KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Merdeka Day is always a special time for Trash Hero Putrajaya co-founder Datin Norelan Ismail.

The 63-year-old, fondly known to her Trash Hero Putrajaya peers as Oma, shares her birth year with the country’s year of independence and she’s eager as ever to embody 2020’s Merdeka Day theme of “Malaysia Prihatin.”

Oma organises regular clean-ups in and around the nation’s administrative capital to raise awareness about the dangers of littering and the importance of caring for the environment.

She kickstarted the Putrajaya chapter of Trash Hero last year with her co-founder Norhayati Abdullah and joined a global network of volunteers focused on cleaning and reducing waste.

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“We started the chapter on January 19, 2019. Initially, it wasn’t easy to get volunteers.

“There were times where I had to do it alone, other times there were just two people but as we progress and update our social media more often, thankfully we have some hardcore volunteers that come again and again,” Oma told Malay Mail.

The group was forced to put clean-ups on hold during the recent movement control order but resumed their activities in July after restrictions were lifted.

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They now practice standard operating procedures to keep their volunteers safe such as temperature checks and recording details for contact tracing.

The trash audit resulted in 357 cigarette butts and 46 disposable face masks. — Pictures by Shafwan Zaidon
The trash audit resulted in 357 cigarette butts and 46 disposable face masks. — Pictures by Shafwan Zaidon

On the morning of August 15, Malay Mail accompanied Trash Hero Putrajaya during a clean-up at Taman Tasik Cempaka in Bangi, Selangor.

Twenty-one volunteers from as young as three scoured the park and its surrounding areas for litter, eventually returning with 24.2kg of rubbish after one hour.

The haul included 357 cigarette butts, 109 plastic bottles, 77 straws, 30 aluminium cans, and 46 disposable face masks.

Oma said it was becoming increasingly common to find littered face masks ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit and expressed concern that such items would end up choking our waterways if disposed of incorrectly.

“Disposable masks are the new trash items that we’ve been collecting a lot of. I don’t know why people simply throw them away like this.

“In Malay, there is a word, husnuzon (thinking positively of people even if they make a mistake). Maybe the mask fell to the ground accidentally without them knowing.

“But still, there are so many of them. We want to change the attitude of people by showing them how harmful littering can be.”

The team managed to collect 24.2kg of litter in just one hour from the Taman Tasik Cempaka area in Bangi, Selangor, August 15, 2020. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
The team managed to collect 24.2kg of litter in just one hour from the Taman Tasik Cempaka area in Bangi, Selangor, August 15, 2020. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

Oma hopes she can encourage young people to join her in keeping the country clean and urged her fellow Malaysians to learn about environmental issues and the importance of proper waste disposal.

Her dream is to see Putrajaya and Malaysia as a whole becoming a trash-free zone and hopes that this year’s Merdeka Day theme of “Malaysia Prihatin” can help make this vision a reality even sooner.

“I want Malaysians to open up their hearts and minds about everything related to the environment. If we don’t do it, who will?

“It’s something very simple. If each of us plays our role to dispose of our waste properly, Malaysia has the potential to be a trash-free country.”

Oma added that she looks forward to every clean-up session as it helps keep her fit and active and compared their volunteer work to plogging, a Swedish term for picking up litter while jogging.

Trash Hero Putrajaya volunteers conducting a trash audit after the clean-up. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
Trash Hero Putrajaya volunteers conducting a trash audit after the clean-up. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

She was also inspired to come up with the tagline, “Aktiviti mudah sambil beriadah (Simple activities while having fun)” to rope more people into joining the group.

Ili Syairah, 32, said she brought along her three-year-old son for the clean-up as she wanted to instil the importance of cleanliness in him from a young age.

She always felt sad whenever she saw someone carelessly throwing rubbish in public places and decided it was time for her to contribute her efforts to solve the problem.

“It’s always uncomfortable for me to see people throwing rubbish everywhere.

“I thought that instead of just complaining about the problem, I should contribute something by volunteering.

“I brought my son with me today because I wanted him to realise the importance of keeping our surroundings clean and I also hope that he will grow to love volunteer work.”

Ili Syairah (right) and her three-year-old son don gloves and other protective gear before setting out to pick up trash. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
Ili Syairah (right) and her three-year-old son don gloves and other protective gear before setting out to pick up trash. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

It was a similar story for 29-year-old Munirah Mohammad, who brought her sisters along for Saturday’s clean-up.

She previously attended beach clean-ups around Malaysia and wanted to introduce her sisters to the benefits of volunteer work by joining Trash Hero Putrajaya that weekend.

“I’ve joined beach clean-ups a few times before and this time I decided to join Trash Hero Putrajaya.

“I even brought my sisters along because I think this would be a valuable experience for them.

“I think Malaysia has a lot to improve when it comes to our litter problem. If Trash Hero Putrajaya is doing this, I think that shows that there’s still a problem that needs to be addressed,” said Munirah.

The initiative also attracts foreign volunteers with Nanami Nakayama from Japan being one of the most dedicated Trash Heroes in the group.

The group has organised 47 clean-ups so far in and around the Putrajaya area. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
The group has organised 47 clean-ups so far in and around the Putrajaya area. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

Nakayama, who has lived in Malaysia since he was a college student, went viral after he wrote a Twitter post in May about collecting 4,500 cigarette butts with Trash Hero Putrajaya.

The 23-year-old said the situation has improved since then but he feels more work needs to be done to rectify Malaysia’s litter issue.

“I’ve found that some places in Malaysia have a lot of trash and I thought it would be nice if I could help. I really wanted to meet local people as well by joining this group.

“I’m glad that I could raise awareness about the cigarette butt problem (with my Twitter post) and I think the environment has improved a little, but there’s still a lot that we have to do.”

For more information on Trash Hero Putrajaya, follow them on their Facebook page.