SMK Rantau Panjang’s a winner
It is one of the top three victors in Digi’s #5DayBaikHati challenge
KLANG: SMK Rantau Panjang’s efforts in spreading kindness through social media were rewarded when Selangor princess Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah dropped by the school for a special assembly on Monday.
It was among the top three winners for Digi’s #5DaysBaikHati challenge, a social media challenge that encouraged students to upload pictures of kind acts in conjunction with Malaysia’s first #StandTogether National Kindness Week in April.
Spearheaded by R.AGE and property developer SP Setia, #StandTogether was launched to promote a culture of kindness within schools after a spate of bullying cases rocked the nation late last year.
No stranger to advocacy, Tengku Zatashah, who is also a # StandTogether ambassador, stressed the importance of ending cyberbullying.
“While physical bullying could be a one-off incident, online bullying is widespread and accessible, which means it can really impact someone negatively. You can read online comments repeatedly – it can get into your psyche,” she said.
Digi’s Principal of Sustainability manager Phillip Ling shared the same sentiment.
“In a recent survey, we found Instagram to be the biggest cyberbully platform,” he said.
“(Instagram) is a community populated by young people, and in such a community, peer support is extremely important when building a culture where peers respect and have empathy towards one another.”
Tengku Zatashah urged students to stand together and offer each other peer support when needed.
“I know it’s hard to admit or confess that you’re a victim of bullying, so a message to passers-by: don’t just ignore the situation.
“Think about how you can make a difference by doing something actionable,” she said.
SMK Rantau Panjang student Siti Khadijah Mohd Nasri, 17, said the positive effects of the challenge have encouraged her and her peers to keep being kind.
“At first it was about posting on Instagram but slowly we started seeing the positive effects of these acts,” said Siti. “After that, we built momentum, and just kept going.”
As one of the #5DayBaikHati challenge winners, the school’s teachers also received 100 care packages from Digi in conjunction with Teacher’s Day.
To view the winning #5DaysBaikHatiChallenge entries, visit www. baikhati.my. To find out how your school can be part of the #StandTogether kindness movement, log on to standtogether.my.