Patriotism and conservation dive hand in hand

Doing their part: scuba divers cleaning up the ocean reefs in the waters off Bidong Island in terengganu. — Bernama

BANDAR PERMAISURI: As a way of ushering in Malaysia’s 62nd National Day celebrations, 120 scuba divers took part in the Bidong Merdeka Dive 2019 to clean up the coral reefs and fly the Jalur Gemilang underwater to show their love for the country and its natural beauty.Co-organised by the Terengganu office of the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), the four-day programme, which began on Aug 22 with the theme “Dive For Debris”, was initiated in line with the theme of this year’s celebrations – “Sayangi Malaysiaku: Malaysia Bersih” (Love Our Malaysia: A Clean Malaysia).

Terengganu Motac director and one of the divers, Zanariah Zakaria, said the programme also aimed to raise awareness and gain support from the public and relevant organisations to play a role in conserving the coral reef ecosystem and clean debris and garbage from it.