Thanks to Berjaya Tioman Resort for giving me the opportunity to be one of the members of the media who was given the golden opportunity to participate in the Tioman Island Conservation Day (TICD) 2019….

TICD is an annual event held to educate members of the public, medias and sponsors on how we could all play our part together to restore the beauty of the sea and to preserve the splendid sanctuary of the Tioman Island….

The recent TICD event took place from 11th until 13th October 2019 with a total of 120 divers from Malaysia and Singapore together with members of the media and sponsors, uniting together to preserving the nature….

This would not have been successful without representatives from Reef Check Malaysia, Juara Turtle Project, Rumah Hijau, Rimba Tioman, Jabatan Taman Laut, SWCorp Malaysia, UDive and Scuba People from Malaysia and Singapore who were present to show their support as well as help educate us on how each of us could contribute in our little individual ways in making a change…. And believe me every little change done by one person when repeatedly done by many others can definitely make a huge impact in saving our planet…

As Mr Charles Eman, the Resort Manager of Berjaya Tioman Resort said, “Environmental conservation is an effort that must be taken seriously. While the governments of different countries are employing various means to conserve nature, individuals must also come forward to contribute their bit in this direction. Hence, Berjaya Tioman Resort takes serious measurements in preserving our beautiful Tioman Island by organising our yearly CSR project called Tioman Island Conservation Day.”

Berjaya Tioman resort also launched a new approach in conserving corals, named Adopt-A-Coral Program… This program enables the guests to adopt a coral in Berjaya Tioman Resort with a minimal fee of MYR40 per coral in which the collection of the funds from Adopt-a-Coral program will be contributed towards rehabilitation of rescued corals and its maintenance throughout entire restoration process – from coral selection until the final out planting. Adopted corals are closely monitored during its growth and recovery process in coral nursery and returned to the reef once matured…

My friends and I were really happy for this opportunity to be able to spend time together as well as each play our part in doing something good for the environment…

My diver friends got to help out with the underwater clean-up, in which they scoured through the ocean floor to remove garbage as well as to remove COT (Crown of Thorns) as they prey on nearly all corals and is said to be responsible for 42 per cent of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef..

On top of that, my diver friends also got to go brush the coral’s teeth, ehh… I mean help remove algae on these corals with a toothbrush, which is one of the ways to promote reef recovery…

Now the strange thing here is like plague and dirt on our teeth, algae  on corals can cause coral mortality and disease, reduce coral growth, and restrict coral settlement….

For those of us who did not dive, we were given a truly invaluable experience of  snorkeling at Pulau Renggis…

This was truly an amazing experience as the water was just so clear and we were almost kind of playing tag in the water with trying to chase a baby shark (to see him closer) and run away from a jelly fish… The marine life here is pure breathtaking!!!!

BTW, my diver friends bragged they saw a turtle… And shared this photo with me… Huhuhu

It is truly amazing getting to observe underwater life in their natural setting….

Besides that.. We were given the task to  clean-up the beach at Bunut area, about 5 minutes by shuttle from Berjaya Tioman Resort… Armed with gloves and a trash bag, we had a fun time under the sun challenging each other in picking up as much trash as we could…

And did you know in just 2 hours, the whole bunch of us collected a whooping 186kg worth of trash!!!! Bloody hell seriously.. People just dump their trash without a care…. We found toys, plastic bottles, aerosol canisters, toothbrushes, slippers etc, etc, etc…

The beat was yet to come when we non divers headed to the dive centre to play our roles in the helping with the rehabilitation of rescued corals by constructing cement modules made from recyclable materials for the Adopt-A-Coral program….

This was truly an amazing experience… Did you know you can actually use recycled bottles to make cement and even build a house or anything you want with it….

In this case, we were given the tasks of removing labels from bottles before crushing these bottles in a glass crushing machine..

Then when the glass bottles were crushed, we mixed the crushed glass with cement and made base with bottles sticking out, and this is where corals which have been accidently broken off by irresponsible people or the  monsoon and still alive are transplanted and given room and space to grow before the entire brick and base is put back into the reef….

TICD 2019 reflected the true meaning of togetherness and teamwork, fuelled by the passion for the environment…. And Berjaya Tioman Resort promises to continue to identify new ways to enhance environmentally-friendly practices and encourage sustainability….

Caring for the environment is becoming a vital part of the ‘Legacy of Care’ by Berjaya, instilled by its founder Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan….

This event was sponsored by Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd with generous supports from Tourism Malaysia, TGV Cinema Malaysia, Cosway, Go Pro, Rip Curl, Carlsberg, J&A Production and Montanic.

Thanks you so much Berjaya Tioman Resort for this opportunity to be a part of something wonderful and it definitely was a priceless experience spending time with my dear friends as well as new friends doing good for the environment…

For more details please check out https://www.facebook.com/btrtod/

Address – Berjaya Tioman Resort, Box 4, 86807 Mersing, Johor

Underwater photos by Khalishan, Fahmi and Ayu Jean