BookMARKlove Charity program by a group of international exchange students from University of Malaysia (UKM)

News & Society

  • Author Mei Peng Stella Ho
  • Published January 11, 2020
  • Word count 667

Eleven international exchange students in Bachelor of Business Management were involved in the program at the UKM's Faculty of Economics and Management. It is a new experience for international exchange students to learn about corporate social ethics in a business that is not just about the customer or the paper, but also involved in environmental conservation. Head of the Program, Muhammad Fakhrullah Nor Azmin, said the program was part of a project for the subject of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility.The program was also assisted by our lecturer, Dr Shifa Binti Mohd Nor.

The US, Japan and the Britain are the three biggest plastic waste exporters to Malaysia, accounting for 53% of the 754,000 tonnes of plastic waste the country imported from January to July 2018. "Malaysia has become the world's rubbish bin," Greenpeace Malaysia public and engagement campaigner Heng Kiah Chun said during the launch of the report on Tuesday (Nov 27). Working with Kuala Langat Environmental Protection Association (KLEPA), Greenpeace Malaysia's investigation of plastic recycling factories in Kuala Langat found plastic waste from over 19 countries. The report found that between January to July, Malaysia imported 754,000 tonnes of plastic, equivalent to approximately 100,000 large elephants. It said based on global data, the remaining 12% of plastic waste are incinerated and 79% end up in landfills or dumped in natural environment.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin had said in Parliament that plastic waste processing business is a RM30bil industry that cannot be ignored.

KLEPA president Tan Ching Hin said the illegal plastic recycling factories are producing solid waste, and its water pollution has forced fish and prawn farms to stop operations.

Tan said villagers are developing chronic respiratory diseases from the open burning of unrecyclable waste. He said these factories, mostly illegal facilities owned by Chinese companies, mainly hire foreign workers. In its report, Greenpeace Malaysia welcomes the government's decision to permanently ban the import of plastic waste but urge for stronger policies to also control the import of clean plastic waste. "This is not a Malaysian problem, it is a global problem," Heng said. Greenpeace Malaysia recommends that instead of fixing the plastic waste imports regulations, the government should encourage domestic recycling industry and promote circular economy. On a global scale, Greenpeace Malaysia said all countries should legislate policies to end the use of single-use plastics.

So, what we decided to create to be able to address this issue of recycling while also making something useful was bookmarks. Bookmarks partly made out of recycled materials which were found in anywhere. The pamphlets, leftover pieces of fabric and single use plastics that would otherwise be thrown in the trash without being reused is now getting to good use. The bookmarks we created together were then sold on the Faculty of Economics and Management (FEP) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) with its students as the target customer at the. cost of RM1-RM5. There is a good reason for choosing bookmarks as our object to sell for this project as it, besides from the recycling, also promotes reading to the students of UKM. Our group planned to utilize the earned profit from the bookmark to help the Faculty of Economics and Management(FEP) in University kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) staff by buying and giving a free food for them. Giving free food to cleaner staff who working at UKM is never a bad idea.

Everyone needs food, otherwise how are we meant to survive? If we don't have food to keep us moving and staying healthy its not possible to work and make a living for ourselves and our families. Everyone should have the right to live a healthy life . Cleaner staff in FEP take care of facilities and carry out cleaning and maintenance duties. The goal is to keep FEP building in a clean and orderly condition. A clean study enviroment has far-reaching effects both on the teachers and learners.The most important benefit of a clean study enviroment is the fact that it maximizes the learning experience of the students.

This article has been viewed 919 times.

Rate article

Article comments

There are no posted comments.

Related articles