Latest news with #KlangRiver
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Malay Mail
Shah Alam police confirm drowning deaths of two boys at Klang flood mitigation project site
SHAH ALAM, July 19 — Two boys who were found drowned at Jalan Cili Merah, Section 24, here yesterday are believed to have been swimming in a water-filled area at the Klang River Flood Mitigation Project site, according to police. Shah Alam police chief ACP Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said, according to witness accounts, the victims, aged nine and 12, had gone to the area to swim before they were found drowned. 'Police were informed of the incident involving the victims at 8.50 pm last night by a member of the public. 'Examination of both victims' bodies found no signs of struggle or other injuries that could have caused their deaths,' he said in a statement today. He said the bodies were sent to Shah Alam Hospital for post-mortem examination. Mohd Iqbal said the case has been classified as sudden death and urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Investigating Officer Inspector Mohd Fildza Che Ibrahim at 016-9537372. Yesterday, the two boys were found unconscious at the scene before being pronounced dead. — Bernama
Malay Mail
16-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Klang River restoration lays bare haunting finds — over 10 bodies including baby discovered since 2022, along with fridges, motorbikes
SHAH ALAM – More than 10 bodies, including that of an infant, have been discovered during the ongoing Klang River Flood Mitigation Project under the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) initiative, shedding light on a grim reality behind the restoration of the river. As reported by Sinar Harian, Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (LLSB) managing director, Syaiful Azmen Nordin, said the discovery of bodies is not an isolated incident but has occurred almost monthly since dredging and widening works began on November 1, 2022. 'So far, we have handed over more than 10 bodies to the police and fire department for further investigation,' he was quoted as saying. Aside from the grim finds, the team has also encountered severe pollution, having retrieved various heavy waste items such as refrigerators, lorry tyres, bed frames, mattresses, sofas and even motorcycles from the riverbed. 'I honestly don't understand how a fridge ends up in the river,' he said, describing the current level of pollution as severe and a challenge to the dredging efforts. The mitigation project forms part of SMG's holistic efforts to increase the Klang River's capacity by up to 40 per cent, while also rehabilitating the ecosystem and improving water quality to at least Class III on the Water Quality Index (WQI).
Independent Singapore
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Independent Singapore
LEGOLAND Malaysia to stage Asia's Biggest School LEGO Challenge in 2025
MALAYSIA: The LEGOLAND School Challenge 2025 is now back with more fun and enjoyable activities for students. Now in its fourth year, its goal is to inspire students across Asia, including Singapore, to unleash their creative minds through building on innovative and impressive ideas. In collaboration with Malaysia's Ministry of Education, this event marks a new beginning for a challenge that began in 2022. Now, in 2025, the edition will be more promising, with exciting new features, bigger prizes, and unforgettable experiences. Vice President of LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, Cs Lim, remarked: 'The LEGOLAND School Challenge has always been more than just a competition. As an event centered around our LEGO DNA of learning through play, it helps cultivate essential skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and innovation in our future leaders. Since we expanded last year to include participation from schools across Asia, this has also become an avenue for cultural exchange for students and teachers alike. We look forward to welcoming more participants this year across the region and seeing their creativity unleashed.' See also Nature reclaims Klang River as otters make a joyful comeback 'Build Your Dream Destination' With a new theme, 'Build Your Dream Destination,' the 2025 LEGOLAND School Challenge is open to three age groups: seven to nine, 10 to 12, and 13 to 17. This year, the competition invites students to imagine their desired travel getaway and bring it to life through LEGO bricks. Moreover, participants are encouraged to let their imaginations be limitless–from futuristic underwater cities to dreamlands in space–and tell a story through their work. With the students' design skills and technical building techniques, they will be able to visualise and present their dream destinations in a colourful and inspiring way. What's new in 2025? For this year, the 2025 LEGOLAND School Challenge has two exciting additions to make the event more exciting. Bigger Prizes: Grand Prizes Go Global Winners in the Primary and Secondary categories will win a trip to LEGOLAND Korea, while champions in the Junior category will have a special getaway at LEGOLAND Malaysia. New element: Speed Building Showdown The finale will include a live Speed Building Challenge, in which the top five finalist teams in each age group will compete in front of the judges and a live audience. They will race and complete a unique LEGO set in just 45 minutes. Furthermore, finalist teams will also be awarded a three-day, two-night stay at the LEGOLAND Hotel, with exclusive LEGO trophies, LEGO sets, and annual passes to LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort. Nathanael Yap, a three-time Grand Prize winner, admitted: 'Being part of the LEGOLAND School Challenge for three years in a row was honestly one of the best parts of my school life. Every year, I got to team up with friends, solve problems in creative ways, and build something we were proud of — brick by brick. It taught me how fun learning can be when you get to think outside the box.' He added: Even though I've graduated and can't take part anymore, the experience has stayed with me. As I look ahead to university and start thinking more seriously about my future, I realise how much the Challenge helped shape my interests, especially in areas like design, engineering, and creative thinking. I'm excited to see what this year's participants will build, and I hope they take the chance to push themselves and discover what they're capable of.' To join the event, each team must have three to four students and one teacher. Registration is now open and will close on Jun 15, 2025. You can sign up here: LEGOLAND School Challenge Registration . You can also follow LEGOLAND Malaysia on their social media accounts to be updated.
