It used to be a very dirty, hidden stream in Seoul. AUDREY DERMAWAN reports on the inspiring tale of a little stream that was transformed, a tale that should inspire Malaysians to appreciate and take our many rivers more seriously

South Koreans spend most of their weekends at the Cheonggyecheon stream with friends and family.

CHEONGGYECHEON even in Korean is quite a mouthful, but this sparkling 5.8km stream is a success story flowing through downtown Seoul.

Fish swim in its clean waters and when the sun shines brightly, the citizens of Seoul never fail to turn up to enjoy this delightful stretch of waterfront that has been turned into an ecological park.

Perhaps Malaysia can get help for its “Love Your River” campaign from Korea.

Three years ago, however, the hidden Cheonggyecheon stream was a filthy word, a very dirty trickle of a stream that supported no aquatic live.
Before the 1960s, Cheonggyecheon had been an important water source for the city’s residents from the time the Joseon Dynasty was founded.

The Korean War of the early 1950s saw a massive inflow of people into Seoul and the Cheonggyecheon area was not spared the slums and sanitation problems.

The drastic rise of population in the Cheonggyecheon area during the industrialisation period between 1960s and 1970s led the authorities to cover the waterway as a solution for various health and sanitation problems.

More shops sprouted and the traffic became busier and the area grew into one of the most prosperous commercial districts.

By the 1990s, the area around Cheonggyecheon had grown into the most prosperous commercial district not just in the capital but in the entire country.

However, along with prosperity came serious air and water pollution and the further deterioration of structures covering the stream and the expressway running over it.

Fortunately, the people of Seoul, especially those around the Cheonggyecheon area, were not just consumed by money and the chase for more of it.

In 2003, led by the dynamic mayor of Seoul, Lee Myung Bak, now Korea’s president, the Cheonggyecheon restoration project got underway.

It started with the removal of the elevated highway and the restoration of the stream.

It was a major undertaking as not only had the highway to be removed but years of neglect and development had left the stream nearly dry.

About 120,000 tonnes of water was pumped into the stream daily for a period of time.

The stream was opened to the public in September 2005 and has since been lauded as a major success in urban renewal and beautification.

The restoration of Cheonggyecheon, which cost about RM2.8 billion, transformed Seoul’s image of blocks and blocks of gray concrete into that of a lush green city where clean waters flow.

Thanks to political will, Seoul was reborn as a human-oriented environmental city, greatly increasing the city’s brand value.

In Malaysia, Sungai Juru on mainland Penang is what Cheonggyecheon used to be before its restoration — a dirty dead river.

Juru is one of the dirtiest rivers in Southeast Asia, and one of 15 deadliest rivers in Malaysia, this is despite the “Love Our Rivers” campaign launched 15 years ago and countless millions spent.

Even Sungai Pinang on Penang island has improved — one notch higher — after it underwent over RM20 million worlth of rehabilitation work three years ago.

Both had been listed under Class Five of the Department of Environment’s Water Quality Index as “uninhabitable by all living creatures".

The other dirty river is Sungai Klang that runs through Kuala Lumpur.

It has been reported that an average of 60 tonnes of rubbish (or solid waste) is collected daily from the river.

After a rainy day, City Hall workers gather as much as 80 tonnes of rubbish from the rubbish traps along Sungai Klang and its tributaries.

Impressed with the Cheonggyecheon restoration work, Datuk Shahlan Ismail, the political secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said it was not impossible for Malaysia to achieve similar success.

“If the Koreans can do it, I don’t see why we can’t,” said Shahlan who was a member of the delegation from Malaysia who who attended the International Next-Generation Leaders Programme in Korea last month.

“All we need is some exchange of expertise and experience and I am sure Malaysia will enjoy clean rivers.”

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Audrey’s trip to Korea for the International Next-Generation Leaders Programme on July 7-14 was sponsored by the Korean Foundation.