JOHOR BAHRU: Over the course of five days, from December 2 to 6, the Singapore-based multinational diversified industrial conglomerate Jebsen & Jessen Group (J & J) worked with the Social Hero Foundation (SHF) on a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing the standard of living for the local fishermen in Mersing, Johor.

Twenty J & J staff volunteers from Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, under the direction of Darren How, J & J Head of Corporate Communications & Employee Experience, spent a week in Mersing working with SHF Director of Programs Farrah Baptist to complete a number of significant and impactful projects in Teluk Buih and Endau, Mersing, to assist nearly 300 fishermen and their families.

They sewed crab and lobster nets and built fish homes (also known as “Unjam Ikan”) and fish traps (also known as “Bubu Ikan”). When the monsoon season concludes in March of the following year, the local fisherman will greatly benefit from these extra fishing gear when they go out to sea to fish again.

The fish houses will support marine biodiversity and enhance fish reproduction. According to estimates, these extra fishing gear will contribute to a more than 30% increase in their earnings. The lifespan of the fish traps is one year, and that of the fish houses is three years.

In Kampung Teluk Iskandar, the J & J Team also built an oyster mushroom farm to cultivate 5,000 oyster mushrooms in a temperature-controlled indoor setting.

In order to support or give the fishing community an alternate source of income during the monsoon season, the cultivated mushrooms will be marketed as part of a community agricultural project.

In Pulau Besar, an island off Mersing, 150 juvenile pandan coconut trees were planted as a future source of alternative income and to help manage flooding when they grew.

In keeping with our environmental consciousness, the J & J Team assisted in cleaning and gathering trash from the beaches of Pulau Besar and Semanyir in Endau. In just one afternoon, 187 kg of trash were gathered.

J & J covered all of the expenses associated with completing these projects and activities.

The local fishermen’s community, Jabatan Perikanan Negeri Johor (Mersing) (The Johor State Fishery Department (Mersing), Jabatan Pertanian Johor (Johor State Agriculture Department), Mersing Fishermen Association, and Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran Negeri Johor (Johor State Department of Irrigation and Drainage) all provided the J & J team members with direction and assistance as they worked diligently “hands-on” on the ground every day on all these activities.

SHF Trustee Datuk Seri Teo Shiok Fu went on to say that SHF was honored and appreciative to have been chosen by Jebsen & Jessen to implement this significant and influential project for the Mersing fishing community.

“Every project they completed will have a long-term beneficial effect on the livelihood of Mersing’s fishing community,” said Datuk Seri Teo.

He said future social and environmental effects on the neighborhood will be significant, even though they might not be felt right away.

An excellent illustration of sustainable giving is this. Many people in Mersing have undoubtedly been impacted by the J & J team members’ concern and compassion this week.

“Now in its 17th year, our Meet-a-Need program continues to bring colleagues from across the Jebsen & Jessen group in touch with communities within our home region of ASEAN in very meaningful ways,” Heinrich Jessen, Chairman of the Jebsen & Jessen Group, remarked.

Jessen said they are incredibly appreciative of the Social Hero Foundation for enabling them to directly and actively contribute to the welfare of this unique Mersing community.

The Social Hero Foundation (SHF) is a Johor-based non-profit organization that was founded under the Prime Minister’s Department Trustees (Incorporation) Act 1952 with the goals of raising money to support the initiative’s sustainability and continuity as well as carrying out charitable work that fosters national unity and racially integrated programs.

All ethnicities and social groups are included in the programs and events, but most significantly, the youth and B40 and M40 sectors are included. Without any expenses, the winners receive training and resources to improve their organizations.

The mission of the Social Hero Foundation is to support the development of a resilient community that will benefit all facets of Malaysian society, regardless of race, creed, or religion.

Through the Iskandar Malaysia Social Hero Awards (IMSHA) program, we honor social heroes. We give the commercial sector, government organizations, and NGOs a platform to collaborate and more successfully address social issues.

Our goal is to revolutionize Malaysia’s nonprofit industry by providing NGOs with the tools and resources they need to succeed and have a bigger impact.

To strengthen NGOs and NGIs, we offer globally recognized capacity development trainings. In order to improve the visibility and activities of civil society, we will also endeavor to offer digital and data-based assistance.