The Star R. AGE #StandTogether SEA Zoom Party (31/7/2021)

 It's been five months since the #StandTogether expanded its kindness to the Southeast Asia region. Now we are back for a zoom party! Before I proceed with the details, let us have a memory refresher on what #StandTogether is. #StandTogether is a kindness campaign by Star Media Group's (SMG) investigation journalist team - R. AGE, to spread kindness and empathy in our communities and schools. 

I was in a middle of an online Buddhist youth camp. I took some time off from the camp and quietly sneaked into the party. I did accept the email invitation by the #StandTogether team, but I guessed it was good to make a surprise appearance. After Ian was finished, I unmuted my microphone to give a quick hello to the kindness leaders who were at the party. I could see the surprise on their faces. Whenever we are in a kindness workshop or a kindness zoom party, the breakout rooms are always my favourite because we get to know other kindness leaders. 

This time, it was finding the three common points that we have in our respective groups. For my group, we had a little struggle in the beginning as we were trying to figure out what do we have in common. Pinya, from Thailand, pointed out that we were all girls, the second point was we were from Southeast Asia and the last point, we all loved Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon. After that, we went back to the main room to share the three points. 

We had a mini sharing session from four SEA countries, Kaveesha representing Malaysia, Chris representing the Philippines, Jun Shan representing Brunei and Neerzara representing Indonesia. Each of the kindness leaders shared their experiences how the campaign helped them to spread kindness in their communities and even conducting their own kindness workshops. I thought "Maybe I should do one too someday". I can't do this alone, need some help with fellow kindness leaders. 

In the middle of the sharing session, the news came in that our badminton men's doubles - Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik delivered the first-ever medal at the Tokyo Olympics - it's a bronze! Yeah, I was in the Olympics mood, I'm sure we all were. 

The party ended with a group picture and a jam board for us to put in our ideas in the next kindness workshop or zoom party. It was time for me to head back to the online camp! Looking forward to more kindness events. For more kindness information, follow #StandTogether's official social media pages. 

FB: StandTogether  

IG: @standtogethermy 

The Star R. AGE: #StandTogether SEA (3/2/2021-5/2/2021)

#StandTogether Kindness Leaders are back! This time we are going bigger than ever! We are heading to the region of Southeast Asia. Yes, we go that right! Southeast Asia how amazing is that? Before we go into more details of the event, allow me to refresh the memory. Launched in 2017, #StandTogether kindness campaign is to encourage students to practice empathy and kindness to combat school bullying - which is a social issue in Malaysia. With its success, national kindness week was declared by the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Malaysia that on the first week of April, students will have to practice empathy and kindness in their schools for the whole week. 

Slowly, Malaysians are encouraged to take part in the kindness challenge too. We have a kindness chatbot on WhatsApp and each day we are required to complete the kindness challenge. It's difficult at first, slowly we will feel great about ourselves when complete the challenge by the end of the week. In 2019, I was lucky to attend a Kindness Concert and got to meet our #StandTogether celebrity ambassadors, especially UNICEF Malaysia's national ambassador, Kak Lisa Surihani. 

Last year, the kindness challenge has moved to online. There is a bit of challenge because we are stuck at home most of the time and we are encouraged to send our kindness stories. Throughout the year, kindness workshops were conducted virtually all over Malaysia. Now, we are heading bigger than ever, let's go to the SEA region! 

The first day, kindness leaders from all over Southeast Asia have joined the kindness revolution, including our friends from China. Same as the previous workshops that Malaysians kindness attended, we are broken up into breakout rooms for each section - types of bullying, the storytelling (with action cards) and gratitude notes. At one point, our Bahasa Malaysia was put to the test for the easiness for our Indonesian counterparts. After that, we have a special celebrity appearance from Choi Siwon - singer of the Korean boyband, Super Junior and UNICEF ambassador for the East Asia region. 

The second day, my fellow kindness leaders volunteers are broken up to assist kindness leaders. Oscar and I are assigned to China. Each country has to present the Kindness Workshop blueprint after that. I have three preferences - Malaysia, China and the Philippines. We hope that every kindness leader will bring the workshop back to their home countries and conduct them. For us Malaysians kindness leaders at the conference, we have a WhatsApp group chat - Tadika Mesra (Friendly Kindergarten). 

The third and final day, we have panellist of people ranging from the medical field and law firm on how they see corporal punishment towards a child and how can we break the cycle. During the Q & A session, I ask Dr Goh and Dr Farrah on how to include people with special needs in schools and communities. What we need is the equipment to make the community an inclusive environment. 

