Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), Malaysia is a civil society organisation that was established in 1969 to recognise and uphold consumer rights and interests by promoting critical awareness and actions (CAP(a), n.d.). As a grassroots non-profit organisation or non-governmental organisation (NGO), its main activities involve education, training, engagement, and advocacy for local communities. It also carries out various research, educational and representational activities to influence policymakers to give priority to societal and environmental needs. As one of the influential NGOs in Penang, CAP facilitates connections and partnerships between businesses, the general public, NGOs, and government agencies in various community activities. In the last few years, CAP has also been actively propagating natural farming practices by educating farmers and society on the harmful effects of chemical pesticides and the benefits of natural farming practices (CAP, 2022). It has also been actively promoting households’ urban farming or kitchen gardening as part of its recent programme to promote urban sustainable agriculture. For many Penangites, CAP’s work has always found resonance with them as they recognise CAP as a bastion for redressing the wrongs of economic activities, protecting the environment, and promoting social justice. Among other significant contributions to society, particularly for Penangites include:

  • CAP has over the years been advocating pesticide-free urban gardening to the public.
  • CAP’s organic farming project has trained families, schools and communities in natural agriculture. CAP has been actively promoting urban farming or kitchen gardening among households. Its school garden projects have raised students’ awareness of the importance of food production and provided them with training in agriculture, practical nutrition education and also marketing of their produce. CAP intends to inculcate among children and youth that agriculture is a viable career path.
  • CAP has also had an impressive record of expanding its boundaries, for example setting up Sahabat Alam Malaysia to take up environmental issues and establishing the Third World Network which has had a major impact globally on policies regarding climate change, trade, biodiversity, and access to medicines. CAP also helped in transforming the global consumer movement, including its new offshoots in the areas of health, food and consumer rights. Many consumer associations in developing countries were formed as a result of our regional training programmes.
  • CAP cooperated with the Ministry of Education Malaysia and set up consumer clubs in more than 600 schools.
  • CAP has a record of being “ahead of the curve”, for example changing the nature of the consumer movement, raising environmental issues, and embarking on anti-tobacco and anti-sugar campaigns and policy changes in the Housing Ministry.
  • CAP has also helped many poor communities stand up for their rights. Many poor communities have benefited from CAP’s help.

Source: Adapted from CAP(b), n.d. https://consumer.org.my/cap-celebrates-50-years-what-is-to-come-2/

Interview

Interviewees
N.V Subbarow (CAP Education Officer)
Zulkifli Yusuf (CAP Research Officer)

Q: How long have you been involved with the Consumers’ Association of Penang?

Mr Subbarow: It has been 42 years. CAP was established 52 years ago. It is the oldest NGO in Malaysia and is very active in the consumer movement in the Asian region.
 

 

 

 

Q: What do you do daily at CAP?

Mr Subbarow: Yesterday we had a meeting with the farmer. Every day we will ensure that we read newspapers and find out if there are any issues that we can comment on. Every morning, I will go to our farm with my friends. We will look at our plants and we also have a habit where we chat with trees, fruits, and vegetables.

Mr Zulkifli: Every month we will have a CAP program for housewives, farmers, and teachers on nature-friendly farming. We guide them on how to conduct urban farming and train them on how to grow plants in their respective homes. We also encourage them to go around the garden and talk to the plants. Before COVID-19, we were actively involved in exhibitions where we educate consumers about food nutrition and a healthy diet.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being involved in sustainable agriculture programmes for the public?

Mr Subbarow: Nowadays, many people have cancer, which was not common before. So, we always tell them “You are what you eat”. We always tell people to make sure that they eat good food. We always believe that you can eat good food by growing your own vegetables. Now we can start to see an improvement in Penang. People have started to plant curry leaves, pandan leaves (pandanus amaryllifolius), onions, spinach, and many other horticulture plants. Right now, we focus more on the young generation.

 

 

 

 

Q: What is the philosophy of such programmes?

Mr Subbarow: To save mother earth by reducing the environmental pollution. We must love nature and live in harmony with nature. Last week, when I did a campaign, a group of teachers from a primary school approached me. They have money to conduct a programme but cannot decide what programme they should do. So, I suggest to them one program called ‘one tree one person’. I told them that plants can give you so many benefits. It will make us closer to nature. In fact, if you plant more trees, more oxygen for people.

Q: What roles do you think CAP plays in promoting sustainable agriculture

Mr Zulkifli: We do various programmes. Most of the time I do farming without using chemicals. If we want to repel insects, we will use natural insect repellents. We do not use any insecticides. Good insects will stay at the crops and insects that damage the crops will leave.

