HOW much of a difference can young people make in addressing the problems our society faces? What makes their voices uniquely powerful?
No matter our convictions, a lot of us over time forget the injustices — or, at least, that we can do something about them. Young people see the world through fresh eyes. They want things to be different, and they want change now. Words, spoken and written, are their powerful voices. For 23-year-old Calvin Chan, it was the little steps he took that sent him propelling into a world of activism.
Being young isn’t about lack of experience, he asserts. It’s a new perspective.
“It’s our job to change the conversation surrounding young people. It’s not ‘You’re too young to do anything.’ It’s ‘I am changing the world because I’m young and I don’t want to leave my future in the hands of people who may not have my best interest at heart’,” says Chan.
To effect change, he says Malaysians need to speak up about their advocacy, lobby their MPs and the authorities, meet with the relevant government agencies, educate others, initiate petitions and volunteer with local NGOs. “Everyone should volunteer and take direct personal action to make a positive difference. Be a volunteer, but also be an activist.”
Known as Penang’s Green Activist, and even winning the honour “Penang Green Idol” back in 2016, Chan set up Green Hero, an online channel that sells surplus food including sushi, bread, cakes, pastries, bento boxes and even groceries at discounted prices to a ready pool of consumers. These include college and university students, people struggling on a tight budget and other green activists.
“I saw a problem, and I felt I needed to do something about it,” he explains simply.
COMBATING FOOD WASTAGE
The problem, Chan explains, was the overwhelming food wastage he witnessed.
Critical food wastage problem has been the bane of this nation with our overflowing landfills, and depleted natural resources. Imagine if our iconic 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers were filled to the brim with food — that’s the amount of avoidable food waste generated by Malaysians in just 18 days, according to the Solid Waste Management & Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp), a government agency dealing with solid waste.
As reported recently, figures for 2017 alone show 15,000 tonnes of food are being wasted daily, out of which nearly 60 per cent or 8,000 tonnes of this waste is avoidable food waste. Malaysians reportedly dispose of not less than 3,000 metric tonnes of food daily that is still fit for consumption, with the amount rising during festive seasons.
The United Nations reports that the world population is expected to grow from 7.6 billion to 9.8 billion people by 2050, which makes food security a more pressing issue. Growing food requires water, seeds, labour, machinery, energy, and fertiliser. Letting food go to waste, then, is a frivolous use of natural resources that drives up costs, inflates food prices, and weakens the food supply chain.
The reality of the issue struck Chan as he was walking down Victoria Street in Penang one night with a friend. As they were passing a café, a waiter came forth to throw out a garbage bag by the dumpster. “The smell emanating from the bag caught our attention,” recalls Chan. Unlike the usual reeking bags, this one gave out wafts of something deliciously fruity.
“It smelt of strawberries,” he says. In a bid to satiate his curiosity, Chan walked over and opened the bag. “My jaw dropped!” he exclaims. In the bag were dozens of still-edible pastries that were thrown out for the night. “Here was perfectly edible food that ended up in the bin simply because they weren’t sold on time!” exclaims Chan. “I couldn’t sleep that night. I was in disbelief and I spent all night researching what other countries were doing to tackle food wastage.”
Among the countries he researched, France, Denmark and Hong Kong stood out in their efforts to combat food wastage. In France, a law was established to ban food waste, particularly in supermarkets. “All food surplus has to be converted to energy, compost, animal food or even donated to charity,” says Chan.
In Denmark, there is an app people can use to buy food surplus at a lower price while in Hong Kong, a group of non-governmental organisations collect surplus food from hotels and restaurants, and bring it back to distribute to people who drop by their soup kitchen.
It was then that Chan had the idea of setting up a platform to sell surplus food from cafes and restaurants to people on a budget. “For students and those who have the responsibility of feeding a household, this can save quite a bit on grocery bills,” explains Chan candidly.
Chan and his team of like-minded friends set up Green Hero, and since 2016 have helped more than 70 cafés and restaurants in solving their food surplus problem — equivalent to a whopping 23,000 kilogrammes of excess food!
ROAD TO BEING A GREEN HERO
“It wasn’t a straight road to being an environmental champion,” he admits with a sheepish grin. For as long as Chan could remember, environmental issues were the furthest thing from his mind, growing up in Penang. “I didn’t set out to be an activist at all,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.
Back in Bayan Lepas where Chan lived, a stream running behind his house first sparked his foray into solving environmental issues. “Treated wastewater from the water treatment plant flowed into the stream behind my house, and at some point the plant was probably faulty so the stream exuded an unbearable stench,” recounts Chan. The stench prompted Chan to write in to his local assemblyman as well as to the Penang Water Supply Corporation. To Chan’s surprise, the issue was settled a week later.