My favourite part of the panel discussion is the students' point of view on corporal punishment, it triggered the memory of me being embarrassed in front of the class, especially in primary school. Especially when we are in a Malaysian Chinese primary school, the possibility of being caned in front of the class is super high. 

Next, we are broken into groups and it's back to our host countries. Each question is given 5 to 10 minutes of discussion on what is the ideal relationship between a student and a teacher. We think our positions as teachers and students at the same time, how should we practice kindness and empathy in both positions. We are back to the main room when the discussion is done. Ismail Izzani - youth advocate for UNICEF Malaysia makes an appearance with a special performance. 

To end the conference on a sweet note, the #StandTogether team and their partners recorded a congratulatory video to encourage kindness leaders that this is the beginning of the kindness journey and hope to bring it back to our respective countries. Three days of kindness leaders conference has come to an end. 

Thank you to the R. AGE team and to my fellow kindness leaders we will meet again! 

The Star R. AGE Zoom Party with UNICEF Malaysia (14/12/2020)

 The final Zoom party of the year with #StandTogether kindness campaign by R. AGE is here! After a week meeting Selangor royalty - Tengku Zatasah, the princess of Selangor and Arwind Kumar, it's the moment that everyone is waiting for meeting the people from UNICEF Malaysia! I'm on my way up from Melaka to Selangor for a short stay, and it's a bumpy ride. "Katelyn, I hope you are not driving," Ian is concerned about my safety, "I'm fine, I'm in the backseat of the car for now," I say. 

Dr Rashed - the representative for UNICEF Malaysia, alongside our national ambassador Kak Lisa Surihani and youth advocate Ismail Izzani are on board the party! I'm really star-struck to see Dr Rashed virtually, hopefully, to see him physically in person. What does it take for us to be a kindness leader in big organisations such as UNICEF, Dr Rashed says: "Your kindness and empathy have to empower others," which is true! If we don't take that first step of kindness and empathy, how are we gonna empower the people around us? 

I have reached my destination, still attending the Zoom party in the car. As it was mentioned earlier, a bumpy ride along the way, it's hard for me to type the questions out. Luckily, during the second half of the party time, manage to settle down with a proper table and chair. I wanted to ask the questions, unfortunately, it's the end of the party. It's okay, at least got to meet the three important people from UNICEF Malaysia. 

"I hope Katelyn is fine because she was in the car all the way," says Kak Lisa before leaving the call, I told her that I'm on a short cuti-cuti Malaysia with my parents and younger sibling for a week in Selangor. "Oh, that's good!" she says. We did ask the R. AGE team on how to get into UNICEF Malaysia's initiatives. "Joining the kindness campaign is part of UNICEF Malaysia's work because they are collaborating with us," says Ian. 

Thank you R. AGE team for the final party of the year! I'm going to continue to spread kindness and empathy around me. Hope there is a physical event next year! Kindness leaders, remember to always have courage and be kind. 

The Star R. AGE Stand Together Zoom Party with Arwind Kumar and Tengku Zatasah (7/12/2020)

 After meeting national gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman at my first Zoom party. This time it's with Tengku Zatasah Idris - the Princess of Selangor and Arwind Kumar, better known as Mak Cik Roastmah. Logging into the Zoom party, kindness leaders are taking their places to wait for the party to start. To get in the Christmas season, a red hairband is a perfect accessory to get into the festive season. 

When Ian announces the arrival of our first guest - Tengku Zatasah, the kindness leaders are so star struck. It's every girl's dream to meet a real-life princess! Arwind hops on after that and without further ado, let the party begin! As with my first zoom party, a simple breathing exercise is conducted for everyone to relax. 

The real fun is playing one of my favourite games is Would You Rather? One part of the question is would you rather seek advice from our friends or parents? This is a tough question. I choose neither because I would always go to my grandparents whenever I needed advice. I would go to my friends, especially my seniors in high school and university, and my peers who would understand the challenges that I'm going through. As for the past and future self, I choose my past because I would tell the Katelyn in the past to not do this and would regret for the rest of her life. If I could, I would tell my three-year-old self is to not let my parents to not proceed with the physiotherapy therapy treatment, it was a nightmare for a couple of years. 

Tengku Zatasah shares about her experience while she was studying in the UK, it was a painful experience. It reminds me of the times in high school where I would be left behind during PJ (physical education) in class due to my Cerebral Palsy because the teacher would give me the reason that they didn't want to be responsible if anything happens to me. Can we just include all students no matter they are disabled or not? We need more empathy and kindness, be more inclusive. 

