Uniting to clean up public park

Catholics and Muslims joined hands to clean up a forest reserve park in Cherok Tokun, Bukit Mertajam on Nov 3. This ‘gotong royong’ was initiated by Msgr Henry Rajoo, parish priest of St Anne’s Church, who approached PAS Malaysia and Yayasan Amal Malaysia to hold the joint project with St Anne’s.

The event Gotong Royong Muhibbah: Sayangilah Alam Sekitar was officially launched by Bishop Sebastian Francis. In his opening address, Bishop Sebastian said, “When our environment is clean, when Mother Earth is clean, when the air and water are clean, then our hearts are also clean. We have been commissioned by God to go and clean God’s creation.”

The park begins at the base of the hill (Bukit Mertajam) and is frequented by visitors and regular joggers. The volunteers were shocked that there was so much rubbish and it was always most where people congregated, for example, by the car parks and picnicking spots even deep into the park. They found plastic bags embedded in the soil, used diapers, slippers, shoes, cigarette butts and boxes, styrofoam boxes, clothing and a host of other items.

The volunteers were mostly parishioners from St. Anne’s and Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHJ) Church in Kulim with a few from Penang Island parishes, Muslim residents from the area and members of AMAL. St Anne’s provided tongs to pick up rubbish and garbage bags. The Creation Justice Ministry members of St Anne’s and SHJ, Kulim, handled the registration and gave out face towels and a bookmark on ecological commitments. AMAL provided water and buns. The Majlis Perbandaran of Seberang Perai provided wheelbarrows, hoes, and a dumpster to collect the many bags of rubbish

There was good camaraderie amongst all the participants and an important reminder to visitors present that morning to keep the place clean and not treat the forest like a rubbish dump. The forest is a critical eco-system which is home to 80% of land animals and is the best carbon sink to help stem global warming.

In the closing, all the partners of the project thanked one another and pledged to protect Mother Earth. The event strengthened the rapport between the Church and our Muslim brothers and sisters. It showed that saving Mother Earth is an ideal platform to build inter-religious and inter-racial solidarity.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online