I have just done a quick scan of newspaper articles and social media channels over the last 6 weeks to try to understand public perceptions of the response to our December 2021 floods more clearly. I was immediately struck by the number of articles about youth volunteerism and activism during this terrible event.

In the first week of February 2022, the Planetary Health Centre that I manage at Sunway University convened our second Youth Town Hall. These townhalls provide an opportunity for us to engage with young people from across Malaysia and discuss and strategise on planetary health with them.

Through the news articles and my discussions with the town hall participants I reflected on the simplicity and clarity of their actions and feedback. Their key message is that the poorly managed response to the floods cannot be allowed to happen again. They also recognised that a key missing ingredient in the operation was effective coordination and leadership by the authorities, especially for non-governmental organisations and individuals who pitched in to help flood-affected people; something the Prime Minister and government have also courageously acknowledged.

Read more here.