About 200 people gathered at One Garden in George Town for the opening of O-Earth 2026 on Saturday, a two-day programme that pairs orchestral performances and theatrical pieces with a look at how the pursuit of development has shaped family ties and humanity’s bond with nature, The Star reported.
Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Jagdeep Singh Deo, who officiated, said protecting the earth was essential to giving future generations a place to live. “We may be of different colours, but if we do not take care of our Earth, none of us will have a space to continue living happily,” he said at the launch.
He said the initiative supported the state’s push for a cleaner, greener, healthier and safer Penang, adding that much had been done since 2008 although more work remained. Jagdeep later presented a RM20,000 mock cheque from the state government to organising chairperson Mei Tan.
The gathering at One Garden, an open space overlooking the former Shih Chung School building, is built around three values: Love for People, Love for All Life and Love for Earth, each presented at its own booth. TLJ Global and Asia Green Group, eNanyang wrote, are the joint organisers. The site, known as Goh Chan Lau or the Five-Storey Villa, dates to the 1880s and has served as a residence, a consulate, a hotel and a school.
Mei Tan, who heads Asia Green Group, said the movement began with questions and listening, and that O-Earth does not claim to hold a complete plan for a new world. No single person, industry, technology, country or generation could shape the future alone, she said.
The weekend also marked the launch of the Future Earthling Initiative, which aims to give children and young people real-world experience and a hand in shaping the world they will inherit, along with the O-Earth Founding Schools Circle.
Circle coordinator Chan Quin Er said the success of education should be measured by how children feel in their learning environments. “Whether in a rural home, a learning centre or a forest school, one question tells us whether education is working: How does a child feel in those places?” she said.
Young people joining the 10 journeys across Penang would be co-creators whose experience would help shape the O-Earth learning framework, she said. The journeys cover ecology, resources, oneness, media, all life, connection, education, creativity, wellbeing and technology, with visits to communities and meetings with practitioners before participants return to One Garden to discuss solutions.
Using a dandelion as a metaphor, Chan said the flower does not know where it will land, and that letting go and trusting the wind is the faith every parent and teacher should have. Asia Green Group founder Datuk Tan Boon Huat was also present.
