Kuala Lumpur, 3 April 2019 – Today, Roots & Shoots Malaysia launches the inaugural Roots and Shoots Malaysia Award – a service-based Award designed to encourage youths to commit their time towards serving causes that are much bigger than themselves. The Award is inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall, world renowned primatologist, the founder of Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace. She applauded the initiative by Roots & Shoots Malaysia, saying, “this Award encourages young people to volunteer for approved organisations and work to make the world a better place. I am sure it is going to help improve the lives of many people, animals and the environment of Malaysia, which is so beautiful.” The Roots and Shoots Malaysia Award is created to also:
- Recognise youths who complete a series of volunteering activities by going beyond awareness. While any person can claim to be aware about a problem, it takes an exceptional individual to recognise their part in the solution and do something about it.
- Promote the spirit of volunteerism in youths, engaging their hearts in being passionate about an issue/problem, their heads in coming up with a solution, and ultimately their hands in taking action to solve the problem.
- Deliver a positive impact on youths by promoting personal growth and the development of skills that will make them a valuable and contributing citizen of planet earth.
This year, Roots & Shoots Malaysia is proud to have Yayasan Hasanah as its Community Partner for their support in the creation of the very first Roots & Shoots Malaysia Award. Hasanah Managing Director, Shahira Ahmed Bazari said, “We are proud to see the progress of Roots & Shoots Malaysia and as an impact based foundation we will continue to empower young Malaysians to become active and inspirational members of their community. The Central Forest Spine is a key network of forest and it supplies 80% of water in Peninsular Malaysia, it’s basically our very own water tower. One of Hasanah’s targets is to stop further degradation and defragmentation of critical sites in the CFS through advocacy, community led action and civil society initiatives, and we are glad to see that through RASMA, the youths are getting involved by raising awareness to protect and conserve our rainforest.” “Guided by Roots and Shoots’ mission to ENGAGE, EDUCATE and EMPOWER youths in Malaysia with the tools to embark on service-learning projects, we hope the Award participants will come out of this programme with the confidence to create long term solutions that benefits the environment, animals and the human communities.” said TP Lim, President of Roots & Shoots Malaysia. “With Google Earth Outreach as one of the partners for this Award, it is believed that the sharing of insights into tools related to Google mapping technology will potentially help the Award participants in conservation and education efforts in the near future.” He added. The Award application starts today, 3 April to 30 April 2019, and it is open to all citizens and residents of Malaysia aged 16 to 25. Interested applicants can apply online via the Award’s website – www.rootsandshootsaward.com.
Partner NGOs taking a photo together with “Mr. H” , Jane Goodall’s mascot.
The application will be followed by an interview process by which 30 individuals will be selected to participate in this Award. They shall begin their volunteering journey between July to September this year, by volunteering at between 1 to 3 of the partner organisations, namely:
- Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC)
- EcoKnights
- Free Tree Society Kuala Lumpur
- Fuze Ecoteer
- Institue for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)
- Malaysia Primatological Society (MPS)
- Nuvista Media Sdn Bhd
- Perak State Park Corporation (Royal Belum)
- Persatuan Pelindung Harimau Malaysia (Rimau)
- Persatuan Rimba Komuniti Kota Damansara Selangor (KDCF Society)
- Project GreenSmiths
- Roots & Shoots Environmental, Wildlife Conservation and Humanitarian Society (Malaysia)
- The Habitat Foundation
- Tropical Rainforest Conservation & Research Centre (TRCRC)
- Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia (TCS)
Upon completion of the Award requirements, the participants will receive their certificate of completion and their Award at the award-giving ceremony in November.