PULAU KETAM: EXCITEMENT builds at the mention of visiting Pulau Ketam. A quaint heritage village built on stilts just 45 minutes away from Port Klang, tourists foreign and locals alike are attracted to the island which seems to be trapped in time.
A walk around the village offers a picturesque view of wooden homes built decades ago along with shops offering Chinese food, seafood and cheap toys.
A self-sustaining island, it boasts its own school, police station, health clinic, as well as a community-run fire station.
In a nutshell, it appears to be the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city.
But looking down through the gaps in between the houses, the serene beauty quickly turns into an eyesore as it is filled with all sorts of rubbish. Plastic bags, construction debris, planks, styrofoam boxes, and plastic bottles paint a filthy picture, enough to put off anyone walking past the colourful homes.
But for Pulau Ketam folk, the conditions were worse before.
Seafood restaurant operator Ng Sui Poon, 54, said years ago, Pulau Ketam was also known as “Rubbish Island”.
Ng, a native who has lived there all his life, described the previous conditions as “10 times worse” but in the recent years, residents become more civic-minded.
“I was disheartened when my customers asked me why the island was so dirty and messy. Calling my hometown Rubbish Island was too much to bear. It was shameful that the residents were in habit of throwing rubbish out of the window for a very long time.
“Our awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving the island started several years ago, thanks to the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia. They set up a recycling centre here and taught the residents here to turn garbage into recycled items,” he said.
Ng has been playing his part by depositing empty cooking oil and dish washing liquid plastic bottles, cardboard boxes and other plastic items at the recycling centre.
Foundation volunteer Tan Siew Lang, 55, dedicates two hours on Mondays to separate glass, paper, plastic items that residents drop in into five recycling bins which are placed in front of their houses.
The foundation has a recycling station at one corner of the island, near the jetty entrance, which was previously the office of an electrical company.
Tan and other volunteers spend the evening sorting and removing labels and handles to ease the recycling process.
Tan said the station was started after she was approached by fishermen who had heard that she wanted to instill the recycling habit in the residents there.
“A group of them approached me and asked if there was anything they could do as they were frustrated with the tonnes of trash in the seas. They frequently faced the problem of netting plastic bottles along with their catch.
“They suggested a recycling station and contributed RM5,000 to refurbish the old office which was in a deplorable state. That was how we started,” said Tan.
Like Ng, Tan has also lived her whole life on the island. She too admitted she used to dump rubbish into the sea.
Through videos on recycling produced by the foundation, Tan learned the importance of keeping the island clean and that disposing of rubbish into the sea was not right.
She felt that it was her responsibility to do something for the island.
Her passion for recycling and her enthusiasm for a change for the better shows in Tan when Streets spoke to her.
She hangs brochures with endless information on recycling on her trusty bicycle, the most popular mode of transport on the island.
“Items for recycling can be put into five cage-like boxes around the island. It is placed at the home of residents who have volunteered to ‘adopt’ the boxes. The volunteers are responsible of bringing the items in the cages to the centre and educate their neighbours on recycling.
“Sometimes, items like styrofoam boxes, which cannot be recycled, are also dumped into the recycling boxes. But I think, it is better to have them discarded in the recycling boxes than into the sea. The overall practice of recycling is still relatively low here. I would say about 30 per cent. We still have a long way to go,” said Tan.
Ang Beng Sai, 69, puts his water bottles into one of the cages near his house.
“I now feel that I am responsible the cleanliness of the island and keeping it rubbish free. Throwing rubbish into the sea must stop, or else the quality of life here will go downhill. I am doing what I can now to protect this island for the sake of my grandchildren,” he said.