Al Jazeera
17-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Malaysia's ‘fish hunters' target invasive species, one catch at a time
Puchong, Malaysia – On a recent Sunday morning, about a dozen men with fishing nets skirted the rubbish-strewn banks of the Klang River just outside the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. Surveying the river, the men cast their nets into the polluted water. The nets billowed open and sunk quickly under the weight of metal chains. From where they stood on the riverbank, they started to pull in their nets, already filled with dozens of squirming black-bodied catfish. 'You don't see any other fish. Only these,' said Mohamad Haziq A Rahman, the leader of Malaysia's 'foreign fish hunter squad', as they emptied their catch of wriggling suckermouth catfish into piles, away from the river. None of the fish caught that morning were sold at nearby markets or food stalls. The sole purpose of the expedition was to cull suckermouth catfish, one among a growing number of invasive species that have in recent decades dominated freshwater habitats across Southeast Asia. Once brought in for commercial or hobbyist reasons, invasive fish are not only threatening to edge native species out of the food chain in Malaysia and elsewhere, but they also spread diseases and cause great damage to local environments. Invasive fish are a problem the world over, but experts say the issue is keenly felt in mega-biodiverse Malaysia. 'More than 80 percent of rivers in the Klang Valley have been invaded by foreign fish species, which can cause the extinction of the rivers' indigenous aquatic life,' said Dr Kalithasan Kailasam, a river expert with the Malaysia-based Global Environment Centre. 'It's growing in almost all other main rivers in Malaysia,' said Kailasam, explaining how species such as the suckermouth have the potential to quickly reproduce and survive in dirty water, leaving local fish on the losing side. Aside from the suckermouth, Malaysia's waterways are now threatened by species such as the aggressive peacock bass, Javanese carp and redtail catfish, he said. While the full extent of the problem is not yet known, Malaysia's fisheries department, after a four-year study until 2024, found invasive species in 39 areas across nearly every state in peninsular Malaysia and on the island of Labuan, including in dams, lakes and major rivers. Alarmed by the threat, a small group of citizens banded together to fight the aquatic invaders. Led by Haziq, they are working to reclaim Malaysia's rivers one fin at a time. The citizen fish hunters' quest to fight invasive species started during the country's COVID-19 lockdowns, when Haziq, a former healthcare consultant, turned to fishing as a pastime in a river near his house in central Selangor state. He found every fish he caught was of the suckermouth variety, also known as the 'pleco' or 'ikan bandaraya' – which translates as the 'janitor fish' in Malay and is favoured by hobbyists to keep aquariums clean, as the suckermouth feeds on algae, leftover food and dead fish. Native to South America, varieties of the suckermouth have also been introduced into waterways in the United States, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, often when owners dump them into rivers, canals, dams or free them after they grow too large for their aquarium tanks. Because of their thick, scaly skin, suckermouths are usually avoided by even larger predators in Malaysia, and can grow to about half a metre (1.6ft) in length. As bottom feeders, the catfish have been known to eat the eggs of other species and destroy their nesting sites. Catfish also burrow into riverbanks to nest, causing them to erode and collapse, which is a serious environmental issue in flood-prone Malaysia where year-end monsoon winds bring heavy rain. Malaysia's central bank said in 2024 that floods are the cause of 85 percent of the country's natural disasters, with their frequency increasing since 2020. Though far from his favourite fish to catch, Haziq discovered that suckerfish roe could be used as bait for other bigger fish, and he earned some money selling their eggs to other fishing enthusiasts. He also gained a following by putting his exploits on social media. Further research then led him to learn about the threats posed by invasive species. Harziq started to attract like-minded anglers, and, in 2022, they decided to form a group for hunting suckermouth, meeting nearly every week in a river to carry out a cull. Their public profile and popularity are growing. The group's membership has now grown to more than 1,000, and it has a strong fan following on social media. 'People kept asking how to join our group, because we were looking at the ecosystem,' Haziq said. Focusing first on Malaysia's Selangor state and rivers in the capital Kuala Lumpur, the fish hunter squad netted nearly 31 tonnes of suckermouths alone in 2024. They have also visited rivers in other states in Malaysia as their campaign expands. During a hunt in the Klang River earlier this year, Haziq and his comrades deployed to the river's banks on a mission to see how many suckermouth they could catch during a single outing. But hunting for invasive fish can be tricky. Without boats, the hunters have to wade into the fast-moving polluted waters from muddy banks, while navigating underwater debris such as rubbish on the riverbed. Almost all the fish they caught were of the invasive kind, but once in a while, they do net a local. 