This outing attracted 112 people comprising of 81 local Lions, 1 outstation Lion, 2 Leos from SETA and 30 friends of Lions. The outstation
Lion was DC Youth Camp & Exchange / Alert Region 7 & 8, Lion Tai Teck Hock who came for the project after reading the article in the
press. We would like to extend our gratitude to him for his staunch Lions spirit.
Most of the entourage went with the bus to Tanjung Piai Johor National Park which was located at the Southermost Tip of Mainland Asia,
about 10 km from Kukup in Pontian and about 2-hour drive from Johor Bahru.
Many Lions drove to Tanjung Piai with their own vehicles including us. 1st VP Lion Richard Chiang drove us, President Liza Lau and Lion
Edward Lee together with his two sons, Yen Harng and Yen Liang to Tanjung Piai. All of us reached our destination right on time at 9.30
am and the ceremony was carried out after everything was set up. Lion Beryl Kua was the Master of Ceremony and as usual she called up
the VIPs to give their addresses:
OC Lion Cheong Chee Jiun gave his welcoming address which was followed by the address of Encik Mohamad Fadzil Bin Abu Bakar,
Penolong Pengarah Perhutanan Negeri Johor. Immediately after this, Mr Ng Chin Chong, the District Counsellor of Pontian was called
upon to address us and finally the Manager of Tanjung Piai Johor National Park took the rostrum to brief us on the wonders of Tanjung
Piai.
After the speeches, Region 8 Chairperson Lion Jaclyn Ng was called up to present the momentos to the three related parties.
After the presentation of momentos, we were led to the area deep at the edge of the Southern tip to start our tree planting. It was very tricky
to track on the muddy terrain. Some were scared to plod through the muddy ground, while others got their boots stuck deep in the mud
and stood there frozen with frights. Many succumbed to the fear of stepping into quicksands, quickly retreated to dry solid land. But the fun
was there and those who had planted the trees successfully could tell you that they really enjoyed it.
Altogether, we had planted 500 trees and we hope that these trees, when they grow up, will be able to hold the land before it disappeared
due to the rising tides. We wish to thank the Pengarah of Perhutanan Negeri Johor, Dr. Hj. Abd Rahman Bin Hj. Abd. Rahim for supplying
us 500 young seedlings of Rhizophora Stylosa or commonly known as “Bakau” tree in the local Malay language.
The tree planting project ended at about 12.00 noon and it was time to set our journey home. While it was also time for lunch, we stopped
at Kukup for seafood lunch before we set our foot down the accelerator of our car. It was a very enjoyable and memorable outing for
Region 8.
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