JOE CHEW
I've always considered the ocean as my second home, so I was so shocked when I watched "A Plastic Ocean", and I saw what was happening to our sea. From that day, I became an Oceanist to protect the ocean.
A PLASTIC OCEAN DOCUMENTARY
JUL 2017
TIMELINE OF MY PROJECTS
This is a complete list of my projects from 2018 all the way until today! Feel free to scroll through my projects and take a look at the Facebook link below each section if you want to know more. This will be updated with each new project i take on!
MAKER TOUR @ TAIPEI SHUANGXI
JAN 2018
Being a worldschooler, I tagged along with my family when we did a maker tour to several schools in Taiwan. We gave talks and hands-on workshops to students, and I got the chance to help out and learn more about Taiwan along the way, too. It was an unforgettable experience about sharing knowledge with people from different walks of life!
3D PRINTED BOTTLE PROTECTOR
JUN 2018
In this project, I applied what I had learned about 3D Printing and 3D Modelling, and put it to use to create a water bottle protector with minimal assistance. From that, I embraced the concept of 3D Printing being used as a practical tool to solve real-life problems.
YEX FACTOR COMPETITION
JUN 2019
My first venture into the world of business pitching manifested itself in the first time I joined a competition. I pitched my Kidwriter idea, an online platform for children to easily publish their own books, for the philosophy "What if children grow up reading books written by children?" I won the 2nd Runner Up for my category and earned a scholarship to am entrepreneurial school, where I furthered my dreams and visions.
The field trip to Mindoro was my first involvement of many in the "Coral Reef Mapping Ocean Drone", which is an autonomous drone on the surface that take photos of the coral reefs to make detailed maps for researchers to study. This particular trip was a field testing trip and I was the young documentor and photographer.
SCOUTBOTS FIELD TRIP MINDORO
DEC 2017
"The Story Of Marine Litter" was a comic I drew to express my deep feelings about the ocean crisis and my first effort to spread awareness. It was even exhibited for a month in a Taiwan Makerspace!
STORY OF MARINE LITTER COMIC
FEB 2018
I began on my 3D Printing, 3D Modelling and business journey when I started selling customized 3D printed keychains at 8 years old by myself. Through hard work and meeting great people, I managed to earn enough to buy my own laptop!
CUSTOM 3D PRINTED KEYCHAINS
JUN 2018
I started to hone my public speaking skills when I became the spokesperson for the Coral Reef Mapping Ocean Drone's booth at the DeTour art exhibition. It was the first time I learned how to share knowledge and engage all kind of people, even government officials!
DETOUR EXHIBITION AMBASSADOR
DEC 2018
As well as personal projects, I started to join climate strikes as a way to add my voice into the mix and explore what my local community is doing for the ocean and to find other like minded people who share the same passion as me. It was very heartening to find that I was not alone in fighting to protect the ocean!
CLIMATE STRIKES IN HONG KONG
MAR 2019
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As a worldschooler, I travel around the world to learn about different countries. This time, I went to Inverness in the UK and joined their climate strike to see what the local people were doing for the planet. I made an impromptu address, sharing what was happening to my own home, and I was even interviewed by several University students, too!
CLIMATE STRIKES IN INVERNESS
SEP 2019
MAKE FOR THE PLANET/IMCC5
JUN 2018
This was the second trip for the Coral Reef Mapping Ocean Drone. We went to enter the drone in the Make For The Planet hackathon, which took place in Borneo alongside the Fifth International Marine Conservation Congress. I was the photographer, and I got the opportunity to meet so many other oceanists passionate about the ocean and learn from them, too!
SWEDISH RTM VISIT PRESENTATION
JAN 2019
After I realized I had a passion for public speaking, I became the spokesperson for the Ocean Drone again to make a presentation to the Swedish Royal Technology Mission, comprised of the elites from Sweden's academia, business and government. After the presentation, I was even gifted a tealight holder designed by the Prince of Sweden and given the chance to network with all of the officials!
THE STORY OF COVID-19 COMIC
MAY 2020
During the Pandemic and the resulting lockdowns, despite being confined mostly at home, I still continued to work on my projects. In May, I created "The Story of Covid-19" comic, a comic about how the pandemic can be so detrimental to our mental health, and to tell everyone that you are not alone, and that you can ask for help, too.
