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Here I come Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013!!!

Hey guys! It’s me going to another green event again! I feel really grateful that I got the chances to do things that I enjoy during university life. This time I went to the Laman Kemerdekaan, Shah Alam, one of the largest green lungs in Kuala Lumpur, for my first tree-planting activity – Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013. I have been following the Eco Warriors Group in Facebook since I was in high school but could not make it every time this event was held (starting about one and a half year ago, this was already the 28th event organised by Shah Alam City Council and Eco Warriors!!! I shouldn’t miss anyone of it from now on, bwahahahahaha).

So glad that we were having a nice and warm morning during this event. What a blessing!

The objective of this event is to create a recreational place for family gatherings within this lush greenery!

Trees are one of the most important parts in Nature which make up the water catchment area besides preventing soil erosion!

One day it will thrive and be as tall and as strong as any other trees there.

For your infomation, more than 42,000 trees have been planted for the past 27 Shah Alam Tree for Life events which involved about 8,000 volunteers. According to the information provided by Bernard Eng, one of the key persons in Eco Warriors, these are the trees that were planted at six plots there: Bucida, Kiara Pavuna, Euginia Oleana, Dalbergia, Kayu Putih, Sentang and Tecoma, which made up approximately 500 tress in total.
(links for some of the past events: http://www.mbsa.gov.my/en/shah-alam-trees-for-life ; http://www.mbsa.gov.my/en/shah-alam-trees-for-life1)

This is Bernard Eng who has been organising this event giving instructions on how to plant a tree. We have ‘met’ on Facebook long before and this was the first time we met face-to-face. I was inspired by his dedication in contributing to the environment from the way he talked. Indeed, we need young people to get involved in green actions!

Firstly, tear off the bag wrapped around the root ball of the young tree.

Reminder: Be gentle while handling the root ball (yes that is what we called, the compact soil at the root of the plant) as it could decide the well-being of the tree!

Opening ceremony by the Mayor of Shah Alam City Council, Y. Bhg. Dato’ Mohd. Jaafar bin Mohd. Atan. Thanks so much for willing to spend your precious time with us this Sunday morning!

The first tree being planted by our Mayor.

I forgot when was the last time I got my hands dirty with soil. I didn’t wear gloves that day, using my bare hands to work with the soil (it was not dirty at all seriously!). Work was not that tough since we had the tractor like machine to dig holes for us. It’s really quick and easy! What we finally have to do is to remove the young trees from the bags and put them into the holes and covered up the holes with soil. At the end, a pole was stuck into the ground beside the plant to make sure that it grows up straight. Actually it was quite difficult to plant the trees with its trunk straight due to my lacked-of-skills. They usually ended up a bit inclined to the side. Hopefully the poles will do the job later on!

This event was joined by Politeknik, KPJ Healthcare, Crown Worldwide, Uitm and other individual volunteers including Eco Warriors!

The ‘tractor’ I mentioned just now. Those workers form Shah Alam City Council were very friendly and helpful! They lent us hands whenever we faced problems during tree planting.

See? No hoe is needed!

Some of the pre-dug holes were filled with water due to the rain on previous night. Do you guys notice the frogspawn??

Rows of young trees ready to reach for the sky!!!

As we know, trees can purify and cool down the air besides providing shades under the scorching sun of Malaysia. Directly or indirectly, they contribute to our life so that we have a more healthy environment to live in, not to mention their other uses in industries etc. No tree = no life. We can even unwind ourselves by simply admiring the beauty of trees. Nature is not complete without trees. (one of the reasons that I love my university very much is because of the trees!!! haha)

Too bad that I attended it alone, most of my friends were having their own activities in university. However I met some inspiring Eco Warriors there. I could see sparkles in their eyes when they talked about the past experiences in tree plantings. Stay tune! The next Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013 will be in early of December 2013!

Cheers! Stay calm and plant a tree.

P/S: This article is taken and edited from my own blog: http://xiwenwendy.blogspot.com/2013/10/shah-alam-trees-for-life-2013.html