KOTA KINABALU: The Tanjung Aru Marine Ecosystem (Tame), known for its iconic glass wall made from over 20,000 glass bottles in Tanjung Aru, may soon become a memory.
Tame chief executive officer Japson Wong said that this was after the team received an eviction notice in August from the property's former owner.
The premises were sold to a new owner, prompting Tame and 25 other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating on the site to vacate this month.
The two-storey Tame building, which served as an educational and awareness centre, was home to the renowned "Wall of Hope."
Constructed with 24,840 glass bottles, the 16.8m-wide and 5.8m-tall structure featured a seaweed-inspired design and was Malaysia's largest glass bottle wall.
The glass wall, a labour of love for Wong and the community, has now been reduced to rubble.
"Bye bye my glass wall. Really heartache to see them coming down... The glass bottle wall is like a friend to me, hard to say goodbye. So much sweat, effort, blood, time, and hope were poured into it.
"Life goes on… till we meet again," he said on Facebook as demolition began a few days ago.
Though the wall's size qualified it for recognition in the Malaysia Book of Records, Tame could not afford the application fees, leaving its achievement unrecorded.
Between 2021 and 2024, the Tame centre welcomed 6,572 visitors, facilitated 13,610 outreach programmes, and conducted 242 workshops.
It also served as a collection point for Type 2 and Type 4 plastics, as well as glass for upcycling purposes.
Wong, a marine biologist and upcycled artist, is now searching for a new location to relocate Tame.