Waste not, says Mottainai Grandma

2009/11/13

NURJEHAN MOHAMED
jehan@nst.com.my

Preschool pupils learn about Mottainai (Japanese for ‘what a waste’) through a combination of art and craft, theatre and education, writes NURJEHAN MOHAMED
REDUCE, reuse and recycle.

Big words for children to comprehend but when delivered in a fun and interactive way, it may just get the point across.

Mottainai — a Japanese term best translated to mean “what a waste” and “do not waste” — is the motto that Panasonic Malaysia is hoping to instil in preschool pupils in the Klang Valley.

About 100 five- to seven-year-old children from Beaconhouse School (Subang Jaya) and kindergartens and primary schools in Shah Alam and USJ 1 were recently introduced to the concept by Mottainai Grandma, the electronic company’s mascot for its latest corporate social responsibility programme.

Mottainai Grandma, from a book of the same title by Japanese author Mariko Shinju, is at times stern and funny as she reminds people not to waste.

During the half-day event at the USJ 1 Recycling Centre, participants learned to conserve water, electricity and even food.

There were talks, sing-along sessions, a creation of a mural and a storytelling session to drive home the idea of mottainai.

“I think the programme is good for children to learn about the importance of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle),” says Joan Shobana Anthony, a teacher from Tadika Manjasari in USJ 1, who took her two young children to the event.

At home she teaches her children to separate the recyclable items from the household rubbish.

Her daughter Karen Shwartz, 5, liked the programme and says her favourite part was when the participants drew the mural. Concurring, Alyssa Alwyn, 6, a student from Beaconhouse SS19, says the event was fun and that she enjoyed drawing the mural.

Ho Lai Peng, a homemaker who took her two children to the event, says she learnt about the programme through a friend.

Mottainai Grandma (left) is at times stern and funny as she reminds people not to waste.

“My children enjoyed themselves today,” she says.

“The (USJ 1) neighbourhood has recycling projects but none is like this.” She teaches her children not to throw things away indiscriminately; they bring their recyclable items to the centre regularly.

“I also teach them to save whatever money they get for selling old newspapers and cans too,” she says.

Panasonic Malaysia corporate communications and branding general manager Azizah Wahid says the event was held to celebrate Malaysia Environment Week (the third week of October).

“The mottainai campaign started in September with 40 preschoolers at Beaconhouse School in SS19, Subang Jaya,” she says.

An invitation was extended to the residents of USJ 1 and a Shah Alam kindergarten for the event at USJ 1 to introduce the concept of mottainai to more children.

Azizah explains that the programme uses a combination of art and craft, theatre and education to teach the young about green habits.

“We want kids to be excited about this — you won’t hold their attention if you were to just go to their schools with the teaching material and read straight from the text,” she adds.

Though it is still too early to gauge the effectiveness of the programme in instilling a green attitude in the participants, Beaconhouse is upbeat about its benefits.

“We have had environmental projects at the schools previously but none has been as effective as this one,” says Beaconhouse (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd manager and academic head Mikel P.H. Liow.

“The students at our school have had two lessons so far and we’ve had parents telling us how their children are talking about it and practising green habits at home,” he adds.

For Liow, this is a confirmation of the belief that learning in a fun way is the most effective method of getting a lesson across.

This programme incorporates a theme song, activities and audio-visual screenings.

One of the main activities in this programme is arts and crafts — the children at the school recently made papier m‚chÈ masks and bowls from recycled paper they brought from home.

“They love the mottainai song and the lyrics have become special to them,” says Beaconhouse Pre-school (Subang Jaya) head of school Lily Pok.

She says the school tries to encourage the recycling habit by having separate bins for the disposal of paper, plastics, aluminum cans and glass but it is the programme that has got the children excited about it.

Though the programme is currently targeted at five- to seven-year-old pupils, Liow believes that it would be possible to reach children in a younger age group using the same approach.

The mottainai programme is being conducted at the Beaconhouse in SS19 but there are plans to expand it to its six Klang Valley branches in the future.