REFLECTIVE WRITING WEEK 11 (SPECIAL TALK): LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
On 30 th of December 2022, I participated in special talk held by Team of UHPS 6013 UTM about leadership and governance for sustainability. This special talk was moderated by our beloved Dr. Jamilah Ahmad and the talk was delivered by Dr. Wesam Al Madhoun. Dr. Wesam is the founder of Global Ambassadors of Sustainability. He is also The Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, Gaza University. He is as remarkable as all his achievements in academic world. The objective of this talk is for us to get the exposure and experience about the leadership and current circumstances.
Throughout this talk, I can understand the importance of sustainable development to this world and our survival. The leaders and good leadership play a very essential role to sustain this world and all its resources. As Dr. Wesam said, we borrow this nature and environment from future generation. We must ensure what we have today will not extinct before the our future generation can even see it. It was a shocking to hear the fact that the number of death caused by pollution are far greater than 6 millions death due to covid-19. Yet, lots of us are still unaware or maybe tone deaf towards this fact.
Dr. Wesam’s talk reminds me of my days in graduate college where I had to join a programme called “River Ranger”. That one day programme gave me rare opportunity to understand how endangered our rivers around Johor Bahru. The factories and chemical waste are the main reasons of pollution in our rivers. In addition, people who live close to riverside dumped trashes like old furniture, electronic waste like television and refrigerator in the river. These things cannot be disposed by water. This is due to lack of awareness among people. Few years ago, we also had a severe air and water pollution in Pasir Gudang that caused lots of health issues, and schools were forced to close for few days. Obvioulsy, uncontrolled pollution affect everyone’s life. We can not turn our eyes blind just because these industries contribute to our economy. There should be clear approach on how to ensure our country continue to develop and prosperous at the same time sustain our nature. As Mahatma Gandhi used to say, the resources in this world are enough for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed.
Dr. Wesam proposed the 3 big ideas, to utilize solar energy, protect biodiversity and reduce production of waste. Eventhough this responsibility lies in everyone’s hand, but in my opinion, leaders should be example to people in implementing these ideas. Leaders and policy makers should enforce policies that not only beneficial to economy, people but also to nature. This may take years or longer to succeed but as Dr Wesam said, there is no short cut. If we do not start now, we will never succeed. We may take Bhutan for example. Bhutan government always maintain 60% of the country must be forest coverage and they always vote against the sacrifice of natural resources in favor of short-term economic gains. Now, eco-tourism and bio energy are the largest contributors to the country’s economy. People around the world are willing to spend more to enjoy Bhutan’s nature because they preserve their nature like no other.
As teacher, I realized that I am a leader in the eyes of my students. I must try my best to educate them to appreciate nature and implement it in my teaching. Albert Bandura said in his book, that children model and copy what they see, so we must show them the right ways to dump trash, to use recycleable things and to reduce as much as possible production of waste.
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