Astro Kasih Beautiful Malaysia

Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad is a leading integrated consumer media entertainment group which has a key presence in Malaysia and various other Southeast Asian markets. The group is also known for its strong corporate social responsibility ethic, and has recently announced its second marine conservation effort, called Astro Kasih ‘Beautiful Malaysia’. The effort entails an attempt to set a Guinness World Records™ title for the Longest Underwater Clean Up at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

This mammoth effort is set to take place over a week from the 6^th to the 13^th April 2013. Astro’s marine conservation initiative has been backed by organizations like the Sabah State Government, Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and the Sabah Journalist Association. Astro and its employees have been involved in various community service efforts in Sabah since 2009.

In 2011, the Astro group launched its first Astro Kasih Beautiful Malaysia Corporate Social Responsibility project and it went on to successfully transplant 777 individual corals at the Ribbon Reef located within the Tun Sakaran Marine Park in Sabah. This first effort was a huge success and the project gained immediate entry into the Malaysia Book of Records, for it eclipsed the previous record which had featured the transplant of 501 individual corals.

In order that a new Guinness world record is established, the divers who have registered for this huge clean-up effort will need to dive for a minimum of 168 hours and perform a continuous clean-up activity. The company has invited all certified divers to participate in this grand effort which will take place at 14 dive sites surrounding the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu.

Details of the endeavor are listed below but are also available on the website -Astro Kasih Beautiful Malaysia.

·         The company has invited all certified to take part in this massive cleanup effort. The divers joining the effort are expected to possess a diving certificate from a recognized diving agency such as PADI, NAUI, CMAS, BSAC or SSI with a minimum of 20 day dives (Open Water) or 10 night dives (Advanced Open Water).

·         The company will provide divers with complimentary boarding and lodging  at the Sutera Harbour Resort in Kota Kinabalu

·         Each participant will be performing a maximum of three dives per day or night. As the requirements for establishing the Guinness World record, stipulate that it needs to be a continuous clean-up activity. Participants are expected to dive at nighttime, and also during rainy weather.

·         Each clean-up team will consist of a minimum of 2 divers, of which one will be a professional dive guide/instructor.

·         Each dive is fixed at 40 minutes and the maximum depth of each dive is expected to be approximately 14 meters (45 feet).

·         The surface interval between dives will generally be two hours and during this time, the participant will be able to rest on a base boat or on a beach where food and drinks will be provided.

·         The divers will be required to use their own equipment for their dives though the company will provide divers with scuba tanks, weights and weight belts.

·         The clean-up effort itself will entail the removing of objects that don’t intrinsically belong to a coral reef like plastic, rubber, cloth and paper. However, the divers will not be expected to extract objects which are too heavy or which have gotten incorporated into the reef. After the objects have been removed, they will be sorted out into various categories so that they can be documented, recorded and finally properly disposed-off by the authorities.

·         Once the effort has been successfully completed, each diver will receive an Individual Guinness World Records certificate for his/her effort.

·         A Grand celebration party will be held to commemorate the success of the event on April 13^th during which selected divers will be awarded with various attractive prizes.

In addition to this clean-up effort, the company will also host another event – Astro Kasih Marine Conservation Day on 13^th April from 6.30am till 4.30 pm at the Taman Awam Teluk Likas in  Kota Kinabalu. This event will feature many informative and entertaining events like marine conservation talks, beach cleaning events, coloring and painting contests, sand sculpting competitions, cooking demos by celebrity chefs, mini music concerts and more. This event is open to the public and offers free admission.

Astro’s ‘Beautiful Malaysia’ effort should serve as an inspiration to other corporates all over the world, so that they too are encouraged to do their part to make planet earth a better place to live in.

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