Cover Chong Seow Wei, Deo Florence Onda, Kyle Morgan, Marcellinus Jerry Winata, Dr Louisa Ponnampalam, Thanda Ko Gyi, Melati Riyanto Wijsen, Samantha Thian, Dr Neo Mei Lin, Dave Albao, Harlin Singh, Dr Toh Tai Chong, Arthur Tay
Chong Seow Wei, Deo Florence Onda, Kyle Morgan, Marcellinus Jerry Winata, Dr Louisa Ponnampalam, Thanda Ko Gyi, Melati Riyanto Wijsen, Samantha Thian, Dr Neo Mei Lin, Dave Albao, Harlin Singh, Dr Toh Tai Chong, Arthur Tay
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The annual accolade, created by ONE°15 Events Management and powered by Gen.T and Tatler Singapore, recognises individuals making a positive impact on ocean and coastal conservation
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much,” said Helen Keller.
That was the prevailing emotion on the evening of November 4 at the Blue Water Heroes Awards. The inaugural Awards that recognises and celebrates those advancing the quest for marine and coastal conservation was part of the Blue Water EduFest 2022, which took place from November 3 to 6. It was created by ONE°15 Events Management and powered by Gen.T and Tatler Singapore.
The event is the brainchild of Arthur Tay, chairman and CEO of SUTL Group, which owns ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove, and was conceived with the objective to raise awareness about the urgency to take action against climate change.
The Blue Water EduFest was conceived as a means to garner strong support to advance the “Blue Water movement”, as Tay termed it, “in close collaboration with the governments and industry partners in the region”.
Above Arthur Tay, chairman and CEO of SUTL Group
Arthur Tay, chairman and CEO of SUTL Group
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Changemakers of today
The Blue Water EduFest featured a two-day Ocean Collective Summit headlined by conservationist and filmmaker Fabien Cousteau, who is the grandson of the legendary Jacques Cousteau. There were also nightly networking cocktail events and a marina clean-up on the final day of the four-day event that saw at least 100 volunteers taking part. The marina clean-up was an annual affair by ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove as part of its efforts to protect the environment, but the activity was put on pause for two years due to the pandemic.
The Blue Water Heroes Awards, which was powered by Gen.T, was held on the second night of the Blue Water EduFest. From across Southeast Asia, 10 young conservationists—from scientists and academics to non-profit founders—dedicated to conserving our waters and the lives they support were selected as finalists for the Awards. They were picked as the top contenders through a quantitative grading process that gauged the scope of their work, research and data procured, reach and scalable impact created, and vision for the future.
They were the Philippines Marine Science Institute's Deo Florence Onda, the Earth Observatory of Singapore's Kyle Morgan, Bawah Anambas Foundation's Marcellinus Jerry Winata, MareCet Research Organization's Dr Louisa Ponnampalam, Myanmar Ocean Project's Thanda Ko Gyi, Bye Bye Plastic Bags' Melati Riyanto Wijsen, Seastainable's Samantha Thian, St John's Island National Marine Laboratory's Dr Neo Mei Lin, the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation's Dave Albao and Thresher Shark Indonesia's Rafid Shidqi.
Their applications were reviewed by a panel of judges, which included Tay, Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, as well as industry leaders in sustainability such as the National University of Singapore’s Dr Toh Tai Chong, WWF-Singapore’s Uma Sachidhanandam, Citi Private Bank’s Harlin Singh, Nanyang Technological University professor Benjamin Horton and City Developments Limited’s Esther An.
Above Watch highlights from the first edition of the Blue Water Heroes Awards, an annual accolade recognising individuals across Asia making a positive impact on ocean and coastal conservation
One cause, one community
The 10 finalists, who hailed from Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines, flew down for the event to support each other and prove their solidarity to the cause.
A video was shown midway through the event to illustrate each of their work and achievements as champions in their own right. As Tay mentioned during his welcome address to guests, each finalist has made a difference in the lives of many, and through their work, “many people and communities have come to understand the impact of [their] actions on the behaviour of [the] planet”.
At the end of the evening, three of the finalists were announced as recipients of awards: First place went to Wijsen from Indonesia, second place went to Ko Gyi from Myanmar and third place went to Dr Ponnampalam from Malaysia.
The 10 finalists of the inaugural Blue Water Heroes Awards with members of the judging panel
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The awards ceremony was complemented by a soulful piano recital by 10-year-old prodigy Mikkel Myer Lee and a jazzy performance by Singaporean singer, actress and Gen.T honouree Joanna Dong. The evening’s ceremony was also gracefully led by renowned local presenter, Denise Keller.
