Pekan Baru Literacy Fair

Who would have thought that participating in a workshop could lead to holding activities as interesting and challenging as this? Well, this actually happened when I joined TechCamp Malaysia 2020. It was the beginning of the pandemic and I was still adapting to the transition from offline to online activities, balancing work and life, as well as keeping a positive mindset and healthy lifestyle. When I first joined the workshop, I expected learning useful skills, exploring more about media literacy and connecting with interesting people. I did not realize that I would learn so much from the trainers in this workshop who had provided us with so much useful material, thoughts, and insights. As the workshop progressed, I thought that it would be a shame if I did not share what I had learned during the workshop with more people, especially people who are in my field, so I decided to participate in the Virtual TechCamp Malaysia Small Grants Application offered by the organizer. Fortunately, my proposal was accepted.

My Proposal

I proposed three activities which are in line with the aims of TechCamp Malaysia 2020, which is to enhance digital and media literacy among members of the public.

1. Journalism Workshop for Student Journalists

We realized that students have an important role in countering disinformation. As a technology-literate generation supported by good media literacy skills, they can help to debunk false information and protect themselves against misleading content on social media.

2. We collaborated with the Islamic Banking Study Program of Muhammadiyah Riau University to organize a workshop, Tangkis Hoax Pilkada, which had more than 60 participants (offline and online), most of whom are from Pekanbaru.

Dialog Show on TVRI Riau (Live)

Since the previous activity targeted students as participants, this activity focused on the community. We collaborated with TVRI Riau to broadcast a talk show about the importance of media literacy in this digital era. We invited Mr. Aribowo Sasmito and Mr. Assyari Abdullah to the show. Mr. Ari shared some tips on how to filter circulating information and Mr. Asyyari shared his thoughts about media literacy in Riau and its challenges. Catch a glimpse of the show here.

3. Journalism Workshop: Media Literacy and Data Journalism

For me, the highlight of this grant project is the Journalism Workshop: Media Literacy and Data Journalism. The idea was to build a community where journalists, especially in Riau, can improve their skills in data journalism. At first, I was worried that not many would register for the workshop but it turned out to be quite popular. Fifty people were selected and divided into two sessions, online and offline. This was necessary because of the Covid-19 health protocols in place. Until now, many have been asking us to hold another data journalism workshop again. Hopefully, we will be given the opportunity to hold other similar workshops. Here is a glimpse of the workshop.

We followed up the three programs above with an online competition, Infographic Competition: In Commemoration of the 76^th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia. More than a hundred people from all over Indonesia submitted their best works. We were surprised and excited by this enthusiasm. You can also see some of their works on our Instagram account: @demimasa_institute.

Sustainability

This was one of the questions asked in the TechCamp Malaysia 2020 Small Grants Application and to this day, I still think about how important this question is as it really made me think about the steps I can take to continue to make an impact to the community. I thought of the idea to set up the Demi Masa Institute.

The name “Demi Masa” is derived from the 103^rd Surah of the Al-Qur’an, Al-Asr, which means By Time. At the institute, we aspire to become people who really use our time in the best way possible to do good to others.

The three activities mentioned above were organized by the Demi Masa Institute. In the future, Demi Masa Institute will become a community engaged in media literacy, public speaking, and data journalism, in line with my career background and expertise. These past months, we taught public speaking to students since public speaking is not a basic subject in some schools and not all children are able to take private classes for it. Public speaking helps students develop into individuals who are confident appearing in public and have good emotional intelligence, communication and leadership skills. We also look forward to more future collaborations with the U.S. Embassy.

The Ideas Did Work

After some time, I was writing an article and looking through our program photos when my gaze stopped at the Penang Institute logo: Making Ideas Work. I think that is so TRUE of Penang Institute. Being one of the recipients of this grant had helped me actually realize what had always been just talk, no action for me. I cannot be grateful enough for this valuable opportunity. I received commendations for organizing these cool programs but the truth is that I am grateful to them for their enthusiasm during and even after the program. This grant opened many opportunities for me, the most important one being believing in myself that I can do many good things for society. TechCamp Malaysia 2020: Mantab Jiwa!!!!

Elvi Rahmi