KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — They are a group of dedicated volunteers, gently breathing life back into a river in need of rescue. The Alliance of River Three (ART!), a local environmental conservation group, has been tirelessly working since 2018 to transform parts of the Klang River’s riverbanks/riverine into thriving community parks.
Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ART! isn’t just focused on creating a model riverine park — it’s about crafting a self-sustaining environment that local communities can easily care for and enjoy for years to come.
And this is being done through weekly clean ups and rejuvenation programmes such as building park amenities, planting trees and flowers as well as replanting soil at damaged lands around the riverines with their volunteers.
Currently, ART! is concentrating its efforts on two key riverine locations along the Klang River: Taman Melawati and Mid Valley City. The latter is situated near the PJ-Bangsar Bypass, just across from Mid Valley Megamall.
Behind the action
Syuen Toh, co-founder of ART!, has spent the past five years not only educating volunteers about the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also to actively participating in clean-up activities and getting her hands dirty almost every weekend at two riverine parks under their care.
These efforts are part of their Gotong-Royong Education by Action (GREduAction) clean-up programme, where Toh and other ART! members teach volunteers on the importance of conserving, protecting, and rehabilitating nature to ensure sustainable livelihoods.
The GREduAction programme also incorporates a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) approach to enhance its impact.
Speaking to Malay Mail during one of their GREduAction activities at the Mid Valley riverine — nicknamed Mid Valley River 3 (MVR3) — Toh said that they normally require about 20 volunteers every weekend to carry out their initiatives.
Each session typically lasts two to three hours and includes activities such as briefing and debriefing, cleaning up the MVR3 area, and constructing garden beds and amenities like walking trails.
After six years and with the help of around 7,000 volunteers, MVR3 — once filled with trash — has been transformed. Today, it thrives with various species of trees and flowers, and the area has even seen the return of wildlife, including birds, bees, and other insects.
According to Toh, while this milestone is undoubtedly a positive sign, it is just the beginning. There is still a long journey ahead to transform the areas into self-sustaining riverine parks that will ideally be accessible to the public in the future.
Despite her years of dedication, the journey hasn’t always been smooth for Toh. At times, she found herself questioning the purpose behind her efforts.
Toh explained that there were times when she questioned her efforts, feeling foolish for sacrificing her sleep every Sunday and wondering about the purpose of their work.
However, the programme gained traction, and more volunteers joined.
They also started holding sharing sessions after each clean-up and during these sessions, the volunteers would reflect on what they had learned and express their appreciation.
Toh shared that to hear the volunteers say they appreciate her really made her day.
“I didn’t know I could inspire and empower another individual — I’ve found the meaning and purpose along this journey,” Toh said.
She added that most of their volunteers are students and members of the local community.
Toh also spoke about a group of students from Methodist College Kuala Lumpur (MCKL) who first joined ART! to complete their 20-hour community service requirement. However, after completing their 20 hours, they chose to continue volunteering and formed a group called ‘Beyond 20’. This group now gathers volunteers and helps ART! at least once a month.
“That’s another small win for me. If you want to train our people to become more civic minded, this is how you can teach them, by doing it on the ground,” she said.
A sustainable future
ART!’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Over the years, they have received various awards and accolades, including the MIP MYPlace Award 2023 from the Malaysian Institute of Planners and the Selangor Maritime Gateway Innovative Challenge 2021.
According to ART!’s founder Kennedy Michael, looking back at what they have achieved throughout the years has proven to him that people believe in what they are doing, with some even going the extra mile by providing them with various support including monetary.
“We have a 12-year plan and our target is to finish it by September 2030, which is consistent with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“At the moment we are using the placemaking approach and we would help in building or rejuvenating the area based on its existing ecosystem,” Michael said.
Among the ways they plan to do this is by building a water-catchment system and creating a pop-up pollinator garden to attract bees and butterflies for plant pollination in the area.
Using the country's rainforests as an example, Michael said they will continue to nurture the ecosystem at their riverine parks until it can fully sustain itself.
“If you look at our rainforests, we don’t see anyone going there daily to water the plants or fertilise them, it’s all already within their ecosystem.
“So, we learn from nature, as long as we keep the ecosystem in balance now, it will take care of itself in the future,” he said.
The caretakers
Aside from the student volunteers who helped clean up MVR3, the approximately one-kilometre stretch is also cared for by volunteer gardeners from the nearby Putra Ria apartment, who come daily to tend to the garden at the riverine.
Initially, the gardeners opted for monoculture farming, planting only banana trees. However, after receiving advice from Toh, they switched to polyculture farming, and the garden area now grows various vegetable plants and fruit trees such as pineapples, bananas, peanuts, soursop, cosmos caudatus (ulam raja), papayas, and more.
According to one of the volunteer gardeners, Norsyam Hassan, another resident of Putra Ria originally started gardening in the area. However, after his passing, Norsyam and three of his friends decided to continue the effort in 2019.
Around the same time, they accidentally came across Toh and her team, who were cleaning up the area. Both groups reached an agreement to collaborate in rejuvenating the space.
Norsyam, now a retired administrator from Universiti Malaya, also mentioned that he and his friends have been able to earn some side income by selling their crop yields to nearby mini-markets and food stalls. He added that they recently sold 25 kilogrammes of peanuts.
“But money is not the reason why we do this. For me, I love recreational activities, and gardening is one of the ways to keep me active, especially now that I’m retired, I come down to the garden daily.
“My friends and I would take turns — if I went there in the morning, they would come down in the evening to tend to the plants. We love coming here. It’s peaceful although we’re in the middle of the city,” Norsyam said.
Despite ART!’s weekly clean-up sessions and the gardeners tending to the garden daily, Norsyam said it still doesn’t stop people from dumping trash around the area.
He frequently comes across all sorts of rubbish, with the worst being urine-filled water bottles. However, this does not dampen his spirits; he remains committed to continuing his efforts to care for the place.
Norsyam added that he has noticed more wildlife in the area, from monitor lizards to fish. Once he even spotted a family of otters playing nearby.
