The Return: A 2nd Chance

Sad, sad, sad

2008-08-22T17:46:00.002+08:00

Injured lost baby whale euthanized in Australia
By KRISTEN GELINEAU – 8 hours ago
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — An injured and abandoned baby humpback whale was euthanized by wildlife officials Friday after veterinarians determined it was too weak to survive on its own.
The plight of the whale calf, which Australians have nicknamed "Colin," has dominated news coverage here since it was first sighted Sunday and began trying to suckle from boats it apparently mistook for its mother.
Friday morning, the 14-foot-long animal was guided close to the shore and could be seen thrashing about. Officials reached out to stroke the calf before others hoisted it onto a tarp. The whale was then pulled into a tent on the beach and gray tarps were hung to obscure the operation.
Roger Bell, spokesman for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, said the animal was given an anesthetic in the water before a lethal drug was administered on shore. He said it died around 9 a.m.
"The whale suffered as little as possible," he told The Associated Press.
"Shame! Shame!" cried Brett Devine, a rescue worker who had hoped to feed the whale via a tube.
Eight maritime police boats patrolled the waters to keep the public and media from approaching.
"It's a tragic end to a program that dozens of people have put their hearts and souls into," John Dengate of the wildlife service told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Officials believe the 1- to 2-month-old calf was abandoned by its mother, possibly because it was ill. Wildlife officials said it appeared the whale had also been attacked by a shark.
It spent days among the yachts and other boats in the waters off north Sydney, swimming back to the boats each time officials lured it out to sea in the hope it would attach to a passing pod of humpback whales.
"As the calf is still being breast fed, we have no way of feeding or socializing it, so taking this humpback into captivity is not an option," the National Parks and Wildlife Service said in a statement this week.
On Thursday, veterinarians and marine researchers who examined the whale found that its condition was deteriorating quickly and that euthanizing it was the most humane option.
"We have a whale whose condition has deteriorated rapidly over the last 24 hours, and who now experts are telling us is suffering, and we've had to make the hard decision to euthanize the whale," Barnes told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Friday morning. "It's a very emotional decision."
She said officials had sought national and international advice on how to help the lost whale but its condition had become too poor to treat.
Some Australians have accused wildlife officials of not doing enough to help the calf and not trying to feed it. A few people designed feeding mechanisms, many gave advice, and some journeyed to Pittwater Inlet just to watch the lonely calf.
On Thursday, Aboriginal whale whisperer Bunna Lawrie tried to soothe the listless animal. Adorned with feathers on his head and white paint markings on his face, Lawrie reached into the water to stroke Colin while singing a humming, tongue-rolling tune.
But after a few minutes the whale swam away to nuzzle a nearby yacht.
"He's missing the big fellas," said Lawrie, whose visit was broadcast on Channel 10 television.
Associated Press writer Tanalee Smith contributed to this report.

A Minor War

2008-05-18T12:39:00.004+08:00

So ok. There was a minor war that began between two blogs: http://hotpinkchili.blogspot.com/
and http://cherylest.blogspot.com. What started out as simple (and let's admit it, some rude) comments about Cindy trying a terrapin soup escalated into an all out war between Cindy, her supporters (fans?) and Cheryl (unwilling to participate as she was).

The situation stands thus. Cindy tried out a terrapin product. It's not a crime but only in theory. Although some of her proponents have suggested (some quite rudely I might add) that we target the sellers of these products and to stop placing blame in the consumer, we feel the need to state once and for all that NO ONE is to blame.

Capitalism dictates that whatever can be sold SHOULD be sold even to the extent of blatant exploitation.

Consumerism, being the flip side of the same coin also dictates that whatever can be consumed SHOULD be consumed be it turtles, terrapins, their eggs or whatever wildlife can be poached.

Now, let us examine a logical argument to this dilemma.

Some (in Cindy's website) have stated that if the selling stops, demand will die out. That in and of itself is already rather inaccurate as Cindy herself pointed out and I paraphrase "people will always be curious about these things".

On the other hand, if people were to commit to a boycott of these products to begin with, the cost of obtaining these products versus its returns (if NO ONE bought these things) would ensure that the sale does not happen again. It makes no sensee to stock something that does not sell does it?

And so it comes to this.

Environmental protectionism is not a game of finger pointing. We approached Cindy because she claimed to have consumed turtle products, a fight that we've been involved in for sometime now. That was our only agenda for as far as we're concerned, Cindy is a consumer with the potential for constructive change. No more no less.

