On October 11, Wikimedia Korea and Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia held a hybrid gathering to edit articles related to two countries. The event took place at the offices of both affiliate and online.
Background
The relationship between Korean and Malaysian wikimedians began at the 2024 ESEAP Conference held in Kota Kinabalu, starting with helping to organize and run the conference. This project planning was started last fall, when the Malaysia user group approached me at last year’s ESEAP meeting, saying, “We are very interested in editing articles related to Korea,” and proposing collaboration. I responded positively, and the friendship was established.
Although geographically distant, Korea and Malaysia have seen increasing mutual exchanges, including the Korean Wave (such as K-Pop) sweeping through Malaysia and Koreans frequently visiting Malaysia cities during vacation seasons. They also share the commonality of having endured the painful history of past invasions.
On August 15th, Farouk from the Malaysia User Group visited the Wikimedia Korea office, where they spontaneously exchanged gifts reflecting their respective cultures, allowing for a deeper connection during the event.
The day of event
On the day of the event (October 11), About 30 WIkimedians from Korea and Malaysia gathered to make this event a success.
Following opening remarks by representatives from both sides and an exchange of well-wishes, participants began editing articles related to Korea and Malaysia after a brief ceremony celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Korean Wikipedia since the date of event was the birthday of Korean Wikipedia.
The articles edited include: history, culture, food and geography of the two countries. Also rising the wave of the Korean Wave in Malaysia, some participants edited and showcased articles about Korean stats such as V of BTS. In total 79 articles were created and improved across four languages of wikipedia. You can see full statistics here.
Next steps
This collaboration project between Korea and Malaysia is not a one-time event. Moving forward, we plan to cultivate content related to both countries within Wikimedia projects through various online and offline events, including the Wikipedia Asian Month. We plan to continue enhancing our content and interacting with each other. We will also prepare diverse activities in each country, such as volunteer activity for university students. Please continue to look and support our collaboration!
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