UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Dr. Nagulendran a/l Kangayatkarasu (Keynote Speaker)
Deputy Secretary General (Environment and Climate Change) Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC)
Dr. Nagulendran Kangayatkarasu, or better known as Dr. Nagu, joined the Malaysian Government as a Diplomatic and Administrative Officer in 1995. A Chevening Scholar, he has been for most of his career working on issues related to biodiversity, biosafety and environment. His doctoral studies at the University of Nottingham focused on biodiversity governance in Peninsular Malaysia. He has been involved mainly in policy formulation, developing legal frameworks, diplomacy and negotiations as well as stakeholder engagements on the many issues and facets of national and global environmental governance. He feels that it is a joined responsibility of all to ensure environmental concerns are mainstreamed into national and global socioeconomic development agenda. He too advocates that changes at an individual level to live in harmony with nature is a powerful catalyst to augment the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ms. Jun Faredda Jabar
Programme Manager of the Inclusive Development and Growth portfolio at UNDP Malaysia
As the Programme Manager of the Inclusive Development and Growth portfolio at UNDP
Malaysia, Jun Faredda Jabar’s programmatic focus is on supporting Malaysia’s efforts in leaving
no one behind with special focus on groups classified as the B40 and those living in the margins.
Her portfolio also focuses on gender empowerment, youth engagement, the elderly, stateless and
undocumented persons as well as preventing violent extremism. Her 10 years of experience in
development has taken her to India, Australia, and Cambodia, where she worked in refugee and
asylum seekers issues, and later informed her analytical work on economics and policy with the
Centre of Policy Development Australia, IDEAS Malaysia, and finally UNICEF Malaysia before
joining UNDP. She holds a Masters in Political Economy and Development from Sydney
University and a BA in Finance and Economics from Nottingham University Business School.
Mr. Arif A. Rahman
Youth and Innovation Consultant, UNDP Malaysia
After working with a development team to construct a shipyard in
Azerbaijan for 2 years, Arif decided to return to Malaysia to pursue his
passion for building communities and designing experiences that create
impact and change lives for the better. Prior to becoming a project lead
in MaGic, a centre created to catalyse creativity and innovation for long
term nation impact, he was a trainer with Tandemic, an organization
that translates innovation into action and impact. Arif is now a
consultant with UNDP, working with Malaysian youth to build
solutions that address some of Malaysia’s most pressing issues. He
conducts workshops to impart his enthusiasm for Design Thinking and
Social Entrepreneurship.
Prof. Dr. Choong Chee Keong
UTAR Vice President (Student Development and Alumni Relations)
Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong is the Vice President (Student Development and Alumni relations) of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Malaysia. He is currently holding the Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow Chair in Banking and Finance (Professorial Chair) at the Faculty of Business and Finance. He received his Ph.D. in Economics (Financial Economics) from the Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia (AACSB accredited university) in 2007.
He has more than 160 papers accepted / published in national and international journals (including those ranked by Thomson Reuters (ISI) and SCOPUS), book chapters, conference and seminar proceedings. With his research performance, he was cited as one of the Top 10 Most Productive Malaysian Based Authors in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for the period of 2001-2010, published by the Malaysian Citation Centre, Ministry of Higher Education in 2012.
He was invited as a keynote speaker / guest speaker at public lectures / conferences / forums such as World University President Forum 2015 (Japan), Symposium / Conference on China-ASEAN Financial Cooperation 2015 and 2016 (China) and Asian Management Conclave Board Directors Forum 2016 (Singapore). He is also a certified trainer endorsed by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) who has been conducting a series of talks / workshops on ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), China’s Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR), effective performance management, Partial Least Square (PLS), just to name a few.
Prof. Dato' Dr. Aileen Tan Shau Hwai
Executive Director of APUCEN (Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network)
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai is a Professor in School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Currently, she is the Director of Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) in USM and also the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network (APUCEN). She has been elected as the first woman president of the 53-years old UNITAS Malacologica, which is based in Belgium, from 2013-2016.
