We’ve seen it on TV: a city girl moves to a tiny village on the outskirts and starts a whole new adventure there. The city girl would end up bringing the whole village together as one working unit. It’s always a sweet and happy ending.
Serina Rahman’s story is something similar. In 2007, during a research trip to Mukim Tg Kupang, Johor, Serina was amazed by the abundance of seagrass she describes as “gorgeous”. It is, after all, the largest seagrass area in the whole of Peninsular Malaysia. She was also studying the lives of fishermen. Little did this calm yet adventurous lady realise that her short research trip would end up becoming a decade-long study of marine conservation, islands and coastal communities.
With her love for all things marine, plus her experience in anthropology with a Ph.D. in conservation science, Serina co-founded Kelab Alami, an educational club for the kampung youth to learn about their environment and in turn teach their community through songs and skits. She and her scientist friends train the kampung youth on research and data collection scientifically. That way, the youth help the scientists with research while gaining awareness and understanding about their own kampung’s biodiversity.
Community capacity building was something Serina always wanted to do and finally found the opportunity in Tg Kupang, where she enables the community to find other means of income to help them cope or adapt with urbanisation.
Although Serina has gained a reputation of being the girl who ‘packed up her bags and left life as she knew it’, her friends are still supportive of her cause and actions, keeping in touch with her from time to time. Conducting her research in the quiet and isolated kampung at least 20 kilometres away from the nearest mall, the city-born lady admits that she makes a trip to the nearest Starbucks every two weeks for a sense of familiarity.
In her research journey, Serina crossed paths with another love of her life and tied the knot with a local fisherman. Her husband is active in helping his community. Coincidentally, her name ‘Serina’ is similar to ‘Sirenia’, a scientific name for sea cow or dugong, an aquatic mammal that feeds on seagrass – the same creature that has inspired folk tales about the mythical mermaids. Serina shared this in jest, as fishermen often have a folklore tale about meeting mermaids.
For Serina’s husband, the mermaid he met was not a myth: it was her!
