When ordinary people do extraordinary things, the world becomes a better place to live in. For Noor Jehan Abu Bakar, small steps are the stuff ‘extraordinary’ things are made of. “Every single decision we make concerning the environment, makes a difference,” she avers, smiling.
From a thriving career in law to championing nature, while dealing with environmental dilemmas on a scale most of us are never faced with, Jehan has been through a lot these past few years. The emotion of it all is evident when I sit down with the lawyer-cum-environmental activist who has become a credible voice for nature and the environment, especially in the state of Pahang.
“There’s so much that needs to be done in protecting nature,” she admits, her smile faltering as she talks about the subject closest to her heart. “We could all do our bit… Imagine if every single one of us did that,” she muses, adding: “We could change our world.”
These days, the chairperson of the Malaysian Nature Society Pahang branch is taking her advocacy a step further through her home-brewed skin-care business supporting the zero-waste movement by eliminating plastic packaging altogether. There aren’t many people who’ve had some ‘Le Starry Naturals’ products in their homes as yet – her signature lotion bars, shampoo bars, lip balms or such.
Very likely, such items would have been received as a gift, nestling in a classy tin box or purchased at green events, with the ever-smiling Jehan herself promoting her products while educating people on the damning effects of plastics in the environment. “I’m supplying an alternative to plastic. And if one shampoo bar is bought, it means one person is using a plastic-free product and making a difference,” she says, adding: “Small steps!”
She believes in making a difference, working endlessly to implement policies and enacting change to preserve and protect the environment, from waterways, forests, access to clean air, oceans and mountains to the precious wildlife that reside within these ecosystems.
Jehan has been endlessly quoted on querulous issues like the Lynas rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, Kuantan. In the news recently, she said that Lynas, “…with more than one billion tonnes of waste aged more than 180 days” stored behind the factory, was defying the Environmental Quality Regulations (Scheduled Waste) of 2005, which limits the quantity to 20 tonnes and the storage period to 180 days. “They get 12 years of tax relief, and they get to flout our laws!” she’d said incredulously.
It can be unpopular, I note. “But I’d like to downplay that part of it,” she insists, smiling. “At the end of the day, we need to speak out and do the right thing. It keeps my conscience clear.”
BIRTH OF A NATURE LOVER
Her father loves nature, recalls Jehan. A swimming instructor with the Kuantan Municipal Council, Abu Bakar Ibrahim was instrumental in instilling a love for the outdoors in Jehan and her two siblings. He was the one to introduce ‘orienteering’ in Pahang, she says proudly.
Most people tend to avoid wandering into the forest or unfamiliar terrain, but that's part of the fun of orienteering. Orienteering is a collection of sports that requires navigational skills and tools, such as a map and compass, to navigate from point to point. “He’s very much an outdoors man,” she recalls, adding: “He loves hiking, trekking and kayaking, and we used to tag along on his adventures.”
But that wasn’t the only legacy that her father left her. Nature holds the key to our very survival. And that’s not even including the obvious issues like climate change. BBC News reports that over 50 per cent of prescription drugs are derived from chemicals first identified in plants.
Tropical Rainforest Destruction claims that “…only 1 per cent of the species of tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists for medical benefits”. The vast potential contained within our forests has been largely untapped, and this, Jehan asserts with pride, was taught by her father.
“My father always taught us that plants heal; that the solution to our health problems can be sourced from the forest,” she says, adding that he believes that there’s a plant out there that can heal any ailment we may have.
A Malabari Malayali, Abu Bakar practises Ayurveda, a system of medicine that has been used by people in India for thousands of years. In Ayurvedic medicine, the mind and body are strongly connected. Ayurveda puts an emphasis on positive lifestyle habits and natural remedies to promote good health. “We grew up using manjal (turmeric) and cinnamon as part of our skincare rituals,” she says, chuckling.
Continuing, she shares: “My father keeps telling us there are a lot of plants out there that heals. It’s about you learning about it and going out there to find it!” Her father, she regales gaily, plants a lot of gingko around the house because he believes that would prevent the onset of diseases like Alzheimer’s.
“He’d dry them, turn them into powder, put them into capsules and take them himself!” she says, smiling. His knowledge of plants and their healing properties, she adds, is derived through his voracious reading and through his numerous jungle trekking trips with the Orang Asli. “They have a vast reservoir of knowledge pertaining to healing plants, and he learnt from them a lot.”
She goes on to recall that when they were young, whenever they suffered from common ailments like the flu, her father wouldn’t go and buy them prescription medicine. He’d grind ginger, onions and steep these with honey. “He’d feed this concoction to us, and we’d get better in just a few days!” she recalls.
When they had chicken pox, they didn’t use calamine lotion. “We were miskin (poor) at that time, and we couldn’t really afford modern medicine!” she recounts. Her father would gather up neem leaves, grind them in a paste and used it on his children. “We didn’t have scars. Takde parut pun!” she exclaims, adding softly: “He believes that nature heals.”
