Review of Plastic Ban in Perak and Emulate Japanese Culture during SUKMA and all government functions

6 July 2018 by Dr. Richard Ng

The new Pakatan Harapan government has been urged to review on the previous BN government’s policy of banning plastics as announced in April 2016 which is supposed to be enforced effective 1 June 2017.

The U-Turn was announced by the then Perak MB, Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir about a month before the enforcement of the policy giving excuses that a thorough study was required before enforcing the ban. According to him, we cannot tackle the problems of plastic and polystyrene usage without providing the correct alternative, as well as creating an environment that leads towards the ban.

In April 2016, he announced that the total ban on plastic bags and polystyrene containers would be enforced in stages, starting with state government buildings, cafeterias, and functions to start using biodegradable containers every Friday from June last year. In the second stage, the ban was extended from weekly to daily. It was then extended to cover all municipal councils in the state. The final stage was the ban on polystyrene and plastic bags throughout the state.

If the government is serious about reducing carbon footprint and addressing climate change as one of the goals under the United Nation on Sustainable Development Goals, then the review is imminent. There are two ways to do it: through enforcement and legislation and education.

In Perak with a population of 2.8 million now, a total of 200,000 tonnes of garbage is generated each year and of this total about 30% or 65,000 tonnes made up various plastics and polystyrene. Also there are over 2,000 illegal dumpsites now. As plastics takes years to decompose, the landfills and illegal dumpsites will keep piling up.

We need not to wait for further studies as states such as Penang, Selangor, Melaka and Johor have implemented successfully. The people in these states have adapted to it and are ever willing to cooperate. However, it must start from the government, the corporate sectors, the traders and plastic manufacturers.

We still noticed during Hari Raya Open House hosted by government agencies continued to use disposable polystyrene plastics, plastic spoons and forks as well as plastic straws. The government must stop using single use plastic even though it is a cheaper option to help reduce plastic pollution which is choking our ocean.

Traders must be forced to use plastic containers which can be recycled instead of polystyrene box even though it cost more and not a good alternative.

The better option is to educate the public to bring their own tiffin carrier and mugs when purchasing foods and drinks.

The government must also engage environment NGOs such as KOHIJAU and Ipoh City Watch which have been actively involved in educating the public especially students to practice 3R and use recyclable shopping bags. The community such as senior citizens and single mothers can be taught on upcycling skills to salvage plastics and turn it into bags and other products which can be reuse as decorations, flower pots, stationery holders or even handicrafts.

The enforcement on the banning of plastics can be carried out by business licensing authority especially the local councils. Traders who ignore this ruling will have their business license revoked.

During the recent FIFA world cup in Russia involving Japan, the Japanese fans, players and officers set good examples to the world by picking up thrash left in the stadium and even cleaned up their rooms before they leave. This a habit the Japanese government has cultivated in young Japanese students.

Perak will soon host the 19^th SUKMA Games from 14 to 22 September 2018. This is the best opportunity for Perakians to showcase our good habit by emulating the Japanese to clean up the venue after every event held.

The Perak Chairman for Youth and Sports should look into engaging NGOs and Volunteers to help. Thousands of people will be in Perak during this game and what better way to show that we are not just only a good host but a responsible host. Already Perak is famed for its good food. We must not just display the number medals we receive but also to showcase that we are one of the cleanest if not the cleanest state in Malaysia.

So start to form our volunteer brigade and NGOs, empower them and make our state proud and great again.

ICW launched its first Community Recycling Project in Perak

April 5 2015 marked another milestone for Ipoh City Watch (ICW) when it has successfully launched the first Community Recycling Project in collaboration with Perak SW Corp and Rukun Tetangga Jelapang. 

The historical project was launched by YB Dato' Rusnah Kassim, the Perak State Committee Chairman for Women Development, Family and Community Welfare. Also present include Puan Hajah Fatimah Binti Ahmad, the Perak State SW Corp Director and Mr. Thinakaran Sarangabanly, chairman RT Jelapang. 

