twestival kl Archives - As Suanie Sees It

Twestival Kuala Lumpur 2013

April 11, 2014 By Suanie 6 Comments

As part of the Twestival Kuala Lumpur team, it has been an amazing journey to have helped raise nearly RM74,000 for our selected charities.

We started in 2009 with Destiny Starting Point, raising RM11,000 for the home for juvenile delinquents in Klang. In 2010, the team raised RM3,000 for Concern Worldwide, an international education NGO. The following year, we hit RM26,000 for PRIHATIN in Kota Bahru, a NGO for single mothers and children with HIV/AIDS.

In 2013, Twestival Kuala Lumpur was held at The Bee in Publika

After a year’s break, we rallied together in 2013 for Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI). I blogged about PKKI earlier: *click to read*

Through ticket and product sales, auction items, outright donations, with your help and generosity, we pulled together nearly RM34,000 for PKKI. The amount has been transferred to PKKI, we hope it will be of some help towards their good cause.

With Jian who flew in from Kuching

Our event for Twestival Kuala Lumpur 2013 was held at The Bee in Publika. We had a good turnout, fantastic performances by celebrities who donated their talent and time, a bighearted audience who gave and gave via our auctions, and generous sponsors who donated lucky draw prizes, food, drinks, goody bag items and outright donations.

I’ve always been amazed and humbled by how kind and charitable folks are. I can tell you that I see this from the front row as part of the Twestival KL organising team. Even if they were not able to help us with goods or monies, they readily spread the word and tried to find others who could.

<3 <3 <3

I’m just going to post a few photos from 2013’s Twestival KL’s event.

The kids couldn’t keep their eyes off Chelsia during her rehearsal 🙂

What incredible, intimate performances from these talented home-grown singers – Chelsia Ng, Elvira, Liang, Ray Cheong, Carmen Soo and Vince Chong. I got goosebumps when Elvira sang 🙂

You can see more gorgeous photos of the performances taken by Robin Wong: *click*

Cosy space at The Bee

Charming Will Quah and Elvira auctioning Hansen Lee’s t-shirt. Yes, I wanted to touch too.

A BIG THANK YOU to our sponsors for Twestival Kuala Lumpur 2013:

MDeC, The Bee (Publika), The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Blackberry, Text 100 Malaysia, Starbucks Malaysia, GSC Malaysia, Yeo’s Malaysia, Rama V Fine Thai Cuisine, Fa-Ying by Rama V, Nike, Nando’s Malaysia, Sid’s Pub, Nigel’s Visual Story, Threes & Tees, Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant, Sanbanto Restaurant, and Czip Lee.

Thank you Carmen, Vince and Elaine!

Vince and I! We first met at Bootcamp, then he went off to be infinitely fitter. Congratulations on your new bride!

With Vernon, daddy of Twitterverse 😉

After the event. We were bushed. Did we look like we were bushed? Absolutely dead knackered!

Team Twestival Kuala Lumpur 2013. Grace, Ling, David Lian, Jason Lioh, Radiance Leong, Chee Ching, Fiona, Niki Cheong and Andrew. What an amazingly talented, energetic and enthusiastic bunch!

As Twestival Global announced, 2013 would be the final year for Twestival-branded activities.

It has been my honour and privilege to have been part of the Twestival Kuala Lumpur organising team. So much fun, laughter and knowledge gained! Thank you folks for having me.

Though it’s the end of Twestival, it’s not the end of us. Here’s looking forward to brand new ‘social media for good’ adventures! Stay tuned 😉

6 Comments Filed Under: Parties/ Events/ Fun Tagged With: charity, social media for charity, social media for good cause, twestival, twestival kl, twestival kuala lumpur

Twestival Kuala Lumpur 2013 raising money for PKKI!

November 29, 2013 By Suanie 1 Comment

Twestival Kuala Lumpur is back for 2013!

Wait, what is Twestival? In short, it’s a global movement to raise money for selected charities. The Kuala Lumpur team (which I’m proud to be part of) have been doing it since 2009, raising money for:

2009: Destiny Starting Point, Klang, a home juvenile delinquents. RM11K raised
2010: Concern Worldwide, International education NGO. RM3,000 raised (globally raised USD450,000)
2011: PRIHATIN, Kota Bahru. A NGO for single mothers and children with HIV/AIDS. RM26K raised
2012: Took a break
2013: Wahey, we’re back!! It’s Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) this year!

Organising small-scale Twestival KL events is still tiring and stressful as we do it on top of our day jobs. But it is very fulfilling (and humbling), and I learned so much throughout the years! I am continuously amazed by the talent of our team and the generosity of our community.

It’s a global rule that all Twestival charity-drives have to be sponsored from A-Z. This means, no organization/ hosting/ F&B costs – ALL monies raised go direct to the charity. We do not get paid – in fact we pay for our own tickets to the events.

