Confirmed Selection of Malaysia Representatives for The NIPPON FOUNDATION Spogomi World Cup 2025
PENANG, MALAYSIA, August 21, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ — The organisers of the Spogomi Malaysia Finals 2025 – The Nippon Foundation Spogomi Federation, BREWSPARK Technologies Group and the Penang State Sports Council – and are pleased to announce the winner of the Spogomi Malaysia Finals held at Penang City Stadium today.
Scoring an impressive and unassailable result of 6938.08 points, the 3 man team of “Gomi Heroes” from Penang beat 27 other teams from all over Malaysia to win the coveted prize of an all expense paid trip to Tokyo to compete in the Spogomi World Cup Finals this October 2025.
The members of Gomi Heroes are: –
1. Muhamad Nauwfal Bin Abdullah 18 years old
2. Monnesh A/L Gopakrishnan 19 years old
3. Hadzreil Harris Bin Shahril Fadzli 19 years old
It’s the second time win for two of the team members – Nauwfal and Monnesh – who won in 2023 and went on to place 8th in the world for the 2023 World Cup Finals in Japan. Hadzreil joined the team only this year with high anticipation as it will be his first visit to Japan.
Team leader Nauwfal commented, “We were all born and raised in Penang, so this win means a lot to us.” When asked what their secret to winning was, they replied, “We’ve known each other since our high school days and have participated in many competitions together, which has helped us build a strong bond and great teamwork.”
“We’re all incredibly excited and proud of this achievement! It’s been an amazing experience, and we’re definitely looking forward to more opportunities ahead. None of this would have been possible without the support of each other and our family and friends.”
Coming in second was another young team that flew all the way from Miri, Sarawak. Shane Bryan Sering Anak Sebastian Kile (25), Nelly David (26) and Ronie Anak Nicklas (20) of team “Dendro” from the Domino Academy honed their experience and win at the Borneo Mini-Spogomi earlier to score an impressive 5135.1 points despite a couple of point deductions to beat another diversified team “Uncle MBSP” from Seberang Prai.
This student-teacher team consisting of Siti Nurmunirah Binti Zainal Abidin (17), Theveekhul A/L Somkit (17) and Chew Hao Tianbin (33) from Kolej Vokasional Seberang Perai garnered 4126.3 points were also winners of yet another Mini-Spogomi co-organised by MBSP and Green Educator’s Workgroup (GREW) held at Robina Park, Seberang Prai.
RECORD BREAKING
The 29 teams that took to the streets within the 1km radius of the City Stadium also broke records for the amount of rubbish collected, having garnered a whopping 538.30kg of trash in 1 hour, beating the 2023 benchmark by over 200kg. The breakdown of the rubbish collected by category are as follows:-
Burnable: 28.7% 154.55kg
Non-Burnable: 39% 210.58kg
Plastic Bottles: 9% 48.39kg
Glass Bottle / Cans: 23.3% 120.15kg
Cigarette Butts: 0.86% 4.63kg
Mini-Spogomis / Regional Spogomis
Malaysia is proud to be world pioneers in holding Regional / Mini-Spogomi in regions around Malaysia in an attempt to reach as many Malaysians as possible. Schools and organisations were invited to hold their own Mini-Spogomi at their local level, with the winners of the event guaranteed a spot in the finals.
For the 2025 Edition, 7 Regional Mini-Spogomis were held all over Malaysia
• SMK King Edward, Taiping, Perak
• Jit Sin Independent High School, Bukit Mertajam, Penang
• Spogomi Borneo, Miri, Sarawak
• SMK Bukit Jambul, Gelugor, Penang
• Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
• Spogomi MBSP-GREW, Seberang Prai, Penang
• Schools from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Many other states
The remaining spots in the Finals were given to teams who were lucky enough to be drawn from the pool of online registrants from all over Malaysia.
WHY is Spogomi special
“Spogomi is different from other cleaning-up efforts in that it emphasises strategic rubbish collection as a sport and waste segregation as a means of education,” explains Lord Dr. Kazuki Foo, Chairman of the organising committee of Spogomi Malaysia 2025.
“We wanted to spread the message of being consciously aware of our responsibility as global citizens in the fight against marine pollution and its impact on marine ecology and the climate crisis. Efforts must start from individual awareness that every piece of rubbish created and thrown has to be considered for recyclability and sustainability, in an effort to promote the habit of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and finally Recycle.”