Fact. Most turtle eggs and turtle products are tried at least only once by 'curious' customers, especially the ones visiting coastatl states like Terengganu and Kelanatan. This trade in exotic food is all the more damaging than the traditional indigenous use of turtle eggs and terrapin products because let's face it, one hundred 'curious' customers can inflict more damage on a nestful of limited eggs than a family of five ever could on a regular basis.

Our plea lies thus. Everyone has battled the temptation to take dope 'jut to see what it feels like'. To the ones that have managed to overcome this temptation, do the same for turtle eggs and turtle products.

If you already do not take these things, keep up the good work and spread the good word. We need all the help that we can get and to do that, we need to work objectively without these foolish games of personalising problems.

The Big Move

2008-05-15T10:38:00.004+08:00

Thought we were gone for good didn't you? Far from it, the Return has moved its base of operation to Penang. Penang beaches, here we come!! For those not in the know, Penang is the proud host of a National park at Muka Head which boasts its very own marine turtle sanctuary. Apparently, the hatchery bears witness to Olive Ridley and Green Turtle nestings.

Keep it posted. College may be over but for some of us, this mission is a lifelong commitment (emphasis on some of us: heehee).

The big move to Penang will showcase a new panel of fresh faces, long time environmentally conscious friends of mine. here's to a bigger and better future for the Return and a second chance for marine turtles in Malaysia and the world over.

the Earth song

2008-03-28T16:50:00.001+08:00

Padang Kemunting & Raptor Watch

2008-03-20T09:51:00.008+08:00

'the Return' made it to Padang Kemunting and also Raptor Watch 2008. Yes, 'the Return' and five volunteers went outstation for two days and they had loads and loads of fun. Seriously. The trip was the realization of our community outreach programme which translates in giving education about marine turtle conservation to rangers and rovers at SMK Methodist, Melaka. Not only managed to educate them, we also educate ourselves about raptors at Raptor Watch 2008 at Tanjung Ilham.

DAY ONE
Padang Kemunting, Melaka

Two hours sitting in the bus didn't make them expressionless.
Here they are, in front of Ismah Beach Resort where we stayed.

The Padang Kemunting Turtle Hatchery is just next to Ismah Beach Resort.
Look what we found: A real turtle, and they have few more there.

And we also saw the terrapins, REAL one.

Everybody was listening to Min Min from WWF
who explained how turtles hatch by the beach.

Mr. Leroy Luar and Ms. Samantha Hepburn educating
the Rangers and Rovers at SMK Methodist Melaka.

And surprisingly, they are more interested about our cause rather than our own
Taylor's College students :) great to know that there are people
out there who actually pay attention and do something.

And after quite a long day, strolling around Jonker street was not a bad idea.
FOOD FOOD FOOD SHOP SHOP SHOP TIRED SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP!

DAY TWO
Raptor Watch 2008, Tanjung Ilham, Melaka

He's the man :P

Seriously pity Aida, she must be missing water so bad. It was a very sunny and bright day earlier that day, but followed by a very cooling rain in the afternoon.

Don't exclude turtles. They also have their own percentage of narcissism. In this case, Aida dreams about being a mermaid for one day. Oh well...

These kids seriously in love with Aida. They hugged her, pinched her, ohh ask Aida. But they were sweet and let me snap few nice pics of them and Aida. KUDOS!

uh oh, the boys brigade. Smartass, all of them. One of the kid asked me, "hey, this is raptor watch right? how come we got turtle in here??". DUH.

Aida acting smart =_=

Not so sure who's attracted more to Aida (well, Aida loves daddys too *grins*)

He was too surprised, barely said anything but 'Hi'.

We spotted our lecturer's performance as well, Mr. Azmyl.

We will never be too tired for a picture or two, aye?

Green Day at Taylor's College

2008-03-12T01:01:00.009+08:00

From Green Apples, Green Marigold, Green Grapes, Green Kiwis, Green Jelly. GREEN!

And there was a picketing too...

And also performance from ProPassion team (thanks for the support guys)

Ah, also the anger management game, stomp the can!

Stomp one...two...31!

Finally, Nelson wins (again!) but the rest of the participants help to clean the stomped cans ;) good citizenship behavior, y' all.

