Youths take centre stage at environmental forum

KUALA LUMPUR: As with almost everything in life, adults usually take charge while youths watch and learn, but for a change, this was reversed on this year's Earth Day.
The World Wildlife Federation of Malaysian (WWF-Malaysia) today organised a forum entitled Sembang@WWF, in conjunction with Sokka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) to give youths a chance to share their ideas on environmental related issues.
WWF-Malaysia executive director Datuk Dr. Dionysius Sharma said today's youths are the leaders of tomorrow, and it is imperative that environmental awareness is nurtured from a young age.
"You will be our future teachers, policy makers, voters, consumers, leaders, and many other important roles.
"The exposure needs to begin from now, so you will be able to make informed decisions and have the right mindset and behaviour to build a more sustainable future," Dionysius said during his opening speech at
He then said it is heartening to see hundreds of youths coming together for environmentalism, reminiscent of widespread popular protests in the US in 1970.
"What brought them all together then is the same reason that brings us all here today. We share common values for the environment, and we care," Dionysius said.
SGM president Michael Kok echoed Dionysius' sentiment, saying it is encouraging to see so many young people attend the event.
Kok said the world population of youths is the largest it has ever been, with one in every three people alive being under the age of 30.
Sembang@WWF featured six young speakers offering insights on poverty's relation to environmental awareness, poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, and other topics relating to the environment.
Besides Sembang@WWF, youths from both WWF-Malaysia and SGM created a short animation series with a Buddhism-inspired theme which states that every effort starts from ourselves.