An Excerpt from Memoirs of a Malaysian Eco-Activist (2017)

This excerpt from the autobiographical work of the firebrand Malaysian environmentalist, Gurmit Singh K.S., provides an overview of several environmental movements, as told from his perspective and personal involvement. Born in 1942 to Sikh immigrants from Punjab and spending his early years growing up in British Malaya, he went on to fight for students’ rights as part of the council of the University of Malaya Students Union. Upon graduation, he joined the Selangor Graduates Society, which became a platform for his human rights and environmental activism, leading to his founding of two pioneering advocacy organisations: the Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia (EPSM) and the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia (CETDEM). He was conferred the Langkawi Environmental Award in 1993. It is contextualised by a short editorial introduction which discusses the literary and broader cultural aspects of Singh’s text.