Outgoing EcoKnights’ President’s Farewell Message

Eighteen years ago, I founded an environmental NGO called EcoKnights. EcoKnights was my creative journey in establishing an organization that will craft sustainability programs that I would enjoy running; where my young daughter (Mia was close to four years old at that time) can have fun in and be educated about nature and her role in protecting it, where the public (specifically parents and children) can participate in fun environmental programs.

I did all these from the dining table of our home, in between tending to a kid and doing house chores. It was one of the best times of my life where all I needed to fuel was my brain, and I was churning out ideas, and forming a team, working on creative fundraising approaches, picked up new skills in project and financial management, design and redesign pitch decks, you name it.

I would wake up daily just excited to continue where I left off the night before, all these papers, diagrams, ideas, capturing my vision and passion to drive kick ass public programs on sustainability. My soft skills were on overdrive.

During the early formative years of EcoKnights, and with very little public knowledge and recognition of a small homegrown/grassroots NGO, I was also rejected, turned down, you name it – countless times. While I was equipped with passion and drive, I was not connecting with everyone about what EcoKnights was and what it can do for the country or a “client.” I learnt then how to polish my presentations, how to read my “clients” better,
how to see the problem statement(s), and how to work on win-win solutions that would serve the desired outcomes. That saw me really embracing a more strategic approach to thinking, designing, planning, you name it. My skills required to be analytical, technical, strategic and be outcome driven, were on hyper mode.

During the last decade, I realized the importance of developing sustainability leaders, and focused on the organization’s volunteer and internship programs. I thought that if I can grow a local NGO to attract good talent in all fields of studies, I can have a small chance in crafting and molding these young Malaysian minds to walk, talk, eat, and breathe sustainability. Basically, make them practitioners, at least for that 3-to-6-month duration of their internship program. In short, brainwashed them.

What resulted was unexpectedly amazing! Much to my evil delight. I have seen them come and go, and I have seen many of them grow. Not just academically, but in the way they apply their experiences and knowledge with EcoKnights and leverage on the networks they made to then lead in their own ways in the field of sustainability. I can never express how proud I am of many of them, to see them now presenting their papers on sustainability, or to be invited by them to attend a university reach program they are leading, or to bump into them in a conference and to be whispered by their bosses that “this kid that was your intern is amazing”. Man, that makes me so proud of how our past interns now drive sustainability in their own workspaces and lives.

Today, they (past volunteers and interns) inspire me the most. I witnessed them boldly paving the way to make a difference for the country in sustainability. I am just lucky to have had the chance to be in their sustainability leadership quest/journey.

Over close to two decades, I have seen, and been through a lot with EcoKnights. The bitter ones I learnt from them. The sweet ones, I cherish and am appreciative of them. For sure, there are many best memories and moments, long lasting friendships made, and old connections rekindled and redefined in the name of sustainability. But the ultimate satisfaction is witnessing the current young EcoKnights team lead, administer, plan,
implement, communicate, advocate and forge partnerships independently.

I have served EcoKnights as the organization’s president since 2005. A bit too long if you asked me. To grow something out of nothing was not an easy feat, and once it was well oiled and running, to work on my exit strategy also took a while. Now is the right time to pass the baton to the next person who will continue to drive the organization to meet its vision and mission. All good things need to evolve to become better and I have stayed on for a bit too long (because letting go of a baby you gave birth to such as EcoKnights is hard) and I feel that the time has come for me to say my farewell.

I am excited to announce that Amlir Ayat will be replacing me as the President of EcoKnights and this process will be officially formalized in the following months. All operative and administrative matters will still be lead under the guidance and leadership of Fadly Bakhtiar. I have known Amlir since 1998. He was my first “sifu” when I came back to Malaysia as a young energetic marine biology graduate. He was one of the reasons and main drivers of my passion in sustainability. I learnt the power of education in transforming livelihoods and addressing human-wildlife conflict through and from Amlir. I was privileged to be his pupil, to be taught how to survive with not much in the tropical jungles of Kenong, to appreciate citizen science (even though it wasn’t trending back then) and the strategic ways of networking especially with government agencies. I trust that through Amlir’s leadership in EcoKnights, he will continue to drive the vision and mission of the organization, while lead a young capable and driven team to continue to design and deliver impact-driven sustainability programs for all stakeholders. It has been a wonderful experience and journey and thank you to all who were part of this journey with me.

Dr Yasmin Rasyid
Former President of EcoKnights, 2005 – 2023

10 October 2023