Article: Young rescuers

Tuesday June 30, 2009
By IAN YEE

Students across the country have been rising up to the challenge of saving the environment, but thanks to help from the corporate sector, some of them will get even more encouragement to keep up their good work.

Last week, two university students were not only rewarded for their outstanding efforts in environmental conservation, but also given the opportunity to further develop their knowledge on how to save the environment.

Felicity Kuek from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and Titus Loh from Universiti Malaya, winners of the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy (BYEE), will be sent to Germany for a week-long study tour where they will be exposed to all the environment-saving practices and technologies put in place there.

Young environmentalists Felicity Kuek and Titus Loh

The two were among 10 students, aged between 18 and 24, who were selected by Bayer as ''environmental envoys'' for the promise they showed in their efforts to conserve the environment. After a five-day environmental camp in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, they were each required to present a proposal of a project they were hoping to undertake.

Their projects included efforts involving waste management, protection of seahorses and coastal clean-ups, but Felicity's work and proposal for the Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) and Titus' efforts in promoting recycling in his faculty that were deemed the most promising by judges.

''I first took an interest on a project called Terrapin Independence Day. It was at Kuala Terengganu, and they were releasing terrapins that they felt were mature enough to survive on their own.

"I saw the children there, and they were so excited and inspired by it. That really encouraged me to come up with my own project," said Felicity, a marine biology student.

Her plan is to add to a regular programme by SEATRU, a five-day educational holiday where tourists get to experience and help out with turtle conservation work, by bringing local schoolchildren along for a day.

"Terengganu has a problem — locals are still buying and consuming turtle eggs. I've found that there's no point in telling the older people to stop. They're already set in their ways.

"So the only thing to do is educate the young people. We'll bring schoolchildren from around the area to join the programme for a day so they can see the work people are doing there and interact with the conservationists. That way the next generation will stop the practice, and hopefully even advise their parents against it," she added.

Titus's winning proposal was also something he had already been working on. His simple idea of a "Recyclables Collection Drive", in which students themselves actively set up collection bins at their hostels to make it more convenient for others to get in the habit of recycling, is both effective and highly feasible.

"We want our own students to be running this. Our slogan is 'For the students, by the students'. We've already been running the programme in our faculty for an academic year now, but my proposal was an extension of this. We want to make it a university-wide programme," he explained.

Like many other students out there, Titus admitted that he wasn't initially concerned about the environment and had to be "forced" to participate in the project because of his lecturer.

"It was actually part of our school assignment, and the lecturer made it 10% of our final marks, so I was 'forced' to do it.

Felicity hopes to stop the consumption of turtle eggs to protect the endangered species.

"We had a tough time doing it at first. We got a lot of rejection, and a lot of students who just couldn't be bothered. But it's working out now," he said.

In a way, Titus is an example to all young people that you don't have to be a passionate environmentalist in order to play a part in saving the planet.

What many people don't realise is that some simple lifestyle changes, or even the mere realisation that the environment is in dire need of help, could be enough to make a difference.

"I don't envision myself to be a full-time activist. But environmental issues will now always be close to my heart. Whatever I do in the future, I will definitely contribute whenever I can," he added.

Felicity, who hopes to help research and preserve marine mammal species full-time when she completes her studies, believes that this simple change in mindset is what Malaysians need the most if we were to start saving our environment.

When asked what she felt was the main problem with Malaysians when it comes to conservation, she said: ''Malaysians are too tidak apa. For us, ignorance is bliss. Like shark's fin soup — you can't get the older generation to stop having shark's fin soup. It's already part of their culture, it's a status symbol for them.

"That's why it all has to start with the children. We have to educate them now, because they will be more willing to change."

Once they get back from Germany, Felicity and Titus will get straight to work on their proposals, having been given a November deadline by BYEE organisers.

"My main goal is to jump-start the programme, so that I can pass it on to my juniors when I leave (the university)," said Titus.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Rage: Stories: People: Personalities 30 June 2009