This work is reporting the advocation of a public Malaysia University for the environmental protection through sustainable waste practices ever since its ban on the use of the “White Coffin” initiative in circa 2008, a flagship for environmental activism on its different campuses targeting to get rid of polystyrene containers. This initiative was not halted but served as a spark of flare for a sustainability journey up to this very day. The effort to realise a sustainable tomorrow as the vision of higher education sector, including the studied Malaysian University has been integrating efforts from various parties. This includes the formation of “Kampus Sejahtera” (wellness campus), regional centre of expertise, sustainability course, and more recently the sustainability month, sustainability network, and most importantly, the local NGO-industrial-academia collaboration in the path toward a sustainable tomorrow. The work in this article delineates a case study in implementing sustainable waste practice from the start to the status, in one of the Malaysian public universities which is ranked 39th in Times Higher Education University in Global Impact Ranking 2021, and top in Malaysia. More emphasis will be placed on the current initiative of the local NGO-industrial-academia collaboration as case study in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article highlights the response and mitigation strategies implemented by Malaysia in responding to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-2019) pandemic. A combination of mitigation measures that represent different aims enables countries, especially those with limited resources, to fight the infectious disease effectively. Contact tracing, strict movement control, and the use of social media to disseminate information have been effective in reducing the number of COVID-19-positive cases. Home quarantine for travelers is observed to be ineffective to control the virus. The mitigation measures addressed in this article can provide a basis for countries in Southeast Asia region and those with limited resources to develop mitigation strategies to reduce the severity of the outbreak.

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Water, a chemical substance that is vital to sustain living things. According to some popular researches, human being can starve without food for up to 21 days but can only live up to three days without water. While the supply seems abundant, water is a limited resource, particularly the fresh potable water which is most fundamental to human survival. Water conservation is imperative to solve global water shortage problem that has become more rampant nowadays. Moreover, with the unpredictable climate change, it is crucial to conserve water before it becomes more severe to treat which in turn might leave the future generation with a great deal of dilemma. This research aims to assess water consumption and water conservation awareness among students who stay in USM hostels. Two methods have been used to conduct the research; observation and measurement of water reading in two hostel buildings which consist of nine hostel blocks in total, and distribution of a set of questionnaire to students in USM who stay in USM hostels. Recommendations on water conservation awareness are addressed accordingly.

Blockchain, discreetly introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, has become one of the top emerging technologies in 2016 and was first used in financial sector as the basis for Bitcoin, a crypto-currency which allows peer to peer money transaction with smart contracts without any third party in between which is different from other payment method such as Paypal or other methods to send money. Many bank institutions have adopted blockchain technology to mainstream day to day operation. Based on the review of related articles, there are three major concerns behind blockchain technology; security, sustainability, and legal. These issues have become a step-back for some companies and banks to adopt blockchain into their daily operations. Hence, this paper posits that more research is required in this area.