In The News
杨忠礼孙女崭露头角 杨佩君要为地球添绿荫
Lianhe Zaobao 12 December 2011
Lianhe Zaobao, 11 Dec 2011
By Han Poh Tin
杨佩君（29岁，已婚）是杨忠礼新加坡（YTL Singapore）的执行董事，全职负责杨忠礼机构的可持续发展事务。
她拥有英国诺丁汉大学建筑学学位和伦敦卡斯商学院（Cass Business School）硕士学位。自24岁加入公司后，她就开创了环保部。对她来说，个人之后所做的一切工作，都是最自然不过的。
在她的领导下，公司在业务可持续发展（sustainability）方面不遗余力，得到不少奖项，也得到肯定。她自然也成为了集团肩负这项堪称“天降大任”的不二人选。
杨佩君对大自然充满热爱，记者跟她谈话时发觉她的坚定信念完全发自内心，真诚而毫无矫饰。原来一颗爱护大地的种子，打从她年幼时就由父亲深深埋下。
那是一段儿时的记忆，但她追述时却显得异常清晰。
父亲早年开发马来西亚邦咯岛度假村（Pangkor Laut Resort） 时，常带着小佩君到岛上，并要她亲手栽种小树和灌木。
她问父亲为何要她那么做，得到的只是简单的回答：“当你10年后回来时，这些树将会长得跟你一样高，而在很多很多年以后，它们就会跟数百年的雨林一样，长成参天大树。”
这一年，杨佩君只有五岁。父亲这一番话确立了她的价值观。
“他在我心中深植了一个念头，那就是我要做得更多。我那'可持续发展'的观念，也从当时开始滋长。”
对于大自然，杨佩君有尊重，也有担懮。地震、水灾、核泄漏， 令人不安，但是人类究竟应该如何应对？她深信人类今天的所作所为，将影响这个世纪和下个世纪的地球。
她是个基督教徒，有人问过她“世界将终结，拯救它有何用？”
当跟父亲谈起这件事情时，他说了一段很重要的话：“你知道吗？这跟我们对我们所爱的人所抱着的态度是一样的。我们都知道家人总有一天会死去，可是你会因此而少爱他们一点吗？”
她说：“我们对于这个地球，也应该抱着同样的态度。我们应该做些事情，要不然就太迟了。”
杨佩君坚信所做的是天职
杨佩君坚信自己所做的不仅是一份工作，而是天职。
杨忠礼机构所经营的业务横跨各领域，有发电厂、电力供应、洋灰生产、建筑、酒店与房地产、土地开发、电子解决方案（ e-solutions）、豪华火车“东方快车”（The Eastern and Oriental Express）和升禧环球房地产投资信托( Starhill Global REIT )等等。
它强调“环境传道”，不仅要教育公众，也对社区领袖灌输环保意识。通过YTL-RARE（Rare Animal Relief Effort，珍稀动物拯救行动）东南亚游学计划，教导领袖们在自己的社群发起“迷你运动” 。杨忠礼电力国际公司在新加坡的西拉雅能源（Power Seraya）也推出计划，把大专生培养成能源节约的倡导者。
让环境持续发展不是说说罢了
杨佩君的身份也具有说服力。她本身就是美国瑞尔保护协会（ RARE Conservation）和保护珊瑚礁组织Reef Check Malaysia最年轻的信托人。
她指出，集团以对环境负责任的态度去建设邦咯岛度假村、日本的二世古村（Niseko Village）和北婆罗洲沙巴的加雅娜岛（Pulau Gaya）度假村等，不对周遭自然环境造成破坏。
“我认为作为一个集团，我们这么做并不单是为了生存而已，也是因为这对我们的心灵有好处。这正是人们为我们出力；我们的利益相关者（stakeholders）尊敬我们；投资者对我们作出投资的理由。 他们知道我们不是说说罢了，而是说了就会去做。”
杨忠礼机构内部有个可持续发展委员会，委员们定期开会讨论集团所要进行的可持续发展新手段。它自2006年开始每年发表“可持续发展报告书”，以透明态度行事，让人们知道集团一年里在可持续发展方面所作出的努力，而集团所发表的“可持续发展报告书”也为它赢得赞美。
集团内部的清洁发展机制（Clean Development Mechanism，简称CDM）咨询团，不仅为集团出主意，也为其他公司提供咨询服务，以推广企业绿化行动。CDM是按京都议定书而制定的，让公司通过售卖“排放减量认证”（Certified Emission Reductions），把对环境的改善转为现金流。
杨佩君认为“可持续发展”的意义深远。
“当我们提到可持续发展时，并不只是在说爱护环境而已。它也跟人有关，跟雇员有关，跟他们的家人有关。”
她在言谈间都会提起父亲，流露了对父亲的无限崇敬。杨肃斌是个大生意人，最近从吉隆坡到本地出席一个说明会时，向在场的分析员与记者谈起生意经和经济局势时滔滔不绝，充分展现睿智与信念。但从杨佩君的描述，他俨然是个深谙教养子女之道的细心父亲。
她承传了父亲的智慧与信念，可是却不失恭逊谦卑，比她的父亲多了一份平易近人。
杨肃斌有兩女两子，杨佩君是长女。她的母亲在2006年过世。
杨佩君心中那颗爱护大地的种子早已发芽，长成一棵树，并逐渐开枝散叶。这棵树也会如同存在已数百年的雨林中的树木一样，长成参天大树，让更多的人心撑起一片绿荫……
