Top journalists, bloggers and photographers from around the region were honoured at the Asian Environmental Journalism Awards (AEJA) 2013, for their journalistic work on environmental issues.
Organised by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), the inaugural AEJA was introduced last year to recognise and reward excellence in environmental journalism at all levels of society. The awards are open to Asian journalists, as well as journalists working in and writing about Asian countries.
Green Future Solutions Founder, Eugene Tay, was one of the Merit Winners for the new award category, Environmental Blogger of the Year. Eugene would like to thank SEC and the judges for the award, and also extend his appreciation to the environmental bloggers who have inspired him – Ria Tan at Wildsingapore, Siva at Habitatnews, and Joseph Lai at eart-h.
SEC received 84 applications, almost a threefold increase from 2012, and the judging panel selected 13 winners for these five award categories:
Coca-Cola Environmental Story of the Year
- Winner: Stella Paul from India (Inter Press Services)
- Merit Winner: Wang Yan from China (News China Magazine)
- Merit Winner: Meng Yew Choong from Malaysia (Star Publications)
CDL Environmental Journalist of the Year
- Winner: Jing Li from China (South China Morning Post)
- Merit Winner: Neo Chai Chin from Singapore (TODAY)
- Merit Winner: Meng Yew Choong from Malaysia (Star Publications)
Environmental Blogger of the Year
- Winner: Kavitha Rao from India (The Guardian)
- Merit Winner: Eugene Tay from Singapore (Green Future Solutions)
- Merit Winner: Rina Saeed Khan from Pakistan (DAWN Media Group)
CITIC Telecom International Environmental Photograph of the Year
- Winner: Sridhara KS from India (Vijay Karnataka- Regional Daily)
- Merit Winner: Douglas Ho from Singapore (Singapore Press Holdings)
- Merit Winner: Andri Tambunan from Indonesia (Freelance)
Lee Foundation Excellence in Environmental Reporting by a Media Organisation
- Winner: Thomson Reuters Foundation (India Office)
- Merit Winner: Eco-Business.com (Singapore)
The stories submitted by the journalists highlighted the environmental challenges around Asia, such as Ms Stella Paul, the winner of the Coca-Cola Environmental Story of the Year, sharing about the impact of climate change on the women in India’s rural communities.
The awards also recognise individuals who report the truth and bring environmental awareness to their readers. The CDL Environmental Journalist of the Year was Ms Jing Li who was honoured for possessing the integrity and courage to uncover and report the truth, and representing the people in the field.
Source credit: SEC
Image credit: Photo from SEC’s Facebook page
