On the 11th and 12th of August 2018, a total of 10 members from the LEO Club of Wesley Methodist School attended World Oceans Day 2018 held in Publika Shopping Gallery as volunteers for the event. This event was organised by the Marine Special Interest Group of the Malaysian Nature Society and was co-organised by some of the Lions and Leo Clubs of District 308-B1. The purpose of this event was to raise awareness about the issues affecting the ocean’s health and the importance of sea creatures such as coral reefs, seagrass and sharks. Besides that, this event aimed to encourage people to get involved in the prevention of marine litter by educating them and providing alternative solutions.
On the first day, seven of us attended the event as volunteers. We arrived at Publika at 8.30 a.m. and were greeted by Ms Tan Whei Li, the Organising Chairperson who warmly welcomed us. We were given a short run through of the event before registering ourselves at the registration counter and were given event T-shirts to change into. After that, a general briefing was given by Ms Siew Lyn, the go-to-person for volunteers for MNS Marine and later were separated into helping the different booths at the exhibition. Some of us helped put up some of the last minute touch ups to the exhibits before finally opening the exhibition to the public at 10 a.m. Representatives of the respective booths were enthusiastically promoting their own booths wanting to reach out to the public about marine awareness. The whole area was filled with both thrilled visitors and hardworking volunteers giving their all. The emcee started the day’s session by introducing Ms Pasupathy Jeyaraj, chairperson of MNS Selangor Branch, who gave a talk about the water cycle as well as pollution. Next, there was a singing performance by Eri and Michael. After that, Dr Chen Pelf Nyok, co-founder of the Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia spoke about the dangers faced by the turtles,tortoises and terrapins due to human activities. She also urged people to not take them in as pets but let them roam free. She pointed out the steps that can be taken by the public to support their act to preserve and conserve the turtles like adopting terrapins or attending turtle hatchling release events. Soon after, there was a talk about sharks by Alicia from Shark Savers Malaysia. It was a truly informative session for both young children and adults present at the talk. She clarified the common misconceptions that people have towards sharks like how people think that sharks are responsible for thousands of deaths yearly but a survey from WWF proves that sharks are responsible for averagely 4 deaths in a year compared to other animals. The audience were encouraged to not support or consume shark made products as it threatens the survival of sharks. After lunch, a few groups of students from SMK Vivekenenda recited their handwritten poems written around the various areas of nature. It was truly spectacular to know that 14 year olds had written such meaningful poems. Later, a Shark Clay Craft Workshop was led by Ms. Olivia Sow to teach the participants on how to make clay sharks from moulding clay. Some of our members joined in as well to both facilitate the session and also had a lot of fun themselves. Our shift ended at 3 p.m. and the organising chairperson thanked us very much for our help. We had a group photo session with them before bidding them goodbye. Our members left feeling happy to be able to volunteer to serve the community as well as to be able to gain so much knowledge through the participation of this event.
On the second day, five of us attended the event as volunteers. Like day one, we arrived at Publika at 8.30 a.m. and were given brief instructions by Ms Siew Lyn. After registering and changing into the event T-shirt, we were divided into our separate booths and were introduced to the person in charge of that particular booth we were helping. The person in charge of the booths proceeded to share their knowledge about their area of specialities such as flora, green living, birds and so on, and explained to us about the significance of what they were doing. People started visiting the exhibition around 10 a.m. and the representatives from each booth were busy attracting these people to their booth, eager to share their knowledge about their booth and to put in as much effort as they did during day one. The day’s session started with a singing performance by Eri and Micheal. This was followed by the emcee inviting a representative from LCI, to the front for a speech, who was later joined by Ms Tan Whei Li. After that, Mr. Wong Wee Liem gave a talk entitled “Beach Clean Up 1-2-3”, which focused on maintaining the cleanliness of beaches and encouraged the audience to think twice before littering. Following that was the Shark 101 Workshop by Shark Savers Malaysia, which managed to leave a lasting impression on the audience, as well as educate them about the dangers the sharks are currently facing. Dr. Jillian Ooi, marine biogeographer of University of Malaya, then gave a talk about "The Splendor of Seagrass and Its Creatures" after lunch. She clarified the importance of having seagrasses in the ocean and often joked that mermaids lived in them. The Shark Clay Craft Workshop by Ms. Olivia Sow then took place after Dr. Jillian’s talk. The activities carried out during this workshop was similar to the activities in day one. Before we knew it, it was already 3.00 p.m. and our shift ended. Our members went home feeling motivated by these people, who care so passionately about the environment, and were greatly inspired to do the same.
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| Some members participated in the Shark Clay Craft Workshop. |
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| A member helping out in the flora booth. |
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| Our members had a great day volunteering. |
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