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The Star Online: Metro: South & East

Students from schools demonstrate their love for the environment in inaugural awards event
Residents are happy that Sembrong still maintains a laidback lifestyle
Ahmad Maslan: Government-linked companies can help needy students in rural areas do well in studies

Students from schools demonstrate their love for the environment in inaugural awards event

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:02 AM PDT

JOHOR BARU: Environmentally conscious students and teachers have come up with various innovative and cost-saving ideas to create a greener environment for their schools.

A group of young and innovative students from SMK Yong Peng here created a rather simple natural fertilisation system that will help not just decrease the cost of water usage but also provide natural nutrients for plants to grow.

English teacher Teo Peng Chai, 52, who is the leader of the team, said the system was set up last year in conjunction with their sustainable farming project for the school.

"We focus on sustainable farming to teach students on how to create a greener environment that will benefit them as well but soon realised that much money were going to waste for the fertiliser," he said.

He added that the system is rather simple whereby the rainwater is collected and stored in three huge water tanks, which is then channelled to the fishpond filled with catfish.

"The water then flows to another storage tank, which will concurrently supply water and fertiliser to the vegetables in the farm automatically through a motor," he said adding that the mixture of catfish waste and rainwater acts as a natural fertiliser.

He also said that the system does not only provide water and food for the plants, but also saves money on water usage as the pond is regularly filled with rainwater even on hot days.

"Although the environmental department had to fork out about RM5,000 for the initial stages of the project to purchase items such as the water storage tanks, the project would help decrease school expenses on water bills in the long run," he added.

He estimated that after a few months, the school would be saving up to 20% in utility bill each month and the agriculture department would no longer need to supply fertiliser, which could cost about RM100 monthly.

Meanwhile, in SMK Sultanah Engku Tun Aminah in Johor Baru, a group of 14-year-old students under the Eco-ranger Club have been making their very own Effective Microorganisms (EM) products for their schools as well as for the public.

The school club's student president Aisyah Alkaff Zamsari said EM could be used for many reasons including for reducing pungent smell and fighting off bad bacteria.

"We make two types of EM products which are liquid EM and mudballs, the products are widely used in our school, from for the growth of plants to the reducing of pungent smell," she said.

She added that the EM mudballs are used for the river that is under the care of the school, as the mudballs help to keep the water clean and clear.

"We use EM as an alternative for antibacterial products and even as fertiliser which helps save cost for the school," she said adding that the EM is a mixture of collected rainwater and molasses (a type of sugar mixture).

Aisyah also said that the EM project is one of the 160 green projects - no wastebaskets, clean up day, and even planting sessions that the school carries out to maintain their school's status as a green school.

Both SMK Sultanah Engku Tun Aminah and SMK Yong Peng are among more than 30 entries from schools, private sector, NGOs, and individuals who participated in Johor's first ever Green Awards, which would be held in conjunction with Earth Hour on March 23.

The state economic planning unit (Upen) will be celebrating Earth Hour this weekend and for the past three years, government buildings both state and federal have been told to turn off their lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.

Residents are happy that Sembrong still maintains a laidback lifestyle

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:02 AM PDT

KLUANG: Motorists driving in and around Sembrong area in the early morning will be greeted with a panoramic view of misty covered lush greenery.

For first time visitors, especially those coming from big cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru could breathe and sense the fresh air lingering in the area.

Like the morning mist evoking some sense of mystery, Paloh which is part of Sembrong, had witnessed the dark period during the Malayan Emergency era.

The true-life incident has inspired a movie named after Paloh which was a dark area for communists insurgency – revolving along a love story set during that period.

Janet Khoo and Nam Ron were the leading actors in the RM3mil movie made in 2003, directed by Adman Salleh.

The film won the Special Jury Award at the 48th Asia Pacific Film held in Iran in 2003, and walked away with the best film and the best director in the 17th Malaysia Film Festival.

Sembrong parliamentary derived its name from a 130km river known as Sungai Sembrong which separates Kluang, Mersing and Labis.

Sembrong was previously under the Tenggaroh parliamentary but it was created after the parliamentary delineation of Tenggaroh in 2004.

It still maintains the laidback lifestyle of the rural area which many visitors to Sembrong will notice especially those coming from big cities or towns.

The area is also known for its agriculture sector with several Felda settlements and various oil palm and rubber plantation estates owned by big companies.

Among the Felda settlements are Felda Ulu Belitong, Felda Kahang Barat, Felda Kahang Timur, Felda Ulu Dengar, Felda Ulu Penggeli and Felda Ulu Tongkat.

