IN just an hour, 27 competing teams of the first-ever SPOGOMI World Cup (Malaysia edition) event collected 348.13kg of waste at the Dataran Pantai Queensbay Mall.
Of the total, 186.17kg were recycled.
SPOGOMI is a Japan-inspired event that turns a local gotong-royong into a world-stage sporting event. It takes speed, skills, stamina, and strategy for a team of three members to collect and sort over 17kg of waste in just an hour.
The event was organised locally by Pink Hibiscus Club, and co-organised by the Penang Green Council (PGC). It was supported by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), Brewsparks, and the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs). The event was sponsored by the founding organisation in Japan – the Nippon Foundation – and UNIQLO.
The winning team – GOMI Heroes – comprising students Monessh Gopalkrishnan, 17, Muhamad Nauwfal Abdullah, 16, and their teacher Chung Boon Jin, 41, earned 4,000 points in the competition; ahead of the second-place team, SISTA, with 3,672 points. Another team, Earth Heroes, bagged third place with 2,180 points.
GOMI Heroes will be representing Malaysia in a fully sponsored trip to Japan this November to compete against 20 other international teams for the SPOGOMI World Champion 2023 title.
PGC general manager Josephine Tan said that the event was the first SPOGOMI competition in Malaysia and Penang has been selected as the only state to hold it.
“PGC is proud to be a part of the competition. It is truly a fun sport and the best way to help Mother Earth.
“Picking up the trash is not the ultimate solution for a cleaner world, but we need to start from somewhere.
“Our efforts in reducing waste, such as segregating our waste, bringing our own containers and shopping bags, saying NO to single-use plastics, and practising a zero-waste lifestyle will make a huge difference if we keep them as our ‘to-do’ commitments daily,” she said in her speech on Aug 19.
MBPP mayor Datuk A. Rajendran said Penang has always been a pioneer in environmental conservation and protection.
“We have continuously safeguarded our environment by implementing policies that could help conserve and preserve it.
“SPOGOMI World Cup event is not just a sports competition, but also a call to action.
“We encourage everyone to stop littering because a clean and litter-free environment will enhance attractiveness, promote more visitors, and benefit the local economy. The collective duty to protect the environment rests firmly in the conscience and actions of every individual,” he said.