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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