So to put it simply, it ain’t easy. That’s why we don’t do it all the time 😉 But the amazing team always pulls through, and your generosity – both as a company or individual sponsor allows us to give as much cash as we can raise to the charities.

Thank you! (mwah mwah mwah)

Twestival KL 2013

This year we’re raising funds for Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI)! Our event will be at:

Date : 7th December 2013 (Saturday
Time : 2 – 6pm
Venue : The Bee, Publika

Tickets are available at a minimum of RM50 donation. If you purchase three, you’ll get a special limited-edition Moleskine from @cziplee with the Twestival KL logo printed on it!

Find out more: *link*. If you want tickets, I have some left so hurry up and ask! =D

About PKKI

(long story ahead okay!)

Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) is a day training centre for children with special needs. They are currently in two houses in Taman Cuepacs, Cheras. Some kids attend daily classes like you would in a school, and some go for therapy sessions.

Shirley telling us about PKKI

Nearly 25 years ago, Ms Shirley Tan’s daughter Steffi was born with severe cerebral palsy. And so she was thrust into a world of initial helplessness, doctors who told her that there was no more hope, and a bleak future as they claimed that Steffi would not live past 10 years old.

Determined to provide the best for Steffi, Shirley quit her job and learned to drive so she could ferry her daughter to therapy sessions. When Steffi turned 6, they had to stop going to Wisma Harapan as it was the cut-off age.

“What are we going to do?”

In desperation, Shirley and some parents set up PKKI to cater for their own children and more. As the government encourages parents to take the reins, they were given a RM5000 grant to start off with. After that they were on their own.

Today, PKKI hosts 92 children with different special needs to cater to. They have 22 staff including teachers, therapists and administrative. They also hired a full-time driver as many of the parents could not send their children to the centre for their classes or therapy sessions.

Children’s artwork on display

Parents pay RM120 a month as a form of commitment. For parents who can’t even afford the monthly sum, PKKI helps to source for sponsors. It helps to offset PKKI’s monthly expenses which runs to nearly RM50,000.

On caring for children with special needs

PKKI is very labour-intensive, as is the nature when working with children with special needs. Just ask Shirley.

“It is a 24 hour job of care with no respite. With my late daughter, I took more than an hour to feed her at every meal. Some children have to be exercised daily to loosen their muscles, otherwise they would stiffen up like a piece of wood and the damage is almost irreversible. You also have to spend extra time with the children, as they are always scared that they would be abandoned. Special needs children have a heightened sense of insecurity,” Shirley said.

A child undergoing a session to strengthen her neck muscles

“An ex-student’s mother had two strokes while taking care of him. She was left with no choice but to put him in a home. You know it is sad, but she was not able to take care of herself let alone a child with special needs. Three months later, he died in the home.”

“A lot of people do not know what to do with special needs children. I don’t want the parents to go through what I went through; I want to give people hope, especially the parents who were told that there’s no more hope or help left.”

What’s next for PKKI?

PKKI’s next project is a one-stop centre in Taman Mahkota Cheras. With the new centre, they would be able to take in more children and cater for more therapy and activities. Already there is a long waiting list and requests for PKKI to accept more students.

Shirley showing us plan for the one-stop centre

The existing two houses in Taman Cuepecs would be converted into care homes for the children where they could live for the rest of their lives. After all their parents would grow old and pass on. In many cases, there would be no one left to take care of their children.

We ask Shirley what keeps her going. She smiled,

“I lost my daughter in 2010. She was 21 years old when she passed on. Last month, my husband passed away. My nearest and dearest are now gone. But if I’m still useful here, I want to contribute.”

“I’m not young you know, I’m 65 years old. But if I’m still healthy, I want to carry on. I want to let the parents know that they are not alone.”

“Some doctors tell them that if the kids do not walk between 4 to 6 years old, then they will never walk and there’s no more hope left. Well some of our students started walking at 9 years old! What do you say to that?” She grinned, a glimmer of triumph in her eyes.

Shirley with some of us: Niki, me, Grace and Ling!

Personally, I’m in awe of the woman. So strong, so determined! 🙂

How to support Twestival KL?

Join our 7th December event at The Bee! *link*
Participate in our sponsored auction! *link*
Donate to PKKI via Twestival KL! Ask me how!
Help us spread the word! Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail etc!

ALL monies raised will go to PKKI. You can get latest Twestival KL updates via Facebook or Twitter.

Got a question? Ask me! =D

1 Comment Filed Under: Spread the Word Tagged With: charity, pkki, twestival kl, twestival kuala lumpur

twestival kuala lumpur 101. come join us!

September 10, 2009 By Suanie 9 Comments

About 3 weeks ago, David asked if I’d be interested to help organise Twestival Kuala Lumpur along with Ling and Niki. In a moment of madness, I said, “Sure I’d love to!” So here I am, almost 3 weeks later, blogging about Twestival KL. This is a slightly long post, so please bear with me.

