EcoKnights®

PRESS RELEASE

April 5th 2011, Lanchang (Pahang) – The 5th Anugerah Hijau nationwide competition is back again to encourage more youths to participate in creative and innovative categories.

The event was launched today at the Institute of Biodiversity (IBD) at Lanchang, Pahang, by Y.Bhg. Dato' Abd Rasid Samsudin, the Director-General of Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN).  About 80 students from nearby high schools also attended the launch which included a briefing session on the competition guidelines of the competition.

The Anugerah Hijau competition, started in 2008, has grown over the years and is the brainchild of local non-profit environmental NGO, EcoKnights. The competition was initiated to encourage creative and innovative youths to use their creativity to assist in environmental conservation and protection. This year, the event was held at IBD, Lanchang to expose the youths to wildlife conservation, its roles and its  importance to the world we are living today.

The competition is open to all youths between the ages of 14 and 29 from anywhere in the country.

There are three competitive categories in which youths can participate namely, Green Video, Green Fashion and Green Space.

Green Video requires the participant to write a script or story board of a video that they will produce with an impactful and meaningful environmental message.

Green Fashion requires the participant to design a sustainable outfit where 70% of the materials used to create the outfit must be sourced locally and recyclable. This means any every day discarded materials can be used to create their sustainable masterpiece.

Green Space is the newest addition to the other two categories and requires the participant to sketch and create a 3-D model of a sustainable building or living space based on shipping containers. The winning design from this year’s competition will be funded to make their sketch in to a real structure.

To participant, all an interested youth has to do is submit their idea for either category and upload an image (sketch, storyboard, script, or fashion design) on the official Anugerah Hijau web portal, www.anugerahhijau.my. All the ideas submitted will be reviewed by Anugerah Hijau’s judges and mentors, and ten finalists from each category will be shortlisted.

Youths can participate as an individual or in a group of three youths in this competition. And an individual or group can submit as many ideas or proposal as they want for any category.

For each category, ten (10) finalists will be selected to receive a RM500 grant to convert their ideas in to a real project. The finalists from each category are also required to attend a 3D/2N workshop in June at the Institute of Biodiversity, Bukit Rengit, Pahang where the judges and mentors of each category will be there to guide, teach and educate the finalists on the effective ways and techniques required to transform their submitted idea in to a real project.

“The workshop is design to build the knowledge and skills set of each finalist prior to executing their project. For each finalist, we have the best judges and mentors to increase their knowledge and awareness of film making, sustainable fashion design and green architecture. Thus, after the workshop, the finalists should be more confident and more skilled in producing their project,” said Yasmin Rasyid, the founder and president of EcoKnights.

Pic above (L): Y.Bhg. Dato' Abd Rasid Samsudin, the Director-General of Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) launched the competition	Pic above (R): Adi Fashla, host of ERA and ambassador of PERHILITAN taking time off to hang out with his fans.
Pic above (L): The goody bags for the 90 students from high schools in Lanchang who attended the launch.	Pic above (R): The programme booklet designed and prepared by EcoKnights Aaina and Fadly. Thank you.

This competition was first organized in 2008 and this year would mark the 5th year of this competition. Part of the Anugerah Hijau promotion to high schools and universities is a nationwide free eco talk for high schools and universities. To date, Anugerah Hijau has travelled to seven states in Peninsular Malaysia and has reached out to more than 25,000 youths in their free eco talks.

“When we first started this competition in 2008, it was only for schools around the Petaling Jaya district. Then over the years, we have ventured further from Petaling Jaya and engaged only schools and universities in Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan due to the good response from the first year. Our observation showed that there’s a growing interest in using creativity for a green and good cause. Thus, we decided to go nationwide with the aim of reaching out to more young adults, both in high schools and universities,” said Yasmin.

“As the competition expanded, we realized that there is a growing population of creative and talented youths that are passionate about the environment. Often times, we don’t realize that creativity and innovation in ideas can help transform knowledge in to actions. Thus, Anugerah Hijau is a great platform to gather some of the best and creative talents in the country to come together for a good environmental cause,” added Yasmin.

This year, the judges and mentors to guide the finalists in the completion of their projects are renowned local film maker Lara Ariffin (Novista Sdn Bhd), international sustainable fashion entrepreneur Tengku Chanela Jamidah (ULTRA), model and fashion show producer Daren Lee (Move Productions), renowned sustainable architect Serina Hijjas, Thirukumaran Jallendran (structural engineer and one of the founding members of the Malaysian Green Building Confederation, MGBC), Claudia Low, Associate Editor of "Tongue in Chic" - a social platform for fashion news, trends, talent, shopping and beauty, and president and founder of EcoKnights, Yasmin Rasyid.

Submission to participate in any of the categories requires the submission of an idea via the competition’s online portal, www.anugerahhijau.my.

The closing date for submissions to this competition is Friday, May 18th 2012.

The competition is giving out RM8000 in cash and prizes to the winners of each category in an award ceremony which will be held in October this year.

This year’s competition is supported by the Shell Sustainable Development Grant, MyHarapan –Youth Trust Foundation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE), the Malaysian Green Building Confederation (MGBC), Yuber, Novista Sdn Bhd, Tongue in Chic, Move Productions, ULTRA and also the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

More information about Anugerah Hijau and its competition guidelines can be found on its website www.anugerahhijau.my or to inquire about the competition, email info@ecoknights.org.my.

EcoKnights would like to thank volunteers Rurry and Bo Bo for helping out with the videography and photograph of the launch. And also to team Ecocentrics Solutions, Ly Mum, Nisha and Hafiz for being part of this effort. Thank you for your help.

View more pictures on Facebook here.

For more information on this media release, please contact:
FADLY BAKHTIAR
PROGRAMME MANAGER
FADLY@ECOKNIGHTS.ORG.MY
MOBILE:             017 227 9270