Article: Modern twist to legend

Tuesday May 26, 2009

By ANN TAN

Worthy effort: Members of various NGOs hurling mud balls into the sea off the Gurney Drive coast.

LEGEND has it that friends and supporters of scholar-poet Qu Yuan threw dumplings into the river to save Qu but some 80 women threw mud balls instead into the sea off the Gurney Drive coast in Penang on Sunday to save Mother Earth.

The group of women from various non-governmental organisations (NGO) in Penang was spotted throwing a total of 2,589 effective microorganisms (EM) mud balls and 100 litres of EM activated solution into the sea with only their hats and umbrellas as their shields against the blazing sun.

Penang Youth, Sports, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Lydia Ong Kok Fooi said the mud balls were thrown as a symbolic gesture in conjunction with the Bak Chang (Dumpling) Festival and Mother's Day.

"I hope the hoteliers and restaurant owners in the area can 'adopt' Gurney Drive soon just like how Hunza Properties Bhd and the International Real Estate Federation Penang branch adopted Sungai Kelian in Batu Ferringhi under their sustainable environmental project," she said.

"One of the criteria to achieve an International City standard is cleanliness and for that, we must go green by ensuring that our rivers and sea are clean.

"Gurney Drive is a popular tourist attraction and maintaining its cleanliness reflects the state's image," she said.

The event was themed 'Giving Back to Mother Earth.' The mud balls were prepared at the Rumah Seri Teratai, the Chief Minister's official residence at Macalister Road, on May 10 to celebrate Mother's Day.

The EM mud balls, a Japanese technology, are known to stop algae growth and break down sludge in ponds, lakes and drains.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's wife Betty Chew said the state Women, Family and Community Development Committee and Pertubuhan Wanita Mutiara, the organisation of wives of Penang's state assemblymen, would be setting up an environmental committee with the Gurney Drive hoteliers as an ongoing effort to keep the place clean.

"We are also looking into possibilities of creating job opportunities for the disabled people and single mothers whereby they can be paid up to 20 sen for each mud ball made.

"We hope in years to come, the sea at the Gurney Drive coast will be so clean that we can see fish swimming and thriving," she said.

This image was taken from: The Star Newspaper: Metro: North 26 May 2009