on why people litter. The general perception is that people litter because their surroundings permit them to. The act of littering can harm the environment in many ways, causing injury to the area wildlife, posing threats to human health and is aesthetically displeasing. When discarded as litter, human-made materials such as plastoc, glass and aluminium cans may cause external injury to animals, or if accidentally ingested may cause starvation, poison or suffocation. These objects may also become the home for disease-spreading insects (flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches) and animals (stray dogs and cats, rats, monkeys). It can also have a detrimental effect on our economy and tourism.

Sg Liam, Hulu Yam, Selangor (1)
So next time when you decide to throw away something, do it responsibly. I believe part of our culture is also not to voice out what we do not agree with. How many of you asked someone who litters on the street to pick it up and throw in the bin? I actually told a big mean-looking guy at the bus-stop the other day to do the right thing with his empty cigarette box. He was mumbling and slightly intimidating but he did what he was told. Perhaps he will still continue littering however I believe if we advocate others, they might just turn a new leaf.


I flinched even at seeing people litter cigarette ends (you know who you are!). Do you know that cigarette ends can take 5 to 12 years to fully biodegrade due to the cellulose acetate they contain? People tend to use the tops of trash bins to stub out their cigarettes but often leave the ends on the top of the bins. This is not only unsightly but the ends can then blow away, increasing the litter problem. Other smoking related litter includes the plastic protectors, matches, cigarette lighters. About 4.5 trillion cigarette ends are dropped worldwide every year!

Sg Liam, Hulu Yam, Selangor (2)


We Malaysians are guilty of throwing things out of our vehicles, especially when they are on the road. Joe has seen someone threw a pillow out of a car window, yes, a pillow! The driver probably woke up with a stiff neck or bad hair day that day and decided to depart with the wornout pillow. I am guilty in the past of discarding tissues or sweet wrappers out of the car windows . I agree that making these rubbish out of my sight was liberating in some way, but it does no one good, certainly not good for the places my rubbish landed on. Today I find it more liberating to keep my snotty tissues in my pockets or bags until I found a bin to dispose of.  

Sg Liam, Hulu Yam, Selangor (3)
Waterfalls are perfect for group outings. Often we bring our entire kitchen to the place for a picnic, but we only bring back home half the kitchen. What happen to the remaining half? Some has been consumed, some accidentally dropped into the waterfalls or flowed into rivers, and some left behind because it is too much trouble to bring them out. On our last trip to Lata Khong or better known as Sungai Dua, we had an impromptu cleanup as the place was scattered with rubbish, which includes a nasty one like soiled pampers! Other equally disgusting finds in the past are bloody sanitary pads, used condoms, soiled underwears, fermented food and drinks.

P9160927 Sg Dua 160910
Some countries have made cleanup as one of their community service program in lieu of less severe penalty sanctions. Sometimes lighter sentencing like a prescribed number of hours of community cleanup service can create a more impactful lesson compare to fines or incarceration. While some schools also introduced community cleanup service with their students to encourage eco-friendly lifestyle from young. Our cleanup campaign “Save Our Waterfalls” has became an influential activity for corporate social responsibility as well as state or government community project.


We need to treat our surroundings or places we visit like how we would treat our home. These natural places like forest, waterfalls, and beaches are god’s gift to us. There is no way these places will ever clean themselves up. Make our environment smiles instead of cries. It starts from you and me and then the other 27 million people in Malaysia.