A large part of my emceeing experience took form in the Global Entrepreneur Talks, an online program where different entrepreneurs would come in every month to share their wisdom. I was part of the emceeing team, and it was an opportunity not just to learn how to conduct a lively interview but to meet the special guests who came in and ask them my own questions, too.
G.E.T TALKS EMCEE
AUG-OCT 2021
After being cooped up at home, I decided to use the power of online meeting and run 3D Modelling workshops to fund my college fees. Due to the demand, I even had to open up an additional 2 classes to accomodate students from all around the world, from Taiwan to Australia. Overall, I earned a total of RM6,300 from conducting the workshops
MODELLING THE FUTURE CLASSES
JUN-AUG 2021
As my reputation as an emcee grew within the school, I started getting invited to emcee more and more events. One of them was the Music RendezVous Year End Concert. This was another very new experience as I had to learn how to coordinate lots of different performers to make an enjoyable show for the audience. Luckily, the event went very well!
MUSIC RENDEZVOUS EMCEE
NOV 2021
One of my first physical emcee gigs came in the form of a twin book launch. On the first day, I emceed one of the book launches, fielding questions and conducting the event. on the second day, I worked with a partner emcee for a joint book launch where two books were being launched simultaneously.
TWIN BOOK LAUNCH EMCEE GIG
JUN 2022
OCEAN MOTION CLUB STRIKES
JAN 2022
When I realised the lack of love for the ocean in my class and the amount of plastic waste, I set off trying to change my classmates by talking every lunch hour and showing "A Plastic Ocean" documentary, It was very hard, and i faced so much resistance at first, but after 2 years of campaigning, together we formed the Ocean Motion club and led our very first strike to end single use plastic in our school
One of the club's biggest projects was the I Promise The Ocean campaign on World Ocean Day 2022. Students all around the school were invited to write their own promise to the ocean, and the Ocean Motion team had their first experience in running a campaign and spreading awareness amongst their peers!
I PROMISE THE OCEAN CAMPAIGN
JUL 2022
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GOODDAY KIDSTART PITCHING
FEB 2023
My pitching journey continued with me joining a pitching competition, present my idea "Robotoki"-a digital pet that reminds you to eat your homework. It was another interesting experience with lots of networking with people and several workshops held, too. I won the most innovative idea, and was awarded RM3,000.
I was invited to be the emcee and opening keynote speaker on my school's Green Heroes Day, and I spoke my message to protect the ocean for the future generation with the audience. Afterwards, I continued to talk to people about the Coral Reef Mapping Ocean Drone at my own booth, sharing my passion and visions with everyone who came.
GREEN HEROES DAY
MAR 2023
WOMEN ECONOMIC FORUM
MAR 2023
As my public speaking skills improved, I started to get invited to different events. Once, I was invited together with a group of other students to become one of the only male panelists at the Women Economic Forum, discussing the topic "Building a Sustainable Future with Women at the Forefront." It was a fascinating experience sharing my thoughts on such a big stage!
Another new event that I was brought in to emcee was the Online My Community Altruist Nite (MCAN) Auction event to raise money for the shelter. I had to work with my partner to discuss emceeing methods, and with our "clients" as well to make sure we raised as much money as we could. The event was a success, and bids for our clients' work were one of the highest!
MCAN AUCTION NIGHT EMCEE
NOV 2021
To round off the academic year, I was engaged to be one of a pair of emcees for the Primary Year End Appreciation Day, an event to thank all the teachers and outstanding students. Luckily, I had experience from the Music Rendezvous Concert event, and so managed the performers and sections much better this time round, with communicating with my partner and managing schedule changes, etc...
APPRECIATION DAY EMCEE
NOV 2021
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EMCEE
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MAKER/3D PRINTING/
MODELLING EXPERT
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MODELLING EXPERT
This art exhibition about Marine Litter and the ocean on Cheng Chau Island was one of my first time joining in on an ocean conservation project since becoming an oceanist.
NOV 2017
OCEANIST
In April, I received an order from the fastener company Bossard to design a relay as a symbol of their multi-national project going live in 8 countries. It was the first time I had done something like this for a corporate project and it was a good lesson to me how to write professional invoices and manage the workflow well.