保护环境 一点一滴做
■ 马来西亚大冼都（马来文名称为Sentul Raya ）
吉隆坡中部有座35英亩的公园，这里有树林，也有许多的大冼树（Sentol tree），“大冼都”因此而得名。这里原来是一个废弃的高尔夫球场，YTL赋予它新生命，把它变为公园。绕着公园周围发展的是高尚住宅、办公楼和商店。
■ 马来西亚邦咯岛度假村（Pangkor Laut Resort）
这座度假村在建造期间，YTL有计划地保留大树，把对自然景观的影响减至最低。度假村也充分节约能源，例如洗澡用的热水是利用冷气机“烧”出来的。
度假村也在一年前把鹿角珊瑚（acropora coral）送到保育室重新栽培，天天悉心照料，到珊瑚开始成长后，才放回海底。
■ 新加坡丽沙岛（Sandy Island）
杨忠礼集团2008年在圣淘沙升涛湾（Sentosa Cove）南端推出的丽沙岛项目有18幢临海别墅。岛上18棵树龄超过25年的桃花心木，原本因圣淘沙大兴土木而面对遭砍伐的命运，可是YTL挽救了它们，把它们送到保育室栽种两年，并在丽沙岛工程完成后，把它们移植到那里。
■ 马来西亚加雅娜岛度假村（Pulau Gaya Resort）
这座将在2012年开幕的度假村，就建在马来西亚沙巴州的雨林中。YTL指出所有的树木、海洋生态系统和地貌，都完好地获得保留。
■ 印尼爪哇电力（PT Jawa Power）
集团在2007年开始进行碳会计（carbon accounting），确保所有碳排放量的测量都没超过印尼政府的法定限制。
■ 新加坡西拉雅能源（Power Seraya）
过去10年，公司已把碳排放量减少30％。除了获得许多奖项，包括“年度最佳社会责任公司”“最佳可持续性报告奖”等等，西拉雅能源公司也获得新加坡环境理事会所发出的绿色办公室标志（Eco Office Label）。
■ 气候变化周
这是YTL自2007年推出的旗舰教育活动，目标是提高马来西亚人的环保意识，启发他们对迫切的全球暖化问题提出解决方案。当中的活动包括观看美国前副总统戈尔投资并参与拍摄的纪录片《难以忽视的真相》（An Inconvenient Truth）、举办青年工作坊等等。
■ “地球一小时”（Earth Hour 2011）
今年3月26日，集团在世界各地的36座建筑一起熄灯一小时。其中，新马15座建筑在当晚8时30分至10时之间减少了1298公斤的二氧化碳排放量。
YTL跟乌节路商联会和威士马广场合作，在威士马广场举办的“ 地球一小时”活动，也获得世界自然基金会颁发“最佳派对奖”。
■ 吉隆坡国际机场捷运（KLIA Express Rail Link）
2009年，KLIA Ekspres推出绿化活动，鼓励公众搭乘捷运到机场。捷运目前是乘客到吉隆坡国际机场的最快捷交通工具。以KLIA Ekspres和KLIA Transit的乘客量计算，相当于每年减少了350万趟汽车车程，减少了2万3000公吨的二氧化碳排放。
■ 清洁发展机制（Clean Development Mechanism，简称CDM）咨询团
YTL不仅在内部协助集团旗下的公司走向“碳中和”（carbon neutral），也协助其他公司推行绿化计划和申请碳信用额（carbon credit）。YTL-SV Carbon公司最近在2011年国际金融碳市场颁奖礼上获颁“亚洲最佳碳市场代理奖”。
■ 其他奖项
YTL机构和杨忠礼洋灰在今年环球企业社会责任奖颁奖礼上，分别获颁“企业社会责任优秀领袖银奖”和“最优秀产品”铜奖。YTL也在今年获公益金颁发“企业白金奖”。
Ruth Yeoh, Granddaughter of Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Yeoh Tiong Lay, reveals her desire to protect the Earth
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Lianhe Zaobao, 11 December 2011
Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Yeoh Tiong Lay is the founder of YTL Corporation and is also well known in the business industry of Malaysia. His eldest son, Tan Sri Dato' Francis Yeoh Sock Ping, is equally prominent in the business industry. The success of the company is largely due to the efforts by himself and his six siblings.
