2,700 New Undergraduates Pledge to Go Green at USM

This maybe what you see when you are in a hall with 2,700 fresh young faces in front of you.
How do you get personal to get them involved with your message?
How do you touch them to stimulate their imagination?

It was the first time in my entire academic career talking to almost 3,000 undergraduates in a huge hall.

Even when you speak to a small audience, you may find it hard to keep some of them awake.
Not this crowd. They are all energised to take on a brave new world.
All eager to see what USM has to offer.

Above and below : The student leaders in USM who made it all happen yesterday night.
It was all about going green. About sustainable lifestyles. About global warming.
About taking small steps for a sustainable future. Syabas!

I was asked to speak for 15 to 20 minutes to the new undergraduates in my capacity as coordinator of Kampus Sejahtera (or Healthy Campus). But I had about 100 slides with me! Well, some of the slides were just flashed on the screen - a sort of subtle effort to reach the audience's subconscious.

I spoke mainly on the effort at USM to go green including our now famous The White Coffin effort and our next push this coming semester to ban certain kinds of plastic bags and to discourage others. I expected some to just fall asleep because orientation is always very tiring. Well I was wrong. Maybe it was the promise of a surprise gift. But I would like to think that I was in my element last night. I think I moved the crowd. They were energised. Abe (USM senior) told me that he can feel their energy. A new female student told me after my talk that she love it. So I am pleased. If we can mobilise these 2,700 students to support our ban on plastic bags on campus, I am very sure we can succeed.

So what was the surprise gift? Tupperware (yes, the real one, not those "tipuware") offered USM a deal we could not refuse and USM ALO (Alumni Liaisons Office) sponsored a tupperware (GoFlex) food container for each of the new students. There will be no excuse for not having a reusable container for "TauPau" (takeaway). The new students were quite shocked and very pleased. I told a few of the students "See how precious you are to USM?"

And they also signed The Green Pledge (pledge for a sustainable world). I told them they don't have to sign it if they don't want to. That pledge is a very personal thing. I think they all bought the idea, especially after they got the surprise gift.

Congratulations all round to MPP (Student Council), the student affairs division (HEPP), ALO, VC's Office, student volunteers, Tupperware, Kampus Sejahtera and everyone who made it a night to remember.