Housewife Yeo Geok Hong, 67, from Paloh town said not much development had taken place in Sembrong over the last 20 years, but she likes it that way.

"We love the simple kampung life as it is less stressful and if there is too much progress, it may take away the easy life style most villagers here are enjoying,'' she said.

Yeo said she treasured the close-knit community as most of them living in Paloh knew each other and are more than ready to give a helping hand anybody in the neighbourhood was facing trouble.

But, she added that youngsters found it was hard to find jobs in Paloh without development; hence many of them decided to leave the area and seek for jobs in big cities.

Yeo, whose children work in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru added that although there were many opportunities for them in the two cities, they did not have the luxury of a "calm and peaceful" kampung life.

Retiree Ng See Chan, 69, hoped that street lights could be installed along the roads connecting Kluang town and Labis as it was dark at night and could cause accident to motorists passing the area.

"I drive to Kluang town which is about 30km from Paloh but the road is dark and dangerous for an old man like me,'' he said.

Meanwhile, trader Zainuddin Mohamed, 49, hoped that the Johor Tourism Department make more efforts to promote Sembrong especially to local and foreign tourists.

He said the area has many tourism products to offer including homestay programmes which are attractive especially to the foreigners.

Zainuddin said Sungai Sembrong was well known for its fresh water fish such as ikan kelah (manseer) and ikan patin while old buildings in Paloh town could attract shutterbugs and history buffs.

"Tourist arrivals will definitely bring economic spillover to the local economy and the community,'' he said adding that Gunung Berlumut Rcreational Forest could be promoted as a place for jungle trekking and mountaineering.

Zainuddin hoped to see more developments taking place in Sembrong similar to what was taking place in the nearby Kluang district.

He said majority of Sembrong residents would welcome development but it must be done a balanced way without affecting the lush jungles and greenery surrounding the area.

Halimah Shamsul, 39, who works as a cook at a food stall, said she wanted to see improvement in the public bus services plying Sembrong and Kluang town.

"I take the bus regularly to a hypermarket in Kluang town, but the service is bad and all the buses are not fully air-conditioned, making the trip uncomfortable for commuters especially during hot days,'' she said.

Halimah said there were also not enough taxis that are willing to go to Kluang town as it was quite far and the fare was quite expensive for average commuters.

Lorry driver T. Vasu, 39, urged the Kluang Municipal Council to widen and resurface the uneven roads especially those along Jalan Mersing.

"The roads here are quite narrow and there are also many potholes which are covered by rainwater and dangerous to road users especially motorcyclists,'' he said.

Vasu said apart from potholes and uneven roads, cows grazing along the roads could pose threats to road users too.

He said the local authority should consider putting up perimeter fencing to avoid cows unattended by their owners from crossing or encroaching into the roads.

"Better still, stern action should be taken against these cow owners for letting their animals go free and posing danger to road users,'' said Vasu.

Barisan Nasional is expected to win the Sembrong parliamentary seat together with Paloh and Kang state seats which have 41,455 voters.

Ahmad Maslan: Government-linked companies can help needy students in rural areas do well in studies

Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:02 AM PDT

PONTIAN: Successful government-linked companies (GLCs) have been urged to engage in more educational-related programmes to assist underprivileged pupils.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan said there were many schools especially in the rural areas that were still lagging in terms of academic achievements.

He said the GLCs could play their part by assisting pupils from the schools in the rural areas in their studies and to help them do well in the national examinations.

"These pupils are not that really weak academically but they actually need motivation and encouragement from all of us'' said Ahmad.

He was speaking after presenting excellence awards to 17 pupils under the Projek Tuisyen WANCorp 2012, who scored 5As and 4As and 1B in the Primary School Assesement Examination (UPSR) last year.

Also present were Johor Corp's Waqaf An-Nur Corp Bhd chief executive officer Yusof Rahmat and the State Education Department director Mohd Nor A. Ghani.

The recipients were among 160 pupils from 10 primary schools statewide who had been selected to attend tuition classes under the project which started last year and their fees were paid for by Johor Corporation.

The pupils came from low income or poor families, orphans or did not receive any financial assistance from any organisations but have the potential to be groomed and do well in their studies.

Ahmad also hoped that the GLCs and private companies to review their programmes under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and go for activities which were more sustainable.

"Instead of painting the school's building with new coat of paint, why not spend the money to provide tuition to help the needy students,'' he said.

Ahmad said while it was the discretion of the GLCs to choose which schools they would want to involve in the CSR programmes, he hoped that they would not sideline the rural schools.

He said investment in education would help to shape the country's progress and development in the long run and in return reduce disparity between the underprivileged and the fortunate.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 20 Mac 2013