FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
These advocates for sustainability help ensure that the environment is taken care of
SASIBAI KIMIS
Asia’s Most Influential 2021
Founder, Earth Heir
Sasibai Kimis, an award-winning social entrepreneur, is committed to empowering artisans and marginalised communities to achieve sustainable livelihoods through her venture, Earth Heir.
Relinquishing a prosperous career in finance, Kimis redirected her focus to making a positive impact in Malaysia. Her professional journey included stints in Ghana with the UN, working as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers in New York, and leading a privateequity team at First Avenue Partners LLP in London. Subsequently, she returned to Malaysia, assuming the role of vice-president in the investments division at Khazanah Nasional.
In 2013, Kimis established Earth Heir, a Malaysian luxury craftsmanship brand specialising in contemporary bags, accessories, and lifestyle products. The brand’s mission centred on fostering sustainable livelihoods for traditional artisans and marginalised communities, all while preserving and showcasing heritage craftsmanship. To date, Earth Heir has positively impacted over 500 artisans across six states in Malaysia, earning its fair-trade certification in the process.
Affectionately known as Sasi, her contributions earned her a place among Wharton’s 40 Under 40 list and saw her receiving an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2015. She continues to drive positive change and uplift communities through her dedication and passion.
REZA COCKRELL
Asia’s Most Influential 2022
Co-founder, The Habitat Penang
Reza Cockrell, alongside his father, Dato’ Harry Cockrell, is the co-founder of The Habitat Penang Hill and The Habitat Foundation. The Habitat Penang Hill, an environmental discovery centre inaugurated in January 2016, and its NGO counterpart, The Habitat Foundation, played pivotal roles in advocating for Penang Hill’s recognition as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 2021.
Cockrell identifies as a third-culture kid, having been born in Saudi Arabia to a Malay mother and a father of mixed Caucasian and Chinese heritage. He spent his formative years in Hong Kong before pursuing studies in international studies and economics at Johns Hopkins University and accounting and finance at the London School of Economics. Presently, he is the managing director of the Pacific Tiger Group and chairman of its subsidiary, PTG Food—a nextgeneration food company committed to fostering growth by providing nourishing food and promoting environmental stewardship.
His mother, Datin Rosna Yusoff, hails from Penang, making it a dual hometown for Cockrell alongside Hong Kong. This deeprooted connection, coupled with his fervent passion for conservationism and the natural world, inspired the establishment of The Habitat Penang Hill and The Habitat Foundation.
EE SOON WEI
Asia’s Most Influential 2022
CEO, Art Printing Works
Ee Soon Wei has transformed a family business into a unique museum. Nestled within the Unesco Heritage Site of Melaka, The Royal Press is a living polyglot letterpress museum, offering visitors an insight into a once essential craft.
As the driving force behind The Royal Press’s current incarnation, Ee also spearheaded the transformation of Art Printing Works in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur into a multifaceted creative, retail, and F&B hub known as A Place Where by APW.
Founded by Ee’s grandparents in 1938, The Royal Press flourished as a letterpress printer. Today, it preserves a working Glockner-mercedes printing machine dating back to 1956, alongside a letter-block library housing 150,000 blocks in four language types—roman, Chinese, Arabic, and Tamil. This repository of historical artefacts stands as a testament to the craft’s rich heritage, meticulously preserved for the future generations.
Ee’s journey to open the museum to the public spanned seven arduous years, marked by numerous obstacles. Though The Royal Press may no longer operate as a commercial printer, its transformation into a landmark museum only enhances the allure of Melaka as a city steeped in history.