SOME 60 Leo Club members spent a recent Sunday morning cleaning up the banks of the Kinta River in Ipoh under their ‘Keep Our Sungai Kinta Clean’ project.
Organised in conjunction with Eco Week 2009 by the Leo Club of SMJK Sam Tet, the clean-up was attended by fellow Leos from five other schools in Ipoh.
They also managed to rope in celebrities from Malaysia Celebrities Go Green (MCG2), namely actor-TV host Baki Zainal, singer Azizi Zakaria, radio DJ Faradina Mohd Nadzir who is better known as Dina and Miss Malaysia World 2008/2009 Soo Wincci.
Baki said the MCG2 artistes were committed to caring for the environment.
Soo (right) joining Leo member in removing an old peice of wood on the Sungai Kinta banks.“We travelled from Kuala Lumpur to show our support,” said Baki.
Azizi said he was using his popularity to get his fans to go green.
Dina hoped more young people would realise the importance of keeping the environment clean.
The clean-up covered a 1km stretch of the river bank between Jalan Sultan Idris Shah and Jalan Sultan Iskandar Shah.
Alan Thoo, the chairman for Leos in District 308B2 (Selangor to Perlis), said the Leos picked up not only plastic but also broken bottles, old tyres, old jeans and pieces of wood that had been dumped on the river banks.
good for media splash !
ReplyDeleteIt's heartening to note that the Leo club led the clean up on Sg. Kinta.
The river constitutes a rich historical backdrop on a lovely city that grew and shrivelled with tin.
The stretch through the city centre is or rather was once a beautiful oasis for squirrels, monkeys and birds (and snakes !)
The walkway installed years ago actually opened up the river to frequent walks, jogs and served as a scenic route to the "old town" coffee shops. This is especially so for residents in Taman Istana.
Development has reared its head, ugly or beautiful, depending from which eye is looking at it. The developer sees RM, and obviously so. The green stretch will hopefully recover, albeit, over time. Sadly the few who have enjoyed the years of serenity of walking beside the river, may not be around to see the rich heritage that once was, bloom again.
The old and the retired are a forgotten lot by the generation of RM hunters. Any justification for such disregard for preservation is accepted by the State Govt. especially from Pengarahs who have been told to toe the line, whichever line speaks the loudest to them !
Then again, being labelled as anti development, not new, but always poignant, due to the blatant and wanton destruction of the wonderful old trees, shading walkers, stood witnessing the accelerated death of Sg. Kinta
So be it. I have enjoyed it tremendously, and though saddened by the loss of the environment, I am too small and too tired to fight the might of poor intelligence.
"Failure to learn from mistakes past is the ulitmate failure"
ex-ipoh resident.
I am back. Good to know some things don't change. By that I do not mean that the Sg. Kinta is getting any more media coverage apart from the splash on the celeb cleanup effort. Has it improved the condition of the river ?
ReplyDeleteIt is most likely that the condition has returned to its previous state beofre the cleanup !!!
No change - see what I mean. Consistent.
I say NO !
We have enough "people" power (albeit silent, right now) to make a change.
Why sit on our behinds and let "others" do it !
I don't mean just the river but the quality of life that affects each and everyone of us.
The parks, the five foot ways, the cleanliness of our environment, the state of nature (whatever is left).......etc etc etc blah blah blah.
The poorly landscaped restaurants by the river is truly an eyesore. It's a crying shame that learning trips abroad by the councillors have not helped improve the unsightly bunch of cheap looking, poorly planned shops that are located opposite the side entrance to the St Michaels Institution. It's a horrible disgrace that the secondary bush gave way to this atrocity. I think it would have been better to landscape that little piece of land to complement the beauty of the river.
Hello !!! There are more works by the bridge with earth mounds spilling silt into the river....in the middle of the town (or sorry, city)
Hello !!!! where are the silt traps ?? Hello, ENGINEERS !!! WAKE the HELL UP. Scenes such as this will undoubtedly leave an impression that any sort of work is possible, anywhere, anytime.
Don't get me wrong here.....I love Ipoh. I hate the ingrates that have no joy, no idea, no humility in nature and it's symbiocity with the development of the gift of Sg. Kinta.
Ipoh City Watch can only do so much and perhaps, should focus more on the degradtion of the natural environment that makes a city livable.
This river is being capitalised for being there !! BUT the atrocities that spring up are totally out of its depth at amplifying the beauty of nature.
Ipoh City Hall is itself a disgrace for allowing such a waste of a beautiful natural resource.......drrr.....SG. KINTA.
The river must be protected at all cost from the "small minded professionals".
Oh WASTE !!
