Kindness Week Campaign isbackand going online

PETALING JAYA: The studentdriven #StandTogether National Kindness Week movement will be back from Sept 21 to 27 with several innovative online programmes to spread the culture of kindness amid the gloom of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve always believed that most of the world’s problems could be fixed if we learnt to be kinder and more empathetic. And what better way to achieve this than by working with students?” said R.AGE deputy executive editor Ian Yee, who first proposed the campaign in 2017.

“The fact that thousands of people join our activities every year shows that Malaysians do want a kinder society. We’re just running activities to help them express that.”

Thousands of participants have participated previously in the campaign, founded by Star Media Group’s award-winning R.AGE team and property developer SP Setia including dozens of celebrities and politicians.

The movement usually culminates in a nationwide Kindness Week celebration on the first week of April but this was postponed to September and adapted online.

Kindness Week this year will start with the national Kindness Challenge, an interactive WhatsApp chatbot which will curate daily “Kindness Missions” for participants throughout the week.

There is also the Kindness Tour: Online, a series of online gatherings for students to experience kindness and empathy skills activities developed by #StandTogether partners Tribeless. The Tour is supported by Unicef Malaysia.

The campaign then goes further in-depth with the Kindness Leaders Programme, a six to eight-week online fellowship to equip a new generation of students (aged below 21) with empathetic leadership skills.

Students who complete the programme can then pitch for RM1,000 in grant funding for kindness projects in their schools.

The #StandTogether campaign was founded in 2017 to counter the growing cases of violence and bullying in schools and on social media.

It quickly gained support from key stakeholders, including the Education Ministry, Unicef Malaysia, Digi, Study Hub Asia and Teach For Malaysia.

Efforts by the students in driving the campaign had been recognised around the world including at the 2018 World Digital Media Awards.

It was also mentioned in a 2020 United Nations report as an example of successful youth-driven initiatives to curb violence against children.

To sign up for the #StandTogether National Kindness Week campaign, go to www.standtogether.my.

Activities and resources for students, teachers and the public are available.