Star Golden Hearts Award 2023

The Star

Star Golden Hearts Award celebrates selfless Malaysian unsung heroes who make a positive impact on society and promote unity among the people.  Here are this year’s ten winners.  You've truly made an impact!  Mark your calendar for November 15th to watch all the winners' video.   1. Saving a keystone species | Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) 2. Uncovering and protecting Malaysia's hidden marine life | MareCet Marine Mammal Research & Conservation 3. Providing equal rights of education for all | Buku Jalanan Chow Kit 4. Empowering indigenous communities in Sabah | PACOS Trust 5. Safeguarding sea turtles from extinction | Lang Tengah Turtle Watch 6. Eliminating food waste, empowering communities | Graze Market 7. Dedicating to improve the livelihoods of Orang Asli mothers | The Asli Co. 8. Bolstering rural lives, one child at a time | Starfish Malaysia Foundation 9. Creating art out of waste to promote environmental awareness | Japson Wong 10. Educating nature enthusiasts through eco-initiatives | Kelab Alami  For more details, visit https://www.sgha.com.my/  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 (gentle music)

00:02 The Malayan sun bears is very special and unique

00:09 and they are very avolio,

00:11 means that they spend a lot of time on tree.

00:14 They are the smallest bear species in the world.

00:17 The reason why we need to keep them in our forest

00:20 because the roles that they play in our forest ecosystem

00:24 is irreplaceable.

00:25 They eat fruits, they disperse the seed,

00:27 they plant the trees,

00:28 and when they eat termite, they actually control

00:30 the termite population from kill many trees at one time.

00:33 So they keep the forest healthy

00:34 by keeping the equilibrium of the forest.

00:37 The thing with conservation,

00:41 that you always have this feeling that,

00:43 are we doing enough?

00:44 We are racing against time.

00:46 When a species go extinct,

00:47 even when you have the money,

00:49 you might not be able to bring back the species.

00:51 Whatever efforts needs to be done,

00:53 it has to be prior before they go extinct.

00:55 So it's about asking us, are we doing enough?

00:58 Can we do more?

00:59 Marisah is the first and only NGO in Malaysia

01:04 dedicated for conservation and research of marine mammals.

01:07 We use scientific analysis to find out

01:10 what's their distribution pattern like,

01:12 what are the areas that they use for feeding, nursing,

01:15 what is their movement patterns,

01:17 through that we can target what are the actions

01:19 that are needed to conserve these species.

01:25 And after visiting, we on the way back

01:27 and it was raining a bit.

01:29 And then there were these children walking home.

01:31 I was asking them, why are they still walking home?

01:34 At that time was like three, four o'clock.

01:36 So all day actually,

01:37 'cause the school is two or three hours walk away.

01:41 How long has this been happening?

01:42 So all has been happening for the last 50, 60, 70 years,

01:45 always like that.

01:46 If we do nothing,

01:47 then you will continue for the next 50 years.

01:49 So I thought the story,

01:50 we can't help all the people in the rural community,

01:53 but surely we can help one family,

01:55 one kampung, and one community.

01:57 I came from Pinampang,

02:02 more or less okay, kami punya family.

02:04 We were educated in the university,

02:06 but we were sent to Pitas,

02:08 we were sent to Keningau,

02:09 and we realised that our community

02:11 are really facing a big gap.

02:13 And we thought, well, we are indigenous people.

02:16 It's our own people.

02:17 So we just went into doing some work through PAKOS,

02:21 and we formed that organisation.

02:23 I train the youth or anybody else about the habitat

02:26 so that the community then can be the ones to share.

02:29 I don't believe in intervention.

02:31 So I think it's very important

02:32 that the community decides what they want to do

02:34 because it's their habitat,

02:35 it's their place, it's their home.

02:37 I just help them to achieve the goals that they want,

02:39 and I help to open the doors.

02:40 It's been 16 years.

02:42 I think the community has been empowered to some extent.

02:44 So we do actively try to develop positive relations

02:48 with the agencies,

02:50 with the community,

02:51 with the agencies,

02:52 with these developers,

02:53 with any big businesses in our area,

02:55 so that we can all come together

02:56 to protect this environment that we all share.

02:59 We started as volunteers in this kampung itself,

03:04 and we built houses for the orang asli families.

03:07 That's how we got to know them a bit more.

03:10 When we found out that a lot of children

03:12 were dropping out of school,

03:13 we thought this is something that we needed to help with.

03:17 We thought, you know, why not we start a business

03:19 where they can work from home

03:20 and they can earn with dignity,

03:22 stand on their own two feet,

03:23 and keep their kids in school.

03:25 I'm actually a marine biologist graduated from UMS.

03:31 2014, I came back to KK.

03:34 So that's where I actually started doing upcycling.

03:36 We're using waste material.

03:37 We have to make sure it's strong when it is stood up.

03:39 All the fishes are actually life-size,

03:42 which can be found in Sabah.

03:43 Our sculpture actually sparks a lot.

03:45 That's why I use big projects to actually make the impact.

03:48 Moving on towards human sculpture,

03:50 I want to link human and wildlife together, you know,

03:52 so that they can actually feel they are important,

03:55 responsible to actually take care of our environment.

03:57 When I saw the amount of food being thrown away,

04:02 mostly because of its imperfection and external issues,

04:06 on one hand, so many people go to bed hungry,

04:08 and I felt that was a bit unfair.

04:10 So I decided that I have to do something about this

04:12 and bridging the gap between these two.

04:14 We give food a second chance.

04:16 Nobody is actually closing the loop.

04:17 It's not a circular economy yet.

04:19 From supplies to processing, extending the shelf life,

04:23 back to the composting and back to the farmer,

04:25 we are trying our very best.

04:27 I remember one of my professors said that,

04:31 "What is the reason of you studying?"

04:33 And then he said that, "You guys study

04:36 because you need to give back to the society."

04:38 Because, you know, our life is not ours.

04:41 I believe that I want to dedicate this

04:43 to the cause of providing every children quality education,

04:47 because every children deserve the rights to education.

04:50 (children chattering)

04:53 (upbeat music)

04:56 (upbeat music)

04:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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