Berbakti Untuk Bumi - Save Our Rainforest Race 2016

Hello hai lovely readers ..

I am back with a lovely entry. Entry tentang kasih sayang. Entry tentang bumi kita yang hijau. Entry tentang cinta kepada alam. Entry tentang cinta sesama insan.

Yeah .. I was at the Save Our Rainforest Race 2016 (SORR 2016) two weeks ago. OK its a race. What is it got to do with love? Cos the purpose of the run is to show your love to the nature. I love nature so much and I believe you love it too. Nature is gifted by God. Anugerah alam dari Allah SWT buat kita penduduk bumi. Sayangnya keindahan bumi anugerah Allah SWT ini semakin tidak terjaga. Pembangunan merosakkan alam. Hutan-hutan indah ditebang atas nama pembangunan. Tiada lagi kawasan tadahan hujan. Tiada lagi pokok-pokok yang menjadi 'paku' bumi. Maka kerosakan alam pun berlaku. Bencana demi bencana. 

More than 10 years ago, when i first moved to Sg. Buloh Country Resort, i can still see the morning mist. Now no more. Dulu on the way ke Shah Alam menggunakan Lebuhraya Batu-Arang, masih kelihatan kabus di celah-celah pokok .. sekarang tidak lagi kelihatan *sad*

Save Our Rainforest Race 2016 (SORR 2016) is an awareness program organized by Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA) which has been running for 4 consecutive years and this year, it took place at Sg. Menyala Forest Reserve, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan with its theme "TREES ARE OUR FUTURE' and 'BRING BACK OUR RAINFOREST'

26 March 2016 ~ I woke up at 5.00am and drove to the destination accompanied by my blogger friend Miera and her daughter Anne and my son's friend, Ekin. It was a smooth journey .. eventhough I just slept at 2:00am. Alhamdulillah .. kalau niat kita baik, Allah SWT permudahkan segala urusan. I always believe on 'niat dan tujuan'.

As we arrived, I saw Kolonel Bersekutu (PA) Puan Sri Datuk Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, President of PEKA delivering her speech. It was a very meaningful speech. Yes Puan Sri I agreed with you .. We dont need another high rise building .. we dont need another shopping mall. We had more than enough. What we need is nature and green. We need trees and today we are going to plant 1,000 trees to show our love and concern on the nature. 

Immediately after the speech by Puan Sri, a safety and technical briefing was given to the participants.

Then its the 'Senamrobik' time. Warm up guys .. we need to do the warm up before we enter the jungle and start our task. OhMy .. I love 'Senamrobik' very much. I wished I was part of them .. bersama-sama dengan mereka mengejutkan otot-otot badan diiringi muzik yang menenangkan pagi kita yang indah di Hutan ini.

The most awaited moment the Flag Off.  Approximately almost 2,000 participants were seen waited excitedly to enter the jungle. Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina officiated the Flag Off ceremony.

Walking patiently .. masa ni Misz-ella pulak yang berkobar-kobar semangat. Teringin nak join masuk hutan. Jungle is a nice, peaceful place actually. I always love jungle. Pengalaman meneroka Hutan Royal Belum, Hutan lipur Tasik Kenyir, Hutan Simpan FRIM, mendaki hutan-hutan di Bukit Kutu sesungguhnya sangat berharga. I love the natural smell of the jungle and the natural sound too. Hutan adalah tempat yang sangat menenangkan, bukan menakutkan.

With Ekin ~ Sekeping buat kenangan kita berdua

The participants  of SORR 2016 were divided into 2 persons per group. Each group was given a tree to be planted. Adding on to the activities, the participants also has to complete various tasks at 7  check points along the 15km route. The tasks given to them are all related to the nature and the jungle. I was told earlier that the routes comprised of forest areas, abandoned palm oil plantation and Orang Asli Bukit Kepong Settlement. Wow .. menarik, kan. I was excited!

*photo courtesy of PEKA facebook*

SORR 2016 was enlivened by several local celebrities dubbed Friends of SORRR such as Johan Raja Lawak and his wife, Ozlynn, Keifh Foo and wife, Kim Raymond, Najwa, Thanuja, Imelda Haris, Syafik Malik, Harick Azha and Razeef Yahya who also took part in the tree planting activities.

With the lovely Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina,the President of PEKA

Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina dalam ucapan beliau menyatakan bahawa tujuan SORR 2016 adalah untuk mendidik dan memupuk rasa kasih sayang peserta-peserta ini terhadap alam semulajadi. Peserta-peserta yang datangnya dari pelbagai bidang .. pelajar universiti mahupun Korporat dilihat bersama-sama berganding bahu atas satu misi ~ Sayang, Cinta dan Menghargai Bumi. Well, I love the idea of pairing the participants together in a group. Its teamwork. I love teamwork. It educate us a lot, right.

