AOS’ Wong donates award winnings to Orangutan sanctuary
KUCHING: The Bornean Orangutan, Sarawak’s largest primate, continues to woo the international conference community to the idea of saving this endangered species — even after the conference curtain has drawn to a close.
AOS Conventions and Events Group managing director Anthony Wong decided to donate his prize of EU1,000 — which he received from the prestigious Moises Shuster Award 2016 of the International Congress and Convention Association ( ICCA) — to the Semenggoh Orangutan Sanctuary, which he nominated as his top choice for most outstanding charity.
Named after one of ICCA’s ‘ founding fathers’, this award recognises individuals in the international meetings sector who model the values of inspiring business success, leadership, and contribution to ICCA’s development.
Wong, who is a pioneering figure in the Asian meetings market, as well as a regional champion of sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, received the honour at the past 55th ICCA Congress held here last November.
Wong’s choice is also a strong nod of support to both ICCA and Sarawak Convention Bureau, who jointly ran the wildly successful ‘Borneo Orangutan Project’ (BOP) as the Congress’ flagship corporate social responsibility project to an international audience from Barcelona and Melbourne, to Shanghai, Bangkok and Las Vegas.
“Like many others working over a lifetime to promote sustainability in this sector, I was truly inspired by Sarawak’s efforts to use conferences as an excellent global platform to reawaken interest in conservation or charitable programmes; in this case, to promote the plight of our ‘Man of the Forest’,” said Wong.
The BOP was part of ICCA’s # RoadtoSarawak campaign, in which ICCA members had the chance to become an ‘adoptive guardian’ for a year to young orangutans. The BOP aimed to reawaken the need for conservation of endangered species on a global scale by traversing borders and making a lasting and personal impact.
To learn more about what conferences in Sarawak are doing for the world, visit www. sarawakcb.com.