BOSSARD RELAY DESIGN PROJECT
APR 2023
MAKER/3D PRINTING/
MODELLING EXPERT
PITCHING COLLABORATION TO WWF
APR 2023
After the success of the Eye Sea You Coral Sneakers, I continued to further it and drew up a marketing and business strategy which I then pitched to WWF Malaysia. The collaboration would bring in previous projects and the opportunity to do more ocean work in Malaysia as well. The reception was very positive and we are now moving forward with the collaboration.
OCEANIST
The story of the Eye Sea You Coral Sneakers began here where I pitched my design of a 3D Printed pair of sneakers. The left side is white, symbolizing the corals bleaching and dying, while the right side is colorful, symbolizing thriving corals. I was even made the Global Student Ambassador to the Oceans for the ME2WE Sustainable Fashion line and met so many celebrities all supportive of my idea!
ME2WE FASHION DESIGN CONTEST
APR 2023
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OCEANIST
In this event, I showcased my sneakers in my own booth and took part in the WYIE competition. The 3-day exhibition really helped to boost my design by meeting so many supportive people and even the organizer and founder of the event came over to see my creation! I won multiple awards like Bronze medal for WYIE and the Special Gold Award from Hong Kong!
ITEX / WYIE MALAYSIA
MAY 2023
OCEANIST
SARGASSUM MAPPING IN HK
MAY 2023
On a trip back to Hong Kong, I was given the opportunity to join in the mapping of the Sargassum Seagrass and become a pilot for the mapping in Hong Kong! It was a testament to my drone flying skills and a new empowerment to me that I could be on the ground doing conservation projects instead of just spreading awareness like I usually do
OCEANIST
In the final days of the academic year, I was enlisted to become an Art.C Ambassador for the appreciation day. I explained others' creations and designs in the Art exhibition of the event, and even had my own sneakers displayed, too. I was awarded the Sea Keeper Award for my efforts in Ocean Conservation, and my sneaker's booth received a lot of attention as well
APPRECIATION DAY AMBASSADOR
JUN 2023
OCEANIST
A few months after the ITEX convention, I was invited by the organizer to give a talk about my whole journey with the ocean at the ARCHIDEX Architecture conference. It was the first time I had ever spoken for a full half hour, at such a
ARCHIDEX CONVENTION TALK
JUL 2023
prestigious conference, too. During my talk, not only did I share about my experiences, but I also shared my visions and dreams to all the architects and business people there, hoping to make an impact to the industry leaders who can make a difference.
OCEANIST
YEX FACTOR PITCHING COMPETITION
JUN 2023
My third attempt at first place of the YEX Factor Pitching Competition came with the Eye Sea You Coral Sneakers. I pushed hard and put in lots of effort preparing for the pitching, and after both of the pitching sessions I had finally achieved my goal of first place and won a full scholarship plus a RM16,000 bursary to Sunway University.
OCEANIST
YEX FACTOR PITCHING COMPETITION
JUN 2023
My third attempt at first place of the YEX Factor Pitching Competition came with the Eye Sea You Coral Sneakers. I pushed hard and put in lots of effort preparing for the pitching, and after both of the pitching sessions I had finally achieved my goal of first place and won a full scholarship plus a RM16,000 bursary to Sunway University.
OCEANIST
EMCEEING GIG FOR BOOK LAUNCH
NOV 2023
On the 5th of November, my sister, Karen, launched her first book, What Can An 8-Year-Old Tell You, at Eslite Spectrum. I was brought in as the emcee for the event, and I received lots of positive feedback from different members of the audience for my handling and engagement during the event. I even caught the attention of bookstore manager, who started a collaboration with me for future events
EMCEE
YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT RECORDS
NOV 2024
I finally received a major recognition for my work in November 2024 when I received a World Youth Achievement Records for being the First Malaysian Youth to Hold Dual Roles as Global Teen Ocean Ambassador and Sustainable Fashion Ocean Ambassador, Active in Ocean Conservation Since Age 8. It was a massive validation of my efforts and a reminder that recognition will come as a result of hard work