She never wanted to be a lawyer, she admits candidly. “My father wanted to do law, but he had responsibilities and poverty prevented him from fulfilling his ambition.” So he’s living his dream through you, I ask. “Exactly!” she agrees, with a peal of laughter. What did you really want to do? “I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher,” she replies sheepishly. Laughing at my raised eyebrows, she counters drily: “Well, at least young children don’t fight back and they listen to what you say!” But there were no regrets, she adds, smiling.
When she graduated from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia with a law degree, Jehan moved to Kuala Lumpur to work. After a few years, she married, got pregnant and moved back to Pahang. The young lawyer was soon presented with a lot of opportunities and invitations to join many movements and organisations.
“A lot of that involved attending gala dinners, fundraising and intense politicking!” she laments, adding: “That didn’t interest me at all!” In 1998, she met up with a few members of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS, one of the oldest environmental non-governmental organisation in the country) in Pahang, and went trekking. “I decided to join MNS instead. I’d rather hike through a forest than attend yet another social event!” she confesses, laughing heartily.
Getting in touch with nature seemed the most natural thing for her to do. “It feels good to be outdoors, it feels good to be in the jungle and it feels good to run barefooted around the beach… my father taught me to appreciate the outdoors and nature,” she declares.
RISE OF AN ADVOCATE
Falling into the role of an advocate wasn’t a drastic move, insists Jehan. “It took gradual steps – small steps – to get to where I am,” she says. She loved nature, enjoyed the outdoor events that MNS organised and for a while it seemed like the perfect foil to her law practice in Kuantan, where she did a little of everything, “…except criminal law!”
But small steps can unwittingly lead to bigger things. For Jehan, the most refreshing thing about MNS Pahang Branch was the fact that there was no politicking. Nobody, she says bluntly, hankered after positions or the limelight. Everyone was a nature lover and they simply enjoyed the activities organised for them.
Her journey took a turn when she started noticing that environmental degradation was a problem that needed to be talked about. “There’s so much of damage to the environment. We can’t pretend it doesn’t exist,” she explains candidly.
Human influence has now intruded into every aspect of the environment. Emissions of chemical compounds into the air have greatly altered and modified the balance of the atmosphere, accelerating the pace of climate change.
Additionally, the expansion of human activities into natural landscapes, mostly manifested by urbanisation and agriculture developments, has led to the reduction and fragmentation of wildlife habitats and the loss of valuable fauna and flora. “MNS wasn’t founded simply for nature trips and camping,” she asserts, adding: “We must make our NGO more relevant to the local issues that were happening.”
The “local issues” like Lynas project, logging and a host of other environmental dilemmas, got the society taking on the voice of nature. “The forest, the rivers, the mountains, the wildlife – they don’t have a voice. It became up to us to speak for them, and indirectly we’re also speaking for the people affected as a result of our degraded environment,” she says. There was no turning back for Jehan or even MNS Pahang, since.
PROVIDING A SOLUTION
Being an advocate also meant finding solutions to current issues that were pervading the country. The issue of plastic waste flooding the environment isn’t a new one. Yet it’s a prevailing problem which needs the cooperation of every Malaysian, she notes. Malaysia has been rated as one of the world’s worst countries for plastic pollution. Most of our plastics are dumped, a small portion burnt and a very tiny fraction (2 per cent in 2013) recycled.
The problem struck home when she heard about a turtle which had been caught in the turbine of a boat. “The post-mortem of the animal showed that there were plastics in its stomach, and a deodorant rollerball stuck in its throat,” she says. The turtle would have been on the verge of starvation which led it to surface up and ultimately get killed by the boat. That news hit her hard. She realised that the things she used for her own convenience were at the expense of the environment, and inevitably the species it supported.
“Our need for shower foams, shampoos, lotions and deodorants is being paid by the environment and the animals,” she laments. She decided that it wasn’t enough to talk about ‘saving’ nature, she needed to make a change.
“Small steps!” she says again, smiling. It began with her family first. She learnt to make lotion, soap and shampoo bars, and these soon replaced most of their toiletries at home. “In just one year, our bathroom was plastic-free!” she says with pride. Her success with her own family led her to convince members of MNS Pahang branch to make the same switch. “Let’s eliminate plastic bottles!” she cajoled and they agreed.
Small steps led to bigger steps, and soon people started approaching Jehan to ask if she could help point out alternatives so that they could begin eliminating plastic usage from their lifestyles.
“I always believe that things are never as complicated as they seem. It’s only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems,” she stresses.
This prompted her to start her own little green enterprise, selling toiletries without plastic packaging. “It isn’t enough to tell people to change when you’re not providing them or pointing out the alternatives that they can switch to,” she muses, adding: “This is why I started Le Starry Naturals.”
It seems like it’s been a full circle to Jehan’s journey, I note. “Natural products, finding solutions, loving nature – they all seem to be things your father taught you,” I tell her.
She laughs, nodding her head. “My father taught me well,” she agrees, adding: “We owe so much to nature and that’s why it cannot be paying the price for our convenience.”
We have to keep advocating a lifestyle that’s environmentally friendly, she continues, before concluding: “You can’t protect the environment unless you empower people and help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them… and taking small steps does make a difference.”