Author: Ooi Zhe Yi, Year 8T, TISS
Date: February 2022
As I lay nauseated in the putrid waters of Kim Kim River in Malaysia, thoughts of how this all began floated in my mind…
There was once a little adorable fish (that’s me!) that was born in Arakawa River, Fukushima Japan on 11 March 2010. I lived a happy life, with my loving parents, with lots of friends in a massive fish community. Come 11 March 2011 (which happened to be my birthday), an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 hit Fukushima resulting in disastrous nuclear accident, spewing noxious radioactive isotopes into my home.
I could hear the desperate screams and petrified yells that rang through and reverberated off the banks of the river and into the night. They knew that that the hour has come, their time on this Earth was over and that there was no more any chance of survival. Pain etched upon their faces, they gasped their last breath and then before my very eyes, one by one breathed their last breath before death welcomed them in open arms.
I could feel it – the atmosphere of pain and terror. Every fish raced that were still alive hurtled neck to neck towards the open ocean. I could feel my own heart pounding against my ribcage like a massive drum in fear of death. Adrenaline pumping, I raced toward the open sea, frantically flapping my fins at a speed like never before and just made it in time to escape the clutches of death. A cohesion of conflicting feelings exploded inside me – the happiness of being a survivor, yet as I looked back at the small river which had been my home and my happiness, grief washed over me as I knew I never would see my home again. I looked back for the very last time and swam to the open ocean and not looking back.
I swam and swam, swimming as fast as I could, towards the horizon and the vast expanse of the massive, endless ocean knowing I would have to brave the dangers until I reached somewhere safe, far far away from the clutches of the toxic radiation. As I swam, I marvelled at the stunning, and magnificent wonders of the ocean -- multicoloured corals, diving dolphins, and a never-ending school after school of unique species of fish, absolutely took my breath away, made my eyes pop out of my head, leaving me gaping like a goldfish (I’m not actually a goldfish).
Then, my eyes fell upon a revolting sight – islands after islands of garbage surrounded by a revolting, soupy mush consisting of microplastics mixed with water. Then it struck me. This was the 1.6 million kilometers squared of garbage known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch! I had heard of stories about it, ones I believed to be rather exaggerated but now I knew to be true. While the Fukushima incident could be labelled as something incurred by nature’s wrath and was not exactly caused by humans - the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is undeniably caused by humans. Witnessing cute sea turtles and other marine creatures fall victim to plastic pollution, choking on plastic waste believing it to be food, deeply depressed me; leaving me to also wonder why would humans want to pollute nature’s such beautiful and pristine oceans, and effectively eradicate nature’s beauty?
My dearest mother couldn’t keep up with me and with her last breath urged me to swim on till I found the waters of Malaysia, because in her mind, she believed it would be a clean sanctuary. Keeping her words in minds, I trudged along and at long last, I found Kim Kim River in Malaysia to settle down my weary body. I looked forward to a long happy life.
Not long later, I had children and one day, when I set out to find food, I noticed mutations occurring on me. My scales fell off, one of my flippers fell off, and a cancerous bump formed on my head. That was the work of the radiation all right. I dreaded to think what my offspring would think of me.
When I was nearly home, I realized it was dejavu. A foul, putrid stench filled the river! Nestle, a world-renowned company for its food decided to dump toxic waste into the river, leaving devastation in its wake… which not only poisoned my family and friends here, but also poisoned humans themselves in the thousands, leading so many to be hospitalized. On top of that, because the water source was unfit for drinking so the people had to rely on bottled water and had to line up with pails to receive water given off by trucks. Nestle’s slogan is “Good food, good life” but where is the essence of the slogan if they are poisoning water sources, killing life, and getting people hospitalized? Schools in Pasir Gudang had to be closed. Don’t they care about their children? And apparently Nestle just got off with just a RM 90000 fine! Actually, many other factories were also using the waterways to discharge wastewater containing toxic chemicals- which they claimed to be treated but in actual fact is not. To make matters worse, an oil spill coated the river in a murky blanket of black death.
Tears welled up in my eyes. History was repeating itself as all around me fishes, one by one, started to once again drop dead like before, falling victim to the pollution. I could not bear watching them all writhe in agony until they finally went limp. I raced away from there hoping to escape the pollution, wondering if my life be a never-ending race from one ‘sanctuary’ to another? Would I ever find a peaceful place where I needn’t worry about pollution, a place where no one has ever heard of pollution? My entire life turned topsy-turvy and was, once again, was at the brink of collapse. Everything I cared about vanished once more.
Water pollution is a heinous crime, an atrocity that have not only harmed wildlife, but also humans themselves too! Don’t humans with their big smart brains know that humans too will take the brunt of pollution because if an animal along the food chain has plastic, it will pass from one organism to another until it reaches the mouths of humans. What happened to their brains!? Maybe we fishes are smarter than them!
There are many ways to help prevent water pollution. For example, dispose litter properly. Humans expect that there will be someone else to clean up after them, but if everyone has the same mindset, Malaysia’s rivers and sea will be extremely polluted with rubbish. It would be even better if they pick any litter that they see so that rubbish won’t get washed into the sea and pollute the environment. Additionally, they can also help reduce rubbish creation by using less single-use plastic. Instead use reusable bags and reusable water bottles and follow the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle). After all, finding a recycling bin and putting in recyclables is not that difficult! In addition, they can help volunteer for beach or river cleanups. Furthermore, they can also help by reducing the use of pesticides and herbicides which inevitably will find their way into water bodies poisoning marine life.
I hope this story will bring awareness among humans that we all live in the same planet and need our waters to be clean in order for everyone to survive. Although many humans don’t care about water pollution and it’s adverse effects, I know that some humans do understand and have taken steps to do something about it. Do scan the QR code below to see more on how humans can help contribute to keeping our waters safe and clean. Don’t let me die in vain. Thank you.
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