Our House is on Fire

By Dr Christina Yin

It has been six years since a Swedish teenager named Greta Thunberg started skipping school to protest in front of parliament, calling for stronger action on climate.

When her actions and words went viral on social media, teenagers around the world were emboldened to follow suit, skipping school every Friday to protest in front of their respective parliaments, naming their actions, Fridays for Future.

The following year, Thunberg’s appearance before the United Nations was broadcast around the world when she admonished the assembly “How dare you?”

Thunberg was referring to adults who she said had robbed her future by not fighting for more environmentally friendly industries and lifestyles and for heedlessly persisting in using and discarding of the Earth’s natural resources in an unsustainable fashion.

At the World Economic Forum in January 2019, Thunberg told the assembly that “Our house is on fire”.

The following year, the National Youth Climate Change Survey in Malaysia by UNICEF, UNDP and EcoKnights revealed that 92% young people think that climate change is a crisis.

Nine in ten young people in Malaysia reported that they had experienced environment and climate-related impacts in the previous three years.

They had, in fact, already started taking actions to counter climate change.

UNICEF’s Findings on Malaysia’s Climate Change Risk in 2020 and 2021

According to UNICEF’s Climate Change Risk Index, Malaysia ranks 61^st place on least performing countries where children are most at risk as projected impacts of climate change rise.

Children and all young people are in danger from human-incited disasters such as floods and vector-borne diseases to worsening air quality and improper disposal of hazardous wastes.

These young people and children will bear the worst of consequences, including severe reactions to their health and well-being, education, and future income.

Further supporting Thunberg’s declaration, a joint study by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Universiti Sabah Malaysia in 2021, described the climate crisis as “a child rights crisis”.

In their summary report, the researchers listed the same negative impacts of climate change including floods, haze, clean water supply disruption, and diseases caused by issues in waste management.

These impacts directly threaten schooling, health and living conditions of children and young people in the country.

Top-up study by UNICEF, UNDP and the EkoKnights in 2020

Like the young people surveyed in 2020 by UNICEF, UNDP and the EkoKnights, students at Swinburne Sarawak believe they need to take action to address climate change.

Whether from Bangladesh, Sudan, or Sarawak, the students are united in pushing their version of Thunberg’s Fridays for Future.

In his final year in Swinburne Sarawak, a student from Dhaka, Bangladesh explained that participation in conservation activities are important for both the nature and the person involved.

Taking part in conservation activities not only heals the natural surroundings but also heals the person who is putting a little effort in it.

According to the 24-year-old, university students under pressure to succeed while dealing with growing into adulthood can take some refuge in helping to preserve and conserve nature.

From the perspective of a Sudanese student whose country is embroiled in a civil war, climate change poses a severe threat, as its long-term consequences will most acutely affect today’s youth.

This student explained that she engaged in activities like tree planting and beach clean-ups because she believed it was her responsibility to contribute to society and protect the environment.

These actions allow her to make a tangible difference in preserving our planet and promoting environmental sustainability.

By participating in conservation activities, she fulfils her duty to care for the natural world and help create a cleaner, healthier environment for future generations.

Far from her homeland, this student believes that by engaging in conservation activities, she and other youths gain the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to develop innovative solutions and lead efforts to protect and preserve our environment.

Finally, a young man who was born and raised in Kuching, spoke about how he first took part in conservation activities simply to join his friends on a beach cleanup organised by the Sarawak Eco Warriors and Kuching Beach Cleaners at Pantai Abang Amin.

There, he realised how integral such activities were to not just the cleanliness of the surrounding community, but also to educating youths on the sheer time and effort that goes into an activity as deceptively simple as a two-hour beach cleanup.

Interestingly, the student spoke of how young people should learn from the past generation’s mistakes and should not be afraid to uphold and protect our conservation values.

Thoughts on Fridays for Future

These are the thoughts of three young people from different parts of the world, but who came together at Swinburne Sarawak.

Like Greta Thunberg and other climate change activists around the world, each is motivated to work to counter the impacts of climate change; each believing their efforts can make a difference, and that there is hope for future generations.

The University, Kuching city, the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, and the planet as a whole all gain from a community of budding conservationists.

Our lives as educators and individuals who share this planet that is facing fires, literally and figuratively, whether we like it or not, surely are affected, if not influenced, by decisions that young people make today.

Even if we do not have children or grandchildren of our own, surely, we need to consider the future of the human race and all species on this planet.

With this in mind, Swinburne Sarawak celebrates SDG Week this week. We are actively working on attaining as many Sustainable Development Goals as possible, with workshops, informative talks, and activities ranging from a blood donation to a Sustainable Living Fair including e-waste collections and learning about alternative protein foods, and a green skit performed by the Swinburne Theatre Club.

Will our efforts be enough? It’s a start.

Everyone needs to play a role in taking a stand for our planet. It’s not just a role in a skit. It really is about life and death on the only Earth we have.

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● By Dr Christina Yin , School of Design and Arts, Faculty of Business, Design and Arts , Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus

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The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Sarawak Tribune.