Social entrepreneurs are focused on addressing social problems through a sustainable business model and seek to create not only financial, but also social returns for their beneficiaries. Unfortunately, many great initiatives undertaken by young social entrepreneurs are often overlooked or under-represented by the media in this country. To address the media underrepresentation, British Council partnered with Pioneers Post, a UK-based online media organization to cultivate social interest stories by teaching social enterprises to create their own videos highlighting their activities and beneficiaries.
The programme kicked off in 2014 with a video competition whereby shortlisted participants attended a three-day workshop on video journalism facilitated by Pioneers Post. The winning video featured Eats, Shoots & Roots, a social enterprise with an aim to empower urban individuals and communities with skills and tools to grow their own food and build a sense of resilience in the city. Together with the best video award, an internship with Astro Awani was also awarded for the “Most Promising Young Journalist.”
In 2015, the programme continued with participants consisting of university students and social entrepreneurs undergo similar training on how to create impactful, informational videos. The videos showcased were Edunation, Fur Kids, My Mobile University, Malaysian Standard Users, Koperasi Belia Sarawak (Youth Cooperative of Sarawak)and MySkills Foundation.
The Digital Content Head of Edunation, Safwan Siddiq, a participant of the programme said, “I learned the importance of narrative in a profile video, crafting our company's message to be the best that it can be for our beneficiaries and potential supporters. I have no doubt that everyone will benefit from programmes like these; be it the journalists, social entrepreneurs, and social activist”.
Drawing from a student’s point view, Yaza Azzahara from UNIMAS who produced a video on Koperasi Belia Sarawak stated, “I am lucky to have the chance to gain new knowledge outside of my field. Journalism is a skill that we consider important to have, so that we can deliver information in an informative and interesting way”.
Here are the videos produced by the six teams:
1. Edunation, produced by Mohd Safwan Bin Mohammad Siddiq and Hazman bin Tumiran
Edunation is a non-profit social enterprise that focuses on providing free tuition for all. Our platform currently has approximately 1800 chalk-and-talk videos that cover most subjects taught in schools. (Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omWvemm1TGU&feature=youtu.be)
2. Fur Kids Farm, produced by Manjushree Appathurai and Dennis Lee
Fur Kids Farm rescues abused animals. Our rescues are about saving lives. As we grow to rescue more animals and resources get extremely limited, it’s important to look into social enterprise to enable ways of making the shelter sustainable.
3. MyMobile University, produced by Neow Ker Eong and Thanaraaj A/L Seager
MyMobileUniversity is an initiative by LTT Global a global pioneer in mobile learning to impact lives globally through education. It is a free learning platform for all ages, making available content from ages 2 upwards covering academic, lifestyle and lifelong learning. Everyone gets an opportunity to learn something new, up-skill or re-skill themselves at their own time and money. (Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3w1vITZhqs)
4. Malaysian Standard Users, produced by Sharvin A/L A. Subramaniam and Calidya Anak Idem
Consumer issues are crosscutting and the awareness level in Malaysia is not as much as the issues itself. Conveying the message to the public is always our main priority. We have been educating the public for years but their efforts to be involved ends with the closing ceremony. Journalism could be the answer to “how and what are we going to do more in educating consumers of their right’. (Watch the video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_H5brID3rY)
5. MySkills, produced by Ramachandran s/o Arumugam and Hemanathan s/o Subramaniam
MySkills was initiated to advocate the needs of youths at risk in Malaysia. Coming from school dropout categories, dysfunctional families and victims of urbanization, we carry out activities based on four major aspects; emotional, social, life management and industrials skills to transform youths at risk towards their wellbeing and a better future. (Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVQQx4g7Zsk&feature=youtu.be)
6. Koperasi Belia Sarawak, KOBIS (Youth Cooperative of Sarawak), produced by Yaza Azzahara Ulyana and Lim Jhin Horng
KOBIS has the specific agenda to develop youths in terms of entrepreneurial innovation and skills development. KOBIS focuses on car servicing and repairs. KOBIS runs training programmes and recruits youths who are unable to continue their studies due to economic reasons in hopes that they are able to one day open their own workshops. (Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81T5-k6ChiM&feature=youth.be)