Look who's comin'? The Hitz.fm crews are! They handed out some attractive prizes and the audience was really into it (even The Return team ;) )

We all know that Green Apple looks good, and also tastes good. That's why we challenged these guys to eat apple, in an innovative way, you don't even need hands ;) yeah you name it.

"Stand by me...oh darling darling stand, by meee....", was sung by Elisa and friend.

Calming voice and nice guitar. Introducing our singer cum guitar player: Imam.

Our own Melisa Suciati was singing too!

The Return would like to thank all of our performers, participants and audiences for showing up yesterday at The Courtyard to support the Green Day by The Return.
Check out your pictures (yes dude, if you were there!) here

YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED BIGTIME!

2008-03-07T15:17:00.003+08:00

You remember those stickers that turned up everywhere? Well, from now until next Thursday, they're gonna actually mean something. If these stickers (pictured above) end up on your person, come find anyone of 'the Return' members (we'll be wearing tags of our own: name tags that is), we'll ask you a coupla questions (three to five questions can't be that hard right?) and if you get them all right, you get a gift on the spot. Simple and lucrative. We have nothing to lose and you have everything to gain.

Turtle for Dummies Quiz Game Show

2008-03-07T01:52:00.008+08:00

Missing Aida's presence around campus, poking and reading your newspaper? This week she's back with the 'Turtle for Dummies' quiz game show. Yes fella, for you guys who are currently in beginner level at turtledom, we want to know how much you have learned since our official launch, and for that effort of learning, we are rewarding you with RM100 cash on the spot and goodie bag for participant who qualifies.

Aida touring around the campus, inviting people to join the game.

MC of the day, Mr. Prakash Jayakumar.

"We're up for the challenge!"

Think hard, harder, HARDER!

The second batch of participants.

And we have the winner here ladies and gentlemen :) Way to go!

We took loads and loads of pictures of those who were in The Courtyard. Grab 'em here!

Seeing Triple!

2008-03-03T17:05:00.005+08:00

This weekend, 'the Return' successfully attempted a major sleight of hand as we made THREE... yes, you read right; THREE.. simultaneous appearances at Amcorp Mall, Wisma Atria and Giant USJ.

1. Wisma Atria

Despite the fact that some of us don't even know where on earth is Wisma Atria, The Return team consists of four people, happily stuffed the booth and managed to put all of the clothes, household items, comic books, ceramics, and a lot of other things on the table,

and also on the floor.

These four people eagerly attract people to come and visit the booth,
and make them dig the mountain of clothes...

dig deeper...

and deeper...

and deeper... ^^

2. Amcorp Mall

Set as a garage sale fundraiser in keeping with our message of keeping our trash onland through reusing and reducing the amount waste that we produce, 'the Return' opened a booth courtesy of Amcorp Mall where we sold to the public juicy second hand goods gleaned from our peers in Taylor's College Petaling Jaya. We had clothes, knick-knacks, clothes, books and magazines, clothes and more clothes. Indeed, it seems KLites are true bargain hunters when it comes to clothes. We also ran into the X-Fresh FM Street Surfers and the My FM de gong dui (go brush-up on your Chinese pinyin) who made the event all the merrier!!

Janet Lee glammed up 'the Return'!!

MyFM de gong dui he 'the Return'

'the Return' @ Amcorp + escapees from Giant USJ

XFresh FM Street Surfers and 'the Return'

Xue Zhen found us through Janet's blog. Coolness!!

3. Giant USJ

Sunday 2nd March was an action-packed day for The Return team, as we split ourselves three ways, and seven of us went to Giant Supermarket near Summit PJ. We had a booth with our good friends, Christa and Leela from TrEES. We cold canvassed shoppers to sign our petition/ pledge - not forgetting to tell them about The Return campaign! All in all, we spent four busy hours talking to lots of aunties and uncles, passing them brochures, and giving hand-made paper star necklaces (a recyclable goodie!) to their kids/ grandkids. Shoppers were also surprised with an appearance by Aida the Turtle, as she strutted her stuff up and down the path, proud to have her photo taken with children and happy families. It was a great day. And a great success for our petition/ pledge drive - we got more than 200 signatures!

To Amcorp Mall, Wisma Atria and Giant USJ without whom we'd have no place to raise funds in, TrEES without whom we'd have no exhibition to exhibit in, Janet Lee without whom we'd have no exposure to our event, XFresh FM and MyFM without whom we'd have no added excitement to our event and to our supporters in Taylor's College Petaling Jaya without whom we'd have nothing to raise funds with, 'the Return' thanks you from the very depths of our carapace!!!!

