Bangkitlah Malaysia!

Dear fellow Malaysians,

Are you happy with the state of our country today? Is our country and her people truly living up to their potential? What do you think of Malaysian society today? Should “race” be a major factor in how Malaysian citizens relate to each other? What unites Malaysians? What divides Malaysians? Do you think Malaysia needs to change? Why or why not? What are your dreams/aspirations for yourself? Your country?

Do you love Malaysia?

These are questions that are rarely asked of our country's youths. But we believe that all of them have a burning answer deep within their hearts. They may not feel at liberty to share it. Or they may feel like even if they did, who would listen? So many of these hushed voices go unheard. It's the greatest loss to our nation...

Well, not anymore.

We believe that the youth of our nation have outstanding opinions about the issues facing Malaysia today. And we want our nation's youths to know that they are NOT forgotten, forsaken or frivolous. Because it is their passion that will revive the hope in our nation - to once again rise up and be a shining example to the world for our peace and prosperity. And this will happen when the youth of our country choose to stand up and speak out.

That's where BANGKIT comes in.

BANGKIT is a nationwide search for songs written by youths, for youths and representing the aspirations of the youths in our country. We believe that they deserve...no, they NEED to be heard. And we're going to provide the platform for them in the language that speaks to youths - music!

And to prove the point that Malaysians DO care about their country, we will be taking a huge step of faith - because we want to put this entire project together with NO MONEY AT ALL!

No money for salaries or allowances
No money spent on promotions/marketing.
No money spent on design.
No money spent on recording.
No money to hire talents.
No money spent on websites.
No money prizes
No money for prizes.
Tak ada, mei you, eelek, zip nada!

Impossible? Maybe...unless you and I decide to believe that it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE. We can both step out in faith that this project WILL succeed because there will be more than enough people stepping up to contribute their time, talents, facilities and resources FOR FREE, with no other motivation than their passion, creativity and love for country!

Have we got your attention yet?

If you feel inspired to join us, here are the details of BANGKIT:

MECHANISM
- A BANGKIT blog will be set up for this event
- Teasers will be spread throughout the internet (March 15 – 31)
- Selections begin, demo cuts of compositions to be submitted in mp3 format (April 1 – May 15)
- Songs will be featured on the BANGKIT blog for youths to vote on their favourites (April 1 – May 31)
- Professional judges will select 10 songs from the 20 most popular voted songs and results announced (June 7)
- A professionally recorded BANGKIT CD of the 10 selected songs will be released within 3 months of final selection (Target to be launched in September)
- A BANGKIT concert featuring local artistes will be held to showcase the selected songs (to be held either in November or December, in conjunction with SABM's voter registration carnival)
- No prizes will be offered. Just recognition of participants' talents and the chance for their song to be recorded.

PUBLICITY
- Primarily through the internet (facebook, youtube, twitter, blogs, websites, etc)
- Flyers and posters to be distributed to universities / colleges nationwide
- Exposure through the Mass Media
- Email, SMS & MMS

WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Attach the ‘BANGKIT’ posters/banners/videos to your blog or website and make sure to link it to our blog. We will be releasing a series so that it keeps fresh and exciting
- Tell everyone you know about BANGKIT through word-of-mouth, blogs, facebook, twitter, email, SMS, MMS, etc. We need everyone in Malaysia to know.
- Keep updated at our BANGKIT blog or the SABM website.
- Put us in touch with people who are willing to contribute to BANGKIT's cause for free.

Please support BANGKIT in our effort to bring the voices of our youth to the nation and the world!

P.S. As BANGKIT is still the pre-launch stage, please don't reveal too much about us yet. If you feel a need to explain a bit more about BANGKIT, just say something like "something big is brewing in Malaysian cyberspace and everyone under-30 should watch out for the announcement on April 1st". We will be releasing more promos and information that you can post as the official launch date (April 1) approaches.

If you need more information, please email: jombangkit@gmail.com.

For more info please check out our blog at http://jombangkit.org/

And please do feel free to pass this message to as many people as you know.

Let's rock Malaysian together!

Regards,
Lai Chee Seng
Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia - Youth Outreach Project Team Coordinator