Arwind also shares his experiences on how did the MCR impersonation come up, it did receive a lot of backlashes but slowly people are accepting as it progresses, some might not. Not all people can accept when we want to come up with something. During my first year in university, I wanted to raise awareness of mental health among my course mates but I ended up in the wrong place. Luckily, I have Model United Nations (MUN) acts as a platform to voice out the causes I'm championing. 

During the Q & A session, I ask Tengku Zatasah and Arwind how they use their popularity to spread kindness and empathy around them? They said we don't need a title or being popular to spread kindness and empathy, we could do it by starting from ourselves, people will tend to follow after that if we take that baby step. A group photo is taken at the end of the party. Thank you #StandTogether team for organising and can't wait for the next and final #StandTogether Zoom party. 

What would you do to spread kindness and empathy around you? 

#StandTogether Zoom Party with Tengku Zatasah and Arwind Kumar

The Star R. AGE Kindness Workshop (3/11/2020)

After a Zoom party with national gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman, it's time to head over for a kindness workshop and there is a special guest appearance, who is it? Let you know in a bit. It's back to the #StandTogether Kindness Workshop! Unfortunately, my computer is not kind to me today because the camera is not working but luckily my iPad is there as a backup. 

We are asked to take four pieces of A4 papers which will be used for each segment of the workshop. The first segment is drawing ourselves, the challenge is we have to use our non-dominant hand, dominant hand and one part with our eyes closed while drawing ourselves. I didn't do well with my eyes closed while drawing. Next, we are broken into groups to breakout rooms. My first group is a bit quiet because none of us spoke up, I have to be the first one to initiate the conversation, it lasted for five minutes, it's really short. 

We are back to the main room again for another activity. I participated in this game before at the Zoom party. We are given a statement while the cameras are turned off, and turn on if that statement describes us. Again, we are broken out into another breakout room to discuss the forms of bullying and which form of bullying is the most common of all. My teammates Emily, Khadijah and Mellisa agree that cyberbullying is the most common of all because we can get behind the computer to type out anything, but please don't, use it to spread kindness. 

Next, we take a third A4 paper and tear it half. One is to draw which represents "Me Also" meaning "I have been through this before", the other paper is a heart shape which represents "Love La!" meaning "You are brave" and other empathy words within. It's like social media "likes". We use it for the Storytelling and Gratitude segments. By the time we head back to the main room, Chole is telling how much she enjoys the Kindness Workshop, everyone's hearts just melted in an instant. The innocence of a child teaches us so much about empathy and kindness.  

Remember I told you about the special guest appearance? He's a #StandTogether ambassador and UNICEF Malaysia's youth ambassador, can you guess who is it! Yes! The one and only Ismail Izzani! He shared his experiences about kindness in his life, especially his English teacher, Teacher Gina, who constantly believed in him. That reminded me of some of my teachers in high school as well. 

There is a Q & A session from the kindness advocates. Being a singer, Ismail sang a few lines of Bidadari (Angel) for us. At the end of the workshop, a group photo is taken and that wraps up the English version of the kindness workshop. Now, I'm officially a kindness advocate! Thank you #StandTogether team for organising the workshop and made some amazing friends too! 

Have courage and be kind. 

The Star Rage Stand Together Zoom Party (27/10/2020)

#StandTogether Kindness Leader zoom party with Malaysia national gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman 

The #StandTogether campaign organised by Star R. AGE is back for its third consecutive year. Traditionally, it was supposed to be held in the first week of April as with previous years, it also is known as national kindness week. But then the covid-19 pandemic came and everything was put on hold.

During the first week of April, we did ask to send in some photos to share some of our kindness stories during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period. I did send a picture of my grandma holding an iPad reading The Star online mobile app because at that time our newspaper delivery person told us no newspapers will be sent to us for eight days, for her to keep up with the news I have to teach her on how to use the mobile app of The Star. 

Five months later, #StandTogether is back on full swing! This time is conducted virtually. As always, we were given a challenge each day to perform an act of kindness. The first day was easy - being kind to ourselves, and the second day was showing gratitude to our family and friends. 

The third day, it got a little tricky because it was supporting a local business. I thought of the pau shop that my aunt always goes to buy my favourite char siew pau and lau sar pau. The fourth day is being kind to our frontline heroes! I have friends who are working as front liners, I dropped them a message to say thank you for keeping us safe amid the pandemic. The last day is giving a compliment to someone by spreading kindness online. 

