Honour comes as leatherbacks return
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s “Turtle Lady”, Dr Chan Eng Heng, has been recognised yet again for her pioneering work in the conservation of marine turtles.
In the lead-up to Malaysia Day, Chan, 76, was among a select few honoured with the Merdeka Award at an event in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 4; she was chosen for the outstanding work she has done to protect turtles, with the award honouring her in the “Contribution to Environment and Planetary Health category”.
On its website, the Merdeka Award Trust said these carefully-chosen award recipients have “demonstrated the spirit of fostering a culture of excellence, and through their efforts, brought significant and sustained benefits to the people of Malaysia”.
In 2019, Chan was presented with a lifetime achievement award from the International Sea Turtle Society for her work that had a significant impact on sea turtle biology and conservation through the course of her career that saw her retiring as a professor at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).
Her efforts did not stop with her retirement in 2009, as she continued in her private capacity by co-founding the Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia.
Chan and her colleague, Assoc Prof Liew Hock Chark, co-founded the Sea Turtle Research Unit (Seatru) in 1984.
Seatru is now under UMT after Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences was absorbed into UMT following a restructuring exercise.
The unit has done a lot of pioneering work with marine turtles such as the leatherback and green turtles, along with riverine turtles.
When met, Chan said she was pleasantly surprised to be nominated for the award.
“I would like to thank the person or persons who nominated me.
“So far, no one has owned up as the one who put my name on the list.
“Whatever the case, I am grateful for this totally unexpected honour,” she said.
As if cheering Chan on winning the Merdeka Award, a leatherback turtle landing was recorded in Terengganu’s Rantau Abang this week, where 81 eggs were laid.
This is a notable event, following a landing at Pasir Putih Beach in Marang, Terengganu, on Sept 1, where a clutch with 44 eggs marked the first recorded appearance of the world’s largest turtle in the state since 2017, though no one saw the turtle.
In a statement yesterday, Teren-gganu Fisheries Department director Pang Nyukang said the landing at Rantau Abang is believed to have taken place between 1.30am and 2.30am yesterday, with the nest found by a licensed turtle egg collector at 4am.
Just like the Sept 1 landing, no one actually saw the turtle, with authorities making an educated guess about its appearance through the size of the tracks on the beach, as well as the appearance of the eggs.
“The Fisheries Department does not rule out the possibility that the leatherback turtle that landed was the same mother that landed and laid eggs at Pasir Putih Beach about two weeks ago,” Pang said.
On the fate of the clutch of leatherback turtle eggs retrieved from the Sept 1 landing, Chan said she was eagerly anticipating whether the incubation by the Fisheries Department hatchery will produce any hatchlings.
Typically, leatherback eggs take 50 to 70 days to hatch.
