Pua Lay Peng is a Jenjarom-born chemical engineer who was heartbroken when a trip back home revealed the toxicities in the community’s waterways caused by environmentally ignorant factories. Since then, Pua has taken it upon herself to heal her community and its environment, establishing Persatuan Tindakan Alam Sekitar Kuala Langat, an NGO that collects and disseminates irrefutable evidence of the health hazards posed by the factories.
With the support of a team, Pua has been rigorous in her efforts to spread awareness about the illegal plastic waste landfills and burnings that have contaminated the town’s waters and air. Together, they have found more than 300 illegal facilities responsible for burning and dumping plastic waste, and have successfully shut down their operations.
The sheer force of Pua’s activism has since piqued the attention of many international media platforms such as the HuffPost, and provided her invitation into discussions with other changemakers. In 2018, Pua was selected by Greenpeace to meet New Zealand’s Minister of Environment Eugenie Sage, in 2019, she attended the 21st EU-NGO forum on human rights in Belgium. Impressive as it is, Pua’s story serves not to boast, but to inspire other ordinary Malaysians that the capacity to enact change is right within the palm of our hands.
Making an impact to me is first, voicing out for human rights and second, giving love and protection to mother nature.