KUALA LUMPUR: Due to a burning passion for nature, a mother of two is determined to create a platform to encourage people, especially youth, to conserve nature.
Yasmin Rasyid’s love for the environment, rooted during her university years as an undergraduate of marine biology and biology, spurred her to form an environmental organisation, EcoKnights, which she has led since 2005.
As founder and president of EcoKnights, she said the non-governmental organisation has carried out nature-related education programmes, especially for youth and women.
She said among the programmes were the International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival held in 2008, that reached out to an audience of 80,000 through screenings of nature-based films.
Another commendable programmes organised by the EcoKnights were the ‘Green Awards Malaysia’, a contest carried out at secondary schools nationwide, in collaboration with the Education Ministry to educate youth and students on the importance of preserving the environment.
Ipoh-born Yasmin, 41, who is of mixed Chinese and Indian Muslim parentage, told Bernama when contacted recently that through the award, the organisation had succeeded in reaching out to 200,000 students since 2008.
“EcoKnights has also organised several roadshows, upon request, to educate the public on environmental awareness such as through recycling programmes,” said the founder of ‘Pop Tani’, aimed at introducing agriculture in cities through basic farming.
EcoKnights has also received awards for its contributions, such as the ‘Civil Society Partner Organisations’ from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the ‘Hope Awards Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival’; while its founder, was similarly recognised at the ‘Forever Duke Awards’. She also received the ‘Outstanding Career Achievement and Contribution to Society’ award, as well as ‘NGO Leadership Awards’ from The Golden Globe Tigers 2016.
She has also been featured in The Malaysian Women’s Weekly and described by them as “Fun, Fearless and Fabulous.”
Although having to juggle the demands of family obligations and the organisation she spearheads, Yasmin remains steadfast with the support of her family, and is satisfied with what she has achieved thus far.
In conjunction with Women’s Day today, she advises women to have an open mind and not just measure their success in certain aspects of life.