Prof. Dato’ Dr. Aileen has pioneered the research in mariculture and conservation of molluscs. She is the first Malaysian woman who has successfully culture the oysters from eggs and sperms through artificial spawning. Her work on oysters, as featured in the website of World Oyster Society, has gained vast recognition, not only in Malaysia but internationally. She does not only help to transfer knowledge through supervising and guiding her students in marine science but has also transformed her expertise into sustainable use and translating knowledge to coastal communities.
She has received and won many awards from both national and international organizations for her research and service to the community. She is now actively encouraging the rural coastal communities in other states in Malaysia to culture oysters to promote “green aquaculture” as well as to create a sustainable income for the local communities, as well as championing sustainable environmental usage and society through green aquaculture.
Besides science, she is also involved in building human capacity where she was awarded the Best Women Scientist for her work in guiding the women-folks in Johore Islands in earning their own income through the giant clam conservation programme.
To date, she had published more than 100 articles in various scientific journals, monographs, proceedings, conferences and seminars.
Prof. Dr. Sumiani Binti Yusoff
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation), University of Malaya
Sumiani Yusoff, Professor Dr, joined the Faculty of Engineering, UM in September 1990, specializing in Environmental Engineering and Management. She obtained her PhD in Environmental Engineering and Management from UM, MSc in Public Health and Environmental Control Engineering from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom and Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Hons) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Currently she is the Director of Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES) and Chairperson of UM Eco-Campus Secretariat & UM Living Labs, University of Malaya . Prior to that, Professor Dr Sumiani Yusoff was the Deputy Director and Chief Auditor of the Quality Management and Enhancement Centre (QMEC) at UM. Previously, she helmed the responsibility of the Dean of Sustainability Science Research Cluster (January 2016–September 2018) and Deputy Director of the International Public Policy and Management (INPUMA) at the university (June 2010-December 2011). She was also a Program Coordinator for Environmental Engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering from 2005 to 2009.
In addition, she led a team of dedicated experts in the launching of UM Eco-Campus Blueprint (UMECB) while steering the task as Chairperson of UMEco-Campus Secretariat for the planning and implementation of sustainable initiatives in UM.
Ms. Chua Yee Ling
Special Function Officer to Minister,
Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Chua Yee Ling is the Special Functions Officer to Minister of Housing and Local Government, where she works to promote the development of new villages. In April 2019, she was responsible for organising the first “New Village Leadership Empowerment Convention," where the concept of “Village Vision” was presented, aiming to “rejuvenate and bring new vitality to new villages."
Prior to her role in the Ministry, Chua was elected as a member of state assembly women in Kuala Sepetang, Perak in the 2013 elections. In her five years in the State Assembly, she actively promoted the local characteristics of the constituency, supporting cultural and artistic education as well as humanistic eco-tourism. She also worked closely with her constituents to bring better urban planning to Kuala Sepetang, bringing new vitality into these small places, while creating more opportunities and platforms for the people.
Chua has a long history of working with communities and empowering them. In 2009, she was appointed to the Hulu Selangor district council, where she took on the challenge of moving to a whole new environment. There she reorganized the communities and promoted civic education. While in university, she actively promoted youth participatation in politics and worked to raise awareness among her fellow students.
Chua Yee Ling was born in Batu Pahat, Johor, in 1983. She graduated from the University of Science Malaysia (USM) in Penang in 2006 with a major in translation and a minor in mass communication.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Irina Safitri Zen
Deputy Director of Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity, International Islamic University Malaysia
Irina Safitri Zen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Kulliyah Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Before joining IIUM in 2019, she was a Campus sustainability Director and Head of Sustainability Research Unit at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Over the 10 years of teaching experience, she has taught various environment subjects that include environmental studies, environmental planning and management, environmental workshop, planning and technique analysis, introduction to environmental economic, sustainable development and sustainability science. She graduated five postgraduate students and seventeen (17) undergraduates, co-authors for six books, six book chapters, three policy papers, 11 technical reports, 22 journal publications (five in Q1 journals, eleven in Scopus Index Journals), 40 refereed articles in conferences proceeding and 36 invitations as speaker/ keynote speaker at conferences, programs and seminar inside and outside Malaysia, reviewed 40 articles journals and conference papers, part of the editorial boards from six journals, local and international level.
