Walking the talk for unity
Campaign drums up spirit of togetherness in the whole nation
IT HAS been three years since Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld) and the Star Media Group launched the #AnakAnakMalaysia Campaign, and its success has left both companies looking forward to a bigger, better event next year.
Organised to promote unity and to get Malaysians from all walks of life to honour National Day and Malaysia Day, it started off as wristband campaign initially.
The idea was to distribute wristbands around the country, rallying as many Malaysians to wear the bands, take photos and share the photos on social media during August and September.
In the first year, some 500,000 wristbands bearing the Jalur Gemilang were given away, while last year, 850,000 wristbands were distributed nationwide.
Thousands of Malaysians walked the streets of Malaysia, proudly showing off their wristbands. Some of them pledged their support by uploading creative and inspirational photographs of them on www.anakanakmalaysia.com
This year, renowned cartoonist Reggie Lee drew inspiration from everyday Malaysians had his work adorning the wristband.
The lively cartoons against the red-coloured wristband complete with a resplendent Jalur Gemilang depict the true Malaysian spirit.
As Eco World and Star Media Group had a vision to rally all these Malaysians at one place on one eventful day, they decided to host a walk last year in addition to the wristband distribution.
That first walk was flagged off at Bukit Bintang City Centre and drew some 5,000 people including celebrities, social influencers, entrepreneurs and most importantly, everyday Malaysians.
Spurred by the support and encouragement from the masses, this year, the walk started and ended at Dataran Kemerdekaan in Shah Alam and the response was nothing short of overwhelming.
Star Media Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said the #AnakAnakMalaysia Walk this year was the most successful to date.
“It is unprecedented because it was graced by the Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. We have always used the #AnakAnakMalaysia walk to showcase the diversity of Malaysia. Each year, we make it compulsory to invite representatives from the various ethnic groups from Sabah and Sarawak to be part of these walks to remind fellow Malaysians that Malaysia is diverse,” he added.
Wong said the campaign was held from National Day until Malaysia Day because this is about Malaysia as a whole. This year’s #AnakAnakMalaysia Campaign was also different because of the celebratory mood with Malaysia coming out as the SEA Games champion.
“We want to make the #AnakAnakMalaysia Walk 2018 better, not just through the numbers, but also in terms of its content – we want to make it livelier,” he stressed.
#AnakAnakMalaysia campaign chairmanTanSriLeeLamThye, meanwhile, said the organisers were delighted to be able to reach out to more people this year.
“We have managed to distribute over one million wristbands throughout Malaysia. To top it off, the #AnakAnakMalaysia Walk was held not only in the Klang Valley this year but it was also extended to Penang and Iskandar Malaysia.”
“We managed to attract a strong crowd of 19,000 people to walk for unity with more social influencers coming on board for this cause,” he added.
Lee also said this year’s celebration was even more joyous with a specially composed #AnakAnakMalaysia song, Anak-Anak Malaysia, Anak-Anak Gembira, which was sung by 11 talented EcoWorld staff, combined with the EcoWorld Choir.
“The beauty of the song is further translated through a music video, which showcases the diverse culture we have in Malaysia,” said Lee.
He said the #AnakAnakMalaysia Campaign would continue to be held in years to come and the team looked forward to attracting more people next year.
To keep the mood going, EcoWorld’s respective sales galleries in Penang, Klang Valley and Iskandar Malaysia are hosting the Taste of Malaysia food festival. The festival celebrates our country’s diverse culture and delicacies. Visitors get to enjoy a variety of delicacies from the food stalls.