What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social media tool where you update your status in 140 characters or less. Facebook has since made its status updates look like Twitter’s (it wasn’t before) with no character limit. However Twitter is still very popular and its reach ever expanding, well-known for being pimped by celebrities who use Twitter to connect with their fans. People on Twitter update their Twitter followers on their everyday ongoings, they share information and news about brands, companies, events, they have conversations about everything under the sun. It has proved to be one of the social media tools that has longer staying power.

What is Twestival KL?
Twitter + Festival = Twestival! In short, it’s an event where social media users gather and raise money for charity. Some people say Twitter is useless, people on Twitter eat full nothing to do and only tell everyone what they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well, now we tell everyone what we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner AND raise money for charity!

The 1st Twestival Global was held earlier this year, the theme was ‘water’. Over USD200k was raised by participating cities around the world and the money has since been used to build wells that will benefit 17,000 people in Uganda, Ethiopia and India. Since then there has been a host of Twestival Locals, where the chosen charities are closer to home. In September, Twestival Locals will be held in a bunch of cities, among them Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Twestival KL’s charity home
… is Destiny Starting Point, a home in Klang for delinquent juveniles to give them a second chance in life. Last week a bunch of us visited the home and it was covered by The Star R.AGE yesterday. Click here to read the article. Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

All monies collected from Twestival KL will go to Destiny Starting Point. Initially we wanted to buy them a computer and a year’s broadband access with the money (you know, give them a fishing rod instead of just the fish) but DiGi Broadband stepped in and said they would sponsor TWO desktop PCs to the home. So the money will go to the home’s utility bills, everyday administration. My personal hope is that the boys would get new mattresses to sleep in but we’ll leave it to the home’s founder and admins to decide how to spend the money.

When and where is Twestival KL?
This Saturday, 12 September 2009, 7 pm onwards at Mist Club in Bangsar.

What’s happening at Twestival KL?
Err… me? 😛 It will be a gathering of people who use social media. Meet new people, make new friends. You know, just like any friends’ gatherings…

There will be light refreshment served, thanks to our kind sponsors. 1901 Hot Dogs is setting up a push-cart so you could get your food fresh and warm, New Zealand Natural is bringing a HUGE freezer to give you free ice-cream, The Cupcake Chic will feed you delicious cup cakes, Yeo’s Malaysia is giving us 150 cartons of Just Tea and there will be Tiger beer thanks to GAB. If it’s not enough for you, feel free to order a more substantial dinner from Mist Club on your own account 😛

Twilight Action Girl will be spinning at Twestival KL. Will Quah will be the MC for the evening. Elaine Daly will be there to auction off a few items, all proceeds go to Destiny Starting Point!

Lots of lucky draw items, thanks to Crocs Malaysia, Boost Juice Malaysia, Maya Hotel, Starbucks Malaysia, New Zealand Natural, PC.Com, The Little Trinket Co and Exabytes among others. Also in the lucky draw, exclusive Moleskine planners thanks to Czip Lee, air tickets to HCM thanks to Air Asia, a photo shoot worth RM500 courtesy of RawPixelStudios and an awesome C300 All-In-1 Desktop PC thanks to Lenovo. Bring along your lucky charm!

The first 150 attendees at Twestival KL will receive a goody bag containing movie tickets by Golden Screen Cinemas, Starbucks vouchers, Boost Juice Malaysia vouchers, New Zealand Natural vouchers, and merchandise from Crocs, DiGi Broadband, A1 and Little Tree.

DiGi Broadband will also set up Wi-Fi access points around Mist Club so you can Twitter or even blog during the event!

At the moment, we are auctioning off a couple of items for Twestival KL. DiGi Broadband has sponsored a HP Mini netbook worth RM 1,499 and we are starting the auction at RM 1,000. At this moment, David Lian is leading the bid at RM 1,100. Go outbid him! More information: click here.

More auction items from Nooka and Air Asia coming up!

How do I get a ticket to Twestival KL?
Pre-door tickets cost a minimum of RM30 per ticket, feel free to top up 😉 Door sale tickets cost RM40 per ticket. If you wish to purchase a ticket, please contact me here, or my e-mail or give me a shout out on my Twitter, @suanie. I’m taking Friday off to run errands, so most likely will be able to deliver your tickets. Let me know soon!

Other ways to get in touch: Twestival KL website, @TwestivalKL on Twitter, my phone number if you have it etc. If you know David Lian, Niki Cheong, Radiance Leong or Ling, they will be able to hook you up as well.

Come come, all and sundry! It’s for a good cause (remember the part about the fishing rod and not the fish? 😉 ) and there will be plenty of familiar faces around. If not, get to know new people! See you on Saturday!

9 Comments Filed Under: Assorted Blah Tagged With: charity, twestival, twestival kl, twitter