Rising Up to the Beat of a Younger drum

Technorati tags: Music, Activism, Youth, Bangkit

All things considered, Malaysia is a young-ish country, with about 88% of the population below the age of 55 [source: International Data Base (IDB) of the U.S. Census Bureau]. That being the case, you’d think that formulated national policies would cater for this major demographic, wouldn’t you?

Well, to be fair, that is indeed the case, to a certain extent. But do the policymakers really know what their young-ish demographics really aspire? More importantly, do the policymakers realize that the younger set actually DO care?

Waking up the young 'uns...

Hence, the creation of Bangkit – a youthful initiative for the youth’s voices to be heard. And in a way only the youthful can appreciate…
(what they’re about, their theme song, and more, in the full post)

So what’s Bangkit all about? Rather than Walski paraphrasing, he decided to use information taken from their FAQ – the 10 Must-know things about Bangkit.

It’s an initiative targeted primarily at those 30 and younger (unfortunately, Walski’s way past that age), to promote political awareness within this demographic, through the use of music. To-date there are already a couple of important initiatives in the pipeline.

The first is an effort to collect 100 DIY songs, from which 10 will ultimately be selected to be produced as the BANGKIT album CD – the first ever United Youth in Malaysian history. All one needs to do is e-mail them your music, in MP3 format, at jombangkit@gmail.com, together with an entry form that is downloadable here.

Oh, and they have a theme song, too.

Before the 100 songs get trimmed down to 10, there is a primary process of getting the best 20 songs before the final cut is made. Go to the Bangkit Song Gallery, and vote for which song you feel best expresses how you feel.

Personally, if Walski were younger than 30 he’d definitely contribute to this worthy effort. But he’s not, so he’s doing the next best thing – tell you folks about it. And you folks should tell your friends, who in turn… well, you get the drift.

So, what you waiting for? Jom Bangkit!

Walski's key-word translation footnote: ‘Bangkit’ is a Bahasa Malaysia word that means “wake up” or “rise up”. It’s use is a call to action for youth who are apathetic about what’s going on politically, because of the general feel that policy is made, and only caters to, citizens of a much older age group, to “wake up”, and to make their voices heard. They can make a big difference, and this initiative is a start. They are, after all, the future…