Students rally to contribute love and ideas for initiative

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s inaugural #StandTogether National Kindness Week got off to a rousing start with more than 300 schools around the country taking part.

National Kindness Week was mooted by SP Setia and R.AGE as part of their #StandTogether campaign, which aims to end school violence and bullying by promoting kindness.

“The primary objective of the #StandTogether initiative is to mould our young children, future leaders of the country, into good and useful citizens filled with empathy and kindness,” said SP Setia chief executive officer Datuk Khor Chap Jen.

“Schools are the best avenue to ensure that we educate not only the children, but the teachers as well.”

The Education Ministry-approved campaign kicked off in schools yesterday with various activities and programmes designed to foster kindness.

“Seeing social media posts with the hashtag #StandTogetherMY was so cool,” said Unicef U-Report national project manager Keith Woo.

“I saw so many schools already running activities and having launch events for National Kindness Week.

“But more than that, it seemed organic and student-driven. That’s what will make a long-term difference.”

Woo represents Unicef Malaysia on the #StandTogether organising committee, which includes representatives from Teach For Malaysia, Digi, Study Hub Asia, 100% Project, and developmental psychologist Dr Goh Chee Leong.

Nearly 120 kindness project proposals were also submitted by students for the #StandTogether Competition.

One of the winning schools, SK Kampung Contoh in Penampang, Sabah, set up booths where students could create a kindness chain, linking their names in the shape of a heart.

“It was so heartwarming to see the students put so much love and thought into their activities,” said 100% Project co-founder Andrew Yong, who was at SK Kampung Contoh.

“I was worried that they would think it was a lame initiative, but they were the ones who came up with the ideas and were so enthusiastic about it.

“It was wonderful to see the community coming together to create a kinder school,” he added.

In addition, R.AGE has released a series of educational videos.

New episodes featuring a different celebrity will be released every day for teachers to use in classrooms. They can be accessed for free at www.standtogether.my.

For more updates on National Kindness Week, follow the campaign at facebook.com/standtogethermy