International Volunteer Day: Celebrating volunteerism in Kuala Lumpur

Of all the United Nations observance days, my favourite has got to be International Volunteer Day, which is celebrated on 5th December annually. International Volunteer Day is a day to honour and celebrate volunteers and to enable and empower volunteers to share their experience and resources, and to motivate others to commit time and energy to volunteering.

Why volunteer? As a volunteer with several organisations, I am frequently called upon to speak to youths and new volunteers. Faith groups, youth groups and special interest groups have their own reasons for promoting and advocating volunteer work, but what would impel individuals to invest their time, energy and resources in public interest work that would bring them very few, if any, tangible returns? My arguments in support of volunteering are as follows:
1. Volunteers perform a valuable community service that has economic worth. I have always believed that if governments and public bodies had to pay wages for the service that is rendered by volunteers, the economy could very possibly collapse overnight.
2. Volunteering exposes volunteers to a wide range of experiences, people and situations that they would not usually encounter in their daily work. These experiences help us develop our capacity to cope with crises, difficult and frustrating situations, and learn how to manage time, people and (often very limited) resources to the best of our ability. It also helps develop perseverance, commitment and resilience, qualities that would stand one in good stead in life.
3. Volunteering empowers you to be the difference you want to see.

Malaysians are blessed with mind-blowing generosity and compassion, and a large number do volunteer for various causes. In commemorating and celebrating International Volunteer Day 2009, I have decided to feature some of my favourite organizations and opportunities for volunteering with them.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Selangor

Address:
Jalan Kerja Air Lama, 68000 Ampang, Selangor.
Tel:
Animal Shelter & Admin Dept: 03-4256 5312/ 4253 5179 (8.30am - 4pm Daily)
Public Relations Dept & Inspectorate: 03-4253 5312 (10am – 6.30pm Daily)
Fax: 03-4252 8382
Email:
enquiries@spca.org.my
Website:
SPCA Selangor

I started volunteering with the SPCA in 1996. My responsibilities then include bathing and grooming animals, preparing food, cleaning kennels, washing food and water bowls, assisting in fundraising and outreach activities, illustrating posters, drafting articles and letters, administering medication and attending to visitors and adopters.

As a senior volunteer today, I still perform the duties described above, but my responsibilities have increased to include drafting and reviewing documents and correspondence, assisting the Inspectorate, organising events and fundraisers, training new volunteers and engaging in policy and advocacy work.



Here I am shampooing and tickwashing dogs in a candid photo taken in 2007/2008.



Feel the love! This friendly little dog gave me a lick as I was cleaning kennels sometime in 2008.

What you can do:
If you have experience with animals, the SPCA always needs volunteers who are able to foster young animals at home until they are strong enough to be re-homed. We also need sensible volunteers for the following animal care duties: bathing and grooming animals, administering tickwash, cleaning the shelter, preparing food, washing food and water bowls and handling animals. Non-animal care related duties would include manning the outreach booth, assisting in fundraisers such as the quarterly Jumble Sale in the shelter premises, cleaning and painting the shelter, website and merchandise design and office work (filing and organizing documents, answering phone calls, attending to visitors and customers, helping out in the Charity Shop).

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)

Address:
MNS Selangor Branch,
JKR 641, Jalan Kelantan,
Bukit Persekutuan,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:
603-2287 9422/ 2287 3304/ 2287 3306.
Fax:
603-2287 8773
Website:
Malaysian Nature Society

The Malaysian Nature Society’s objectives and areas of work include environmental conservation, environmental and nature education and establishing and managing nature parks. In 2008, MNS was accorded the Merdeka Award for the ‘education and community’ category, a deserved honour indeed for the nation’s oldest volunteer-based environmental organization.

I joined the Malaysian Nature Society in 2000/2001 and commenced volunteering on the day I signed up. In 2006, I accepted the challenge of establishing and coordinating a new Special Interest Group called Green Living. I was coordinator from 2006 to 2009, and at the same time, started a family-based programme called Eco Kids, which has its own monthly column in the newsletter and periodic nature camps and outings. Today, I am a committee member for the Selangor Branch and my duties include policy, advocacy, education and outreach work.



Public speaking skills are essential as an MNS volunteer. Here I am explaining waste management practices to members of the public at FRIM.



In 2008, I was accorded the MNS Branch Award for the service I rendered as a coolie major slave volunteer.