Q: What has been the most difficult thing you have had to deal with while you have been involved with sustainable agriculture programmes

Mr Subbarow: The main difficulty is in dealing with and correcting the misleading information brought by the chemical companies. They are going to meet with all the farmers to promote their products. In a traditional or natural practice, it would take a while for crops to grow. But using chemicals or chemical-based practice, the growth period will be much shorter. The challenges are from these chemical companies as they are promoting their product and attempting to change farmers’ mindsets. They convince the farmers to use their products so that they can work less. They are promoting the chemical-based practice as the shortcut and fastest way to grow crops. We believe that chemical products can damage the soil. If you tend to apply more chemicals, this can reduce soil nutrients and farmers might not be able to plant any other crops.

Mr Zulkifli: Another challenge is that lots of people want to plant but there is no land and available space, particularly in urban areas. We suggest to the residents’ association that they create a community garden in order to fully utilise the limited land or space. Another challenge is that most people do not know how to grow plants. They might know the names and recognise the vegetables, but they do not know how to go about planting plants.

Q: What is the most important thing a person should know or understand when they want to volunteer or be involved with the programmes

Mr Subbarow: There are a lot of volunteers, especially the retired teacher. The first thing they should know is what is consumerism (Consumer education). You must love your job. I know the problem that people are facing. When they come here for this kind of work, do not expect a high salary. Do not work for money but work for society. Sometimes, I even went to the garbage dump sites because my friend told me there was food that could still be eaten, but people threw it away. As volunteers, we must be ready to go to such places in order to understand the issues.

Mr Zulkifli: Some of the volunteers hate us. They feel upset because we give them a lot of work and pressure. For instance, we ask them to prepare a report about the environment.

 

 

 

Q: How do you think the two of you and CAP will play a greater role in promoting sustainable agriculture in the future?

Mr Subbarow: This week, CAP will meet with the officer from the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare a memorandum of food security. We will collaborate with NGOs. We cannot stand alone. We must cooperate with other people, societal movements, NGOs, and political institutions. Together, we can play a significant role. It is not only CAP that should be at the forefront of this sustainability campaign, but everybody has a role in it. We are looking to find a way for how agricultural institutions can play an important role in changing people’s minds. Not only CAP, but everyone also has a role to play in making the earth a healthy planet. This can be realised if we are ready to shift to traditional (environmental- friendly) agricultural practices.

 

 

Reflections

In general, as one of the influential and vocal Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Penang, Malaysia, the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) has had a profound impact on society at large, not only in advocating consumer rights, environmental protection, health and nutrition, and public education, but it has also contributed to widening intellectual insights and discourse, public interest law, and educating community members and leaders to protect livelihoods and environment. Through this project, we now realise and understand the important roles of civil society organisations or NGOs in enhancing community and society participation as well as creating public awareness of environmental issues and solutions. Without the active involvement of NGOs such as CAP, mainstreaming pesticide-free urban gardening and sustainable agriculture practices in Penang would probably be impossible. We hope that CAP could continue its effort to promote sustainable agriculture practices in Penang for a better and more sustainable Penang. We also look forward to contributing to and taking part in the community programme and activities around us that promote sustainable agriculture practices. From this project, we are growing aware that the world deserves sustainable solutions and actions, and sustainable agriculture would be one of the key solutions. Nevertheless, awareness alone might not be enough without responsible actions from everyone, including us. Our small actions could begin with growing vegetables at home in a sustainable way.

References

CAP(a). (n.d.) Consumers Association Penang: voice of the people. https://consumer.org.my

CAP(b). (n.d.) CAP celebrates 50 years, what is to come. https://consumer.org.my/cap-celebrates-50-years-what-is-to-come-2/

CAP. (2022). Press statement. https://consumer.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/19-May-2022-Bees-are-Nectar-of-Life-Save-Bees-for-Biodiversity-and-for-Sustenance-of-Nature.pdf

Researchers

Hi, my name is Muhammad Ikhmal Hafiz and I’m a second-year student from the School of Social Science. I’m majoring in Development Planning and Management and minoring in Management. I have a lot of hobbies such as diving, reading, jogging, and anything that can be extreme. I enjoyed doing this fieldwork because it helped me to develop something new for myself. Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.

 

 

My name is Nur Ain Adlina binti Mahamad Asri. I live in Keratong, Rompin, Pahang. It takes 10 to 12 hours to arrive at USM. I’m a second-year student in the School of Science and am majoring in Development Planning and Management. I love shopping and travelling. I will work hard to get the things that I want. Recently, I travelled to Langkawi using the money that I have to work with my family. I also love watching movies and dramas.