5 minute speech

I told you guys that I will post the speech right? So, this is it. The speech that rook 5 minutes something the other day. Oh yeah it sounds gross to talk about shits innit? So I'm weird. So what? There are other weird topics that have been brought up by my classmates. Okay, so take a good look and tell me what you think.

Go go Elephant DUNG! :)

"Ladies and gentlemen,

You might be wondering about what I am going to talk about. I am going to talk about elephant dung paper. Yes! Elephant dung paper. I’m not kidding. It is really elephant dung which is then turned into papers. Still not believing it? Well, in that case, you should further listen about what I got to say.

But first, let’s take a look at the photos that I have been so excited to show you all. Look closely at the photos. Tell me what do you see? Yes, elephant dung indeed!

It’s contains are mostly fibres because elephants are herbivores. An elephant could eat up to 200-250kg of food and they produce 50kg of dung. Furthermore, since dung is waste products, they can actually be categorized as pollutants if no steps are taken to destroy the dung wisely.

Ladies and gentlemen,

So, what can we do with elephant dung? Have you ever heard we could produce papers form these dung? Maybe it’s not that well-known in Malaysia but in countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka where abundant of elephants can still be seen, this elephant dung paper is quite well-known. Usually the elephant conservation centers are the ones who produce these papers. Mostly, the mission is to raise as much money for the centre so that they could afford to take care of the elephants and there would be enough fund for them to treat the elephants if they are sick.

According to Elephant Dung Paper, Thai Elephant Conservation Center’s website the elephant dung paper was actually developed by Mr. Wanchai. He got this idea when he was passing by a natural paper factory. Then, during a visit to Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang Northen, Thailand was the birth of the whole idea. He saw elephant dung that are mostly consisting of fibres. He then brought the dung home and experimented. At last, he did it. And the best part of this whole discovery was that he used his wife’s food processor to cut the fibres. And he still keeps it as a reminder and not to forget a new food processor for his wife!

Ladies and gentlemen,

I will now show and tell you how exactly these paper were made. First, of course is to collect the elephant dung. After collecting it, the dung would be washed and boiled for around 5 hours to clean it. So, there should be no doubt about its cleanliness. Then, the boiled dung will be bleached. You know, to get rid of the colour. You don’t want the paper to still look like dung, right?

Later, the dung will be spun to cut the fibres into smaller pieces so that the making of paper would be a lot more easier. This process usually takes up about 3 hours or so. Then, came the colouring part. Colourings are inserted to produce colourful papers. After that, the dung will be shaped into balls. It make sure that the dung are divided equally for each frames. The balls will be sifted evenly on the frames and will be dried after that.

After the papers are dry, the next process is to sand the paper to produce a smoother-surfaced paper. And voila! An elephant dung paper is ready to be assembled into many types of products.

Members of the floor,

So, what are the products that can be made from these papers? Usually, they will be turned into crafts and souvenirs. Such products like books, photo frames, festive cards, stationery and even magnetic decorations are sold at the conservation centre itself. I have found several websites that offers online shopping for these products. This shows that, these elephant dung papers are widely acceptable. People might think that these kind of products are lame and will not compete the commercial products we have nowadays. I beg to differ to that statement. Not only are they environment safe, these products are so beautiful and up to the standard.

Before I end my speech, I would like to urge you to support this noble deed. No matter if it’s elephant dung or any other natural-based products. It would make a lot of difference just to do something small. Thank you."