That's not all! They have a series of virtual workshops for students and teachers to join in the kindness revolution across Malaysia. There is a Google classroom too for students to take part in, unfortunately, I'm over the age limit, but it's okay, more kindness events are on the way one of them is a Zoom party. Today's Zoom party we are honoured to invite our national athletes - gymnast Farah Ann and MMA fighter Ann Osman. 

I was star struck when I see Farah Ann on the computer screen because she is my hero. I met her once on campus three years ago when we had a homecoming ceremony for the students and alumni of Sunway University College, who represented the country at the SEA Games in 2017. Both ladies share the experiences they faced in schools and in the sports world, especially when it comes to online, there is so much negativity and how they overcome it with kindness and empathy. 

Kindness and empathy - are the two traits, which most of us find them to difficult to put into practice in our daily lives. It's all about taking a huge step with courage. As a Kindness Leader, I hope that we could create a kinder society in Malaysia to see the goodness and magic. Like I always use this as my life quote: Have courage and be kind. Looking forward to the next kindness revolution. 

If you want to know more about the Kindness Revolution, click on the links below to find out how we can be a Kindness Leader: 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/StandTogetherMY/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/standtogethermy/

 

Star R. AGE: Empathy Journalism (18/6/2020)

Empathy- what does it mean to you? Empathy is showing kindness to others, put ourselves in their shoes and think if I were them, how would I feel? What is the feeling? Empathy can be in any form, but have you ever wonder that empathy and journalism work together? I thought about it: How can we apply empathy when we are writing a story for the newspaper? Well, stick around to find out! There are five key elements when we combine empathy and journalism. 

First and foremost, read a fiction book or novel. Yes, reading takes us to a place of wonders as we immerse ourselves into the story plot but have we wonder that reading will help us to develop empathy? What if the characters in the story, find something difficult to break the code? If we were the characters in the book, how do we feel? That's when empathy comes in. 

Secondly, active listening. When we are in conversations, we are often being talked over or cut off in mid-sentence. Try this way: Listen carefully to the person who is talking, we'll find somehow that he or she is going through a tough time. Always be attentive, don't be distracted, not talking about yourself and most importantly, please don't stare at the phone! We are all on our phones every now and then, if we are willing to put down our phones and pay full attention, empathy comes in. 

Thirdly, be curious. There is a saying goes "curiosity kills the cat". In this case for empathy, don't be afraid. Just because we are different in our own way, that doesn't mean we have to hide in a corner from getting us into trouble right? We can show empathy by writing a story on a person based on their story in their perspectives and point of view. 

Fourthly, identify biases. Let's be honest, that bias is human nature. Showing empathy is not about taking sides. How do we reduce biases? By identifying and reducing them actively. 

Last but not least is practice kindness! Be there and comfort them. The simple way is sitting beside without saying a word, our presence will give the person some comfort. Personally, this is my favourite key element. 

There you go, the five key elements of showing empathy. A little game for the Zoom participants. When one of the questions pops up "I am the oldest child in the family," that gets me excited, cause being the oldest, we are looked up by the younger siblings. We have a short sharing session on showing empathy to others and others have shown empathy to us.  

Before the seminar ends, we have an "assignment" which we need to complete by next week. It's based on the key elements that we have learned today. I'm sure the tasks can be done in no time! I'm looking forward to the next event. 

Have courage and be kind. Stand Together!

The Star Rage Stand Together Kindness Concert 2019 (4/5/19)

Bullying is a serious issue in today's Malaysian society. According to UNICEF Malaysia, 80% of children experience bullying in school. In the past, when we reported a bullying case in schools or anywhere, most of us will just shrugged it off and tell the victim "it will get over it". No, it will not get over it! It will leave a psychological impact on a person's life. How many of us will stand up to say "Hey, it's okay! I got you! If you need someone, you will always have me,"?

In late 2017, The Star Rage collaborated with SP Setia, RHB, and UNICEF Malaysia to come with a campaign that fight against school violence. With that, #StandTogether was born!  The campaign is to spread kindness in Malaysian schools. Students and teachers in the country are encouraged to take part, on how they can create a kinder school environment. The top ten schools will be nominated with the best kindest projects, and they will be rewarded with Malaysian celebrities coming to their schools to know more about their projects. Two of the best schools will be rewarded with the title of "Malaysia's Kindest Schools" in the primary school and secondary school category respectively.