The Return to SINGAPORE!

2008-03-03T16:56:00.001+08:00

We came, we tagged and we.. urm, annoyed? A part of the Return went to our neighbour down south for the weekend and while we were there, we tagged up a storm! We went to Orchard Road, Bugis Junction, Suntec City, Clarke Quay etc and, though incognito, left a blazing trail of tags in our wake. So, if you were one of those tagged and actually came to the website, why not just be part of this web community? Send us your photographs (preferably with the tag visible) and we will upload it into our blog and our flickr account.

The Return: A 2nd Chance at IYOR 2008

2008-02-22T16:11:00.004+08:00

So, you didn't see us buggin' you around Taylor's College?

Well, The Return: A 2nd Chance are currently participating in International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008, a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them.

IYOR Malaysia launched from February 20th to the 24th 2008

at One Utama New Wing Mall.

Nothing to do this weekend, huh? Drop by and say holla to Aida the Turtle (Pssst, Aida performed her Turtle dance last Wednesday!) and also The Return while doing some shopping spree ;) Hope to see you there!

For more information about IYOR 2008, log on to http://www.iyor.org

Breakfast with the Return

2008-02-18T09:10:00.004+08:00

Join us for breakfast as ‘the Return’ raises funds to start-up and run Taylor’s first ever Eco Club.

Date : 19 February 2008

Time : 8 - 11 am

Venue : The Courtyard, Taylor's College Petaling Jaya

Missing turtle eggs “Guess and Win” competition Winners

2008-02-18T09:02:00.007+08:00

You tried to guess the number of turtle eggs that we’ve recovered from their would-be poachers and rewards are in store for those with the most accurate guess. The prizes for this competition is proudly sponsored by Mandara Spa.

updates...

Guess what? There were 183 eggs in the basin. We have two winners for this competition and they are Nelson Tencoyeen and Yapp Ee May.

Nelson, you're getting an Aromatherapy Flower Footbath and Silk Slipper Treatment (completely free of charge!!!) as well as an RM50 rebate coupon.

Ee May will be receiving a 30 minute Refresher Facial also

with an RM50 rebate coupon.

Gotcha! Our Photographer Catched You.

2008-02-16T00:47:00.000+08:00

Official Launch Invitation

2008-02-12T22:05:00.000+08:00

One Month With The Return

2008-02-06T15:42:00.001+08:00

We will be launching the campaign on the 14th of February at the annexe from at 10.30am. If you are interested in knowing how we can all work together to make the world a safer place for marine turtles (and pick up some amazing goodies while you're at it) join us during our launch.

The Return has also lined up a month filled with fun and educational activities (many of these with great prizes to be won) for all of you. We will keep you updated about these competitions and more. Enter your name and email address in the comments box and we'll send you updates about the campaign.

Have you recycled today?

2008-01-24T17:26:00.000+08:00

We're Collecting!

2008-01-18T20:38:00.000+08:00

Looking mighty busy aren't we? For two consecutive weeks beginning next Monday (21st January), we will be set up in the courtyard collecting your contributions to marine turtle conservation.

Yes indeed! Bet you didn't know that reusing, reducing and recycling your stuff can help keep marine turtles free to swim around in the ocean for a long, long time to come.

Basically, most of the stuff that we so disdainfully throw away will eventually find its way into the ocean, putting marine turtles at risk of death and injury. Instead of letting your waste become potential marine turtle murderers, you could just renew its use-life for the benefit of the environment as well as people to whom your old stuff may come in handy.

Remember!!!
Venue: The Courtyard
Time: 12.00pm to 1.00pm from the 21st Jan to 1st Feb

We collect the following items (preferably in good working condition): old toys, old clothes, household appliances, books, magazines, old clothes... etc

Bookmarks for SALE!

2008-01-15T23:33:00.000+08:00

Our bookmarks are now available for purchase. With a minimum of RM1 (you can give us more if you feel like it :P), you will be able to mark your pages with a cute slice of infotainment. It will widen your knowledge about Marine Turtles. Get the bookmark from our team members or just holler at our shoutbox and we'll come to you.

Find the Missing Eggs!

