September 13, 2015

Communities Clean up Streets and Parks in Malaysia

Communities Clean up Streets and Parks in Malaysia

Zen Garden park in Bukit Tinggi by Connie Sandland @flickr

Waste management in Malaysia is a serious problem, but local communities are fighting back.  One program at a time, responsible citizens are investing their time and effort into cleaning up the communities, streets and parks in Malaysia.

Just east of Kuala Lumpur, a neighborhood campaign in south Klang is working towards a cleaner public environment.  ‘Cleanliness Starts at Home’ is a local program encouraging residents to stop littering and take good care of their home.

“Of late we are seeing plastic bottles littered on roadsides and in drains. It is becoming a common sight and we need to turn around this situation through engagement with people in the neighbourhood,” said Kota Alam Shah assemblyman Ganapathi Rao of south Klang.

Unfortunately, the problem of littering is a detriment to cities all over the country.  Taking aim at this issue, the state of Penang recently launched a school campaign for better recycling in Malaysia.  A total of 72 primary, secondary and preschools competed to collect as many recyclable itmes as they could.  By the program’s end in August, they’d recycled 96 tons of recyclables.  The program was a great success – students collected 9 percent more recyclables than they did during the same initiative last year.

In show of dedication to the parks in Malaysia, large business services company Deloitte recently engaged 100 of its employees in a full day of cleanup at Kota Damansara Community Forest Park just outside Kuala Lumpur.  The business runs successful volunteer ‘Impact Day’ programs every year, but this one was focused on the park.  Clearing the grounds of rubbish, clearing and deepening a park stream, working on the sheds in the area, planting bougainvilleas and cleaning the lake, the Deloitte employees beautified the park for the betterment of the entire community.

These three separate initiatives share the same goal – inspiring sustainable values in Malaysian citizens.  Achieving this objective is important all over the world but is especially vital to Malaysia, which is struggling with urban pollution, waste management and water conservation issues.  These problems are a real threat to the country’s future, so hands-on projects like these are improving more than community health in Malaysia.

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