What you can do:
The MNS volunteer base is made up almost entirely of registered members. Membership is necessary for reasons of policy and legal indemnity/waiver. Volunteers are required to, inter alia, manage activity and outreach booths, talk to students and the public about the environment, conduct outings, expeditions, seminars and talks, coordinate cleanup campaigns, coordinate and assist in community events, draft articles and reports, and initiate or assist in data collection and research work. However, members of the public, including school and college students and corporate volunteers, also participate in large-scale community events such as our annual Raptor Watch Week and biannual Open Day.

Bar Council Legal Aid Centre Kuala Lumpur

Address:
Bar Council Legal Aid Centre Kuala Lumpur
Tingkat 6, Wisma Kraftangan,
No. 9, Jalan Tun Perak,
50050 Kuala Lumpur
Tel:
03-26913005 / 26932072
Fax:
03-26930527
E-mail:
lacklb@po.jaring.my

The Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (BCLAC) was founded by the Malaysian Bar Council with the ideal of affording citizens equal opportunity for the enforcement of their fundamental right to equality before the law. It is funded by the sole contribution of members of the Bar and cases are taken on a voluntary basis by dedicated lawyers.

I had volunteered with the BCLAC both in the advocacy and policy programme in cooperation with PT Foundation Malaysia and as a volunteer counsel in industrial relations matters.

What you can do:
Although only Advocates and Solicitors of the High Court of Malaya are allowed to take up BCLAC files, undergraduates and law students and lawyers who are no longer in practice also have the opportunity to assist in research, file management and clerical work.

Waterfall Survivors
Facebook Page: Save Our Waterfalls

Waterfall Survivors is a Facebook group founded by a dynamic young lady named Joe Yap to explore wild, scenic waterfalls in Malaysia and to clean them up. The group has over 4,000 members, many of whom have participated in the waterfall cleanups. The last cleanup I was involved in was on 25th October 2009 at the Kanching Recreational Forest.



Kanching Recreational Forest, 25th October 2009. "350" stands for 350 parts of CO2 per million, which is the target environmental groups have set for the international community.

What you can do:
Join the Facebook Group and keep yourself updated on their latest campaigns. Assist in their cleanup campaigns and bring your friends and family along. Be a sensible volunteer: Bring your own latex/gardening gloves, drinking water, sunblock and mosquito repellent, and be aware of and prepared for the risk of injuries, insect/animal bites, heatstroke and accidents.


Eco Warriors
Facebook Page: Eco Warriors

Eco Warriors is a Klang Valley-based citizens’ action group set up by Matthias Gelber, the ‘Greenest Man on the Planet’. Part of the appeal of the Eco Warriors Facebook Group lies in the fact that it is non-hierarchical and does not require registration or a membership fee. Among the activities conducted by the Group are tree-planting, farm work (they spend most weekends at Bandar Harapan, an organic farm dedicated to helping the underprivileged be self-sufficient), trail/river/park/jungle cleanups, community workshops (on recycling, composting, et cetera) and participating in community events such as Wild Asia’s Tree Party.

What you can do:
Sign up to be a member of the Facebook Group and assist in cleanup projects, tree-planting campaigns, farm work and community activities.

Food Not Bombs Kuala Lumpur

Website/Weblog: Food Not Bombs
Facebook Page: FNB KL

(I have written about Food Not Bombs KL in an earlier post.)

What you can do:
Food Not Bombs welcomes the assistance of volunteers who can contribute and prepare vegetarian food (sandwiches, biscuits, fruit, rice, noodles etc.), transport it to the area where food will be served, serve the clients and tidy up after all food has been consumed.

Independent Pet Rescuers

Website/Weblog: Rescue 2 Rehome

The Independent Pet Rescuers was founded by Sherrina Krishnan, a KL-based social and animal rights activist who is a strong proponent of the no-kill policy. The Independent Pet Rescuers practice TNR (Trap, Neuter and Release) of stray animals that they are unable to re-home, but place emphasis on fostering, vaccinating, neutering and rehabilitating animals in order that all animals have a chance of being adopted. In the few years that they have been in operation, the Independent Pet Rescuers have managed to re-home hundreds of animals in need.

What you can do:
The Independent Pet Rescuers need fosterers who can assist in feeding, cleaning and rehabilitating cats and dogs. Volunteer fosterers must be prepared to bring pets to qualified veterinarians for treatment and provide post-treatment/post-surgery care. Animals must be fostered until they are strong and healthy enough to be safely put up for adoption.

What will YOU be doing this International Volunteer Day? Please leave me a comment to let me know either what you will be doing on December 5 to honour and observe International Volunteer Day, or what you pledge to support, assist or get involved in commencing International Volunteer Day, and you might just receive a set of limited edition, commercially-unavailable Green Living bookmarks as featured below!



