Rija was a software engineer in the media industry in London, then he quit his job and moved to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong he fully realised the danger to our future represented by the prevalent consumerist, materialistic and cartesian world view and idealised lifestyle, and he embarked in a journey of self-discovery that culminated in him taking a Permaculture Design Course held at Panya Project, an eco-village in Northern Thailand and at Mindfulness Project, a forest Buddhist monastery in the Isaan region.

He runs the Green Sustainable Living Hong Kong, a grassroots organisation of sustainability enthusiasts and helps Hong Kong permaculture sites by designing for them and organising volunteers runs. He is also teaching permaculture in urban context.