EK Newsletter - March 2017
EcoKnights Newsletter
2017/03Message from the President of EcoKnights, Yasmin Rasyid.
The first quarter of the year is almost near and over at the EcoKnights office, we are rolling out some awesome sustainable living programs for you and your family. You have got to stay tune with us on our social media platforms to check out what are some of the fun sustainable living activities planned for you.
Before we share with you what's lined up this month in this newsletter, I am proud to announce that the organization was recently awarded twice in two separate events. The first was at the WORLD CSR Congress where EcoKnights was recognized for its effort in the sphere of NGO leadership. The second award EcoKnights recently received was from the Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce at their recent Malaysia Business Awards 2017 where EcoKnights was awarded for the Best Social Innovation organization.
I would like to thank those who have supported our effort continuously and effortlessly over the past 12 years. We wouldn't be able to grown and make the kind of contribution to society had it not been for your support and believe in what we do.
I do hope you would continue to be engaged with us, not just through our communication channel, but to actually reach out to us and participate in our programs and take the advantage the programs to then inspire and empower your own family, friends and community.
Check out how our G2G Composting Program is progressing!
EcoKnights is halfway through the Garbage to Garden (G2G) Composting Program. Launched in November 2016, this community program is supported by the Shell Sustainable Development Grant, designed to educate and activate Malaysians to reduce their food waste disposal in to landfills by composting.
Check out the full article on the #BB4SCP conference and fair here!
You Shouldn't Miss This!
In collaboration with Publika Shopping Gallery, The Good Shop, iCYCLE and Ministry of National Resources and Environment, EcoKnights proudly presents the ever anticipated Publika Eco Month & MAPFEST 2017 in conjunction with Earth Hour at Publika. Come join us on the 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th March from 12pm to 8pm at Publika, immerse yourself in the hyped atmosphere and join our workshops, films screenings and do come visit our Green Market! Hurry now as workshops registration is just open and we're all excited to see you there!
p/s. Not sure what to do with all the unused/unwanted items? Drop it at our recyclables collection bin at Publika during the event! Recycle with us and collect points!
More info on the schedule of the event, visit us here
EcoKnights Bagged the 'Best NGO Leadership' Award at the World CSR Congress
On 18th-19th February 2017, EcoKnights was given the NGO Leadership Award at the World CSR Congress. The award for EcoKnights was in recognition of the organization's contribution in its leadership effort to mobilize more communities to make a sustainable change in their backyards. Represented by the organisation's president, Yasmin Rasyid, and program director, Fadly Bakhtiar, a paper was presented at the Congress under the 'Social Innovation' track.
GoTeach Workshop: Project Management with DHL
On the 27th February 2017, 7 members of EcoKnights have attended GoTeach Workshop: Project Management conducted by DHL IT Services in Cyberjaya, Selangor. The workshop aims to provide project management skill for the Knights to carry out their work and project effectively.
KNIGHTS IN MELAKA: What's next for Sungai Bunus?
On the 3rd February 2017, three EcoKnights representatives led by Yasmin Rasyid were invited to attend ROL-POP Sungai Bunus retreat workshop. This workshop aims to establish a framework whereby the vision and mission of Sungai Bunus can be accomplished. About 30 ROL-POP Sungai Bunus stakeholders has attended the workshop.
Programme Director of EcoKnights discussed the recent ban on plastic bags and polystyrene in Selangor.
On 14th March 2017, EcoKnights' Program Director, Fadly Bakhtiar, was on the set of Media Prima's digital news platform, NX Digital. He was interviewed about the recent ban on plastic bags and polystyrene by the Selangor government.
Catch the full interview here!
EcoKnights Awarded for Social Innnovation at the Malaysia Business Awards 2017
On March 12th 2017, EcoKnights was recently awarded for its social innovation in the sphere of community development and social impact. Program Director of EcoKnights, Fadly Bakhtiar, represented the organization in the award ceremony and was the recipient representing EcoKnights for the award.
Check out what our previous intern Moo Deqing has to say about his experience with EcoKnights.
Hi everyone! My name is Moo Deqing, and I am currently a second-year Mechanical Engineering student from the University of Malaya. I first got to know about EcoKnights through Miss Yasmin Rasyid when she came to give a talk at the Yayasan Khazanah Premier Scholarship Programme (YKPSP, a scholar-training programme) in 2015. She shared with us her experience with Mantanani Island and I was very intrigued by her passion and drive. My desire to learn more about what NGOs do to help the environment led me to apply for a volunteering opportunity with EcoKnights in August 2015, before I entered university. Throughout my 6 days volunteering in the EcoKnights office, I worked under Mr Fadly Bakhtiar, the programme director of EcoKnights. I constructed event proposals, advertised the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) 2015, and helped other interns with their tasks. It was an eye-opening experience to me as I've never volunteered in an NGO before. After a few weeks, I volunteered at KLEFF 2015 too.
Fast-forward to year 2017, I applied for a one-month internship with EcoKnights. I chose to give EcoKnights a try again because I felt the need to work in an NGO where I could learn more about sustainable living and how NGOs communicate with various agencies to tackle these issues. As an engineering student who's interested in sustainable technology, I felt that I should start with internalizing sustainable living habits, knowing more about the latest environmental challenges and developing a passion to save the environment. Besides, I also chose to apply for an internship with EcoKnights because I loved the working culture. Everyone was nice, open-minded, and passionate in helping each other.
During my internship, I was involved in a lot of brainstorming. EcoKnights collaborated with various agencies and bodies to carry out activities related to the environment from upcyling to composting. Thus, I was involved in thinking, researching and constructing modules or projects to suit the needs of the activities. Besides that, I was also involved in defining the EcoKnights pillars. I came up with the name '˜Recruitment and Partnership' for that particular pillar because I felt that that name accurately represented what the pillar focused on. Moreover, I was in charge of creating proposals and presentation slides for upcoming events and creating reports for past events.
Throughout this one-month experience, I've discovered a lot about myself. I've always known the importance of thinking out of the box and expanding my own limits, but I had no one to remind me of that and push myself to step out of my comfort zone. Mr Fadly would have one-on-one conversations with me once in a while and made sure that I learn something new from this internship and become another person after completing this internship. He always challenged me to approach my brainstorming with new ways and communicate with other people effectively in doing things. I have a lot of respect for him because his intention to make sure that his subordinates (including temporary ones like me) grow was very genuine. Furthermore, I've developed a conscience to always recycle my recyclables as that was the culture in the EcoKnights office. I also learned how to do composting by assisting in the composting workshops. Overall, it was a challenging yet pleasant experience for me. I've learned a lot in one month and got to know many lovely people from the EcoKnights-MENGO team. It was an honour to be part of the team. I would recommend an internship with EcoKnights to anyone who has the desire to achieve personal growth and a passion to raise public environmental awareness.
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