Tan Sri Dato' Francis Yeoh’s eldest daughter, Ruth Yeoh, is heavily influenced by the upbringing of her father and grandfather, being given patient guidance from young. While many Asian companies are still grappling with the concept of sustainability, the Executive Director leads YTL Corporation’s sustainability efforts. Under her guidance and passion for the cause, she has made considerable progress in the area and fulfils her duty to preserving the environment.
Ruth Yeoh (29, married) is the Executive Director of YTL Singapore, responsible for business development and YTL Corporation’s sustainability outreach efforts. She holds a Degree in Architecture from the University of Nottingham and another Degree from the London Cass Business School (Cass Business School). She started an environmental department when joining the company at the age of 24. Working, to her, comes naturally.
Under her leadership, the company has made significant inroads in the sustainability area and has won many accolades and recognition. Owing to this, she has become one of the key executives in company leading corporate sustainability. Ruth is a nature-lover, coming across in her interview as a sincere individual who conducts herself without pretence. Her love for nature was nurtured by her father since young, a childhood memory that she clearly recalls.
When her father opened the Pangkor Laut Resort, he brought five-year-old Ruth to the island, where she planted trees and flowers under his guidance. He advised her that the trees she planted would be as tall as her in the next 10 years, and that they would grow to towering heights like the hundred-years rainforest in years to come. These early memories have shaped her value systems, and have encouraged her to always give back to the environment.
Ruth expressed her feelings of unsettlement when she spoke of the disasters such as earthquakes, floods and nuclear leaks that plague today’s world. She is convinced that our behaviour today can affected the Earth in this century and the next, highlighting her responsibility to make positive changes to reverse this pattern.
Ruth is a Christian and reflected upon a question that was once asked of her: “The world will end, so what is the use of saving it now?” Her father advised her, drawing a parallel between the Earth and our loved ones, explaining that one cannot do less for the Earth just as one cannot love their family any less just, because they will die one day too. Ruth thus believes that it is her moral duty to protect the earth before it is too late.
YTL's business portfolio includes power plants, electricity supply, cement production, construction, hotel and real estate, land development, e-solutions, The Eastern and Oriental Express, Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust, and the list goes on.
YTL Corporation emphasizes environmentally friendly ethics to educate the public and to encourage community leaders to instil environmental awareness. Through the YTL-RARE (Rare Animal Relief Effort) South East Asia Study Tour, programs are designed to teach community leaders how to launch their own mini eco-friendly campaigns. YTL Power International in Singapore, Power Seraya, also launched programs to train college students as advocates of energy conservation.
Ruth’s has built her status by her actions; she is Malaysia’s youngest trustee of the U.S. RARE Conservation (RARE Conservation) and coral reef protection organization Reef Check Malaysia.
She pointed that YTL has stayed true to its environmental responsibilities, where the the construction of Pangkor Island Resort, Niseko Village and Pulao Gaya Resort did not damage the surrounding natural environment. She believes that these efforts are not only good for the communities who live there, but also increase the respect that YTL receives from its stakeholders and give investors tangible reasons to continue investing in the company.
YTL Corporation has published an annual Sustainability Report since 2006, in order to increase its corporate transparency and to collate its yearly sustainable development efforts for public knowledge. Its publication has won a lot of praise.
YTL’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) consulting group provides internal and external advisory services to promote the environment sustainability. CDM is one of the mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol which allows companies, through the sale of Certified Emission Reductions, converts environment sustainability acts into cash flow.
Ruth feels that the concept of sustainability is in itself far reaching as goes beyond caring for the environment, to being intrinsically linked to the human lives, employees and their families.
Even in casual conversations, Ruth’s immense respect for her father is evident. He recently attended a convention in Singapore to talk about business in the current volatile economic situation, revealing much wisdom and his faith. But according to Ruth’s description, he had been a devoted, nurturing and caring father.
Ruth has indeed inherited her father’s wisdom and faith, is very humble and personable. Tan Sri Dato' Francis Yeoh has three sons and two daughters, and Ruth Yeoh is the eldest daughter. Her mother passed away in 2006.
Ruth Yeoh’s warm and caring personality extends not only to her sustainability efforts, but also touches the lives of everyone around her.
Showcased Sustainability Efforts
- Sentul Raya
- Pangkor Laut Resort
- Sandy Island
- Pulau Gaya Resort
- PT Jawa Power
- Power Seraya
- Climate Change Week
- Earth Hour 2011
- KLIA Express Rail Link
- Clean Development Mechanism, YTL SV-Carbon
- Other Awards:
- CSR Leadership Award, Silver
- Product Excellence Award. Bronze
- Community Chest Corporate Platinum Award