Conscious of the huge efforts required for the preservation of the environment, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), Malaysia’s leading new generation communications provider continued to play its role as an environmental-savvy telco by organizing the third leg of its TM Earth Camp at the Langkawi Geopark Camp site, Langkawi, Kedah from 23 until 25 April 2010.
TM Earth Camp is a specially-designed nature camp programme organized in collaboration with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) for students who are members of Kelab Pencinta Alam (KPA) at their schools nationwide.
With the objective of promoting awareness and knowledge on various environmental issues and concern, the whole point of TM Earth Camp nationwide programme is to take the students out of their school environment for adventures in jungles and parks, where they can get invaluable first hand raw experience with nature, generating excitement, keen interest and appreciation for the environment.
According to Datuk Dr. Halim Shafie, Chairman of TM, “With the third leg of TM Earth Camp this weekend, TM has further emphasized its role as an environmental champion and underscored our commitment towards promoting and educating the public on conservation. By starting with school kids, the aim of our Earth Camps is to promote an environmental civic consciousness amongst our youth that will continue throughout their lives.”
Organized according to zones namely Northern, Southern, Central, Eastern, Sabah and Sarawak, the first TM Earth Camp was held for students in the Southern zone at Casa Rachado in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan from 12 to 14 March 2010. The 120 students from Southern region i.e., Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor who took part in the 3-day 2-nights camp had the chance to experience various nature-based activities such as habitat protection, water testing and climate change awareness, nature crafts and games as well as classroom activities.
The 2nd TM Earth Camp in Kuching was held from 9 until 11 April 2010 with participation of 64 students from 10 secondary schools around Miri, Kapit, Sibu, Sarikei, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Kuching, Sarawak. This included 20 students from TM’s adopted school under the “Projek Sekolah Angkat Bersama Kementerian Penerangan Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan (KPKK) & TM” - Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pakan from Sarikei.
For the TM Earth Camp in Langkawi, 107 students and 23 teachers from 44 schools participated in various nature-based activities throughout the long, balmy weekend in Langkawi. This included 4 students from TM’s adopted school under PINTAR project – Sekolah Kebangsaan Tembak, Kuala Ketil, Kedah. In addition, 6 TM staff took part as volunteers in the program.
For the Northern region which covered Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis, TM and MNS has come up with various activities for the students to participate in, such as habitat protection, mangrove ecology, environmental audit, green practices and environmental games as well as classroom activities such as talks by the trainers and presentations by the participants. TM Earth Camp in Langkawi is also filled with other activities for the participants such as talks on nature conservation and bio-safety by MNS facilitators, and Night Walk in the forest which allow the participants to ‘get close and personal’ with the Mother Nature at night time while learning about the nocturnal wildlife. The participants also paid a visit Frangipani Hotel, located at explore its organic garden and learn about the hotel’s ‘green practices’. They also learnt how to conduct an environmental survey among the tourists (local and foreigners) at Pantai Cenang.
One of the highlights of the Earth Camp in Langkawi is the Environmental Audit, that is being held on Saturday along the Burau Bay beach. For the Environmental Audit, the participants learnt how to perform waste audit by identifying the types of waste produced in relation to the human activities on site. The activity was conducted to instill the importance of keeping the environment clean and understand the 5R concept: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost and Repair.
To conduct the waste audit, the participants were be asked to collect rubbish along the beach and identify the types of rubbish collected. The rubbish collected were then separated into organic and inorganic waste accordingly. The students subsequently weighed the organic and inorganic waste separately. From this exercise, the students were then asked a series of analytical questions on the type of waste, what can be done to reduce and reuse waste, recycling methods and so on.
”Based on the feedback we had received from the first two Earth Camps, the students from the Southern region and Sarawak had a great time participating in the various activities planned for them by TM and MNS, such as environmental-based games, arts and crafts inspired by nature, planting trees and much more, all designed to instill an awareness of our role in nature conservation. Hence, we are looking forward to extending our collaboration with MNS and with other organizations in the near future in order for TM to implement our social and corporate responsibilities that will benefit larger communities,” added Datuk Dr. Halim.
Aside from Langkawi, the TM Earth Camp will also be setting up base in Kelantan, Sabah and Frasers Hill for students from the respective regions. For more details about TM’s Corporate Responsibilities, log on to www.tm.com.my.
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About TM
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), Malaysia’s leading integrated information and communications group, offers a comprehensive range of communication services and solutions in broadband, data and fixed-line. As a market leader in the broadband and fixed-line businesses, TM is driven to deliver value to its stakeholders in a highly competitive environment. The Group places emphasis on continuing customer service quality enhancements and innovations.
With its extensive global connectivity, TM is poised to position Malaysia as a regional Internet hub and digital gateway for South-East Asia. In line with this, TM is evolving into a Next Generation Network service provider enabling the Group to enhance its efficiency and productivity while providing enriched products and services.
On the Corporate Responsibility (CR) front, the Group has always been a major corporate contributor towards responsible activities in the belief that these practices are a fundamental tenet of good corporate governance. The Group promotes 3 major platforms i.e. education, community/nation-building and environment. Under education, TM has spent some RM800 million to develop Multimedia University into one of the top universities in Malaysia with more than 20,000 students. TM has also provided scholarships to over 11,000 graduates pursuing academic programmes locally and overseas. Under the community/nation-building platform, the Group contributes towards causes that bring value to the community and nation at large. TM was awarded the prestigious STAR-BIZ ICRM Corporate Responsibility Award under the Community category for 2009.
For further information on TM, visit www.tm.com.my.
Issued by:Group Corporate CommunicationsTelekom Malaysia BerhadLevel 8 (South Wing), Menara TM, Jalan Pantai Baharu50672, Kuala Lumpur
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