text: As the saying goes, “Do what you love and the rest will follow”, Hafizudin Nasarudin decided to leave the corporate world and his stable job for the sake of fighting for the environment. Born in Kampar and raised in Ipoh, Hafiz, 29, is a former St Michael’s Institution student, moving on to earn a Bachelor Degree (B.App Sc) in Natural Resources Science from Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) in 2008 culminating in a Masters Degree (MSc) from Bristol University UK in Water & Environmental Management in 2012.
  Soon after he came home, Hafiz secured a job at an environmental consulting firm in Damansara while doing consultancies on a freelance basis. Hafiz is also the current president of KUASA (Persatuan Aktivis Kuasa Alam / The Society of Environmentalists) where they focus on saving and protecting the environment.
  “Back in 2014, I visited KUASA’s recycling camp at Teluk Senangin in Manjung. I was surprised to see how much they were doing and working to raise awareness about big environmental issues in Perak. After joining their programme a few times, I realised that I needed to do something meaningful in life. I wanted to protect nature. It was then I decided to quit my corporate life and started a tree nursery for reforestation while working consultancies on a freelance basis,” said Hafiz.
  His decision later caught the attention of the senior members of KUASA and seeing how passionate he was, they decided to appoint him as president of KUASA together with several other young members as new committee members.
  “Soon after I was appointed, our team and I decided to reform the organisation in the hope to attract more participants and volunteers especially from the youth. Among the projects we have planned are environmental activist training, forest watch project, community empowerment projects and a School of Environment (SoE),” added Hafiz.
  The School of Environment will be involving kids as young as kindergarten, primary school, teenagers and youth groups where they will be given hands-on experience and exposure in creating their own environmental-related project guided by KUASA.
  When asked about KUASA’s main focus, Hafiz stressed that although KUASA is focussing solely on nature, there are many branches under the same tree.
  “Nature is not only about conservation, protection and preservation. It can also be about philosophy, politics, economy, social, arts, science and of course, fun. Together with the members of KUASA, we want the public to grasp a concept where taking care of the environment should not be done occasionally but to take it as something that they do on a daily basis,” said Hafiz.
  Readers of Ipoh Echo who are keen on becoming volunteers or participants at any event organised by KUASA can contact them via email at admin@kuasaperak.org or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PersatuanAktivisSahabatAlamKUASA.