Speech from Mr. Machida Shinya – Consul General of Japan in Penang
SPOGOMI Malaysia Stage Closing Ceremony
24th May 2025
Dato’ Ir. Rajendran P. Anthony, Datuk Bandar, MBPP
Mr. Harry Chai, Director, MSNPP Penang Sports Council
Mr. Kei’ichiro Yamada, Executive Director (General Affairs), Nippon Foundation
Lord Dr. Kazuki Foo, Chairman & Founder, Brewspark Technologies, and Organizer of Spogomi World Cup 2025, Malaysian Stage
Ms. Emi Yamazaki, Project Director, Spogomi World Cup 2025, Malaysian Stage
Members of the Media,
Key Opinion Leaders,
Dear Participants,
and distinguished guests,
Thank you very much for having me today. This is my first time at Penang City Stadium. I’m very honored to be here to witness the most exciting moment of the Spogomi World Cup 2025, Malaysian Stage.
Spogomi was started in 2008 by Mr. Ken’ichi Mamitsuka. This is an interesting and creative mix of sport and gomi (rubbish-picking). It is natural that this new concept was not well received at the beginning. However, a two-year long research study showed that Spogomi did make the mindset of its participants more environmentally conscious. As of 2023, more than 1,300 Spogomi events have been held worldwide, with more than 130,000 participants. I congratulate all the participants for joining the Spogomi community.
I was not here for the last Spogomi held in 2023, but I understand that the rubbish collected then was a whopping 350 kg in one hour, making Malaysia once again one of the most effective rubbish pickers in the world. I look forward to the results of this year’s tremendous efforts by the 90 rubbish pickers.
This year, thanks to the efforts of the organising team, the concept of picking waste as a sport has grown exponentially in Malaysia, with numerous mini-Spogomis being held in six regional locations as far as Miri, Sarawak. I am very pleased that Malaysia is being recognised as the first country to lead the aggressive push of Spogomi into the far corners of the country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Having experienced serious environmental issues during its industrial development, Japan has been trying to be a leader in reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, with over 30 years of experience, experimentation, errors, evolution, and continued enthusiasm for the movement. With rigorous public campaigns, and with such creative ideas as Spogomi, picking up rubbish and cleaning up your community became a norm and even a “cool” undertaking.
The most well-known Japanese person who regularly picks up rubbish and cleans up the surrounding environment is Shohei Otani, the LA Dodgers slugger. Otani started his regular rubbish picking in 2015, as a star player he respected had been engaged in rubbish picking. You will not be a superstar in the ballpark by picking up rubbish here, but you can be your community’s heroes by picking up some rubbish, including plastics, which otherwise could tarnish your surrounding environment and marine environment.
Today, we are very pleased to note that events like Spogomi are becoming an inspiration for this way of life that the citizens of Penang can practise every day, right here in Penang. Sporting events inevitably have winners and losers in the end; however, by participating in today’s Spogomi event, all the participants are already winners and great forerunners in our fight for a cleaner, better, and gentler society.
Lastly, but not least, my sincere appreciation must go to the hardworking referees, judges, and of course, the organisers, co-organisers, collaborators, and sponsors for making this wonderful event possible.
Thank you.
A Global Movement Against Marine Waste
This event is part of The Nippon Foundation’s Ocean and Japan Project: CHANGE FOR THE BLUE, an initiative to combat marine pollution by engaging people of all ages and nationalities. By promoting Spogomi internationally, the project aims to inspire a worldwide movement to reduce ocean waste, starting from Japan and expanding globally.
About The Nippon Foundation
Established in 1962, The Nippon Foundation is one of Japan’s leading philanthropic organizations, supporting global initiatives in ocean conservation, education, and social innovation.
About the Brewspark Technologies Group
Founded in 2015, Brewspark Technologies Group is a global technology consulting firm headquartered in Klang Valley, Malaysia, with additional offices in Penang, Japan, and the Netherlands. Brewspark delivers comprehensive digital transformation services to a wide range of industries. Recognized for innovation and excellence, Brewspark was awarded “Best Digital Transformation Consultancy” by Innovation in Business and “Digital Transformation Consultancy of the Year – Malaysia” by APAC Insider in 2024. Innovation of Infrastructure, deployment and supported by a multilingual team, Brewspark continues to drive impactful digital solutions for clients worldwide.
For more information, visit www.brewspark.co.
About CHANGE FOR THE BLUE
The project has been promoted since November 2018 as part of the Nippon Foundation’s “Ocean and Japan Project,” with the goal of raising the awareness of the entire society that each and every citizen should make the issue of marine litter his or her own and “No more litter in the ocean.
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