Illustration: Tuan Nini
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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I was awestruck. I, who lived with the sea, took 18 years to see its true wonders for the first time.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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Right out of secondary school, I started volunteering and working with ocean conservation organizations, including WWF Malaysia. Now, I am a programme manager for Reef Check Malaysia. I also co-founded Green Semporna, an NGO that seeks to empower communities through environmental leadership programmes.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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*Children without Malaysian citizenship. A child born in Malaysia does not automatically obtain citizenship, and many are denied nationality due to various challenges. Stateless people are deprived of education, employment, or healthcare. Their statelessness may also affect their children’s citizenship.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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I think of myself as pursuing a long-term degree—my ‘professors’ are the community that I work with. They possess so much traditional acumen and practical knowledge that are invaluable to truly effect change in environmental work.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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I live with the locals. In the first two years, there was no internet and cell coverage. With no screen to be glued to, I spent time with the local folks instead, joining them in their daily activities and building rapport and trust.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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Locals become fisherpeople and practice fish bombing because it is something they watched their parents do. Trapped in a cycle of poverty, many had limited capacity to obtain education and be exposed to the possibility of different career paths.
The islanders also dump trash into the sea because the remote island does not have access to a waste management system. They don’t even get piped water. So they can’t bury the trash on the island and risk contaminating the groundwater they need for daily consumption.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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This is why we came up with the alternative livelihood programme on Mantanani Island, like running homestay businesses and making coconut oil. We showed that they can co-exist with the environment without losing income.
Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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Comics > The story of Adzmin Fatta
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I love diving. The peace I feel being enveloped by the water restores me. This is not the sea I knew growing up. This is the sea I want those growing up to know. And this keeps me fighting, listening and learning.