Blog Swag: Leave me a comment and these gorgeous Green Living bookmarks may just find their way to you!

Be A Volunteer: Because sharing is a privilege and a pleasure!

Energy Efficiency Carnival 2009 at the PWTC

Energy Efficiency Carnival 2009
Organised by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water
Venue: Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)
Duration: Saturday, 21 Nov 2009 – Sunday, 22 Nov 2009



As soon as I learned of the Energy Efficiency Carnival 2009, I knew it would be of interest and of benefit to the members of the Malaysian Nature Society, and to me personally as a volunteer and a consumer.

Households use over 1/5 of the total energy consumed in the country. An average suburban family creates 4.5 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from home electricity use every year.

Efficient energy use and alternative (renewable/sustainable) energy sources would not only reduce the amount of CO2 generated, but also reduce the economic costs associated with the construction of energy generation, supply and transmission infrastructure, and at a more domestic level, the cost of replacing and repairing inefficient appliances and of energy consumption.



Energy Efficiency: For a cleaner, safer future!



Booths offering energy-related products and services received lots of attention from patrons. Although I found many of the booth operators reasonably helpful, many did not seem particularly well-informed. Perhaps I am just too used to Malaysian Nature Society volunteers who are formidable Know-It-Alls. There is, however, a glaring lack of information on the management of electronic waste. It’s all very well to urge us to replace inefficient appliances, but where would the waste go? There is only one licensed scheduled waste management company in Peninsular Malaysia, and their fees are way too high for domestic users. Perhaps the Ministry could work with City Hall and the local authorities to set up centralised electronic waste collection centres for urban municipalities.



The Smart & Cool Homes energy-efficient model house drew many interested visitors.




Visitors checking out energy-saving refrigerators offered by a vendor. I can attest to the energy consumption habits of decrepit old fridges. The pre-Falklands War refrigerator unit we used to have at our bachelor pad had a rubber seal so leaky that we probably ended up refrigerating the whole street. When we finally replaced it, our electricity bill went down by a whopping 30-40%!




Wind turbines for energy generation would be ideal for coastal areas.




A CETREE (Centre for Education, Training and Research in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency) volunteer obligingly poses by their Energy Efficiency Snakes and Ladders Board. Our friends at CETREE were kind enough to give me two sets of the board game for our MNS Green Living booth and Eco Kids projects.



The Green Building Index rating and certification programme is an initiative under the Persatuan Akitek Malaysia. I ended up engaging in a friendly discourse with the booth operator on why it would make more sense to certify retrofitted existing buildings than exclusively certify new construction. Think of the fuel and energy costs involved in the clearing of land for development, transportation of construction materials, and the construction and transmission of energy and water to a new building!



The Energy Commission booth has a multimedia display and information boards on the Energy Star rating system. I hope the rating system will be made compulsory for all appliances in the market.


Human well-being, we have learned, is linked more closely than most people realise to the great marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Carbon emissions must not exceed Nature's capacity to withdraw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and neutralise the carbon.

The challenge is that the world's inhabitants will need to find politically acceptable ways to reduce their CO2 emissions level by 80%.

Personal choices are not a substitute for political action. Global problems could only be comprehensively solved through actual reforms in public policies that engage most people and institutions.

Similarly, however, political action is no substitute for leading lives that reflect our environmental values. As long as people keep buying energy guzzlers (e.g. big vehicles as status symbols, power-hungry electrical appliances), businesses and manufacturers will continue producing them.

The Energy Efficiency Carnival 2009 is a step in the right direction and it would be heartening to see more collaboration between the public and corporate sectors on environmental initiatives in future.

“Late Quaternary Mammals of Borneo” at the Rimba Ilmu Auditorium

MNS Selangor Speaker Series
Title: “Late Quaternary Mammals of Borneo”
Speaker: Lord Cranbrook
Date and Time: 6th November 2009, 8.00 p.m.
Venue: Rimba Ilmu Auditorium, University of Malaya
Organised by the Malaysian Nature Society, Selangor Branch.

I was at the University of Malaya Rimba Ilmu Auditorium again recently to attend a talk on the “Late Quaternary Mammals of Borneo”.

Judging by the turnout at the first of the Malaysian Nature Society (Selangor Branch) talks for the current administrative year, it’s going to be a great year for science and conservation-based events. The audience occupied every seat in the Rimba Ilmu Auditorium and spilled out into the aisles. Who would have guessed that there would be so much interest in the Late Quaternary Mammals of Borneo? Lord Cranbrook’s lecture was both fascinating and engaging. I almost thought that I was in the presence of a rock star!