During her 10 years of administrative post as campus sustainability director and head of sustainability research unit, the research manifested on the application of environmental planning and management into several themes, i.e. low carbon campus, campus sustainability and campus living learning lab. Those researches resulted from the collaboration with MalaysiaGreenTech, MESTECC, UNESCO and La Trobe University under MRUN & Australia IRU. Through national research grants, she has completed research projects on examining public opinion on various environmental management issues such as plastic waste, zero waste community, community based conservation effort, climate change and environmental pollution, with an interest how to assess and came up with the solution in an interdisciplinary approach of sustainability science and the current context of sustainable development goals, SDGs. For the past few years, her research network and works collaborate extensively with several ‘living lab’ in Siam Reap, Cambodia, Bali, Indonesia and Johor, Malaysia with a close collaboration with various stakeholders concerning community based conservation and sustainable development. On research, she manages to secure fifteen research grants at National level, six contract research and five international grants accumulated RM 3,240,000.00 or USD 814,600.80.
In Asia Pacific, she was previously involved in developing the module for the UNESCO MasterClass on the sustainable development and sustainability science under Japan Fund in Trust. She was previously involved in the sustainability science project in Bali, Indonesia, the low carbon campus with MalaysiaGreenTech, the climate change action plan report with the state of Melaka and the community mapping and community based conservation for the potential of Johor as a biosphere reserve site or a living learning lab under the Leadership Academy of Ministry of Education, AKEPT, Ministry of Education. Prior to entering IIUM in 2019, Irina has work experiences in the consultant firm in Kuala Lumpur (2005 – 10) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (2010 – 2019).
She received the Best Staff Services Awards (2013), the Excellence Teaching Awards (2015) and (2017) and the Excellent Research Award (2017) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She also won Gold Award for research in campus living lab at UTM International Education Conference in 2016, among the 20 of Women in Malaysia Promoting Sustainable Development by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT-UTM Sustainable Cities Program in 2015 and among the Chief Scientist receive Best Practice 1 for for Low Carbon Cities Framework initiative, MalaysiaGreenTech, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water in 2017.
Dr Irina concern on sustainable development shows in her involvement as a member of the Malaysia Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN) Leadership Council under the Science Advisor of the Prime Minister Office of Malaysia and conducting series of Sustainability Leadership at ASEAN and National level, as the Science Advisor for the MelakaGreenTech and resources person in several UNESCO Meetings.
Dr. Lai Soon Onn
Director of UTAR Division of Community and International Networking (DCInterNet)
Dr. Lai Soon Onn is an Associate Professor at Department of Chemical Engineering, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES), and holds the Director of Division of Community and International Networking (DCInterNet) and Chairperson of Green Campus Committee at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. His current researches mainly cover air and water monitoring and control, as well as cleaner production and sustainable development. He has published more than 40 locally and internationally peered reviewed journal papers. He has been appointed as Technical Advisor of MayAir Manufacturing Sdn Bhd. since 2014. He has also been continually providing training and consultancy service on occupational safety and health, community service on 3R, environmental issues as well as involved in talks on engineering and science at secondary schools and various educational fairs. Dr. Lai Soon Onn holds Bachelor and Master Degrees from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and PhD Degree from Clarkson University, USA in Environmental Engineering.
