Love for the country: The winners of Star Media Group’s ‘Tell Us You’re Malaysian Without Telling Us You’re Malaysian’ campaign showcased different aspects of the unique Malaysian identity in their entries.
PETALING JAYA: From witty videos to heartwarming photos, Malaysians nationwide let their creativity shine in Star Media Group’s “Tell Us You’re Malaysian Without Telling Us You’re Malaysian” campaign, showcasing the unique Malaysian identity.
The panel of judges was pleasantly surprised by the creative brilliance of the participants, with entries displaying nuances and quirks that only Malaysians can relate to, and selected 65 of the best submissions as winners.
Even though the topics were wide-ranging, the love of Malaysia was clear in all submissions.
First-place winner Tan Tze May took home a Panasonic 50” 4K Android Smart TV for her entertaining entry about Malaysians’ use of the word “walao” to describe anything from the weather to food and traffic jam.
She credited her husband as a vital figure in her video-making process, simply because of her other half’s fondness for the expression to show surprise, dismay and other feelings.
“My husband likes to say ‘walao’ or ‘walao eh’, so I was inspired to record a few instances of him using the word in his daily life.
“It was all impromptu. For example, when he is caught in a traffic jam, he will say ‘walao eh, so jammed’ and when he eats spicy food, he will say ‘walao eh, so spicy’.
“That’s how I ended up combining all the ‘walao’ phrases into a video with some humour thrown in,” she said.
The second prize went to Liew Ven Fung, who was overjoyed not only because he snagged a Huawei smart watch, but also because his brother Wun Foo was also among the 65 winners.
Sri Kumaran Munusamy clinched the third prize of a pair of Huawei earbuds through his video “Telling Me You’re Malaysian Kaigeh Without Telling Me You’re Malaysian Kaigeh”.
“Kaigeh” is slang for “people” in Tamil, much like what “kaki” (buddies) is in Malay.
Fourth and fifth spots went respectively to Atteleth Don Peris, who won a Samsung washing machine, and Lim Sooi Ping, the winner of a Samsung tablet.
For this contest, prizes such as smart devices, home appliances, staycations as well as AEON and McDonald’s vouchers were given out.
All of the winning entries can be viewed on simplymalaysian.thestar.com.my.