Lord Cranbrook outlined the evidence of changes in the mammalian fauna of Borneo during the Quaternary, which was a period of very variable climate dominated by cyclic Ice Ages. The main information comes from archaeological work in the caves of Sabah and Sarawak, notably the huge cave at Niah.

Lord Cranbrook's first appointment was at the Sarawak Museum in 1956. After a short period on a post-doctorate fellowship in Indonesia, he joined the Department of Zoology, University of Malaya (1961-70). He was associated with the Royal Geographical Society Expeditions to Kinabalu (1964) and Vanuatu (as Deputy Leader, 1971), and the joint expeditions to Mulu (as Deputy Leader, 1977-78) and to Belalong in Brunei (as Joint Leader 1989-94). He has published many books on Southeast Asian wildlife, including Mammals of Borneo (1965), Birds of the Malay Penninsula Vol 5 (jointly authored, 1976), Belalong: a tropical rainforest (jointly authored, 1994) and Swiftlets of Borneo (2002). In recognition of his services to the State of Sarawak, Lord Cranbrook was awarded the titles of JBS (Hon) in 1997 & PNBS (Hon) in 2005 (the latter carrying the title Datuk Seri); he was recently (May 2006) elected an Honorary Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He is an Honorary Life Member of MNS.



So what’s a Late Quaternary Mammal when it’s at home, if you please? Why, Ice Age Mammals, of course! Stegodonts such as this handsome fellow here walked the plains of Borneo in the Quaternary Period.

The talk covered topics such as:
- Mammals as environmental indicators
- Origins of mammal remains in cave sites
- The Borneo Anomaly – Quaternary Climate Change
- Past fauna and past environments

So why did the tiger (Panthera tigris) and Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) disappear from Borneo, yet continue to exist in Peninsular Malaysia? What else is waiting to be discovered in the limestone caves of Borneo? The plot thickens!

Many thanks to Committee Members Ilyas Sapiyan and Cindy Chen for organising such a successful talk, and of course, to Lord Cranbrook, for being so obliging despite his hectic schedule!

Rimba Ilmu, which is Malay for “Forest of Knowledge”, is a tropical botanical garden within the University of Malaya, the nation’s oldest university. Rimba Ilmu was set up in 1974 by Professor W.R. Stanton to generate and promote awareness and knowledge of tropical plant life and its environment, ecology and conservation.

For a virtual tour of the Rimba Ilmu Botanical Gardens, please visit the official website.



The Rimba Ilmu main building, in which the auditorium is housed.



The water feature in front of the Rimba Ilmu Building. If you were to walk up the flight of stairs, you would arrive at the Orchids and Rare Plants Conservatory.



The Ceratopteris thalicbroides (Parkeriaceae) is regarded as a weed in the rice fields. However, its young fronds can be eaten and the leaves can be used as a poultice for skin ailments.



The Orchids and Rare Plants Conservatory.



A staff member hard at work cultivating plants in the Conservatory.



A charming little archway over the entrance to Rimba Ilmu.



Can you spot the Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) plant in the picture?

The Malaysian Nature Society, Selangor Branch, organises monthly guided walks around Rimba Ilmu. Led by the inimitable Angela Hijjas, this walk, which takes place on the first Saturday of every month, allows visitors to view and experience the collections in the gardens while discussing environmental and ecological issues.

The next walk will be on 5th December 2009, at 9.00 a.m. The Malaysian Nature Society Rimba Ilmu Guided Walk is open to members of the public. A fee of RM4.00 for each adult and RM2.00 for each child is imposed for the joint Universiti Malaya/MNS Environmental Education Fund.

For more information on the Rimba Ilmu Botanical Gardens, please contact:

The Coordinator,
Rimba Ilmu,
Institute of Biological Sciences,
University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur.

Telephone No: +60-(3)-79674686, +60-(3)-79674690, +60-(3)-79674688 and +60-(3)-79674664

Office Hours:
Mondays to Fridays: 2.00pm - 4.30pm
Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: Closed

Froggy Encounters in Gasing Hill

It was on Deepavali morning that I agreed to go frogging at Bukit Gasing with Hurnain, Lillian and gang that night.

I informed Lillian that I would be at the SPCA animal shelter in Ampang all afternoon until after 7.00 p.m., as I had volunteered to stay back to feed the animals and clean up so that the Hindu staff could knock off a little earlier. The gang agreed to wait for me.

When I first informed Raj and our other friends during the Deepavali lunch that I would be going frogging at night and invited them to come along, they were incredulous.

"Frogs? What, to eat?" they exclaimed in surprise and curiosity.