Mr. Simone Galimberti
Co-Founder of ENGAGE
Originally from suburbs of Milan, Italy, Simone studied political science at Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Cattolica) in Milan with a thesis on cultural policies and nation building in South Africa. After interning at UNDP and FAO offices in Samoa, Simone served in a child centered project in central Angola for more than 3 years. He then started working with CCS Italy now HelpoCode in Nepal in various management positions besides also taking over several pro bono advocacy positions with the the Association of International NGOs in Nepal, AIN where he created the health working group and led the education working group and good governance/capacity building group. Simone also coordinated the School Health Nutrition Network for several years. He later co-founded ENGAGE, a local not for profit in Nepal working in the field of social inclusion with a special focus on disability and youth empowerment, by mobilizing local volunteers, with his wife and Founder of ENGAGE, Kalpana Gurung. Simone is passionate about civic engagement, volunteerism and international politics and enjoy writing on social issues centered on youth for the Nepali English newspapers Republica and Perspectives of The Himalayan Times and currently leads the Skills Lab for social work students at St. Xavier College, Kathmandu.
Mr. Heng Kiah Chun
Public Engagement Campaigner for Greenpeace Malaysia
Heng Kiah Chun actively involved in Southeast Asia regional forest fire and imported plastic waste campaign with 5 years experiences in environmental activism.
Ms. Firdaus Nisha Muhammad Faizal
Sustainability Facilitator, Ecocentric Transitions
Nisha is an educator by passion, an engineer by training and is cofounder at Ecocentric Transitions a social enterprise that conducts programs nationwide. Having 12 years of experience in program management, module development and gamification across multiple sectors like corporate programs, special needs programs on living skills, Permaculture
design, community based projects, agriculture and environmental education she has developed a knack for customising programs that are site specific while managing budget, quality and timeliness on programs. A good day is when Nisha and her team create “aha” moments for the individuals they are working with.
Mr. Chow Chun Kit
UTAR & Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa Alumni
Chow Chun Kit, an alumni of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Sungai Long Campus and Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa (YSS). He was the chairperson of UTAR Community Service Society for 2015/16 term and actively co-founded Give Project and Ohana Project which aim to involve the UTAR community in volunteering activities. He was selected to take part in YSS’s mission to Sabah and had joined few activities including IAVE Asia Pacific regional volunteer conference in 2017. He like to volunteer with different NGOs or NPOs to assist the marginalized community. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Applied Mathematics with Computing.
Mr. Benjamin Ong Jia Ming
Head of Exploration, Accelerator Lab, UNDP Malaysia
Ecologist. Educator. Entrepreneur. Explorer. Born and bred in Kuala Lumpur, Benjamin Ong is Head of Exploration at UNDP Malaysia's Accelerator Lab. A Chevening-CIMB scholar, he holds a Masters in Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews. Between 2014 and 2019, he anchored student volunteer engagement and environmental education at the University of Malaya’s Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden through two platforms he founded: The Rimba Project and the Urban Biodiversity Initiative (Ubi).
Benjamin’s interests centre on the relationship between humans and nature in cities, and on the power and agency of student volunteerism. His interdisciplinary collaborators have included the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health, Badan Warisan Malaysia and Google Earth Outreach. His work has been recognised internationally: he won the Chevening Green Volunteer of the Year Award 2017, and the Marsh Award for Education in Botanic Gardens 2019. A prolific author, his latest book, The Backyard Before You, was published in 2017.
Ms. Chong Ai Nee
Chairperson of UTAR IMechE Student Chapter 2019/2020 / Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa Alumni
Mr. Danny Ng
Founder and Director of APR Electronic Services Sdn Bhd
Danny Ng is the founder and Director of APR Electronic Services Sdn Bhd. APR Electronic Services Sdn Bhd has been in the professional IT refurbishing business for 19 years.
The company pay higher for the used IT equipment and collect from many multinational companies and corporate offices. They refurbishes close to two thousand Laptops, Smartphones and PCs a month and market them to brick and mortar retail outlets, own online stores and e marketplace like Lazada and Shopee.
APR is the only one in refurbishing IT industry that owns a complete refurbishing lab They possess the knowledge & talent, the latest PCB board repairing equipment and huge storage of necessary replacement parts in their factory.
Keeping to their mission of upholding the sustainable living, they will only replace parts when its absolute necessary. Rather than replacing, they prioritize by repairing and reusing chipset on a motherboard. Those beyond repair units are being channel to a proper government certified recycling company.
