Speech by Ms Josephine Tan, General Manager of Penang Green Council on 22 nd March 2022 at Auditorium A, Komtar.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome and thank you for joining us in
today’s launch.

As we all know, environmental challenges are emerging faster than we expected. The United Nations (UN) is calling all communities to build and improve their environmental awareness by encouraging everyone to be more involved in conservation efforts. The earlier an individual learn about the environment, the sooner they will be able to contribute to safeguarding it. Upon realising these alarming issues, the Penang State government has launched Penang Green School Award Programme back in 2011 through Penang Green Council in collaboration with both local councils (MBPP and MBSP). On top of that, we are also actively engaging ourselves with more collaborative partners to further improve this programme.
Today, we are honoured to have Water Watch Penang.

This annual environmental audit programme is open to both primary and secondary schools in Penang to educate children on waste, water and energy conservation. Besides, the key objective of this programme is also to inculcate love for the environment in students, and the community as a whole. After 8 years of success on this programme, it has carved a new path for us in Penang Green Council to introduce a new green programme called Penang Green Kindy Incentive Programme which was launched in 2019. However, these two programmes were postponed in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

There are 4 criteria outlined in Penang Green School Award Programme assessment, which are Resource Efficiency, Innovation and Creativity, Cleanliness and Greening, and Community Involvement. This programme is assessed in two levels – the District Level and the State Level. The District Level audit is carried out by both local councils at their respective zones while the State Level audit is carried out by Penang Green Council. The Champion will be awarded not more than RM5,000 with 4 additional Special Prizes to be awarded to outstanding schools too.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to announce that both programmes are back for the year 2022 and will be conducted physically while adhering to all the SOPs set by the government and Ministry of Health. Registration is already open on 1 st February 2022 and will be closed on 31 st May 2022. Schools and kindergartens that are interested to join can learn more about these programmes from our website and social media.

On top of this, we also welcome Water Watch Penang (WWP) as the main partner for Penang Green School Award Programme this year. PGC will be supporting WWP to showcase Negalitres in School Program to all Penang Green Schools. This Negaliters Project by WWP will be providing free water saving equipment installation to the first 34 schools that registered based on first-come first-serve basis. Priority is given to schools that took part in Penang Green Schools Awards Programme. Then, after few months of installation, the schools will be selected to go through the Water Audit Competition by WWP. The program is free and requires no administrative papers and reports submission. Schools interested only need to register online to participate. In addition, the Negalitres in Schools program can be used as a complementary program to schools that will enrol or have already enrolled in the
Penang Green School Programme.

To conclude, environmental issues like climate change is putting many species at risk of extinction as they cannot adapt to the new weather conditions. All ecosystems are connected, so the extinction of a species that may seem inconsequential has substantial consequences for humanity. So, it is especially imperative to teach children on the importance of environmental awareness to ensure that their lives are secure. We must equip our children with the necessary tools to behave in a responsible and informed way towards the environment. After all, it’s the future generations that will be most affected by our actions. It’s time for us to reflect and act now.

Thank you.