'Haruan (snakehead)!' shouted ex-navy diver Syuhaily Hasibullah, 46, as he showed off a small fish half the size of his arm, taken from a net containing several suckermouths. 'This one is rare! There used to be a lot of them in the river,' he told Al Jazeera. Haziq said if the hunters found many invasive species in their nets, they would organise another outing to the same location, bringing along more people to take part. The day they set out to calculate how many invasive fish they could catch in a single outing turned out to yield half a tonne of suckermouth in just three hours – so many they had to stuff them into sacks. Previously, the hunters buried their hauls in deep holes away from the river. Now, they have found more creative ways to dispose of what is, generally, an unwanted fish. At the event earlier this year, sacks of suckermouths were handed over to a local entrepreneur looking to experiment with turning the fish into a form of charcoal known as biochar. Some local universities have also started researching the possible use of the suckermouth. One university research article explored the potential of suckermouth collagen for pharmaceutical use, while another considered its use as fertiliser or even as a type of leather. On some occasions, the hunters even eat the fish they catch, though that depends on which river they have been taken from. While redtail or African catfish are considered delicacies by some, the suckermouth, also known in India as 'devil fish', is a less attractive snacking option – but not out of the question when it comes to a quick riverside grill. 'If the fish is from the Klang River, we don't eat it,' Mohd Zulkifli Mokhtar told Al Jazeera, before dozens of hunters broke their fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. 'But if it's from the Langat River, it's still OK,' Zulkifli said, as dozens of suckermouth caught in the less polluted Langat River, located in Bangi some 25km (16 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur, were gutted, marinated in satay and grilled on skewers. Studies from Bangladesh and Indonesia have found varieties of catfish with high levels of heavy metals and contaminants. A 2024 article by Malaysia's Universiti Teknologi Mara cited a study that showed the level of contaminants in the suckermouth was 'heavily influenced by the level of pollution in the river'. While Malaysia's fisheries department said there were no records of local species becoming endangered because of invasive ones, native fish nevertheless face threats. Local fish either faced becoming prey or have had to fight to survive, with the department finding in a survey that 90 percent of the fish in six rivers in the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur region were now foreign arrivals. The department's Director-General Adnan Hussain said various measures had been put in place, including the release of some 33.6 million native fish and prawns into rivers nationwide from 2021 to 2025 to 'balance the impact' of invasive fish. Late last year, the state government of Selangor also came up with a scheme to pay anglers one Malaysian ringgit ($0.23) for every kilogramme (2.2lb) of the suckermouth fish removed from two rivers. The captured fish were to be turned into animal feed and organic fertiliser, an official said. Restrictions on the import of certain foreign aquatic species – including entire species and groups – into Malaysia were also imposed last year, and he added that programmes and collaboration with the fish hunters had also helped to deal with the problem. In one river in Selangor state, Adnan said the amount of invasive fish caught following one eradication programme had dropped from 600kg (1,300lb) in a May 2024 event to just more than 150kg (330lb) four or five months later. However, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu fish researcher Professor Amirrudin Ahmad said it was 'almost impossible' to fully exterminate the country's invasive fish. 'So many species live in (native water bodies) and getting rid of invasive species by the means of poisoning the water is not feasible at all,' he said, adding there were close to 80 recorded fish species introduced in Malaysia so far. He further warned that rising temperatures caused by climate change may even allow species like the predatory Mekong redtail catfish to proliferate in cooler upstream waters in Malaysia. 'They are here to stay,' Amirrudin said. 'It is simply,' he said, 'that the environment is mostly similar to their native country, or these species are highly adaptable.' That this is an ecological war that can never truly be won is a point that Haziq and his fellow fish hunters are fully aware of. Nearly every river they visited in recent times had almost nothing but invasive fish, he said. But their mission will carry on, he added, along with the hunting and public awareness that has spurred thousands to follow his social media videos on the subject. 'Yes, this fish won't be completely gone from our rivers,' he told Al Jazeera. 'But if we don't act now, it would be worse,' he said. 'It's better to take action than to just leave it alone,' he added. 'At least we can reduce the population, than allow it to completely take over our local fish.'