On my return, I will start a save Sg. Kinta campaign.....not that the DID does not have one, they do and have spent millions of tax payers ringgit on it. Do you see this at work on Sg. Kinta....of course not. They are too busy appeasing the "blue bloods" with lots of money to spend on their "developments".
Again I state...I am not anti development and in fact all for it. BUT for heaven's sake, please design your structures, infrastructure, landscape so that the main theme, that is :SG KINTA is complemented...it's views and vistas never compromised by concrete, traffic, smelly waste, and the loss of the natural trees along it's river banks. WHO is charge of Rivers - No one can tell me.....the run around to find out is itself so convoluted that it is easier to just stick a signboard along Jalan Istana and ask a passing city official, if they should stop, who it is that I have to speak to. They do not know as well....TRUST me I have tried this already.
Please please please....can anyone help this beautiful old river sustain itself and it's banks without having "gawkers" on either bank. I really do not hope anyone would understand that last line......it wasn't intended for any understanding. Just stand by the banks, under a huge shady tree and feel and smell the air. OOps the trees are gone....sorry you can't do that anymore. Do you now see what I mean !!
Probably not!
wonder...if anyone actually reads the stuff !
ReplyDeleteYes, Julian. Keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteI currently work in a country where there are no rivers......yes read NO RIVERS.
ReplyDeleteIt rains 7 days in a year and that too it cannot be classified as rain. More like a moderate drizzle.
It makes driving treacherous as the dust just emulsifies into a "custard" making driving here more than a challenge. The manner in which vehicles are operated is just beyond imaginably horrendous. There is nothing worse than watching a huge V8 4WDs thundering along side streets with handphones held to the head seemingly the only way for the vehicle to operate. In these conditions, the operators are probably telling their friends how treacherous the roads are.
I digress.
Rivers....! I do miss Sg. Kinta. Small, shallow, and rather unveventfully mundane. I still miss it.
The little creatures scurrying along the banks, the insects the birds, the occasional eggret (did I spell that right) !
The smell, the view, the gentle sound of rustling leaves from the old trees......STOP What old trees.....they've been chopped off in the name of progress....!
There he goes again.....well yes and no.
From where I sit in airconditioned comfort looking out through the huge panoramic windows overlooking the sea, I miss the river.
Strange you may think. What a waste of a view this old coot is missing. I miss Sg. Kinta.
That river reminds me of home. Of home cooked meals, albeit simple, in the company of loved ones and dogs.
Dogs with whom I have run with by the river enjoying the unbridled freedom to enjoy the simple beauty of God's given treasure.
Yes mediocre, until one just opens one's mind to the see what just simply unfolds before the eyes.
Are there people out there who actually stop and take the time to smell the roses anymore ?
If there are, and if you are reading this, perhaps you may understand why I miss the river. The memories embedded in the gray matter residing in this silly old skull.
Being joyful and then emanating brightness all around comes from within and it's unfolding is made so much easier with simple beautiful sights. It's there.....just look.
Rivers, trees, hills, sunsets, dawn.....clouds......rain...smells...squirrels.....
Those of you who profess to loving nature but from afar need not apply to understand this article....
Till next it rains....
...till it next rains...... well it did so I guess I owe this space another piece. Read or not, a pledge is a pledge and here's what I have felt strong enough to write about today.
ReplyDeleteYes it still is about the river, the banks on which I used to take my dogs for walks. Remembering my past furry friends creates a warmth inside of me that could equate to the feel of raindrops on my skin, in a country where water is a premium, and rain, a nuisance.
The "gift" of such a feeling comes after encountering the joy of simple pleasures that does not cost us the earth.
I could of the smell the rain on the grassy banks of the Sg. Kinta as I steered onto an almost empty highway that runs past the World Trade Centre leading to Al Seef.
The smell of the rain intensified as it pelted the skin on my arms and neck. I dispensed with the riding jacket hoping to soak up this experience even if it's just for a few minutes. I slowed down much to the chargrin of the Arab drivers who would have invariably thought this mad man is too afraid of the "heavy" drizzle. My thoughts, my euphoria, my sensations are soley mine. Selfish, no way. Go experience your own "river".
This is what the river does to me. The sensation and pleasure of walking its banks is mine. Visiting the river last December was like visiting an old good friend after a long while. It still smells the same, the banks still overgrown with lallang but the trees were gone. So much like the friend who has aged. Physically different like the colour of the hair, the wrinkles, but always welcoming. Voiceless save the strains of rushing water against the banks, telling me what I had missed while away. I say my thanks by walking its banks and admiring silently the history of this little river that runs through the once wealthy town. A town that has little time for the simple river, a town that does not recognise the richness that it still has. The heritage that is Sg. Kinta.
The Sabbath has ended. Another weekend draws to a close. I am glad having felt the rain. The Almighty has anointed the earth, and I give my humble deserved thanks.