Young PJ Environmentalist Get Into The Recycling Spirit
Petaling Jaya – Preserving the environment is everyone’s responsibility and empowering the youth to advocate for a sustainable future will inspire them to unleash their potential to become agents of change.
Acknowledging how education can create an impact on developing the next generation of environmental warriors, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&NHB) recently collaborated with Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) to foster good recycling habits among students in Petaling Jaya, based on the 5R philosophy of Recycle, Reuse, Reduce, Rethink and Reinvent.
Held for the first time from July to September 30, 2018, Kempen Kitar Semula F&N & MBPJ 2018 successfully collected 27,269.3kg of recyclable items, thanks to the hard work and commitment of pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools under the jurisdiction of MBPJ during the three-month campaign.
Kempen Kitar Semula F&N & MBPJ 2018 also saw the introduction of the ‘5R Adventure’ programme whereby F&NHB and MBPJ reached out to 80 pre-schools in Petaling Jaya during the campaign period, in order to educate and enlighten the young children on how they can play a significant role in making the world a better place to live in, through recycling practices.
The ‘5R Adventure’ programme provided a core foundation for the pre-schoolers to gain a deeper understanding on the importance of inculcating good recycling habits in their daily lives. The programme’s mascot, R Boy played an active role in encouraging these young children to practise the 5R concept in a fun and interactive way through various activities at the pre-schools. These children saw R Boy as a role model who loves and cares for the environment, which indirectly, motivated them to start recycling.
Speaking at the closing and prize giving ceremony, Karen Tan, Head of Communication and Corporate Affairs, F&NHB, said that the inaugural school recycling campaign co-organised by F&NHB and MBPJ enabled the children to personally get involved in on-ground environmental initiatives and acquire hands-on skills, knowledge and experience in understanding the importance of environment conservation.
“Educating the children at a young age allowed them to become more conscious of every decision and action that they make. The campaign encouraged them to take full responsibility of protecting the environment through recycling and even correct their parents, friends and family members when they see them disposing wastes incorrectly. Indirectly, the initiative lets the children take on the mantle of charting a healthier and cleaner environment for future generations.
“The amount of recyclables collected in our first ever collaboration with MBPJ showed that the campaign has succeeded in generating a greater awareness of recycling among the school children and forming first-class mentality and attitude towards protecting the environment. We strongly believe that if these children continue to be environmentally responsible in their early lives, they will grow up to become tomorrow’s leaders who are well-equipped to address environmental issues affecting the world,” said Tan.
She added that Kempen Kitar Semula F&N & MBPJ 2018 served as a stepping stone for F&NHB to continue working closely together with MBPJ in efforts to create a more sustainable future.
“MBPJ recently held a soft launch of the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza which is the first project in Malaysia that showcases new products made from recyclable materials. Together with Tetra Pak Malaysia, we feel privileged to be given the opportunity to set up a learning and activity centre for children and the community when the building is ready by the third quarter of 2019. We hope that our contribution will be able to assist MBPJ’s goal of achieving its ‘PJ Sustainable 2030’ target and strengthen our relationship with the Council to develop future environmentalists,” she said.
During Kempen Kitar Semula F&N & MBPJ 2018, the students worked hard under their teachers’ guidance to collect the highest amount recyclable materials such as paper, aluminium, plastics, and beverage cartons with hopes of winning RM16,100 in prize money. The winners were selected based on the highest average number of recyclable materials per student for each school.
Tadika Manarul Islam was crowned the champion of the pre-school category after collecting an average of 24.26kg recyclables per student and won a cash prize RM800. Meanwhile Tadika Orange Academy was close behind in second place after collecting 24.24kg of recyclables, bringing home a cash prize RM500. The third place winner, Tadika Emmanual won RM200 with an average of 8.34kg of recyclables per student.
Puan Farah Amani Dusuki, the Principal at Tadika Manarul Islam said that R Boy played an important role in teaching her students on the right way of recycling and the advantages of applying it in their daily lives.
“R Boy engaged with the children through fun games and activities that helped the students to better understand what recycling is all about. Now the children already know that they need to separate rubbish from recyclable items, and dispose them according to their own classification. This is the biggest positive impact that I can see from my students and I hope they will continue to practise good recycling habits as they grow older,” she said.
Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Kelana led the primary school category after collecting 6.63kg of recyclables and won a cash prize of RM1,000. SJK (C) Yuk Chai won second place with 3.08kg of recyclables per student and went home with RM900 while Sekolah Kebangsaan Damansara Jaya (2) won took third spot with 2.43kg of recyclables per student and took home RM800.
According to Encik Marwan Mansor, the Senior Assistant of Student Affairs at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Kelana, the school has been carrying out the ‘Smart Ranger’ recycling programme for the past 12 years which has been successful in encouraging the students and the surrounding community to recycle.
“The students already understood the nitty-gritty of recycling. Our participation in Kempen Kitar Semula F&N & MBPJ 2018 has enabled the students to take recycling to a whole new level as they developed the competitive spirit to emerge victorious. The campaign has helped our students to empower our ‘Smart Ranger’ recycling programme and I am confident that they will continue to strive for excellence when it comes to protecting the environment,” he added.
Sekolah Menengah Tropicana was announced as the first place winner of the secondary school category with an average of 1.50kg of recyclables per student, taking home RM1,000. SMK Seksyen 4 Kota Damansara claimed second spot with 0.99kg of recyclables per student and won a cash prize of RM900. SMK Taman Dato’ Harun secured third position and won RM800 by accumulating 0.64kg of recyclables per student.
Puan Sabariah Mat Salleh who teaches Moral Education at Sekolah Menengah Tropicana said that the students were excited to partake in the campaign since it was their first participation in such an initiative.
“The students showed great interest in the campaign which saw them working hard to collect recyclable items and were passionate about making positive change in their community. I am happy to see how the campaign has inspired them to be more environmentally mindful and responsible,” she said.
Two special awards were rewarded to the schools with the highest accumulated aluminium and beverage cartons for the pre-school, primary and secondary school categories.
Tadika Manarul Islam succeeded in winning the special award for the highest collection of aluminium in the pre-school category after collecting 56.5kg of aluminium materials and went home with a cash prize of RM300. SJK (C) Puay Chai 2 won the special award for the highest amount of aluminium in the primary school category after accumulating 335kg of recyclables, taking home RM500. Meanwhile, Sri KDU Secondary School won the same award in the secondary school category after collecting 355kg of aluminium, bringing home RM500.
Tadika Sinar Gemilang won the special award for the highest collection of beverage cartons in the pre-school category with 34kg of recyclables and received a cash prize of RM300. Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Kelana won the same award for the primary school category with a huge collection of 436kg of beverage cartons and brought home RM500. In the secondary school category, Sekolah Menengah Tropicana clinched the special award for the highest amount of beverage cartons with a total collection of 86kg of recyclables and won RM500.
Another special award was rewarded to primary and secondary schools that collected the highest amount of plastics in each category. SJK (C) Puay Chai 2 won its second special award after collecting 578kg of plastics in the primary school category. Sekolah Menengah Tropicana also won its second special award after accumulating 358kg of plastic materials in the secondary school category. Both schools received a cash prize of RM500 each.
For the complete list of winners for Kempen Kitar Semula F&N & MBPJ 2018, please refer to Appendix A.