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Wildlife and environmental education, civic engagement and market transformation: these are the three themes of Be A Shark Hero (BASH), a two year-long shark conservation advocacy programme led by SSMY in partnership with WWF-Malaysia.
Running from July 2017, the programme follows from the 2016 multi-NGO My Fin My Life Malaysia-wide campaign. BASH continues this shark conservation advocacy through education and empowerment.
Programme objectives:
- Reduce the consumption of sharks and shark fin and establish better management plans for our sharks:
- Engage Malaysians by taking action on shark finning and consumption through social media and public events.
- Promote volunteerism and empower people in protecting wildlife and nature conservation.
- Persuade businesses to remove shark fins from their corporate dining menus, particularly shark fin caterers.
Chitra Devi (WWF) [left] and Abner Yap (SSMY) [right] with a Pocotee mascot, one of the BASH partners.
“WWF-Malaysia believes that shark conservation is a long-term initiative and we need to continue our efforts and work with partners for a period of time before we could reverse the situation and see significant results.” - Chitra Devi, WWF-Malaysia Sustainable Seafood Manager
“To spread awareness about saving sharks effectively, we have to inspire others to make changes and make the awareness go viral. We need to engage conspicuously with conservation, be vocal and proud to be a shark hero and make others want to follow suit.” - Abner Yap, SSMY CEO
BASH Projects
>> ‘I’m a Shark Hero’ name card templates Using these great digital name cards, pledge to save sharks and share your pledge on your social network. This is thanks to digital business card mobile application vendor Linkodes.
These digital name cards also help SSMY automatically keep tabs on the number of pledge. This reduces data entry time – volunteers normally need months to complete this – and cuts out manual data entry errors, therefore obtaining a 100% accurate information of pledgers.
>> ‘I’m a Shark Hero’ t-shirts Declare your infant a shark saver with these 100% cotton t-shirts and onesies by ZooBabies. The online premium t-shirt printing company will customise the clothing for you.
In addition, Wild Republic soft toy sharks are available in support of BASH. A percentage of sales is channelled to SSMY. You can also pledge through their campaign page.
The Be a Shark HeroConservation Run attracted 5000 participants.
>> The Shark Hero Conservation Run Hosted by Acexelent Sdn Bhd, this fun run drew 5000 participants of all ages and backgrounds from all over Malaysia. The 4km run and accompanying carnival were shark-themed. Participants were able to learn about sharks as well as sign pledges against shark-finning.
>> Experience Pocotee and Friends These popular mascots are lending a hand to SSMY campaigns through their CSR programme. Pocotee Loh is one of Malaysia’s most famous caricature artist with millions of user downloads of her renowned WeChat stickers. The cute cartoons feature on the BASH digital name card and the mascot makes an appearance at BASH events.
>> The Shark Hero & Friends Drawing Competition gives the chance to Malaysians of all ages to create artwork for shark conservation. Participants may use any medium and also record their creative process as part of the competition. This will feed into the upcoming Wedding Without Fins.
>> Wedding Without Fins actively seeks wedding event planners and bridal houses to collaborate meaningfully in raising awareness to save sharks. They do this by educating newlyweds-to-be to go for non-shark fin dishes at their wedding banquets.
>> Coming up:
- Emperor Taste is a gourmet event showcasing sumptuous Chinese dishes ‘fit for an emperor’ that demonstrate that there is no need to include sharkfin on the menu.
- World Oceans Day will see the participation of SSMY in events in shopping malls in the Klang Valley by NGOs MareCet and MNS Marine.
- SSMY will also be involved in the launch of the Legoland SEA Life Junior Rangers programme.
