We have heard of stories of corporate Malaysia using social media to engage communities and customers for business. What about social causes?

This month, SMCKL aims to showcase the role of social media for social good. This is about increasing awareness on the good things we can do with social technologies. Not only for business but also, improve living standards, promote basic human rights, ecological responsibility, etc. In short, social media is not only about changing the way we work, learn and socialize, but it is changing the way we help one another.

We’re “unplugging” this month from the usual presentations to a casual panel discussion on social media for social good with guest speakers Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, Niki Cheong and Hakim Albaswary. Moderating this discussion is David Lian.

This event is sponsored by MSC Malaysia.

When: 25 February ’10. Thursday.
Time: 7:30pm – 10pm

Where:

Ogilvy PR
Level 10 Menara Milenium
8 Jalan Damanlela
Pusat Bandar Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur

Register here.

Please follow @SMCkl for venue update.

Panelist Profiles

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir

Marina Mahathir headed the non-governmental Malaysian AIDS Council for twelve years from 1993-2005. She has also been Vice-President of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific, sat on several UN expert panels, represented Asia Pacific AIDS NGOs on the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board and spoken at the United Nations General Assembly. Currently she is a member of the Steering Committee of the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV and Development (APLF), the Global Advisory Group of AIDS2031 and the Global Task Force Review Group of the UNAIDS Action Framework for Addressing Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV.

Apart from HIV work, she is a member of the Women’s Aid Organization, a Board member of Sisters in Islam, and is on the Global Advisory Committee of the Women’s Forum for the Society and Economy, France, and the International Advisory Committee of the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh.

She is also a newspaper columnist, blogger, twitterer and TV producer (for the programme 3R-Respect, Relax and Respond , an award-winning TV programme for young women now entering its 10th year.)

Niki Cheong

Niki Cheong is a journalist, actor and social media advocate. He is known as The Bangsar Boy, a reference to his fortnightly column in The Star, Malaysia’s leading English daily about growing up in Kuala Lumpur. Niki also pens a weekly column on social media in The Star’s youth platform R.AGE, called What The Tweet. He is Assistant Editor of R.AGE.

In 2009, he was named one of Malaysia’s August Man magazine’s Men of the Year, for his contributions to the social networking scene in Malaysia. Niki was also the recipient of Martell VSOP’s Rising Media Personality award the same year. He has been invited to give talks on blogging, Twittering and journalism and was one of the co-organisers of the Twestival KL event last year, movement which mobilises social media users around the world for charity. This year, Niki has taken on role of Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific on the Twestival Global team.

In 2010, Niki will feature in the second season of Project Alpha, a reality show (online and satellite TV) which aims to uncover the lives of Malaysia’s top bloggers.

Niki blogs at www.nikicheong.com/blog and can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nikicheong.

Hakim Albaswary

Taking the phrase “build the future you want to see” a little too seriously I got involved in the wonderful world of start-your-own-business and make products others havent yet developed a use for.

In 2008 with a little funding, a like minded partner and a lot of late nights (working) I cofounded Right Ideas Left Sdn Bhd – we have since joined forces with Urekalabs Sdn Bhd and now work towards building tools for the web. we have since built a tool for students to get their thesis bound online, its called thisisbinding.com and have worked with some others to build up their web tools Pete Teo’s 15malaysia.com being one of them.

Aside from working on my startup i spend lots of time on a project that i feel very passionate about – we call it Unreason. The brain child of Ching Yee Fu (senedi), Devan Singaram (elevyn.com) and myself. The idea was to create a way to foster ideas for social good, what unreason is about has evolved somewhat since we came out with it but at its core – its about making good as Malaysians.

Unreason now with the cooperation of MDeC is almost fully focused on working towards an open data policy in the government. In short it’s a sustainable way for the Malaysian Government to make its rich throve of data available to the general public – for them to build upon and derive value from. Along the way we had the privilege to work with a bunch of extremely passionate and immensely talented people, Kegan Gan is one such person the person that came up with MalaysiaCrime.com

David Lian (Moderator)

David Lian has worked in the public relations industry for more than six years. He played a pivotal role in creating Text 100’s award-winning Malaysian social media practice.

As the Social Media Strategist overseeing Text 100’s ASEAN markets, David consults with blue chip clients across the region on social media strategies and oversees the implementation of key social media programmes.

He helped pioneer social media programmes with clients in the region, notably the Nokia Insider blogger outreach programme which won the Technology Campaign of the Year award in the Malaysia PR Awards 2008. 

David also consulted on social media for DiGi Telecommunication’s DiGi Broadband launch which was awarded the Gold Campaign of the Year award, as well as the Technology Campaign of the Year and Consumer Launch of the Year in the Malaysia PR Awards 2009.

An active social media participant, he blogs at http://www.davidlian.com and engages on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/davidlian. David strongly believes in social advocacy through social media and was one of three core committee members for the first Kuala Lumpur Twestival 2009 which raised nearly RM 15,000 for charity. He continues to be on the Twestival planning committee.

David is also a regular panellist on The Edge Malaysia’s weekly technology podcast, The Digital Edge.

He graduated from Murdoch University with a double-major degree in Mass Communication (PR and Journalism) and Culture and Communication.

Outside of work, David is spends his time mostly on his church’s youth work. He is passionate about all facets of technology and is also a big fan of miniature wargaming.