Now keep talking.
Keep at it.
You’ve seen what your voice, together with the others, can create.
On November 11, just under two weeks from the launch date of this awareness campaign (and a day before its initial deadline) to save the 8000-year-old North Kuala Langat Forest Reserve in Malaysia, the Selangor state assembly unanimously passed a motion to protect all forest reserves in the state.
MANY OF YOU TOOK ACTION in the days leading up to November 11. You addressed and sent out those objection emails to MPs. You told your friends about it. You took it upon yourself to dive deeper into the issue by looking up other articles on the potential destruction of this ancient forest in our backyard. Some of you even posted tutorials on making the two-click pledge from your homes.
In that short period of time — just two weeks — you made a difference. Now imagine the kind of change you can create by fanning the flames within you into the remaining weeks of the year and, perhaps, into the New Year.
THIS ANCIENT PEAT SWAMP FOREST, a sacred source of ancestral and cultural heritage for the indigenous Orang Asli Temuan community, is not protected yet. It is still exposed to the greed and wants of those who believe they are invincible behind concrete facades. But the wheels have turned. And it is our obligation to keep them turning. To not revert to complacency. And more importantly, to not give up when we don’t see instant change.
Read: Why this issue can no longer wait
ALTHOUGH THE MOTION TO PROTECT all forest reserves was passed by the state assembly, it has to go through another tier of decision-makers, the State Executive Council (EXCO) whose members are appointed by the state’s Chief Minister. And they, at time of writing, have yet to withdraw their proposal to degazette this 8,000-year-old forest. In other words, it’s now up to them — the very same people who proposed for the forest to be removed in the first place — to decide whether or not to revoke North Kuala Langat’s “forest reserve” title, so that the move to clear that ancient forest will be deemed ‘fair game’.
THE FIGHT FOR A CLEANER AND GREENER tomorrow is far from over. But what you can do right now, is to stay connected with the people who are fighting the good fight. For this cause in particular, there is a coalition of NGOs from the arts, environmental and human rights groups (15 in total; under the ‘Defend the North Kuala Langat Forest Reserve’ coalition [PHSKLU]). But if those push notifications and newsletters are too much for you to digest, take it upon yourself to stay actively informed — at your own pace and in your own time.
AND HERE’S A STORY-GATHERER TIP for you, when you hear of stories like these, and especially if it’s a story that a mainstream media outlet might be trying to cover but is obstructed by red tape, you’ll know better than to let this issue slide.
If you get that unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach whenever you read about something, but you’re not quite sure why, it’s probably a sign that you should lean further into the discomfort; to find out the root of the cause rather than to slap on a band-aid and to be done with it.
I KNOW ITS COUNTER INTUITIVE. But sometimes we need to run towards the bang.
Keep going.
I’m proud of you for speaking up. And for telling the others to speak up to.
Thank you for not staying silent — in spite of those years of being told and conditioned not to speak unless spoken to.
For timely updates on the preservation of the North Kuala Langat Forest Reserve, which you won’t find here, check in with Art4HutanKita and Greenpeace Malaysia.