“Small steps can actually work,” he observes. “It’s just that no one actually bothers to take the trouble to highlight these issues, and apathy, I’ve learnt, does not and will not solve any problem.”
Another incident in his neighbourhood prompted Chan to take action as well.
“A few of my neighbours were doing open burning outside their houses,” says Chan. “The smoke and the odour were terrible. Again, I felt I needed to do something about it.”
Chan decided to write to his neighbours requesting them to stop their activity. “I cited the environmental act and warned them that action can be taken if they persisted in burning their rubbish out in the open.”
Were they upset with your letters? I ask. “I wouldn’t know. They were anonymous letters I slipped into their postboxes!” he answers, grinning mischievously. “But it worked!” he adds triumphantly. “No more open burning at all! I did my due research and gave them links they could look up on the environmental act!”
He was an unlikely, though not entirely accidental, activist. “I just wanted to solve the issues at hand, and so I did,” he says.
The eldest of five boys and two girls, Chan grew up in Penang and was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps of being an engineer. Adolescence brought social pressures. “I had a relationship that failed, and I fell into depression,” he reveals candidly. Soon he had fallen into a deep funk. “I felt very isolated and very lonely.” It was then that a friend of his introduced him to martial arts, and eventually, to his sensei who later became a mentor of sorts. “He helped me figure out my own path,” shares Chan.
Bolstered by his small successes back in his own neighbourhood, Chan decided to start volunteering with local NGOs and doing his bit for charity. “It kept my mind off my depression,” he says. Encouraged by his friends and his mentor, Chan decided to take part in the Penang Green Hero competition, and won. “I never expected to win, but this got me on the right track to where I am today,” he says, smiling.
“Before, my own world was very big,” he recalls. “I was all alone.”
Is the alone-world still there? “Yes,” he readily replies. “But it’s getting smaller and the real world is getting bigger. I’m happier now,” Chan adds. “I have meaning. I have something I have to do.”
A PLATFORM TO WORK ON
There was a lot to do, concedes Chan when the platform first started. “We needed to pitch to cafes, and Keeran Shabudin (my partner) and I decided to approach some of the cafes around the area where we lived,” recalls Chan.
Laughing, he tells me that the first seven cafes turned him down. “I was about to pitch at the eighth café, and I was having trouble finding parking, so I asked Keeran to go pitch instead. I told him succinctly: ‘Make sure you come back with good news ah!’,” he shares. Thanks to Keeran, he tells me, the duo had their first café on board.
“The eighth pitch was the lucky charm!” he remarks, chuckling.
The pilot project was his college where Chan studied International Business Management. “We sold surplus buns and pastries during breakfast and lunch. It was a resounding success because these were a lot cheaper than what was being sold at the college cafeteria!” he says. However, the cafeteria did complain when business was channelled elsewhere. That’s when Chan and his friends decided to take the business online. “We created Whatsapp groups and soon, the circle of people became bigger and included those outside of college,” says Chan.
Chan and Keeran recruited more friends on board, and the team provided a platform for food and beverage businesses to sell their food surplus at a discounted price. All they needed to do was to insert info about their food items onto the platform and a notification will be sent to the youth’s customer base.
Customers, in turn, can pick and choose what they want to buy from the platform, and these will either be delivered or picked up at an agreed place. The platform is only open to customers at 8pm daily as that is when most of the operators are closing and sell their food surplus. All food sold on the platform, assures Chan, is still edible.
He says the customer base for these food surplus items has grown. “We have at least five Whatsapp groups in Penang, and one in the Klang Valley,” he reveals.
Green Hero is set to expand, and Chan is setting his sights on making a difference that is felt across the nation. “I want to help eradicate food waste in five years, and possibly see this platform go international,” he declares.
To expand nationwide and achieve their five-year plan, Green Hero has secured the much-needed technical business and marketing expertise and support via HLB Jumpstart, Hong Leong Bank’s CSR Platform, to help address the business and marketing expertise lacking to help Green Hero build a sustainable model for nationwide success. “It’s a step forward in the right direction,” remarks Chan, smiling.
For this young man, every little step has led him on this unlikely path of activism and on making a difference. “If you’re searching for a purpose, do something about it. Get involved and start volunteering. Make the world a better place, and you’ll become a better person as a result,” he says.
“A lot of people feel intimidated by marching or protesting, but there are other ways to express yourself and make a difference,” Chan advices, “Use your gifts and strengths to speak up. Make small sacrifices, do your bit and you’ll be surprised how everyone’s small actions add up to bigger change.”