2008-01-13T09:55:00.001+08:00

Marine turtles are completely and utterly threatened by:

1) Accidental capture by fishing industries (turtles breathe air. When they are caught or tangled up by shrimp trawlers or in drift nets, they drown)

2) Poaching of their eggs (Despite a blanket ban against the collection of marine turtle eggs, poachers continue to elude the authorities)

3) Coastal development ( Turtles are losing precious nesting grounds to hotels and resorts AND lights on the beach at night confuse and misdirect turtle hatchlings)

Now, 'the Return' is offering you a chance to learn something new about how you may help save marine turtles while having some fun while you're at it.

As you probably know by now (if you don't, catch up why don't you), the Return is organising a treasure hunt of sorts called "Find the Missing Eggs" where you are invited to retrieve as many turtle eggs (ping-pong balls marked with our logo) stashed in and around TCPJ and TCHT campus grounds. Now, to be perfectly fair to everyone who may compete in this competition, we're keeping the rules as simple as possible:

1) The location of the eggs will be restricted to a few areas frequented by EVERY student. This means, exclusive access to certain locations such as the papparazi pod and the programme office are NOT required for you to participate.

2) A map of the 'egg zone' will be posted up shortly before the actual commencement of the competition. The eggs will be stashed only in those zones marked on the map.

3) In the predefined time limit (after we've confirmed your registration of course), locate and retrieve AS MANY TURTLE EGGS AS POSSIBLE. Surrender them to our competition coordinator (we'll tell you who she is later) who'll tally the eggs.

4) The person with the most eggs surrendered at the end of the competition time-frame will win a prize.

5) Try not to cheat will you? The eggs will be specially marked just in case someone attempts to cheat. Cheaters will be disqualified immediately.

6) Participation is opened to students of both TCPJ and TCHT. YOu may register either as an individual (RM2) or a group of three (RM5 max.).

Sign up for this contest as soon as you can!! Just leave your name and email in the comments section and you'll be hearing from us soon after with more details.

T-Shirt Choices

2007-12-30T11:40:00.000+08:00

a (above)
Sabrina, Resa

b (above)
Kartika

c (above)

d (above)
Leroy, Rena

e(above)
Melissa, Novi, Selina

f(above)

Ok. Alright. So here they are. These are the five (only) choices that were submitted to be possible T-shirt designs. So all you have to do is email your vote to me (Leroy) and I will post the 'results' back here. And oh, no voting for your own design or I'll get Ms Syireen to bitch-slap you.

Here are some of the things that you might want to consider as voting criteria:

a) Production cost (refer to Sabrina's email)
b) Design attractiveness
c) Design relevance to project
d) Design attractiveness

Each person one votw.

p.s. Click the picture for a larger view

p.p.s To help you make your choice, here's a thought from the Powers that Be: Design A is creative, design D fulfils our objectives, design E is the most corporate looking and design B looks like a tourist t-shirt.

p.p.p.s I'm sure I sent the email requesting votes to EVERYONE. What happened to the rest of the people?

p.p.p.p s Rena suggests that t-shirt D and E be combined. Melissa suggests that t-shirt E feature the picture in front with the logo hemming the bottom of the back.

The Return: A 2nd Chance

2007-12-16T23:07:00.000+08:00

The Return: A 2^nd Chance (henceforth addressed as ‘the Return’) is a community-based marine turtle conservation project established and run by Semester 6 Persuasive Communication students of Taylor’s College Petaling Jaya. While most marine turtle conservation efforts have centered on activities conducted at and near beaches and waterfronts, The Return will focus their efforts on providing an impetus for a largely urban audience to adopt a more civic conscious behaviour in support of marine turtle conservation. Through the providing of information and those behavioural recommendations to our target audience, it is expected that it will be possible to build on and expand existing marine turtle conservation efforts.

The Return will be run by a 15-member strong team for the period 2007/2008 and is expected to be officially launched by mid-February 2008. We intend to reach out to urban populations (currently defined as college students in colleges and institutions of tertiary learning in the Klang Valley) through awareness programmes incorporating workshops, seminars and publicity events. In addition to that, complementary to our objectives, the Return also intends to enlist the cooperation of owners and/or operators of local beach front properties inclusive of but not limited to development projects and beach resorts and hotels to adopt and implement a set of sustainable operational guidelines (to be set up with the cooperation of the Malaysian Nature Society).

Concurrent with college requirements, the project will be supervised by college trainers and periodic evaluations will be conducted to assess the value of the Return on

a) Level of involvement of target audience in project initiatives

b) Viability of project recommendations for beachfront property stakeholders