We have entered the jungle .. muka segar, ceria penuh bersemangat *love* Check Point No. 1 tasks was Selfie. Yeahhh .. who dont like to selfie, right. I love selfie too .. tak pernah bosan dengan selfie .. selfie is always fun especially if we did it with our love one!

This is Check Point No. 2 ~ At this Check Point, the participants has to look for their hand gloves which has been numbered according to the number of their bib. This hand gloves will be use by the participants through out the race period.



Cari .. cari  .. lets kita cari sama-sama, get it and move. Its a fun interactive 15km race. Interaction and cooperation within team .. Its all about teamwork!

Next is Check Point no. 3 ~ Tree Planting, the main task of this Race. Disini peserta-peserta akan menanam pokok bersama-sama. I love to see how the event was organized. Very systematic. Guidelines .. signages .. crews are everywhere to help and guide the participants.

Adik ni dah excited nak tanam pokok. Sempat dia senyum to my camera. Thanks adik! Among the trees planted are Keruing and Meranti.

At this Check point, the participants has to identify their plant hole according to the number at their bib. Ini adalah saat dan masa yang paling ditunggu-tunggu .. menanam pokok dan berbakti kepada bumi tercinta ini.

Jom kita lakukan bersama. Its teamwork! *love*

Safety and hygiene was being taken care ~ The participants were seen wearing the gloves while planting the trees.

Terima Kasih kerana berbakti untuk bumi tercinta ini. It really touched my heart bila melihat anak-anak muda ini sanggup meluangkan masa untuk aktiviti berfaedah seperti ini. 

Adlin and Rahimi dari Uniten, Bangi. Congrats and Thank you to both of you. 

Didi dari Melaka, antara peserta paling sporting dan ceria. He was seen happily carrying the plant, smiling and joking with the rests. It was nice to see everyone planting the trees happily. Ikhlas dari hati, demi cinta kepada bumi. Thanks PEKA for making things happened for them.

Walking together happily in the jungle. The crews were there to give them support and help whenever needed. I love to see how we motivated each other. The crews keep on giving them motivation .. joking to the participants and make them smile. Penat pun tak rasa bila segala-galanya berlaku dalam keadaan ceria, kan.

The Crew were always there to gave a helping hands. I love to see the teamwork spirit among the crew. Communicating and interact among them to ensure the event went smooth and the participants were well taken care.

Merentas laluan bertali untuk ke Check Point 4 for the next task. I found the track are very interesting.

The next task is 'Anyaman'. Well this is interesting!

The participants were teached with the 'anyaman skill' guided by the Orang Asli. Berbelit jari-jari keras kita ye .. but they made it!!

Get the passport stamped once every task are completed and lets continue to the next tasks. Makin lama, makin menarik aktiviti-aktiviti di sini.

Water station is everywhere ..

The journey from Check Point 4 to Check Point 5 is through an abandoned palm oil plantation. I always love palm oil plantation ~ shady and cool. Biasa la Misz-ella .. di mana tempat tenang dan redup, disitulah dia jatuh cinta. Tapi sayangnya lapisan ozon yang semakin menipis membuatkan laluan redup ini tetap terasa kehangatannya. So we have more reasons to plant tree here, right.

Check Point No. 5 is Supermarket at the Orang Asli Bukit Kepong Settlement. 

I was wondering earlier .. shopping in this supermaket? No. The participants do not have to shop. What they need to do in this supermarket is to pick any item which has been numbered and send it to the house that has been tagged with the same number too.

OK Jom kita pilih ..Tepung? Gula or Beras?

Orang Asli Bukit Kepong Settlement or Perkampungan Orang Asli Bukit Kepong ini adalah penempatan orang Asli ke dua tercantik di Malaysia. Not only beautiful but it is clean too. Sungguh bersih, sungguh damai dan tenang. Participants were seen walking happily exploring the village .. menghayati pemandangan yang cantik dan indah sambil mengenalpasti nombor rumah yang sama dengan barangan yang ada di tangan untuk diserahkan.

Seronok kan tengok diaorang berjalan-jalan

Nice hardscape. Orang Asli zaman sekarang sudah semakin kreatif, beb!

Cantik dan bersih

Balai Raya ~ Lawa sungguh balai raya dia

Children's Library ~ Ohhh so cute and sweet!

Rumah no. 29 ~ Sweet, small and cute! Sangat bersih.

Exploring the village

Upsss waittt .. we want to be in the photo too. I love this moment .. sharing the happiness together with the Orang Asli children. 

Jom kita jalan lagi dan lagi .. this place is very eye-catching! Lots for us to look see look see and selfie!

