E-Tour: Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center

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Great Leap Forward for Selangor

Where Klang Valley is located, the state of Selangor, Malaysia is now taking the initiative to reduce the usage of plastic bags. With the greatest population density than any other state in Malaysia, this move is seen as a great leap forward by the state government in conservation of environment.

Malaysians have got the bad habit of using plastic bags indiscriminately and excessively. Plastic bags are used in departmental stores, pasar malams, hawker centers...plastic bags are synonymous with the Malaysian culture.


Currently, Selangor will declare itself a Zero Plastic Bag Zone in a year’s time.

For a start, all the 12 municipal and city councils in the state will be going on a zero plastic bag campaign from next month before it is extended to the rest of the state.State local government committee chairman Ronnie Liu said the campaign would be gradually expanded to hypermarkets, shopping complexes, offices and homes.

By starting the campaign at the local council level, Liu said plastic bags and Styrofoam would be totally banned from the vicinity of the offices of the various councils.

Liu had a meeting with the 12 local and city councils on Wednesday to brief them on the campaign and the direction of the state government towards environmental conservation. He said the idea had gone well with the councils and they were prepared to educate their employees on the need to reduce the use of plastic bags.

“The employees are encouraged to use paper bags and bring their own containers to pack food as we will not allow anyone to carry plastic bags to office.

“We can save the environment by reducing the use of plastic bags.

“We can stop using hundreds of thousands of plastic bags a year just by launching this campaign at the local council level,” he said.

He added that plastic bags were made from crude oil and contributed towards global warming.

The strategy, Liu said, was aimed at getting the enforcers who were on the local councils to be familiar with the ruling so that it would be effectively carried out.

“Once the council offices are declared as plastic bag free zones, it will be easier for them to take the campaign to the hypermarkets, shopping complexes and homes,” he said yesterday.

Liu said he expected the state to be declared a plastic bag free zone next year after plastic bags were totally eradicated from Selangor.

Once that is done, he said the usage of paper bags and other options would be considered by shoppers.

He said plastic bags had amounted to14.3% of the solid waste in the state and that was why the campaign was launched.

“We realise how environmentally hazardous plastics are as they need some 400 years before they become biodegradable and their existence also shortens the lifespan of our landfills,” he said.

He added that research revealed that the usage of a plastic bags only lasted an average of 12 minutes.

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Trade-offs for the Better Future

Malaysia isn't known for its environmental activism. Public apathy towards the environment has always been the case. However, in the state of Penang, Malaysia, we get to see groups of Malaysians striving for the better. Embracing the marvels of environment, S.P. Setia Bhd property division employees made headlines by participating in the environment conservation efforts.

“We are taking time off to release 200 butterflies, 50 birds and plant three Tanjung trees at our construction site in Sungai Ara,” S. Rajoo said.

He said the “Free Machinery” day was also declared at three other construction sites in Johor, the Klang Valley and Vietnam.
“Our workers who smoke have also pledged not to smoke for a day,” he said.

Big-scale World Environment Day celebrations were being held at the four project sites, he said.

“We started the one-day environment awareness programme in Penang last year. This year, we are expanding it to other locations,” Rajoo said.

He said the RM1mil loss was calculated based on penalties for a day’s delay but added that the company would double up its effort to ensure all projects were completed on time.

A guest speaker from the Penang Municipal Council was also invited to give a talk on the importance of recycling. Rajoo also said that the workers were required to carpool to work.On their project at a 44ha site in Sungai Ara, he said the aim was to make the environment “liveable” for birds, butterflies and dragonflies.

Journey of a thousand miles starts with a small step, it is hoped this will trigger a response among the Malaysian public on environmental awareness

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