Saw Phaik Hwa - Roof & Facade

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e c o t r a v e l Creating a Green Environment to be More Sustainable Anthony Wong is one of the greenest people on the planet and has spent decades sharing his vision with others and encouraging them to do more for the environment, writes Floyd Cowan. There are two things to know about Anthony Wong; how much he has done/ is doing for the green movement, and how strongly he feels about doing more. It is easy to list the Malaysian’s efforts and accomplishments, but as meaningful as they are Wong knows that what is important is not what he has done, but what he is going to do. Green From an Early Age From the time that he was a seven years old Cub, Wong, founder of Asian Overland Services and owner of the Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa, knew that he was a conservationist. He was taken on a school outing from Kuala Lumpur to the rainforest outside the capital. The experience impressed on him how beautiful and how important nature and the environment are. I spent about two hours with Anthony and in addition to his commitment to the cause the other thing that impressed was his frustration that more isn’t being done. You can hear it in his voice when he says, “We have the right laws in Malaysia, the problem is that they are not being enforced.” You realise how commied he is when he slaps his hands expressing his frustration with a government that lags far behind in its commitments. You realize the extent of his commitment when he says that he doesn’t have a General Manager for the Frangipani. The Frangipani is a beautiful seaside resort that has all the right appeal for the average tourist. So why does he have a problem retaining managers? Managers are trained to make money, to run a tight ship, to do many things, but they are not trained to run a hotel in a green and sustainable manner. Mission to be the Greenest Most hotels have slogans such as “We provide great service.” The Frangipani’s mission statement is: ‘Our journey is to be the greenest and most sustainable resort in the world.’ In Malaysia, that is not an easy journey despite having won Langkawi Geopark Tourism Award 2008, or having won the Libur Tourism Award 2008 for being the best Green Resort and the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award 2008. Why has the Frangipani won these awards? “When you are looking at Green, you have to look at the whole system,” Wong explains. “Most people don’t look at the whole system. You have to look at the energy, you have to look at the water and the waste, you have to look at everything you use, everything you buy and the way that is brought to your hotel, and they way that it leaves your hotel.” Profit No Matter What What also sets Wong apart from others is that he is willing to spend money on what he believes. Not only on measures that will save him money and happen to be green — which many people do and then claim to be green — but he spends it on advertising on promotion of the green cause, he spends on bringing people together with common interests to talk about how they can improve and build on what they are doing. He is organising a Climate Change Convention for 2010 among the other programmes he hosts that are designed to create more environmental awareness. “I don’t look at profit as the cornerstone of success and that makes it hard for me to communicate to the public what I am trying to do, when their values are profit, when their values G + B E Y O N D G R E E N 2 0 J U L / S E P 2 0 0 9
are making money. It is hard to convince the government, it is hard to convince business people and it is hard to convince the public that this is the right thing to do. “They want profit, no maer what,” Wong states. “My philosophy on sustainable development is not just to conserve resources and energy, which is important, but to show others how to protect natural resources while saving money for more beneficial activities. Educating Students Having gained his awareness through school outings and by being a nature guide he realises the importance of geing young people out into nature and exposing them to its complex eco systems. Anthony works a great deal with the schools from geing students to his Jungle Lodge where they provide outdoor training, to visits to the Frangipani Resort. “It is experiential education,” he explains the programme at the Adventure Camp that he started in 1991, “they learn by doing. They get to learn about the forest and its importance.” The Jungle Lodge was built like a Malay House and is located in a lush green valley on five and a half acres next to a primary forest reserve and surrounded by natural aractions. Some of the activities include guided jungle trekking, bird watching, camping, abseiling and jungle survival courses. Active Recycling No less important are the trips to the resort where there is a great deal to learn about doing things in a green manner because Wong puts into action what he preaches. “We practise waste sorting in our Resort. We sort rubbish according to category of paper, plastics, aluminium can, glass and metal. In the kitchen and cafeteria, we also sort kitchen waste from rubbish. As glass has no value in Langkawi, we recycle it into decorative item.” In 2007 the Frangipani recycled a total of 8430.1 tons of waste that included papers, plastics and metals and generated revenues of RM 3792.50 (S$1550.00). There are 118 rooms at the Resort on 10 acres of land and he has hired two full time environment engineers to ensure that all the hotel’s operations and practices are as green as they can be. e c o t r a v e l ‘SAVE OUR EARTH AWARD’ At the Climate Change Convention recognition will be given to organizations and individuals who show an outstanding effort in protecting the environment through conservation of energy, water, waste, recycling and innovation such as Best Practices in Plantation (palm oil, timber, rubber), Best Practices in Marine Tourism & Underwater Conservation, Green Tours, Greenest Hotel/ Resort, Airline, Airport, Village, City, Farm, School/ University, Architecture Design, Engineering, Technology & Manufacturing Industry. If someone you know fits into any of the above-mentioned award categories, do nominate them. Nominations can be submied online via email. As the convention website is currently under construction, please send all enquiries to info@climatechange convention.com G + B E Y O N D G R E E N 2 1 J U L / S E P 2 0 0 9
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