Disebabkan kampung ini cantik dan hati tertarik, jom la kita selfie bersama .. buat kenangan kita berdua. My camera captured this meaningful moment. Happy to see those happy faces together.

We found you, Abang!! Terimalah pemberian ini dari kami yang PEKA bukan sahaja pada alam sekitar malah pada kebajikan penduduk di sini. Thank You PEKA.

Task No. 5 completed. 2 more to go. Yeayy !!! Lets go. We are almost there *uishhhh .. Misz-ella pulak yang berkobar-kobar .. macam la I join the race, kan .. Hahaha*

Stopped for 100 Plus on the way to Check Point 6

The next task at Check Point 6 is SORR Puzzle

Another thing I liked about this program is pairing the participants together in one group. Saya suka melihat dua jiwa berganding bahu bekerjasama dalam usaha menyiapkan misi yang diberikan. I love to see the bonding within two persons. Regardless their ages, their races, religion .. it doesnt matter .. yang penting adalah toleransi, semangat juang dan kerjasama sesama kita. We are here together in a team to complete this tasks. I loved to see this mommy and son working together in solving the puzzle. SORR bukan sahaja menyemai rasa cinta kepada bumi, malah memupuk kasih sayang sesama insan. It really touched my heart watching best friends taking care of each other, mother-son bonding together. SORR 2016 united the people in all ages and races with one mision ~ LOVE!

Tasks no. 6 completed!! Yeayyy !!

SORR 2016 ended successfully at 1:30pm. Participants were then served with lunch. Congratulations to all the winners for their spirit and love to the world. Its not easy but you guys made it *clap hands*

I interviewed this group ~ Ainor and Safira dari UKM. They said they really enjoyed the Race. We were the no. 96 participants who finished the race. No. 96? Kitorang terkejut tapi happy sangat. How do you know about the Race, adik? From the UKM Portal and whatsapp group. What do you feel about this Race? Ohhh kitorang happy sangat dapat join Race ni sama-sama. Kitorang jalan pegang tangan sepanjang Race ni. Oh yeah .. why? Sebab kitorang rasa nak jaga sesama kita, takut terlepas tangan .. we want to take care of each other. OhMyGod .. I just loved how this program has spread more love among this two friends. Among all tasks given, which one both of you love most? Supermarket! Why? Sebab rasa hepi sangat bila dapat memberi kepada orang Asli. Rasa hepi sangat bila orang Asli tu gembira sangat menerima sumbangan dari kita. OhMy .. it really touched my heart. SORR 2016 do not only educated the youngsters on the love to the nature but also spreading the love among others. SORR 2016 mendidik dan menyemai rasa cinta di antara mereka bukan sahaja kepada kepada bumi malah sesama insan itu sendiri *I'm touched*

So what do you think about this Race? Will you join this race again next year? Will you recommend others to join it too? Ye Kakak. We will be back next year and recommend this race to our friends.

Lau Jaiyan from Cempaka International School. She gave up at Task No. 5 since she was not feeling well. Did the crew take care of you? Yes .. they took care of me very well. What do you think about this Race? It is very beneficial. Will you join the race again next year? Yes I will with more preparation. I need to be healthy. Congrats Jaiyan. You managed to finished up to Task no. 5 even you are not well .. you finished more than half of the task given and Jaiyan also Thanks the crew for taking care of her very well.

And the Champion ~ Fuad from Jabatan Perbendaharaan Negara. He completed the 15km race successfully in 1 hour 35 mins! Congratulations Fuad. Its not easy tho .. Saya tumpang bangga. Fuad said he will definitely return to the Race again next year. His advise to the other participants .. Please be Fit if you want to win! What is your biggest challenged, Fuad? The heat. Cuaca yang panas. Yeahh .. thats why we need to plant more trees, right!

All in .. all in .. I had a wonderful time witnessing the SORR 2016. I loved to see peoples put their efforts on the nature without compromising "LOVE". Thanks for having me too. Its really an eye and mind opening for me.  Congratulations to Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina and her team for making this event a such memorable moment among the participants. They went back with beautiful memories .. spending quality times  appreciating the nature together. By the end of the day ..its all about LOVE ... our love to the nature and how we love and care for each other. SORR 2016 has gathered and united us. SORR 2016 telah memupuk dan menyemai bukan sahaja rasa cinta pada bumi bertuah ini malah telah memupuk kasih sayang sesama peserta. Thanks. Thanks. I'm really touched and love it. I look forward for more PEKA events after this.

For more informations and photogrphs of the event, visit PEKA facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PEKAMALAYSIA/?ref=ts&fref=ts. Other information can also be find at PEKA website.