About 150 residents of Taman Jelapang Tambahan who will be involved in this project attended the occassion. Several Ipoh City Councillors and Community Heads were also present. Clr M. Veeran who represented the mayor Datuk Harun Rawi together with Clr Loh and Community head Low Guo Nan. The objective of the project is to educate and explain to the publis on the importance of garbage separation and recycling to help keep the environment clean, reduce illegal dumping and earn additional income from their efforts. 

This project will be closely monitored by SW Corp and ICW within the next three months to see its impact. The success of this project will help create a model for recycling for other communities in Malaysia.

Making Ipoh A Liveable City - Ipoh Echo - April 1, 2015

The revamped and rebranded Ipoh City Watch (ICW) was officially launched by Dato’ Hj Samsudin Abu Hassan, Executive Councillor for Consumer Affairs, Human Resources, Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations on Friday, January 23.

Its president, Associate Professor Dr Richard Ng said with the new committee members, ICW would be the voice of Ipohites in raising issues that affect their city.

“It’s a tall order but our vision is to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia. We’ll help protect the rights of ratepayers to have a clean, safe and healthy environment. We’ll stand up for the rights to be provided with all amenities as stipulated in the by-laws of the Local Government Act 1976,” he told Ipoh Echo.

Richard Ng took over as the new ICW president for the period of 2015-2016 when he was elected during the EGM held last November. The mandate given comes with a huge responsibility. The committee members will continue with what was set out by the founding members of ICW in November 2002. The only difference is the approach used and the higher expectations of the people.

“We’ll use the three E’s approach – Engage, Explain, Educate. That’s to meet and talk to the people, explain to them what’s right and what’s wrong and to create awareness on doing their part to keep Ipoh clean and safe. Our target is to conduct our walkabout at all 22 zones in the city,” said Richard.

“We want our representatives from all of the city’s 22 zones to highlight issues plaguing their areas, true to the slogan, ‘Our City, Our Responsibility’. We can then bring these up to the relevant authorities for action,” he stressed.

“Most importantly, we want to build bridges with the Ipoh City Council. It is a challenge, as we are often perceived as an Opposition group.”

According to the academician, the biggest challenge for ICW would be to educate the people. “They always think that the cleanliness and the safety of the city are the responsibility of the local and state governments. If everyone had played their roles, Ipoh would be so much cleaner. Engaging the city councillors is another challenge since many are not willing to work with us,” he lamented.

“Non-governmental organisations are going to be the third force that can enhance their responsibility. They should start engaging with us rather than consider us as troublemakers.”

Between November 2014 and March this year, ICW has held six gotong-royong, anti-dengue campaigns and walkabouts to raise awareness on cleanliness. “We’ve visited Jelapang, Buntong, Lim Garden, Taman Merdeka and Tambun,” he said.

It has organised several public forums, including one on GST and stray animals. “We plan to have a forum on solid waste management in May where we’ll invite experts to talk,” he said.

Apart from the cleanliness issue, another concern of ICW is safety. There were several snatch thefts and robberies reported by residents before Chinese New Year.

“During the previous mayor’s time, he installed a number of CCTVs in the city. We want to know the number and whether they’re still functioning,” he said, adding that a city that was clean and safe would also help boost property prices.

“The number of street lights should also be increased, especially in areas that are frequented by drug addicts. Pedestrian walkways should be improved in the city as it would encourage people to walk and lead a healthy lifestyle,” he reasoned.

The society currently has some 50 members and is looking to add more professionals to the group. The members are very active on the ground identifying problems that need to be tackled by the relevant agencies.

Ipoh City Watch

Keeping Watch On Ipoh - Ipoh Echo

1 Feb 2015 By Fathol Zaman Bukhari

I was once asked what really started Ipoh City Watch (ICW). I had the answer but took a while to ponder on the likely reasons for the establishment of this non-governmental organisation.

The new millennium had just descended on Ipoh and talks were rife that the city’s boundary would be extended to include areas which were not under the city council’s jurisdiction.

Chemor, Gopeng, Jelapang and Meru were some of those considered. From an erstwhile 400-odd sq km the city would be expanded to its current 643 sq km to support a population in excess of 600,000.

The expansion was welcomed by the city’s business community, as it would provide better opportunities for business to flourish. However, residents were rather sceptical fearing a dilution in Ipoh City Council’s responsibilities with a larger area to cover.

