The YouthMADE Festival is a global celebration of youth creativity and innovation that invites students, educators, and advocates to showcase youth-led work. Leading up to the 2025 YouthMADE Festival, we are sharing a series of stories highlighting youth creators and changemakers around the world who are putting their hands, hearts, and minds toward projects and causes they care about.
This story is by college student Hanisah who attends Keningau Vocational College in Keningau, Malaysia. In this story, Hanisah shares how her social enterprise Mearpet impacts her community.
I have been a staunch advocate for upcycling practices since I was in lower secondary school. I live near Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia, where plastic trash was sadly a common sighting in many bodies of water. It prompted me to venture into upcycling.
When I moved to Keningau College to study early childhood education, I decided to start another upcycling project called Mearpet, which focuses on sewing fabric waste into hand puppets. The project has impacted more than 50 teachers and students from the interior region of Sabah who have taken part in our puppet sewing workshop. We’ve hosted a public puppet show in Kota Kinabalu with nearly 50 children and other puppetry activities at a primary school with 120 students. We also have recorded videos of these puppet shows that have garnered thousands of views nationwide.
The theme for the puppet show revolves around folktales which help preserve the living heritage of the various ethnic groups that are native to Sabah. Sabah is home to more than 30 distinct Indigenous groups, each with its own language, customs, and traditions. These communities, such as the Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, and many others, have lived in harmony with nature for centuries. Their deep connection to the land is reflected in their stories, rituals, and daily practices, which emphasize respect for the environment and sustainable living.
We have educated children on environmental conservation through our famous folktales, Tambuakar (river dragon) and Mekau Serin (werecrocodile and a healer). The stories of Tambuakar and Mekau Serin are particularly significant as they convey messages of environmental conservation that have been passed down through generations.
Tambuakar tells of a giant serpent that guards the forests and rivers. The serpent is both a protector and a reminder of the consequences of disrupting the balance of nature. The tale serves as a cautionary reminder to the communities to take only what they need from the environment and to avoid actions that could bring harm to the ecosystem.
Mekau Serin is about a wise elder who communicates with the spirits of the forest. The elder teaches the younger generation about the importance of preserving the natural world and respecting all living beings. The tale emphasizes the idea that humans are merely stewards of the earth, and it is their responsibility to ensure its preservation for future generations.
These stories hold deep meaning for the Indigenous populations in Sabah. They are not just tales but are considered vital components of cultural heritage. They teach values such as respect, responsibility, and the interconnectedness of all life. For the Indigenous people, these stories are a way to maintain their identity and pass on essential knowledge that has sustained their communities for centuries.
My school offers programs specifically for deaf students and students with learning disabilities. We always feel that we are very blessed with the presence of these gifted students. Given our inclusiveness, many of us can communicate in sign language.
In the attempt to empower our peers, this project enlisted their help to be trainers in our puppet sewing workshop. These learners mostly study dressmaking and they are very proficient in using sewing machines. We were very happy that they were delighted to participate in this project, which enabled people to understand them better — and by extension, improve the engagement between them with the community — and helped to strengthen their self-esteem, self-efficacy, and career prospects.
The project has also enlisted the assistance of the dressmaking program at the college, which is specifically dedicated for deaf students and students with learning disabilities to conduct workshops for other students, as well as teachers, to sew pre-loved clothes and stuffed toys into hand puppets. Some of the hand puppets are sold as novelty items which can be used as home decoration, bag accessories, and souvenirs. Mearpet has impacted more than 50 teachers and students from the interior region of Sabah who have taken part in our puppet sewing workshop.
This project also intends to help reduce excessive fabric waste by upcycling old clothes and soft toys into puppets that could be used to entertain and educate children, especially less fortunate ones. The project has transformed the school into a center for the public to donate old clothes and stuffed animals. We put up a poster on this drive for people to come and donate their clothes and toys to us and some even mailed their toys from West Malaysia via courier. To date, we have received 200 tons of pre-loved clothes and stuffed toys that the public have donated for this project. Once we realized the potential of upcycling pre-loved items into novelty items and educational materials, we decided to turn this project into a social enterprise.
Working on Mearpet has given me a profound sense of connection to my Bajau and Brunei heritage. It has been an enriching journey to explore the traditions, languages, and stories of my ancestors and to see how these elements continue to shape our identities today. The project has allowed me to delve deeper into my cultural roots and share this rich heritage with others, especially with younger generations.
The Mearpet project has also played a significant role in helping deaf and disabled students connect with their own or their peers’ Indigenous cultures. Through storytelling, interactive sessions, and creative activities, these students have been able to engage with the traditions and values of different Indigenous groups. It has fostered a sense of pride in their heritage and a deeper appreciation for the diversity that exists within Sabah.
Our puppetry project has also successfully become a medium for our peers to express themselves in a creative way where they feel safe, comfortable and supported. I am happy that this project can potentially meet their need by becoming an alternative for them to interact with others and to nurture their talents in the performing arts.