Hey, just because I am of Chinese ethnicity doesn't mean that I eat everything with four legs except a table!

Frogs and toads are fascinating, and are good indicators of the environmental health of an area. Since amphibians are particularly susceptible to contaminants and are very sensitive to the changes in their environment, a decline in the amphibian population is a warning to us humans that an area may not remain safe for human occupation for very long.

The MNS Herpetofauna Special Interest Group , under the leadership of Hurnain and Lillian, has been conducting nocturnal frogging excursions in Bukit Gasing, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and other secondary forests in the City for years, for the purposes of data collection and research, and to inculcate greater appreciation for nature and indigenous reptiles and amphibians among city-dwellers.

The Bukit Gasing Forest Reserve is special in that it straddles the border of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. It is a secondary forest and green lung covering over 100 hectares. It is worth noting that 36 hectares of secondary forest in the Petaling Jaya side were gazetted as a greenbelt in 1961, while the Kuala Lumpur side remains unprotected. I hope that the Ministry of Federal Territories accords this issue with the importance that it deserves and takes steps to gazette this green buffer zone in the City.

The last time I conducted a Green Living - Eco Kids Day Camp here was in 2007. The beneficiaries were the able-bodied children from the Taman Megah Home For Handicapped Children.

Happy faces after our Day Camp in 2007. The children received their certificates after making their Green Living pledges. I had initiated the Camp and was, and still am, very grateful for the support of my key volunteers: Yanty, Serina, Mariam, Hui-Min, Christine and Mohala.

Tonight, there would only be a handful of us. I pulled up at the entrance of the trail and joined Nain and Lil, pockets bulging with flashlights and mosquito repellent.

The local authorities must have thought it was a good idea to put these rock gabions here and create an embankment for our little stream. Perhaps their intention is to reduce or control soil erosion, but it has created siltation and reduction of flow in the stream and affected fauna that relies on the natural foliage growing on the riverbanks for shelter and food.

Lillian remains an active volunteer despite being in her fifth month of pregnancy. Her spirit of volunteerism is infectious!

Rana Raniceps / Hydrophylax Raniceps, commonly known as the Copper-Cheeked Frog. See how its beautiful skin glistens in the night!

Lillian showing little Cerys the proper way of holding and handling a Copper-Cheeked Frog. Nature awareness and education should begin as early as possible.

Bufo Parvus: We learned to identify it from the hourglass-like marking at the back of its head.

Hurnain and Lillian trying to locate the position of the frogs by their calls.

We heard Hurnain hissing to us from 10 metres away and squelched up the stream to see what he was so excited about. It was worth the hurry! Hurnain had spotted a Dogania Subplana! What luck! It hasn't been spotted in Bukit Gasing in ages!

Dogania Subplana: Malayan Soft-Shelled Turtle

The Dogania perceived us to be a threat and tried to get away by burrowing under the sandy stream bed. There was a plastic bag in the way and I offered to remove it. Hurnain and Teck Wyn cautioned that the Dogania would attack, and that it has a very painful bite.

I was adamant that the plastic bag be removed, and was not worried about being bitten. After all, I get bitten at the SPCA by new arrivals and nervous animals at least once every six months. I tugged gently at the plastic bag until it came loose and we collected other plastic litter from the stream.

L-R: Hurnain, me and Lillian with a message for joggers, picnickers and hashers: Please do not leave your litter behind. Littering is a poor return for the enjoyment you have derived from our natural spaces.

We saw another Dogania a little further upstream. This really is a serendipitous night for us to have spotted two in the same hour. This is a good sign that the water quality is good enough to create liveable conditions for wildlife.

While we were photographing another Bufo Parvus, I spotted another frog, sitting very still, next to it. It took a while for us to realise that it wasn't another Bufo Parvus but a frog which we have never seen before and could not identify. We proceeded to take photos of it from all angles to help in its identification.







Little Cerys was exhausted from her long day of Deepavali visiting and trekking, and so we made the decision to pack up for the night. We brought the litter we collected out with us, congratulated each other on a productive night of nature observation, and promised to come back again soon.

Our Deepavali wish would be to see green spaces given due protection against unnecessary development. There are enormous environmental and economic costs associated with the destruction of forests, such as an increase in the incidence of landslides and flash floods and the rise in tropical diseases. Similarly, there are enormous benefits to be gained from the preservation of rainforests and their ecosystem services such as carbon capture and as water catchment zones. A well-cared for green lung or forest reserve will also have great tourism potential and will be an asset to any state!

May we all tread gently upon the good Earth and show love and respect to other beings that share our Planet!