Aligning with the cause of the event, guests were served canapes made from sustainably sourced ingredients prepared by chef Steven Hill, the head of F&B at ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove.
Read more: Rumah Group’s Kathlyn Tan on Channelling Her Passion For Scuba Diving to Help Save the Ocean
Meet the Blue Water Heroes Awards recipients
Above Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Youthtopia's Melati Riyanto Wijsen
Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Youthtopia's Melati Riyanto Wijsen
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1st place: Melati Riyanto Wijsen
Founder, Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Youthtopia
This 21-year-old’s fight to save our planet and its oceans began before she became a teenager. Wijsen co-founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) in 2013 with her sister Isabel with the aim of abolishing single-use plastic bags in her hometown of Bali. Through awareness and education campaigns, the initiative provoked policy and mindset change. Wijsen also founded Youthtopia, which focuses on empowering young changemakers like her.
“I started with absolutely no business plan, strategy or funding, but I had a clear idea of the impact I wanted to create and I think that has been my guiding principle through the years,” said the young changemaker during her acceptance speech at the Blue Water Heroes Awards.
Read more: Crazy Smart Asia: Melati Wijsen—The Teenager Changing The World
This clarity has put her on the world stage, where she has co-chaired influential conferences and been a part of advisory panels such as the World Economic Forum GPAP committee and the Earthshot Prize.
In 2021, she starred as the chief protagonist in the film Bigger Than Us, directed by French director Flore Vasseur and produced by Marion Cotillard, starred Melati. It showed her journeying the world to find like-minded peers to join her mission to accelerate change. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year and went on to be nominated for a Cesars.
“Conservation will not happen if we do not work together,” said Wijsen. “We all have a role to play whether you are a CEO, teacher or an young person like me.”
Above Myanmar Ocean Project's Thanda Ko Gyi
Myanmar Ocean Project's Thanda Ko Gyi
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2nd Place: Thanda Ko Gyi
Founder, Myanmar Ocean Project
A passionate diver, Thanda Ko Gyi decided to dedicate her life to marine conservation after witnessing first-hand the devastation a single fishing net could cause to marine life.
She founded Myanmar’s first non-profit ocean conservation organisation, Myanmar Ocean Project (MOP) in 2018 and in 2019, with the support of the National Geographic Society, Ocean Conservancy and Global Ghost Gear Initiative. With her team, she set out on a year-long expedition into the country’s Myeik Archipelago to find out more about abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear. In 11 months, they extracted over 1,800kg of harmful fishing nets from 89 dive sites. She also works closely with local fishing communities to find out how degrading marine ecosystems impact their way of life.
Her quest to save marine biodiversity was propelled by an innate love for manta rays and the ocean, but her work with MOP has opened her perspective. “At first, it used to be about the fish and ocean, but I realised that it’s also about the people and the community. If their needs are met, when survival is a struggle, we cannot expect them to talk about the ocean.”
Her ultimate quest would be to create opportunities for others in Myanmar to see the ocean as she has been able to.
Read more: This Foodtech Company Has Created Cultured Fish Products That Are Both Sustainable and Delicious
Above MareCet Research Organisation's Dr Louisa Ponnampalam
MareCet Research Organisation's Dr Louisa Ponnampalam
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3rd place: Dr Louisa Ponnampalam
Co-founder, MareCet Research Organisation
A cetacean ecologist by education, Dr Louisa Ponnampalam co-founded MareCet Research Organization in 2012, Malaysia’s first and only non-profit organisation dedicated to the research and conservation of marine mammals, and the promotion of marine stewardship.
The organisation has engaged more than 4,000 students through various outreach and education programmes. In 2019, three of its field research sites were recognised as Important Marine Mammal Areas by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Today, the organisation is recognised globally as one of the leading organisations for marine biodiversity conservation in the region.
For Dr Ponnampalam, her work is simply the realisation of her childhood dream—and a way for her to channel her love of dolphins. She hopes to help people realise that their fish doesn’t come from the supermarket, and to think beyond that.
“So much of our everyday [life], even breathing, is only possible because of the oceans,” she said during her acceptance speech. “I hope that through our work, people will learn the value of the ocean and be motivated to do their own part to conserve it. Like Mr Arthur Tay said, [to] take steps every day to support the basics of that which supports us.”
In the last decade at MRO, the ecologist has come to accept that “conservation is a marathon, not a sprint. It is about perseverance, strategy and the people. People are at the heart of the problems, and therefore the means to a solution.”
Visit the Blue Water EduFest website for more information.
