www.standtogether.my<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Kindness Workshop is interesting. Even though it was conducted online, I still had fun and I learned a lot of useful things about bullying, gratitude and empathy, \u201d said SM Sri KDU student Abdul Halim Mohd Nadziruddin, who joined a trial run of the programme.<\/p>\n
Now entering its third year, the #StandTogether campaign was founded in 2017 by Star Media Group\u2019s award-winning R.AGE team and property developer SP Setia, in response to a spate of school violence and bullying cases shared on social media.<\/p>\n
The campaign is endorsed by the Education Ministry.<\/p>\n
R.AGE deputy executive editor Ian Yee said the theme this year was #EmpathyEmpowers, as it seeks to reimagine an education system that\u2019s founded on empathy and kindness, not just academic achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pandemic has given us time to rethink the importance of kindness and empathy in society, and we hope that translates into an education system that\u2019s no longer just based on academics, competition, and punishment, \u201d he said.<\/p>\n
SP Setia Head of Group Branding and Communications Adelene Wong said parents should take the opportunity presented by lockdown rules to \u201creflect\u201d with their children.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a great opportunity for families to reflect on their key values, and that\u2019s why we feel it is important that the #StandTogether campaign continues, in order to reinforce positive values like kindness and empathy, \u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Since its inception, many organisations have supported the campaign as partners, including Unicef Malaysia, Study Hub Asia, Childline Foundation, Teach For Malaysia, and Digi.<\/p>\n
Unicef Malaysia Chief of Communication and Public Advocacy Marc Vergara said that while nurturing empathy may sound unimportant to some, it can create an impact on society, especially when it starts at school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to focus on the practical implications of empathy, working with the ministry and partners to show that it is possible to have a different kind of education.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisciplinary measures have an impact not only on the education of each individual but also on the system as a whole, \u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Digi Head of Sustainability Philip Ling added that the 1,000% increase in calls to Childline Foundation\u2019s helpline demonstrates how the campaign is \u201cmore relevant than ever\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids are going online much more due to Covid-19 and I am sure the experiences or stress that comes with cyberbullying is much higher, \u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Two new organisations have joined the campaign as partners this year \u2013 Universiti Malaya\u2019s Community and Sustainability Centre (UMCares), and empathy skills training company Tribeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that there\u2019s a lot of opportunity for growth in this area (kindness and empathy education), through the present modules that have been initiated in the campaign, and it will definitely benefit the teachers and students moving forward, \u201d said UMCares director Dr Amer Saddiq Siddiq Amer Nordin<\/p>\n
UMCares, in collaboration with Unicef and R.AGE, will also be looking into research and development on empathy education programmes that will then be recommended to the Education Ministry.<\/p>\n
The public can participate in National Kindness Week by joining the Kindness Challenge, an interactive WhatsApp chatbot which sends daily \u201cKindness Missions\u201d to participants over five days.<\/p>\n
Students and teachers, on the other hand, can take part in the Kindness Workshops and Kindness Leadership Programme.<\/p>\n
Students who complete the Leadership Programme can then pitch for RM1,000 in grant funding to run kindness projects in their schools.<\/p>\n
To sign up, go to\u00a0www.standtogether.my<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PETALING JAYA: Students and teachers can finally mark the long-awaited #StandTogether National Kindness Week, which kicks off today after a five-month delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign, recognised by the United Nations in a global report, has returned with a series of online-based experiences including the Kindness Challenge, Kindness Workshops, and Kindness Leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3222,"template":"","news_category":[16],"township-news":[],"venues-news":[],"class_list":["post-3221","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_category-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=3221"},{"taxonomy":"township-news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/township-news?post=3221"},{"taxonomy":"venues-news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spsetia.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/venues-news?post=3221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}