GEORGE TOWN – Your motives don’t matter, as long as you go meatless on International Meatless Day on November 25.
This year, the Malaysian Meatless Day Campaign Committee has, yet again, engaged the Penang state government to encourage the public to renew their once-a-year pledge to go meatless for one day.
According to the chairman of the Malaysia Meatless Day Campaign committee, Datuk Pishu Murli Hassaram, the occasion has been observed in the country since 1996 with Penang as the coordinating centre.
He hopes to get more people to sign the pledge as a conscious decision to abstain from meat, even though it is only for one day.
“If you abstain from meat for one day, you are saving 170kg of CO2 from being released to the environment. Just imagine the effect on society when more people choose to go meatless.
“People go vegetarian for many reasons. Some because they are animal lovers others because of health. But the general aim of this campaign is to promote vegetarianism by creating awareness about a plant-based diet.
“Therefore, I also hope that vegetarian food outlets in Penang will also join in and offer some discounts to patrons on International Meatless Day. This is to encourage the public to go meatless and maybe they would consider a plant-based future,” he said during a press conference at Komtar today.
Since he started the campaign, hotels have participated, charity carnivals were held, and the state has also managed to host the Seventh Southeast Asian Vegetarian Congress in 2016.
Moving forward, Pishu hopes that Penang can develop as a vegetarian food haven, on top of being one of the food capitals in the world.
Penang Welfare, Caring Society and Environment exco Phee Boon Poh, who was also present, commented that Penang is also heading towards a greener and healthier society.
Among the other projects to encourage people to eat more vegetables include urban farming. Together with The Lions Club, his office has been distributing vegetable seeds to those who are interested to start farming their own vegetables.
He added that the Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society Malaysia has also been providing vegetarian food three times a week to medical frontliners since the middle of last year.
Phee appealed to the public to take the pledge and go meatless on November 25. He believes it is a form of self-discipline and also benefits the earth, too, in a small way, stopping global warming and climate change.
Those who are interested to take the pledge to go meatless on International Meatless Day can commit digitally via https://forms.gle/UgpkNaYX8ttAZTDX8.
The Malaysia Meatless Day Campaign committee also encourages vegetarians to sign the pledge and fulfil it by offering kindness to an animal on that day. – The Vibes, November 19, 2021
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