TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsMalaysia to host youth summit, music fest in Sarawak rainforest
The Malaysian state is set to host a three-day summit that puts young people at the center of environmental action, followed by one of Southeast Asia's best-known events: a three-day celebration of world music and cultural heritage.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Two women explore a work of installation art at the Rainforest Youth Summit 2025 in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Rainforest Youth Summit 2025/-)
B
ased on the island of Boreno, the Malaysian state of Sarawak is hosting the third Rainforest Youth Summit (RAYS) and the 29th Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) later this month, bringing together youth leaders, climate advocates and musicians from across the globe to state capital Kuching.
Funded and organized by the Sarawak government and the Sarawak Tourism Board, RAYS takes place from June 24 to 26 at the Raia Hotel & Convention Centre Kuching and is themed "Youth: Many Ways, One Planet".
"Youth must not be placed at the edge of sustainability conversations but firmly at the center of them," Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said in a statement.
The summit will feature at least 17 speakers in a lineup led by Malaysian wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te as well as Sarawak-based chef Achang Libat, fashion designer Allie Jabing and filmmaker Sarah Lois Dorai.
Other notable figures include British climate justice campaigner Tori Tsui, Fijian environmental advocate Dylan Kava, Indonesian environmental activist Melati Wijsen, Kenyan environmental leader Elizabeth Wathuti, Panamanian climate activist Diwigdi Valiente and United States environmental educator Isaias Hernandez.
In addition to holding workshops and plenary discussions, this year's summit will introduce two new initiatives: The Planet Futures Forum, a climate negotiation simulation in which participants navigate real-world environmental trade-offs, and the RAYS Fellowship Program, a 12-month leadership program for 10 to 15 selected participants aimed at translating summit discussions into community action.
Tourism minister Abdul Karim highlighted that, because the summit takes place amid Sarawak's vast rainforest and peatland ecosystems, RAYS 2026 participants would be immersed in the environmental issues under discussion.
More from The Weekender
Success isn’t at the top of the corporate ladder anymore
My generation watched our parents give everything to a company. We decided to give it to ourselves instead. But it's more complicated than that.
Our second Instagram account is the real one
In an act of rebellion against overexposure and performative social media, Gen Z are turning to smaller, controlled spaces on social media where they can be their authentic selves.
What women want, and the gap men are still trying to close
While millennial and Gen Z women were raised to chase careers, the same generation of men were not taught to do chores or be vulnerable. How can men step up?
