Kind M’sians Unite to Clean Up Rubbish After Thaipusam Festival at Batu Caves, Penang & Ipoh

Thaipusam events are bound to be a little messy as thousands gather together at temples for the annual occasion. Piles of rubbish are often left at the various locations with empty food packages and drink cartons thrown on the streets and into drains – though it must be said that all Malaysians are guilty of this.

This was the reason the “Clean Thaipusam” project was started – to reduce the amount of litter surrounding the temple area, and to encourage devotees on the importance of having a clean environment.

Source: Facebook

According to Malay Mail, film director JK Wicky brought the initiative back this year with enough volunteers to clean the temples at Batu Caves, Penang and Ipoh.

He said that the event was well-planned with a core team of 100 committee members.

Wicky was inspired to start this initiative when he noticed all the rubbish that was thrown and strewn everywhere during the Thaipusam festival at Batu Caves ever since he was young.

“People still don’t have the awareness of cleanliness, and that was what drove me to create educational videos on Facebook, with the intention of attracting people as volunteers to clean the area throughout the three days,” he said.

“A lot of planning had been done to prepare the videos by making it informative through photos, facts about the type of waste and recyclables collected, and ways to reduce the rubbish.”

“Last year, we only had 10 volunteers on the first day of Thaipusam, but after posting photos about the initiative on Facebook , we had an increase to 40 volunteers,” he said, adding that people began to know about their effort once pictures of the before-and-after event were posted online.

This year, 750 people signed up to be volunteers!

The initiative also encouraged people to donate their hair that can be used to make wigs for cancer patients. “Hair offering” booths were set up where women with long hair can donate their hair for a good cause.

“This is the first time we are organising this hair donation, and we want to see whether the response will be good enough to continue it next year,” Wicky said.

What a great initiative! It’s so nice to see fellow Malaysians gathering together to do something for the environment. Good job, guys!

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