Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) recently continued to play its role as an environmental-savvy telco when it organized the sixth and last leg of its TM Earth Camp at Sepilok Bed & Breakfast (Sepilok BnB), in Sandakan, Sabah from 25 until 27 June 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.  

The camp in Sandakan, designed specifically for the students from the school of the Sabah region, received participation from 49 students and 8 teachers from 12 schools around Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Sandakan, Kinabatangan and Beaufort. This include 6 students who are children of TM employees. 

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, “TM Earth Camp embeds TM’s commitment as an environmental champion towards promoting and educating the public on the conservation of Mother Nature. We are fully aware that as a corporate organization, TM need to fulfill our responsibilities to the society at large beyond the economic sphere, and environment is one of the aspects that we are emphasizing on. We are glad to be able to play our role towards ensuring the sustainability of our environment and TM will continue to embark on ’green’ initiatives including creating the awaraness not only among our employees but Malaysians from all walks of life. By starting with school kids, we hope to achieve long-term sustainability of environmental civic consciousness amongst our youth, in line with the aim of this TM Earth Camp.”  

”This camp will also give students, some for the first time ever, a chance to experience, experiment and learn in a real-world environment beyond the classroom. Feedback received from the initial four Camps are very encouraging, the participating students had a great time taking part in various activities planned for them by TM and MNS, all designed to instill an awareness of our role in nature conservation,” added Datuk Dr. Halim.  

During the Earth Camp in Sandakan, the main highlight was the visit to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre where the lucky participants had the rare treat to see orang utans in their natural habitat. At the Centre, the participants were briefed on the origins of the 46 year old sanctuary and its main function of training the orang utans to survive again in the wild and releasing them as soon as they are ready.

In addition to the visit to the sanctuary, TM Earth Camp participants also joined in activities held at the Rainforest Discovery Centre which included a canopy walk, a tour in the garden and also tree climbing. During the canopy walk, participants were able to enjoy the spectacular view of the beautiful rain forest of Sepilok from up to 28 metres above the forest floor and experience forest life high in the canopy. The participants were also thrilled by the chance to catch glimpses of one of the rarest birds in Sabah - the Bornean bristleheads. Apart from that, hornbills, pittas, kingfishers and broadbills were also spotted.

TM Earth Camp in Sabah was also filled with various other activities for the students to participate in such as talks on nature conservation and bio-safety by MNS facilitators, Night Walk around the Sepilok BnB which allow the participants to ‘get close and personal’ with the Mother Nature at night time while learning about the nocturnal wildlife, environmental games as well as classroom activities such as talks by the trainers and presentations by the participants. 

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 2^nd 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. 

The 3^rd TM Earth Camp, held in Langkawi from 23 until 25 April 2010 for the Northern region, saw the participation of 107 students and 23 teachers from 44 schools in Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis in various nature-based activities throughout the 3-day camp. 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. 

TM Earth Camp then moved to the Eastern region for its 4^th edition where it was held at the Kelantan National Park, Kuala Koh, Gua Musang from 21 until 23 May 2010. For this leg, the camp received 91 students and 13 teachers from 31 schools in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, including students from TM’s Multimedia College in Marang, Terengganu. The participating students were brought closer to the ’Mother Nature’ with activities that involved environment appreciation and conservation, especially the flora and fauna in the National Park. 

The fifth and most recent edition of the camp was held in Fraser’s Hill, from 18 until 20 June 2010. received participation from 93 students and 22 teachers from 50 schools around Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Federal Territory of Putrajaya. This included 13 students who are children of TM employees. The main highlight was the bird watching activity which enabled the students to observe various species of birds that wander around the high lands of Fraser’s Hill.  

For more details about TM’s Corporate Responsibilities, log on to www.tm.com.my.

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