Topping the list was cleanliness, as Ipoh in the 1950s right until the 1970s, was the cleanness town in the country. This distinction was attributable to the Seenivasagam brothers who took pride in making the state capital squeaky clean, both in looks and in governance, to the chagrin of other municipal councils who were in deep slumber, oblivious of the changing times.

Developments taking place in and around Ipoh seemed unstoppable, driven by an irresistible urge to spread. Some of which were never in the city’s 5-year structural plan, prompting residents to suspect a hidden agenda.

One very noticeable change taking place was on the vacant lot adjacent to Kinta City along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah (formerly Jalan Tasek). Although the space was earmarked for a permanent structure, the construction of an entertainment outlet was puzzling, to say the least.

Bali Bali, a night club cum karaoke joint, took shape and it changed Ipoh Garden for good. The club stood where the De Garden shopping mall now stands. Ipoh City Council could not give a reasonable answer why approval was given for its construction. When the entertainment centre began operation in early 2001, people living in the vicinity protested as the din created caused them many sleepless nights.

A group of disgruntled residents, led by a lawyer, whose house was a stone’s throw away from the club, decided to take matters in their hands. A formal complaint was lodged with Ipoh City Council and a meeting with then Mayor Dato’ Taalat Hj Husain was arranged.

Lawyer Ernest Balasingam’s perseverance prevailed. The ‘seedy’ Bali Bali night club was demolished much to the delight of the public. Ernest had alluded to the council’s by-laws on entertainment outlets to strengthen his case.

The fact that the Council backed down after owning its mistake, spurred Ipohites to go beyond illegal buildings and noise pollution. They planned on something larger – a platform to be their sounding board against an insensitive Council prone to making contradictory decisions and statements at the behest of Ipohites.

That was how the idea behind the formation of Ipoh City Watch came into existence. A gathering of like-minded people was called and sometime in late November 2002, the first meeting took place at YMCA Ipoh hall. I was among the 11 who turned up. Bobby Yin was elected president while the rest made up the committee.  

We adopted a confrontational approach in dealing with problems affecting Ipohites. I remember making calls on the mayor, the council secretary and department heads to voice residents’ dissatisfactions. And when that did not work we tried drawing the attention of the Mentri Besar and the Executive Councillor for Local Government.

When that too did not work we sought the press for assistance. The Sun was kind enough to provide us with a weekly column to vent our frustrations. And the rest is history not worth mentioning. Over the years the fire in us dissipated leaving a void never to be filled until recently.

When the society was de-registered in 2013 by the Registrar of Societies for non-submission of its accounts, I thought that was the end of ICW. But circumstances were to prove me wrong. It was re-registered in April 2014 with a new team at the helm.

Today under a very dynamic president, Associate Professor Dr Richard Ng, Ipoh City Watch is set to make waves. The society was re-launched during a simple ceremony held at Kinta Riverfront Hotel, Ipoh on Friday, January 23.

Richard’s conciliatory style seems to work. His “3 Es” principle – Engage, Explain and Educate could be the panacea. At last count there are nearly 60 highly-motivated individuals in Richard’s WhatsApp group, “ICW Watchaa”. And that includes some notable names such as Gerakan’s former chief Chan Ko Youn, former mayor Roshidi Hashim, academician Victor Chew and even Opposition lawmakers, Howard Lee and Wong Kah Woh. My phone hasn’t stopped vibrating and squeaking ever since I was roped into the group.

Chinese New Year Open House 19 Feb 2015 hosted by ICW President

Close to 200 members and supporters of Ipoh City Watch, friends and neighbors attended the Chinese New Year hosted by the President of ICW at his residence in Desa Tambun Indah on 19 Feb 2015.

It was a sort of gathering and fellowship for ICW especially for Watchaaers who only "met' via Whatsapp but have not met face-to-face. Guest of honor was YB Dato Samsudin Bin Abu Hassan who was also the Perak State Exco for Consumer Affairs, Human Resources and Civil Society. Also presence was Clr Dato Shamsuddin Bun Ghaffar,

It was a Chinese New celebration in the spirit of muhibbah with all races coming together. ICW is race blind watching over 750,000 rate payers to ensure that Ipoh becomes the most livable city in Malaysia.