KUALA LUMPUR, 26 OCTOBER 2023 – Over 26,000 kg of trash was collected by 10,209 Malaysians and visitors of various ages from beaches all over Malaysia throughout September for the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day and World Cleanup Day (WCD).

Among the trash collected, the most common item found was plastic bottles at 39,453 bottles. The second and third most common items were cigarette butts at 34,789 pieces and plastic or foam pieces at 29,298 pieces.

“It is great to see people of various backgrounds and ages come together and take action to combat marine pollution. This initiative not only helps to clean our coastlines but helps to raise awareness on the effects of our own consumption and habits when it comes to waste. You get to see where trash ends up when it is out of our sight.” mentioned Theresa Ng, the Chief Operating Officer of Reef Check Malaysia.

Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) has coordinated the nationwide ICC in Malaysia every year since 2018. Organizations, groups and individuals collect data during the cleanup and key in data into the Clean Swell app to contribute to the global database of cleanups by Ocean Conservancy.

Y.A.M Tengku Zatashah binti Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the princess of Selangor and a well-known environmental and social activist, is no stranger to beach cleanups. Her Royal Highness is also one of the strong supporters of the ICC movement. “The plastic pollution problem is a serious problem. It is not enough to just talk about it, we must take active actions to combat it,” commented Tengku Zatashah who joined the ICC at Pantai Morib Baharu in Selangor this year.

WCD Country Leader for Malaysia, who is also the Executive Director of Malaysian Humanitarian Foundation (MHF), Henry Teh shared, “It is important for all of us to join hands to cleanup together as a big family in Malaysia. We cannot do the cleanups alone.” He congratulated RCM for their good efforts to bring corporates and volunteers together to do the beach cleanups.

The ICC in Malaysia this year was supported by TechnipFMC in support of their Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiative. TechnipFMC was joined by 360 employees and their families and cleaned up Pantai Remis, Selangor and Pantai Batu Layar, Johor.

“TechnipFMC has cultivated a culture where we placed great emphasis on our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). This is in line with our ESG scorecard 2021-2023,” said Jason Labani, Vice President Subsea Projects & Asia Pacific Area.

“It’s also a way to promote further strong teamwork and engagement between employees in TechnipFMC Malaysia as the program runs simultaneously on the same day across different beaches in Malaysia.”

RCM also held their inaugural ICC event, ‘Kod Blue: Laut Needs You’ (Kod Blue) on 23 September at Kampung Paya, Tioman Island. The name of the event is a nod to the 'code blue' in the medical field which means an emergency. ‘Blue’ is also used to refer to the ocean. The latter part of the name is used to indicate a wake-up call and call to action as the ocean needs our urgent help.

“We are answering the ‘Kod Blue’ activated due to the threats faced by our oceans. It is important to not only show people the effects of marine debris but also to involve them in the process of protecting our ocean to create a sense of responsibility.” commented Alvin Chelliah, Chief Programme Officer of Reef Check Malaysia who is based in Tioman Island.

The event was held in collaboration with Lions Club, Life Initiative for Environment, UDive and RipCurl. The event was also made possible with the support of Migalabs, HydroFlask, PADI and PADI Aware.

Kampung Paya, Tioman Island was chosen as the venue for the event in light of the recent success of stopping the construction of a new airport on Tioman Island. Kampung Paya is one of the villages that would have been greatly affected by the construction as the airport was to be built right in front of Kampung Paya’s doorstep.

The ‘Kod Blue’ event saw Lions Club members and volunteers cleaning the beach and diving to remove coral predators, the Crown-of-Thorns (COT). The first ever ‘pasar malam mesra alam’ in Kampung Paya was also held during the event, with 10 stall holders from the Kampung Paya community providing a range of local foods. The event proved very popular with visitors, who crowded stalls from the moment they opened.

'Kod Blue’ was also attended by RCM’s ambassadors, Baki Zainal and Sharifah Sofia, with the latter conducting a kids’ workshop. The event also saw lucky draws, a cleanup contest and an interactive education session with a glass bottle crusher machine.

“We are happy that the community of Kampung Paya was supportive of this event. They are already asking us to organize the event again next year”, added Alvin.

For more information on Reef Check Malaysia, you may visit them on their website, Facebook and Instagram or contact them at hello@reefcheck.org.my. 

-END-