Running for the second consecutive year, the campaign has now urge the public to join in the campaign by giving a five-day challenge. After completing each challenge, you will receive a message that says you have completed the challenge and moving on till the next one on the following day. I took up the challenge throughout the first week of April, it felt so good after completing each challenge. The last challenge was quite tough- doing five random acts of kindness, but I managed to complete them all.

What's more? #StandTogether having its first Kindness Concert! How cool is that! The day of the concert has arrived, I'm super excited because this is my first concert of the year! After my daddy drops my mum and me off, we go to the counter to retrieve our VIP tickets which I had registered earlier after completing the last kindness challenge.

The meet and greet area is packed with Malaysian celebrities and influencers like JinnyBoy, Lisa Surihani, rising stars Ismail Izzani and Nik Qistina just to name a few. I'm not allowed to go in to the meet and greet area at first because it is only for the nominated schools for having the best kindest projects. My mummy brings me to a side so that I can have a glimpse of my favourite stars. One of the crews asks me: "Who do you want to take a photo with?" I say "JinnyBoy!" they let me through the red line. Jin regcornised me! I give him a big hug. I tell him that I'm a big fan of Mamak Sessions and hope to be on the show one day.

My goal has achieved when I meet the national ambassador for UNICEF Malaysia- Lisa Surihani! It's been my dream to meet a UNICEF ambassador. "I wanna be a UNICEF ambassador just like you, Kak Lisa," I say, Kak Lisa says "I'm so happy that you are so passionate to be a part of the UNICEF family. You know what, you are a UNICEF ambassador in your way," Well, maybe I am because I wanna be the ambassador for UNICEF Malaysia.

After having a chat with Kak Lisa, I walk up to Arwind Kumar. "I remember you! How are you? I haven't seen you for a long time!" he says. "I'm good! I thought you have forgotten me," I say, "No, how could I?" he says. As I'm going out of the meet and greet area, I bump into rising stars Ismail Izzani and Nik Qistina. Before heading to the concert, why not a cup of ice cream from Inside Scoop?

The doors are opened and the audience starts to fill up the hall. I also have a brief starstruck moment with Malaysia's celebrity chef- Chef Wan. The countdown of the concert begins, with the remaining 10 seconds, the audience countdown together. #StandTogether Kindness concert has begun! It starts with video footages of violence that is happening around the world.  With #StandTogether campaign coming in, we can create a kinder Malaysian society. The first performance starts up with Ismail Izzani, singing his very single Sabar (patience in Malay) and a cover of Ed Sheeran's Perfect.

The other performances follow by Nik Qistina and the world's funniest man- Harith Iskander! The top 10 schools are invited to come to the stage to tell the audience about their kindness projects. There are several rewards are given out such as "The Kindest Student", "The Kindest Teacher" and "The Kindest Principal" and a surprise award of "The Kindest School Staff". We have performances from Rabbit Mac too, as well as The Venopian Solitude, they incorporate with a bit of folk music.

At the end of the event, the kindest schools in Malaysia title go to SK Taman Maluri and SMK Chung Hwa (CF) Miri in the primary school and secondary school respectively. The last performance of the night is Kyoto Protocol, and they are joined by Manbai to end the concert on a high note. But wait, there's more! Another meet and greet session! This time is with the singers and actors. I have a brief interview with the emcee before meeting the stars.

I have a brief chat with Qistina, Kyoto Protocol and the Sharifah sisters- Amani along side, Aryana. Amani asks me about the course I'm studying and which year I'm in university right now. "I'm in my final year, studying communication," I say. She also asks me about my ambitions, so far I'm not sure about just yet. I still have time to decide.

Spreading kindness through music is the best way to bring people together to fight violence. I think music is a powerful tool to spread positive messages. I think at one point in our school life, we will experience bullying and discrimination from our school mates.From my personal experienced I had been throughout my schooling life. In primary school, I was one of the English education students in class, most of my classmates teased me of not knowing my mother tongue which is Mandarin.

As being only student with special needs in class, the discrimination doesn't stop in school. I still face discrimination at tertiary education as well but on the bright side, I have met amazing friends who stand by me at all times. I'm enjoying my university life! I think Kindness Week should not just be limited in primary and secondary schools, it can be held at tertiary institutions as well.

Have courage and be kind. When there is kindness, there is goodness; when there is magic- Cinderella (2015). Let's stand together to fight violence, replacing them with kindness. Kindness always starts with a word. I'm hoping to be a Kindness ambassador in the next Stand Together campaign. Kindness starts with a word.