A different kind of exposure

9 March 2012 | UndiMsia! | Posted by

Running youth projects has always been a great challenge to many. The questions we have to constantly ask ourselves are these:

  • How can we compete with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Angry Bird for their attention?
  • How can we motivate them without resorting to bribery?
  • How can we encourage them to speak their minds and ask questions?
  • How can we get them to be the main players, rather than just spectators?
  • How can we promote learning without sounding like old farts giving lectures?
  • How can we achieve our objectives through effective means?

On 31 March 2012, UndiMsia! is launching a pilot youth project in Hulu Langat. It’s not going to be our usual workshop, forum, debate,  gotong-royong, or rave party (you wish!).

The “Kediaman Idaman Saya” (“My Ideal Home”) photo competition and exhibition is a youth event, created to promote UndiMsia!’s infographic on rights to adequate housing [for more information on what UndiMsia! does, please read this].

We first called for participants back in December. Only youths in Hulu Langat are eligible for the competition. They are asked to take photographs of their neighbourhood, environment or any other images that they interpret as an ideal home for them. Their photographs will be exhibited and judged by the public through a voting process carried out on the same day as the exhibition.

At the exhibition, the contesting teams will be given 5 minutes to talk about their photographs. They are encouraged to express their thoughts on the following questions:

– What are their criteria of an ideal home?

– Do they consider where they live as ideal? If not, why? What improvements can be done?

– What are the things they can do as a community to make their homes ideal for living?

The principle idea behind this is to provide youths in Hulu Langat a platform to share their thoughts on housing issues and as residents, how they can work with the local authorities to achieve this? Is the definition of an ideal home a bungalow with a swimming pool? Or does it encompass other important aspects such as security, location, access to public infrastructures, environmental integrity, etc.

We have invited the local councillors, state assemblypersons and Member of Parliament of Hulu Langat to attend the event. It is an opportunity for the youths to share their ideals with their local elected representatives and authorities.

The public will get to participate in the event by casting their votes for their favourite team. We will be distributing our infographics on that day.

The exhibition is open to the public and we hope that you will join us in this pilot project. It may not be picture perfect but we think it’s a good start towards creating activities that are fun, innovative and educational for youths of today.

Things you can do for this project:

  1. If you’re an individual, mark your diary now and get your social circles to come along. You get to support the teams and vote for your favourite;
  2. If you’re a NGO or civil society group, set up a booth at the event and talk to people about your cause;
  3. If you’re a member of the media, write and promote this event;
  4. If you’re feeling generous, donate money towards this project;
  5. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, share this post;
  6. If you love taking photos, send us your best photo with the same theme (“My Ideal Home”) by 19 March 2012 to [email protected]. We’ll try to exhibit it as part of the exhibition.

If you need to talk to someone about this, please call 03-22011454 or email [email protected]. For directions to the venue, click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

PROGRAMME

10:00     Photo exhibition

12:00     Presentation by the teams

12:30     Voting  by the public

12:45     Closing of votes

13:15     Announcement of the winner and prize giving ceremony

13:30     Light refreshments

14:30     End

 

 

 

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Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR) is a non-profit based in Kuala Lumpur with the mission of promoting active democratic participation and human rights awareness.

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