KUCHING – The Matang Beach was recently given a new lease of life when over 30 volunteers came together to spruce up the area.
Students from Swinburne Sarawak Green Club and Politeknik Kuching Sarawak participated in the activity led by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Kuching Beach Cleaners, Sarawak Eco Warriors and the Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme.
They spent 1.5 hours collecting and sorting out rubbish including glass pieces, beverage cans, plastic bags, plastic and foam pieces, balloons, toys, fishing gear and other types of rubbish. In total, the volunteers managed to collect 37 bags of rubbish with a total weight of 174kg.
A total of 37 bags of rubbish was collected.
In his first beach cleaning activity, President of Swinburne Sarawak Green Club Thon Pun Liang was surprised to collect a huge amount of rubbish particularly plastic bottles that could potentially harm the marine life. He strongly advised the public to use reusable drinking bottles to decrease the amount of plastic being used and discarded.
Club’s Assistant Treasurer Joey Chua Wei Yee shared the same sentiment. She urged the public to stop buying disposable water bottles, plastic straws and plastic bags, and to start carrying reusable drinking bottles and shopping bags instead.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Amy Tie Yi Xuan said it struck her that no one seems to be concerned with the beach condition despite many programmes being organised to raise awareness on keeping the environment clean.
“After participating in this clean-up, I can conclude that most people are aware of what’s happening but because they are so caught up in their daily activities, they fail to take any action. It is a collective responsibility to stop beach pollution. For those who frequent the beach, please think twice before leaving your trash behind,” commented Tie.
The Swinburne Green Club is active in raising awareness on issues related to conservation efforts including wildlife and energy conservation, carbon footprints and plastic reduction, and sustainability through events such as conservation awareness run ‘Run for the Wild’ and cycling event ‘Ride for the Wild’, Earth Hour, tree planting, beach cleaning and other volunteer activities.
Swinburne offers top-notch Australian education in foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At the Sarawak campus, its business, design, engineering, computing and science courses are identical to those offered at the Melbourne campus and as a result, graduates are awarded the same testamur by the Australian university.
The September/October intake is now open for application for undergraduate and foundation courses respectively. For details or to apply, visit swinburne.edu.my, contact +60 82 415353 or email to study@swinburne.edu.my.