MALAYSIANSKINI | When Muna Noor graduated from university in 1997, it was right smack during an economic crisis.

With not many career options she answered an ad looking for a staff writer for Malaysia’s first monthly men’s magazine Men’s Review and she soon got into the swing of things.

“I was already a fan of the writing and I've since written for, edited and managed numerous international and homegrown print and digital lifestyle magazines.

“At some point, when there was less writing, more managing, I found myself in one of many meetings.

"And it occurred to me how absurd it was for five to six skilled professionals to spend up to two to three hours daily, five days a week thinking up ways to get people to buy more stuff that they probably don’t need when there were more serious issues that needed attention," she said.

“And this was occurring in countless offices, in countless cities, all over the world.

"Imagine all those man-hours and talent that could be used to solve problems like the extinction crisis, global warming, plastic pollution, poverty, inequality and racism. After that epiphany, I just couldn’t do it anymore,” she added.

So she moved to the conservation of nature and...