But in March 2020, when the government introduced travel and social-distancing restrictions in response to the pandemic – under its Movement Control Order (MCO) – the skies began to clear and the natural world piped up again. “Nature is very resilient,” Sunim says.

Two years later and Malaysia is planning to reopen its borders, on April 1. Fully vaccinated arrivals will no longer have to quarantine. But as the world slowly learns to live with Covid-19, we must address a far greater threat than the coronavirus: climate breakdown.

With many governments still paying little more than lip service to the problem, people from all walks of life – in Malaysia, as elsewhere – are doing what they can to make a difference.

The pandemic pushed Sunim’s guided meditation sessions online and he often uses his platform to address environmental issues – what he describes as “a bridge between modern science and the ancient teachings of the Buddha”. At the height of the lockdown he would have as many as 500 people viewing.

“Now that’s not much when you consider viral videos but for something like meditation, well, it’s not too shabby,” he says.

“We need to stress our connection with nature. And that’s where meditation and mindfulness help because they allow us to be more aware of our environment.”

As travellers return to Malaysia, Sunim hopes they will be mindful about the footprint they leave in a country considered greatly ecologically diverse by scientists.

“I don’t think you have to restrict yourself. You just have to choose different ways. For example, we all know that flying is the most environmentally harmful way to travel but we can choose to travel by train.”

Malaysia’s West Coast railway line links tourist hotspots such as Penang with the capital, Kuala Lumpur, a journey that shows off the peninsula at its verdant best. Yet many travellers prefer the convenience of low-cost airlines, which is a missed opportunity, as far as Sunim is concerned.

“Travelling slowly, you get to see more, the countryside that you pass through, all the small villages. It’s really a lot of fun. And you enjoy the actual process of travelling rather than just rushing to get to your destination.”

Unfortunately, some of the places familiar to those who use Malaysian railways have witnessed extreme weather events of late.

Yet Sunim is not without hope: “If there is a silver lining it’s that because we are the ones that are responsible for this, we can also change it. We can choose our future.”

He has taken this message to the street, or, more precisely, Penang’s Grow Market, where he sits between stalls selling organic vegetables, offering council to the environmentally concerned.

“We can use our voice to talk to other people, and then as we talk, we realise there are certain things we can do.”

One person already taking action is Chee Hoyyee, a regular at the Grow Market, where she sells home-grown and home-made produce with her mother, father and partner, Krairit “Pop” Tepcom.

Chee set off on a voyage of self-discovery across Thailand in 2012. She spent the better part of five years in the country “studying various therapies, meditating in temples, living in the jungle and learning about sustainable farming”.

She met Pop in a temple in Chanthaburi province and the pair moved to Penang in 2017, setting to work “greening” their corner of the state.

“At first I struggled to live in the city again,” Chee says, before an epiphany came. “I realised that separation was just in my mind. That if I couldn’t be in the jungle, I could bring the jungle to me.”

The couple turned Chee’s family garden into an urban farm. “A lot of people were curious and started to visit us.”

Needing more space, they moved to a rundown suburban villa and founded Pop & Chee Healthy Home Farming in 2018. The green-fingered pair have swiftly turned the sizeable garden into an orchard of tropical fruits stalked by chickens and geese.

“We are an educational farm, which means people can book our farm tour, grow-your-own-food workshop or composting workshop,” Chee says. “I like guests to touch the leaves, to taste different things in the garden and to show them these so-called weeds are medicine. The main purpose is to allow people to see it’s not always clean like an Instagram photo. It’s about planting seeds in people’s minds.”

Pop and Chee, who won the Penang Environmental Sustainability Award in 2019, say they have noticed a rewilding effect in their pesticide-free garden as avian, amphibian and insect life has flourished on the farm.

“A friend … has identified 26 types of insect, including several types of bee. During the MCO, we dug a pond and now there are three or four types of frogs living in the garden.”

Chee has noticed other positives that the MCO has had on people’s attitudes to nature.

“I can see more and more people starting their own gardens, including my neighbour, who used to have just a patch of a fake grass. It’s like, wow, we can really influence change.”

Chee has incorporated eco-tourism into her farm project, renting rooms to travellers on Airbnb as well as making space available for farm volunteers.

“Firstly, this helps cover the farm expenses. And secondly, because we can’t really travel [internationally], we hope to get more people to come so we can learn and exchange ideas.”

It’s this kind of experience that French primatologist Dr Priscilla Miard, who completed a PhD researching night mammals on the neighbouring island of Langkawi, wants to see more of.

“As a traveller you tend to do what’s available to you, so it’s all about creating those opportunities that are more respectful of the environment, because the tourist dollar has a lot of power; it can be channelled into something sustainable, or something bad,” she says.

Miard first came to Malaysia a decade ago on an internship studying slow lorises and tarsiers in the state of Sabah. She’s travelled widely since but still sees East Malaysia as a model for others to follow.

“Sabah is doing great. They used eco-tourism to build their economy, so they know how to market it. They know how to develop activities that are actually good for the environment.

“For example, Kinabatangan [district] was deforested in places and there were palm oil plantations stretching all the way to the riverbank. But when tourists started visiting the area for river-animal spotting, several initiatives developed to help stop further deforestation and ensure that the area remains intact for eco-tourism.”

She maintains a special affection for Langkawi, where she’s become an expert in the island’s fauna and where she recently led a jungle camping trip for Cava, an eco-travel company that pioneers camping and volunteer adventures. However, she feels the island still has untapped potential.

“Imagine, this island has everything: forests, mountains and waterfalls, birds and mammals, lizards, and insects. It’s a perfect location for all kinds of ecological experiences. But many people just come for the beach or to party. Only when you tell them about jungle hikes do they become interested. You just have to make these things accessible.”

There has been much discussion about what the travel industry’s “new normal” will look like in the post-pandemic era, with some arguing for a swing towards upmarket “quality tourism” at the expense of budget travellers. But Miard is not in favour of a narrow economic lens.

“Backpackers stay in cheap places but they go out a lot. They spend money on activities. They explore the wild. If you stay in a fancy resort and don’t leave the poolside, how are you supposed to get to know about your environment?”

Miard sees the reopening of Southeast Asia as a potential rebirth, one where a growing green consciousness watered during pandemic hibernation could seed a new development model.

“Of course, it’s more complicated to build around nature, but you gain a lot of advantages. For example, the more trees you have, the more shade. You reduce the use of electricity, the use of air-con.

“It’s just about having vision and thinking long-term.”