Rivers are cradles of civilisation – a means of travel, a source for drinking, fishing, and business. A clean river is especially important for the fertility of the land and the healthy life of organisms. It can also protect us from floods by acting as a drainage channel. Unfortunately, rivers are a forgotten ecosystem.
Established in 2007, EM Resources Centre’s philosophy lies in educating the public about environmental conservation through the usage of Effective Microorganisms (EM), a system adopted from Japan. EMs are a mixed culture of beneficial microorganisms that protect living things from pathogens by increasing micro-biological activities. According to Raymond Liau, founder of EM Resources Centre, two of Johor’s rivers have been marked as polluted, and he believes that there lies a bigger problem beyond wastewater discharge and public dumping into the river – a lack of empathy towards the environment.
The team at EM Resources Centre visits schools to give talks on the environment. Sekolah Engku Tun Aminah is one school that has adopted EM technology to clear up the school’s river – the school’s nature club has been making their own EM Mudballs for their river for the past ten years. EM Mudballs are made up of three ingredients: topsoil, bokashi, and EM. One EM Mudball, the size of a baseball, is able to clean 1 cubic meter of water. Imagine how many mudballs are needed for a whole river!
To cope with the need for high volume, EM Resources Centre provides support to single mothers by paying them ten cents per EM Mudball shaped. At Senibong Cove, the developer and Orang Asli who live in the housing development are both aware of how to use EM Mudballs to clean the river. The Orang Asli also receive compensation to produce their own EM Mudballs. This initiative has received praise from the government as well as other housing developers who adopt EM technology not only for the cleaning of rivers but also for wastewater treatment and other environmental and agricultural treatments.
Pasar Borong Pandan, for example, uses EM Technology to reduce the foul smell emitted by waste from the market. EM Resources Centre also has other EM-based products like soaps and laundry detergent.
“We want to plant the seed of environmental consciousness in everybody, and that can only be done through education.”
