Meet Melati Wijsen, an Indonesian climate activist who is fighting plastic pollution

At 12, Melati Wijsen had one dream: banning plastic bags from her home island of Bali in Indonesia. Five years later, she achieved it.

It began in 2013. Seeing how Bali’s beaches and rice fields were full of plastic, Wijsen and her then-10-year-old sister started petitions, marches, beach clean-ups, and talks with world leaders to campaign against plastic pollution.

“Starting at 10 and 12 years old, every time we’d enter a room, people would say, ‘Oh how cute’,” said the 22-year-old climate activist of Indonesian and Dutch descent. “We have to try extra, extra hard, and we overcome those challenges through leading by example.”

In 2018, Bali announced a ban on single-use plastic items. Although the pandemic meant people went back to using disposable plastic, the island has been taking action to get back on track with solving its plastic pollution problem.

Melati Wijsen (left) and her sister Isabel launched an organisation called Bye Bye Plastic Bags in 2013. Photo: Handout

Visiting Hong Kong

In October, Wijsen attended a film festival organised by the French International School of Hong Kong. She answered questions after a screening of a documentary she was in, Bigger Than Us, and led empowerment workshops for 60 students.

It was Wijsen’s first visit to Hong Kong, and she was amazed by how nature blended into city life.

“I was very inspired and excited to get out into nature here in Hong Kong,” she said.

But Wijsen also noticed that single-use plastic was everywhere.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done in ... how we can change our mindset on the use of these single-use items.”

Melati Wijsen attended the International Sustainable Development Film Festival organised by the French International School of Hong Kong. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Change takes time

Wijsen shared that at times, she felt frustrated by how slowly the world was improving: “I had been campaigning for so long without seeing enough ... changes happen on a big enough scale.”

She advised other young climate activists to be patient because making a big change takes time and one person can’t do everything.

“Be gentle and be kind to yourself; align with others and create that support system around you,” she said.

Use the crossword below to test your knowledge of the vocabulary words in the story.

Sample answers

• Quick question: She had to deal with people who did not take her seriously because of her age.

• Think about it: She achieved her dream by starting petitions, marches, beach clean-ups and talks with world leaders.

• Consider: She feels frustrated because she was campaigning for so long without seeing enough changes happen.