Connecting through social media

Follow The Leader: All held the tied string in a single file, heading towards the Bangsar Sports Complex here in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Tech reliance is a positive thing when it’s for Malaysians to fuel unity

SOCIAL media is a powerful tool. It connects and educates.

It’s a world of its own, where anything worth talking about is commented on and shared, not just with people in a community but the world.

From a waiter in Johor Baru restaurant feeding an old man to traffic policeman helping a motorist to change car tyre, these are among the heartwarming postings found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Although some negativity can also be found online, social media has played an important role in uniting Malaysians.

The Star spoke to four organisations that have used social media to carry out humanitarian work and charitable activities.

Mercy Malaysia recently organised an online plank challenge leading up to their yearly #myMERCYrun. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter were used to create awareness on the run and raise funds for their humanitarian work.

The public was encouraged to take photos or videos of their most creative way of planking and post it on their social media accounts with hashtags such as #PlankForMyMERCYRun and #PlankforMERCYHumanitarianRun.

Mercy Malaysia communications officer Jillian Louis said the hype from The Plank Challenge made a greater impact this year than the year before.

“So many people from different places got together to do it and about 1,300 turned up for the run,” she said. They raised RM100,000, which was channelled to those affected by the Nepal Earthquake and Kelantan flood, among other things.

Mercy Malaysia executive council member Harmandar Singh said social media was an integral part of their operations.

The thousands of Mercy volunteers, who are 18 years and above and possess different skill sets, are kept informed of their activities through its Facebook page.

“When we are on missions, we use it as a reporting tool,” he said.

The IM FestCon 2015 brought together role models to spend time with Dream Captains and give advice on their ambitions and dreams.

“Mercy Malaysia also worked as a conduit to bring together people with a common intention to help in times of need.

“We have people from all races working with us on such missions,” he added.

He said unity is an important part of their work and without it, nothing could happen.

Abby Latif from WOMEN:girls finds that social media allows people to reach out to one another. WOMEN:girls provides a role model for every girl and it uses social media to spread the message of its campaigns.

“The power of the people’s voice is what we depend on,” she said.

One such event organised and publicised through social media is Ikal Mayang, a storytelling movement that uses short films to reach out to various communities and to give a voice to women.

In its first year, participation of local women celebrities drew attention and it became one of the most talked-about campaigns. Ikal Mayang offers individuals a chance to express their stories through film.

“The fact that people sit down and discuss the same issues, shows it unites a similar demographic,” she said.

WOMEN:girls also reaches out to the urban poor community living in the People’s Housing Project (PPR) flats in the Klang Valley.

Raya in a Box, one of the programmes under Children Can Change The World series organised by Pusat Kanak-kanak Kreatif Tuanku Bainun and co-curated by Kakiseni.

“This year, we gathered 500 youths from PPR flats and universities.

“They are paired with Malaysian role models, such as celebrities and ministers, to discuss their ambitions because we realised many don’t understand this topic,” she said, adding that the campaign brought people of different backgrounds together.

In 2013, they introduced the #maafzahirbatin movement.

“We visited Ramadan bazaars to ask the older generation their thoughts on social media and also the younger generation on their reaction to having their parents on social networking sites like Facebook,” she said.

Its sister organisation, KakiSeni, collaborated with Pusat Kreatif Kanak-Kanak Tuanku Bainun to spread festive joy to orphans by organising Raya in a Box.

The event saw children sharing their Raya stories with the underprivileged and vice-versa.

Social media has also helped reunite Abby’s father with an old classmate.

“I submitted my story for the Merdeka 50X50 campaign and a pakcik replied to my post. He turned out to be my dad’s schoolmate,” she said.

For iM4U chief operating officer Rudy Malik, social media is widely used by the NGO to encourage Malaysian youths to volunteer.

“Social media has become an important tool in getting Malaysian youths to participate in ground activities,” he said.

He said they did not get good response initially when they started their projects via social media.

“People did not know what volunteerism was.

“We had to invite them to join our events and see for themselves what it was all about,” he recalled.

Rudy said that step helped change people’s perceptions.

iM4U also uses its own hashtag, #katasapot, for its volunteerism movement.

Through social media, the NGO connected with Malaysian youths studying abroad who also wanted to start their own volunteer group.

iM4U expanded its network and proceeded to fund groups run by Malaysian students in the United Kingdom, USA, China and Japan to carry out their own volunteering programmes under the International Outreach Centres banner.

This, he said, also brought together the Malaysian students associations abroad to discuss the country’s National Education Blueprint in a symposium held in Malaysia. Their views at the symposium were later pitched to the Education Ministry.

Writer and lecturer Niki Cheong ran campaigns such as 50X50 and #LimaPuluhTujuh which relied heavily on social media to share Malaysian stories.

Social media was used to amplify messages and at times, used as the primary tool of communication.

Cheong said last year’s #LimaPuluhTujuh campaign saw seven Malaysian stories shared online.

He said the public was asked to share their growing-up photos on Instagram too.

This year, he will embark on another social media campaign from Aug 31 to Sept 16, focusing on Malaysia’s future.

Called #seedingMYhope, eight of his students will be using Instagram videos to show ways in which they reconnect with the country.

The idea is to get people to see a different side of Malaysia and to make them remember why they love the country.

“When we get enough people to share this, I believe there will be some kind of impact.

“I think messages and emotion can be spread through social media.

“This is what I believe social media can do for our nation, especially when it’s used correctly,” he said.

Previously, Cheong worked with Random Alphabets to organise gatherings such as Tali Tenang.

The campaign saw people bringing short strings to a meeting place and string it as a symbol of unity, before walking around Bangsar together.

After the 2013 general election when everyone was wearing black, Cheong said they felt the only way for the country to heal was for people to come together.

With Random Alphabets, they organised a picnic at Lake Gardens.

Cheong said they used social media and hashtag #SayaMahuPicnic to organise the outing and it came together very quickly.

Some 150 people turned up with home-cooked food, guitars and the Malaysian flag.

Hashtags too, he pointed out, had grown from a search tool to a unifying tool for Malaysians.

Another hashtag campaign, which he co-organised with Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, was #Fast4Malaysia to promote unity and peace through pledges from Malaysians.

Cheong said social media had connected him with many people, adding that this millennial platform enabled him to create opportunities for many Malaysians to collaborate.