EK Newsletter - February 2016

February 2016

Message from the President

A month has passed and 2016 has so far seen some interesting stories, be it political, environmental or social. Malaysia will be embarking on a new trade agreement called the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and a new future will be drawn for our country. We are not so keen about the TPPA especially its potential impacts on the environment, and we tried our best to educate the public about the TPPA and the environment. Now is the time to sit and watch, and let’s hope that the forecasted impacts would not jeopardise us too much.

We also have forecasted that 2016 will bring quite a big amount of focus on urban farming or community gardening as we have already been receiving a lot of inquiries on this subject matter. This could mean that there’s a growing interest in sustainable food production among Malaysians in general. Would this be the new sustainable trendsetter for the next few years? Let’s wait and see.

January is also kick started our engagement with high schools and universities and on January 7th, I was invited to present a talk to engineering students in UNITEN about sustainability. You can read about the event here. In addition, EK was also involved in the Air Asia #Green24 event which took place on January 30th at APW Bangsar.

The next few months would see us embarking on some efforts to build interests among corporate leaders on sustainability. The second forum on sustainability and leadership will be held in April while we are also embarking on organizing our first Green Market this March in conjunction with Earth Day celebrations in Publika.

Meanwhile, do stay tune to regular updates on our efforts and programs through our website and also via our official Facebook.

Upcoming EcoKnights Programs

Calling for Green Vendors and NGOs - The Green Market is back in collaboration with Publika and the Good Shop, 19th-27th March, Publika

This year, EK will be focusing on supporting and enhancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 12, which is responsible consumerism. One of the key platforms the country needs is a marketplace that promotes sustainable production and consumption. The Green Market is an event crafted to promote responsible consumerism. We are now CALLING FOR VENDORS AND NGOS to participate and also promote the Green Market to a wider audience.

If you are interested to register to be a vendor in our first Green Market this year in Publika, kindly refer to the link here.

Forum and Panel Discussion on “Sustainability: Going Beyond Just Ideas”, April 21 2016, Sunway Lost World Hotel, Ipoh

EcoKnights together with CIMB Foundation, Sunway Property Group and Institut Darul Ridzuan (IDR) are organizing a one day forum and panel discussion with top Malaysian leaders who advocate and practice sustainability in their businesses. Get inspired to “create shared values” for your customers, your business and your planet. Seven corporate knights from different industries will be sharing their sustainable actions – no ideas, no blueprint.

Registration is now open and limited to 100 participants only. More information about this forum can be viewed at here.

The 9th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival is now calling for Entries

EcoKnights annually organizes a non-profit environmental film festival as a platform for Malaysians to be engaged in environmental issues through the power of audio-visual materials. Be it film, art exhibitions, performances or workshops, the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) is gradually gaining traction as a home grown name in environmental advocacy. KLEFF is currently calling for films from international and local film makers.

If you have an urgent environmental story to share, submit your film today. More information can be obtained at www.kleff.my

EcoKnights in the News

Newspaper

7 February 2016

8 January 2016

23 January 2016

Radio

10 January 2016

EcoKnights Intern Stories

Mr. Mandeep Singh from Monash University

Hey, my name is Mandeep and I am currently an intern here at EcoKnights. As I write this, I am already approaching the end of my internship experience, and oh boy, it was an experience I’ll never forget. By the end, I would have been here for a whole two months, and honestly two months is not enough when you’re working with such an amazing team of people.

This being my first internship, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and was therefore understandably nervous on my first day. However, that nervous energy quickly faded as I was immediately put to work on writing up proposals, finding sponsors and doing research. There was such a high level of trust that was awarded to the interns, we were truly allowed to flourish and be creative while also having the option to, at any time, walk over to Yasmin or Fadly’s table and pose any questions we had.

If anyone were to ask me “What was the one thing you took away from this experience?”, my answer would have to be; I learnt how to really work in a team. I have organized many events before, worked with many different people and such but those experiences really boiled down to delegation of work, where everyone was entrusted to do their own part of the work and later it was put together to achieve the final product. However, here at EcoKnights I learnt how to rely on my fellow interns and pool our resources to work on one project consistently before moving onto the next. This helped me broaden my perspective as my peers were sometimes able to offer new approaches or even point out mistakes I hadn’t noticed before. This method of doing things really involved a lot of communication, which was challenging at first but became second nature by the end of my first month.

Now, I should have mentioned this a little bit earlier and technically I could have just added it in at the time I was writing this paragraph but nah, I’m actually a Chemical Engineering student from Monash University. So as you can probably tell, this internship did not really have much to do with my Academic background. In fact, the whole reason I joined EcoKnights was because I was on my summer break and needed something productive to do, I then heard about EcoKnights from a friend who was also going to intern here. EcoKnights really piqued my interest as I always had an interest in the environmental field and I thought, why not? Best. Decision. Ever.

Just the working environment itself was amazing. The office was like a home away from home, quite literally. We sometimes cooked together, always ate together, cleaned up, and sometimes even slept there. It was always open doors at EcoKnights and I think that’s what made working there feel so natural. It never once felt like a chore to get up and go to work, but in fact as time went on I even started looking forward to it.

Not to mention the other companies that share an office with EcoKnights. I met members of these other startups or NGOs and learnt a lot from them. My love for the environment grew as now I started to incorporate all these points of views into my philosophy. Just two months was all it took to change the way I see the world and its issues.

Looking back now, I went in looking for experience in this corporate world but ended up becoming part of a much larger family. I am truly honoured to have been able to work alongside these brilliant people and thank them for teaching me so much. I hope our paths cross again, and I hope to use everything you guys have thought me to better my life and that of those around me.

Thank you EcoKnights.

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