Who are we

MESYM.com is run by a group of volunteers who are strongly passionate about environmental issues, and who see great potential in providing a central, online platform for the Malaysian environmental scene. We gather in solidarity and goodwill, with the common aim of making the world a better place.

We aim to streamline the environmental movement in Malaysia, through these interconnected functions:

• To provide a central repository of information on environmental movements: who’s doing what – when, where, why and how
• To provide a voice and platform for experts to share their knowledge on issues of environmentalism and sustainability
• To support networking and collaboration of environmentalists, whether individuals or organizations
• To encourage online discussions and offline participation in good causes and events

Our Rationale

What do we mean by connecting the green dots? What, or who, are the green dots? There are a few ways of looking at this.

The People

There are many environmentalists or environmentally conscious people trying to do the right thing, and to champion the right causes. However, many of these efforts are scattered and do not get the visibility that they deserve. By connecting them together, we actually see the collective effort, whether for purposes of networking, sharing resources, or just for solidarity. Also, on one hand, organizations working on environmental issues complain of being understaffed and overworked; and on the other hand, people who want to help do not know how to start. We aim to bridge the gap and rectify this problem.

The Sectors

The environmental scene is composed of different sectors of stakeholders. Government departments and policymakers, NGOs and social enterprises, the private sector with their green technology… they need to talk to each other, and work together. This is a platform that cuts across different sectors and shows what everyone is doing.

The Communities

Within the environmental community, we have different interest groups – the organic movement, the activists on specific crises, the conservationists, to name a few. There is significant overlap in their goals, and potential collaborations can happen. And then there are different communities in different localities – the urban, the rural; the local, the regional, and the international. As environmental crises become more and more frequent and widespread, it is increasingly apparent that all of us are susceptible to issues like climate change, mass extinction of animal species, industrial pollution, and so on. Beyond the environmental community, we try to reach out to other communities such as the arts, the civil rights groups, students… to alert and engage a larger segment of the population.

The Ideas

Issues of environmentalism and sustainability cut across multiple disciplines, and the problems are often bigger than what we can understand. This is why we invite thinkers, academics, journalists, scientists, activists… people who are on the ground, to write for us, and to link these ideas together for us to see a clearer, bigger picture.

Our Strategy

So, how do we connect the dots? For the time being, we have two projects:

The online platform, MESYM.com

We provide a central space for people to publish their profiles, events, actions, articles and announcements. Anyone can sign up and use the system to publicize their good actions, or ideas. The platform is free to use, and we market it to three populations: the people who are out there doing good actions, the people who want to start something, and those who are potentially interested to join in.

The Monthly Documentary Night

We organize a monthly get-together where like-minded people can come hang out and get to know each other, over a thought-provoking movie. The event is free to attend. We want to get people to network face-to-face, and generate conversations from the featured documentaries. During the Documentary Night, we also have a 15-minute slot for whoever who wants to talk about their organization, event or action.

The Monthly Crossover Series

Similar to our Monthly Documentary Night, but we screen films featuring “Crossover” topics: Economics, politics, capitalism, democracy, mass media, etc… all these topics (and many more) are directly or indirectly linked with the natural world that we live in. However, these interconnections are not always apparent. With the Crossover Series we show a documentary of a chosen topic in every event, and discuss its connection with environmental issues. Click here for more info in our Crossover Documentary Series.

MESYM