Environmental awareness hard to find in Malaysia
Report By Sid Astbury
THE GREEN MOVEMENT HAS NOT taken root in Malaysia .and shop assistants giggle when president of the Environmental Protection Society, Gurmit Singh, refuses plastic bags for his purchases. When he takes his own shopping bag into the store, they suspect him of shoplifting. When he checks the shelves, ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other dangerous substances abound, and there are very few genuinely environmentally friendly products to be purchased.
At most petrol stations, unleaded is simply not available. Where it is available, it is sold without the government subsidy that makes it a good buy in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. And at fast-food outlets, polystyrene is the in thing. Ask managers about policies to move to less damaging packaging and the answer is a blank look.
Even storekeepers with green leanings have a hard time. Last year, advertising/promotions manager for Parkson Grand, Tony Tan, decided his would be the first department store to use wrappings made from recycled paper. His plan —
and his bags — quickly came unstuck. Demand for the paper was so poor that prices were sky-high. Quality was so low that some bags started to come apart before shoppers even left the store. "We will be back with recycled bags once we get a consistent supply," says Tan, who had to discontinue using the bags after the first effort flopped. He is also keen to bring in biodegradable plastics for in-store packaging, which would be another first for Malaysia.
Greening in Malaysia progresses at a glacial pace, says advertising and promotions manager of fashion retailer Oval, Vivian Yap. "If we did not give them bags, our customers would jump on us," she says. Yap, who recently ran a joint promotion with the World Wide Fund for Nature, warns that getting too far ahead of the market can mean losing customers.
But both Tan and Yap agree that retailers, and eventually producers, who ignore the green consumer completely will fall behind. According to Tan, who says that despite the problems, the recycling pitch received a ~quite amazing" response, the environment will be the issue of the l990s in Malaysia. "We were very glad to be the first," says Tan. "Everybody was waiting for someone to start — now lots of other companies have joined in." He notes that only four years ago conservation was a minority interest in the West and now Is a significant market force.
The Star newspaper has done a lot to lead the way in raising consumer awareness to the level that has been achieved, says chief reporter June Wong, who confirms that other businesses are now getting more involved in green-related promotions. "In the early 1980s, it was hard to get any sort of response from business," she says. "But now lots of companies are beating a path to our door." Many are offering sponsorships for green campaigns, saying they want to be involved.
But, on the whole, general awareness is developing slowly. One company, Carlsberg, offered prizes to encourage people to claim a small refund on aluminium cans in a recycling drive. And there is still only a very small market for recycled paper, which can cost up to 40 per cent more than standard paper.
Source : Asian Advertising & Marketing, September, 1991
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