Kuala Lumpur, 10 May 2014

Approximately one thousand nature enthusiast and environmentalist showed up at the AEON Mall Bukit Mertajam to participate in AEON’s tree planting ceremony. School children, local residents, members of Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Prai and the local fire and police department, university students from UITM, AEON business partners and today’s guest of honour, Y.B. Dato’ Farizan Darus, Penang’s State Secretary, were seen planting approximately 10,000 trees in the mall premises.

The tree planting ceremony was held to herald AEON Mall Bukit Mertajam’s opening in June, AEON’s 28th mall in Malaysia. More than 60 species of trees and shrubs, such as hopea odorata, tabebuia pallida, alstonia scholaris, and dyera costulata, were selected in order to maintain and preserve the ecosystem of the area.

“With the world’s forest being destroyed by man and natural disasters, a harmonious coexistence between nature and human becomes a global challenge. We applaud AEON for organizing public initiatives such as this to create awareness and bring environmentalist together to help create a greener community,” said Y.B. Dato’ Farizan Darus at the ceremony.

Also present at the tree planting ceremony is Nur Qamarina Chew, Managing Director of AEON CO. (M) BHD. According to Qamarina, the tree-planting initiative, which was first introduced in 1991, has been AEON’s commitment towards helping to revive nature to create a more natural and pleasant environment for the future generations.

“Today, we are proud to announce that AEON has planted over 450,000 trees throughout Malaysia and over 10 million trees worldwide. Some of our notable efforts include Paya Indah Wetlands whereby we planted approximately 25,000 trees there, a collaboration with World Wildlife Fund to plant 1,000 trees at AEON’s Reforestation & Rehabilitation of Orang Utan’s Habitat in Sabah, and a collaboration with Selangor State to preserve the Firefly Park in Kuala Selangor,” she further added.

As part of AEON’s 30th Anniversary celebration, AEON will continue pursuing various initiatives to express gratitude to the loyal customers especially AEON members and the local community. The tree-planting initiative is our way of saying thank you to the local community of Bukit Mertajam by creating a greener community.

“A simple act of planting a tree together will create an ever-lasting difference towards the environment,” ended Qamarina.