Malaysian Representatives confirmed for the NIPPON FUNDATION Spogomi World Cup in 2025
PENANG (MALAYSIA), August 21 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ – The organisers for the Spogomi Malaysia Finals, The Nippon Foundation Spogomi Federation and BREWSPARK Technologies Group, and the Penang State Sports Council, are proud to announce today’s winner at the Spogomi Malaysia Finals, held in Penang City Stadium.
The 3 person team from scored an unbeatable score of 6938.08, a result that was immediately impressive. “Gomi Heroes” Penang defeated 27 teams in Malaysia and won the prized trip to Tokyo, Japan to participate at the Spogomi Final World Cup this October.
Gomi Heroes is made up of:
1. Muhamad Nauwfal Bin Abdullah 18 years old
2. Monnesh Gopakrishnan is 19 years old.
3. Hadzreil Hassan Bin Fadzli is 19 years old.
Nauwfal, Monnesh and the rest of the team have won twice. They also placed 8th at the World Cup Finals held in Japan in 2023. Hadzreil only joined the team this year and is excited to be going to Japan for his first time.
Nauwfal, the team leader commented. “We were all born and raised in Penang, so this win means a lot to us.” They replied that their winning secret was: “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.”
Another young team from Miri in Sarawak came second. Team members Shane Bryan Sering anak Sebastian Kile (25) Nelly David (26), and Rone Anak Nicholas (20) are all from team “Dendro” The Domino Academy, who won the Borneo Mini-Spogomi a few weeks ago, scored an impressive 5,135.1 despite some point deductions in order to defeat another diverse team “Uncle MBSP” from Seberang Prai.
The team of Siti N. Binti Z. Abidin, Theveekhul A/L Somkit and Chew H. Tianbin from Kolej Vokasional Seberang Perai who scored 4126.3 were the winners of another Mini-Spogomi organised by MBSP in collaboration with Green Educator’s Workgroup at Robina Park.
Record Breaking
In addition to breaking records in terms of garbage collected, the 29 teams who took the streets around the City Stadium within a 1km radius also broke the benchmark set for 2023 by more than 200kg. Here is a breakdown of all the trash collected.
Burnable: 28.7% 154.55kg
Non-Burnable: 39% 210.58kg
Plastic Bottles : 9% 48.39kg
Glass bottles / cans: 23.3% 120.1kg
Cigarette Butts: 0.86% 4.63kg
Spogomis Mini / Spogomis Regional
Malaysia has been a world leader in organising Regional/Mini-Spogomi throughout Malaysia to try and reach out to as many Malaysians possible. The Mini-Spogomi was held at the local level by schools and organizations. Winners of this event were guaranteed to make it into the finals.
Seven regional mini-Spogomis in Malaysia were organized for the 2025 edition.
* SMK Prince Edward in 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
There are many schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
Teams who had been drawn at random from a pool of online registrations from Malaysia were awarded the remaining Finals spots.
Why is Spogomi so 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,” Kazuki Foo explains, Lord Dr. Kazuki Foo is the Chairman of Spogomi Malaysia 2020.
“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.”
Machida Shinya, Consul General of Japan at Penang.
SPOGOMI Malaysia Closing Ceremonies
The 24th of 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
Malaysian Stage of Spogomi World Cup, 2025. Lord Dr. Kazuki Foo is the Chairman and Founder of Brewspark Technology, as well as the organizer.
Emi Yamazaki is the Project Director for Spogomi World Cup 2020, Malaysian Stage.
Members of the media
The Key Opinion Leaders
Dear Participants,
We are pleased to welcome distinguished guests.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here today. It’s my first visit to Penang City Stadium. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to watch the Spogomi 2025 Malaysian stage at its most thrilling moment.
Spogomi is a sport that was created in 2008 by Ken’ichi Makitsuka. It is a creative and interesting mix between sport and gomi. This new concept wasn’t well-received at first, which is understandable. A two-year research study revealed that Spogomi made its participants’ minds more eco-conscious. By 2023, there will have been more than 1,300 Spogomi-related events held around the world, involving more than 130 000 participants. All participants are congratulated for becoming part of the Spogomi Community.
Although I wasn’t present at the 2023 Spogomi, I know that Malaysia was again a world leader in rubbish collection. The 90 trash pickers will be rewarded for their tremendous effort this year.
Thanks to the efforts made by the organizing team this year, picking up waste has become a popular sport in Malaysia. Numerous mini-Spogomis were held at six locations in the region, including Miri in Sarawak. It is a great honour to be recognised by Malaysia as being the first nation in the world that has taken Spogomi aggressively into all corners of Malaysia.
Please, ladies and gentleman.
Japan, which faced serious environmental problems during industrialization, has tried to lead the world in recycling, reducing and reusing waste. This is a movement that continues today, after 30 years of experimentation, mistakes, growth and enthusiasm. Spogomi and other creative initiatives like them have made it a common practice to pick up trash and clean up the community. “cool” undertaking.
Shohei Otani is the LA Dodgers’ slugger who has become the most famous Japanese for regularly picking up trash and cleaning up his environment. Otani began regularly picking up rubbish in 2015 after a player whom he respected was involved in the activity. Picking up trash will not make you a star in the baseball park, but it can help your local community.
We are happy to see that today, events such as Spogomi inspire Penang citizens in their daily lives. In the end, sporting events will always have winners and loser, but by taking part in today’s Spogomi, everyone is already a winner and a great leader in our quest for a better society.
Last but not least I would like to express my gratitude for the referees and judges who worked so hard, as well as the organizers, coorganisers and collaborators.
Please accept my sincere thanks.
Global Movement Against Marine Waste
The Nippon Foundation Ocean and Japan Project is a part of the CHANGE for THE BLUE initiative, which aims to fight marine pollution through participation of people from all nationalities and ages. The project hopes to create a global movement for ocean waste reduction by promoting Spogomi globally.
Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation was founded in 1962 and is Japan’s largest philanthropic organization. It supports global initiatives for ocean conservation, educational reform, and social innovation.
Brewspark Technology Group
Brewspark Technology Group, founded in 2015, is a global consulting company with offices in Penang and Japan. It also has offices in the Netherlands. Brewspark provides comprehensive digital transformation to many industries. Brewspark has been recognized for its innovation and excellence. “Best Digital Transformation Consultancy” Innovation in Business “Digital Transformation Consultancy of the Year – Malaysia” By APAC Insider by 2024. Brewspark, with its multilingual team and innovative infrastructure, continues to deliver impactful digital services for customers worldwide.
Visit www.brewspark.co for more information.
Change for the Blue
Since November 2018, the Nippon Foundation has promoted this project as part of its “Ocean and Japan Project,” The goal is to raise awareness amongst the whole society about the importance of marine debris and that “no more trash in the ocean” should be the motto of every individual citizen.
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