IOC/WESTPAC 7th International Scientific Symposium

Setting up the booth

KK Reef Watch had a booth at the exhibition hall during the IOC/WESTPAC 7th International Scientific Symposium 21st - 23rd May 2008 at Magellan Sutera, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. In my humble opinion, w e had the best booth (I'm noy bias!!) We all had fun & all our volunteers were great. We also met a lot of people who gave us motivation & advice since we are a new NGO here. Lots of government agencies had booths and we maximize that opportunity by getting to know the officers for possible future collaborations.

Datuk Kamarulzaman Ampon, Deputy Vice Chancellor

We didnt expect the booth to be so big so in the future we need to produce more posters. However, we compensate by putting up a big canvas for people to sign. Now we have a very nice memento of our first Exhibition in Malaysia. We will frame it and put it up in the office (we have a small room in Sofia's house that serves as our temp office :) and it will serve as motivation for us to keep us going when the going gets tough.

Bing, our artist volunteer to do caricature drawings. it was a great hit. Many people came to our booth to do the caricature and give some donation to KK Reef Watch. Thanks :)

Here are some of the many money shots :) (hehehe)

Our legal advisor interviewed by the press

Mr Adrian (Special officer - MOSTI)

VIPs at the booth during launching ceremony

Cute photos of me, Zar & Sof

Many thanks to our volunteers:
Paya, CT, Adie, Zar, Faz (our new legal adviser), Min Hui, Bobita

Thank you so much for your support :) We also would like to thank Prof Ridzwan & Prof Saleem for giving us the opportunity to do the exhibit. UMS actually gave us the booth for free :)


Cheers,
Salha

Fun on A Not so Sunny Day

At about 10 pm the night before the ‘I see, I care, I save’ marine education program we were all in a high spirit and anxious waiting for the big day. All the facilitators were gathered at Cocoon having a last minute meeting. Suddenly I received missed calls and text messages from Pontius, Sri Insan teacher, saying that we might have to cancel the trip due to the parents concern about the weather and safety of their kids. All of a sudden our elation plunged downhill. Last minute cancellation is wicked!! We have paid for everything and cant cancel at this last minute.We tried to soothe their panic (maybe ours too) by telling them all the safety measure that we have arranged. Pontius told us that some students will show up but maybe only half.

On D-day, we woke up early and went to the jetty with apprehension and praying that at least some students will show up. All the facilitators including a reporter from See Hua Daily News, Miss Ling were already gathered, and the students were still nowhere to be seen. We were worried; I was baiting my manicured nails and screaming inside….. Then suddenly I got a call from Pontius saying that he was already at the jetty and there were 13 students with him!! I told Salha the good news and she virtually jumped with joy and did a little happy jig. Everybody was relieved. We met the students and they were full of anticipation and enthusiasm. Already they were asking a lot of questions. “What are we going to do?”, “Where are we going?”, “Are we going to learn how to snorkel?”, “When are we going already?!”

Hearing their eagerness fires our energy. We gave them T-shirts and they immediately changed. The facilitators were in their cool white T-shirts looking confident and optimistic, the students in their adorable T-shirts looking lively & in good spirit. The team was ready to conquer anything.

And then we were off. Despite the sun being shy, hiding behind the clouds, we were all bright & cheerful. The boat ride was full of laughter and raging adrenalin.

At the island we were greeted by a marine research officer, mr Irwan Isnain. He gave a good talk on Tunku Abdul Rahman Park role in protecting and managing the marine park. The video presentation on marine life was equally interesting. The highlight of the program was the water activity. The current was a concern but we took extra precaution and make sure that all the students were save and comfortable.

The program was a success; the students went home with a sense of awareness and connection to the sea. The sea is more than just salty water, and fishes are not just fishes, they have feelings too… :) For us the facilitators, the kids made our day just by being inquisitive and eager to learn. A very satisfying day for all of us indeed……..

Sofia :)