The Malaysian Insight

AN 11-year-old girl stunned a lawmaker and his staff when she shared her thoughts on environmental issues in a PowerPoint presentation last week.

Alyaa Hariz in November wrote to Subang Jaya MP Wong Chen about the lack of recycling bins and the rubbish management system in the constituency that is not equipped to recycle plastic.

Wong passed on Alyaa’s ideas to the Subang Jaya City Council with the promise he “will track the progress from time to time”.

Alyaa, who is home-schooled, said she told Wong that there should be more recycling bins and a recycling centre in every section of the constituency.

“I live in SS19 and have to take all my recyclable items to SS17. So maybe that could work – if we make recycling more convenient for people,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

She suggests that the government hold a plastic-free day, provide more platforms to share messages on pollution, help school environmental clubs  and create more awareness through online activities.

“Our waste management systems do not have what it takes to deal with plastic.

“The plastic we discard go to landfills, many of these landfills are near the sea, which means rubbish can overflow directly into the ocean,” said Alyaa, whose father is a surgeon and her mother, a psychiatrist.

She took up the cause for the environment after taking part in the tide turners plastic challenge on the United Nations environment programme with Open Company Girl Guides Malaysia.

“My patrol of six others and I raised awareness on social media channels in October,” she said, adding that the simple message she kept repeating was to recycle.

“It is not hard to recycle but some people do not care to buy an extra bin or to allocate some space to collect the recyclable items.

“We would rather throw everything in a single bin, take the rubbish out and pretend we will never see it again.”

Alyaa is inspired by Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish environmental activist who famously challenged world leaders to take immediate action against climate change.

“All my friends are about my age, 11 or 12. My siblings are nine, six and four. My cousins too are getting educated while they are still young.

“Malaysians can have more ‘Gretas’. When you are young, you can easily succumb to the idea that you can only do this when you are older but you can actually start now.

“It won’t hurt anyone to do so,” she said.

She called BBC broadcaster David Attenborough, best known for the Life documentary series, her role model who has spent a lifetime producing work that educates people on the environment.

Wong, meanwhile, posted about his meeting with Alyaa on Facebook.

“Alyaa wrote to my office about a month ago on the matter of ocean plastic pollution. The letter was very well written. I invited her to discuss the matter further with me,” he wrote.

“She gave a PowerPoint presentation to my officers and me. We answered some of her questions and explained some climate change policies that we are pursuing.

“We have forwarded her environmental suggestions to MBSJ (Subang Jaya City Council) for further action, and will track the progress from time to time.” – January 3, 2021.