*UPDATE: Campaign's extended to 14th October! Need a bit more to reach the 2 weeks target!

ERM, the environmental consultancy firm I work for, through the ERM Foundation, is running a campaign to raise much-needed funds to help MareCet continue our operations. For this campaign, I pledge to bring a dugong (as in the dugong hat - see the pic) with me where I go be it on the LRT to and from work, to meetings with clients, to outings with the family, and everywhere in between to raise awareness on the work that MareCet is involved in. As most of you know, I don't like attention and tend to stay in the background. I'm happy to forsake that comfort in the name of raising awareness on this issue, and I'd like to challenge you to lend me your support to get me to go through with it.                                          

I co-founded MareCet with Louisa in 2012 to conduct research on marine mammals in Malaysia and using the data to help push for positive changes in the way we manage our ocean. Beyond the research and policy advocacy work, we also founded MareCet to provide a platform for aspiring marine biologists and future marine conservationists to learn and gain experience in this field. Seven years on, we now have a team of great people running three research programs, awareness campaigns, and participate in policy development activities on a local, national, regional and global levels.

One of the main projects MareCet is working on is to get the proposed Johor Dugong Sanctuary formally established as a Marine Protected Area in Malaysia so that the dugong population in the area can then have some hope to survive. We estimate less than 100 animals are currently left in the area, and we have already lost about 10% of them in the last 2 years. 

Please help me reach (and hopefully exceed!) my fundraising target. My pledge duration is tied to the amount of money I'll be able to raise.  The more funds raised, the long I will wear this dugong hat daily:

RM 3000 - two weeks
RM 5000 - four weeks
RM 10,000 - eight weeks

Thanks all!