UM! Mover (Volunteer): Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you our very own Gangnam Style Flash Mob organised by UndiMsia!
Response 1: Cool! Why is this organisation so happening? How to sign up??
Response 2: Hmm.. what is this about?
Response 3: HEHHHH? ??!??!? Why so random?
For those of you who know about our recent flash mobs and gave responses 2 and 3, don’t question our sanity just yet.
For the past few weeks, PSY’s extremely catchy tune has catalysed dozens of parodies to the extent that websites like Social Times compiled a list of their ultimate favourites. Even our local radio station, Fly.fm refused to miss out on the fun by producing their very own Super Kampung Style.
Why exactly did our UndiMsia! team decide to jump on the Gangnam wagon and ride on this hype?
Here’s a simple task:
Go up to a young person and his/her group of friends and ask them if they have any interest whatsoever in their voting rights and civic awareness. Also, question them on the role the youths play in the electoral process. (Asking our movers doesn’t count)
From our past experience, the general response was no, shrugs and even the occasional yawn. The problem is the idea of voting and issues on governance of the country is often felt to be complex and extremely dry to some. Some of them admit that they often felt that the subject did not concern them and hardly gave it much thought. Gangnam Style – whether you hate it or love it generates the exact opposite response. It’s a topic, which is discussed by everyone from students at Inti College to stuffy lawyers. Even our Prime Minister is talking about it.
While PSY’s video is a social commentary of the people living in the Gangnam district in Seoul, our use of the Gangnam Style song was ultimately to show our movers as well as potential Loyarburokkers that while we lobby important issues that affect all of society, for example human rights and elections, we can have fun with it. Why a flash mob instead of another parody video? We chose the medium of dance because we believe it was the best platform to reach out to the younger generation. The numerous talent shows are concrete proof that entertainment is strongly received by them. Also, we wanted a medium that could incorporate our fellow movers. Sure enough, some of our movers literally ‘moved’ to encourage more to get involved in our organisation.While our familiar faces are some serious looking lawyers, we want to highlight the fact that they too can put down their case studies long enough to ‘horse ride’. If you take a look at our flash mob video which is soon to be released, our co-founder, CEO, Project Manager and interns all participated.
Our projects are geared towards youth empowerment, making it fun and hopefully engaging a greater participation of youths in civic education. Taking a lighthearted approach does not diminish the urgency and importance of UndiMsia!’s message. We are merely encouraging the youth to take action DIY style, Gangnam style, or whatever stylo mylo way they are comfortable with.
Our IdolaDemokrasi initiative is a clear example. Through this initiative, the importance of democracy and its difficulties is taught to our participants in a relatable and enjoyable way. Testimonials can be shown subject to request. Also, our soon-to-be-launched Resource Centre will provide free access to books on human rights, democracy, law and rights of indigenous people.
We hope, ladies and gentlemen that we’ll be hearing a lot more of response 1.
The first step would be to come and have fun with us on 15 September 2012 to celebrate our one-year anniversary. We had a tough but fruitful year. We have worked hard and now we plan to play hard! JOM!
Okay, I give up. How many versions of "Gangnam Style" are there? I'm starting to think that they should put all these variations into something like a huge compilation album.
Not surprisingly, "Gangnam" is triggering flash mobs. I'm just waiting for a huge crowd at Times Square to break into the horse dance.
Nice!