"There is so much beauty in nature"
Meet Quek Yew Aun, Millennium Oceans prize Runner-up, and founder of Lex Aquatica
Meet the 7th Millennium Oceans Prize runner up - Quek Yew Aun, from Malaysia. Yew Aun is a Bachelor of Jurisprudence student of law at the Universiti Malaya and a Marine Biologist by profession. His project - Lex Aquatica - hopes to raise awareness of the international and domestic Legal and Governance frameworks governing the marine environment. Lex Aquatica wins a 2,500$ grant courtesy of the Remmer Family Foundation and MCN to support its work, and Yew Aun will benefit from months of Mentorship and Guidance as he implements his project.
We spoke with Yew Aun about Lex Aquatica, his motivations, and what this opportunity means to him.
“Nature and science have always been fascinating to me. Growing up in Malaysia, I spent a lot of my time outdoors. My family used to take my sister and I to national parks and islands. Then as a boy scout in my teens, my friends and I did a lot of camping. Because Malaysia is actually more ocean than land, you come to gain a kind of metaphysical connection with the water. You are always surrounded by the sea, and a lot of life is lived in and around it. As a child you realize that there’s so much beauty in nature - so much profoundness in the sea, and you want to protect it. You go to places as an adult and remember times spent there as a child - and you hope that your children might experience the same. It hurts in personal ways when you see the misuse and pollution that has become so normalized these days. You start to fear that others might never experience these things again. I was also exposed to a lot of nature documentaries as a teen, e.g the works of David Attenborough were huge influences to me. The combination of these 2 exposures led me to want a career in the sciences - specifically in the area of marine biology. The law aspect for me came after realizing that more often than not we are governed by invisible strings, and change can only come when we figure out how these strings work and learn to use them for good- so I realized that understanding the law is fundamentally important - especially in the marine and environment spaces.
"As a child growing up in Malaysia, you realize that there’s so much beauty in nature - so much profoundness in the sea, and you want to protect it."
That, in part, is how Lex Aquatica - my Oceans Prize project came about. Coming from a marine biology background I felt it’s important to make people understand the frameworks that govern our marine ecosystems, not just from a biological perspective, but also from a legal perspective. The marine environment is threatened today more than ever before because of anthropological threats such as pollution, overfishing and unsustainable tourism. Such threats are further compounded by global climate trends leading to ocean acidification and rise in sea temperature. Although many conservation efforts have been undertaken in Malaysia, they’ve largely focused on terrestrial ecosystems. For many communities, the ocean remains a distant concern. This is compounded by a lack of awareness on the international and domestic legal and governance frameworks controlling marine resources.
"The marine environment is threatened today more than ever - before because of anthropological threats such as pollution, overfishing and unsustainable tourism."
In line with Target 14.2, 14.5 and 14.C of SDG 14 – Life Below Water, Lex Aquatica will aim to improve the public's general awareness of legal and governance systems in Malaysia by presenting the information through media such as videos, infographics and interactive webinars engaging experts in the law of the Sea. With this information will come deeper understanding, and people will then be able to suggest new amendments and progressive laws that are in line with international conventions. This information can also be used by organisations, students and communities in furthering the marine protection agenda - hopefully resulting in an overall positive impact on the marine environment in Malaysia.
Being named Runners - up in this year's Millennium Oceans Prize is a dream come true for me and my team! I would like to thank the Remmer Family Foundation and MCN for making this possible.”
Learn more about the Millennium Oceans Prize here: https://www.millenniumoceans.org