My Journey with Wikimedia Malaysia

Building Community, One Edit at a Time

As the current leader of the Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia, I’d like to tell you a little bit about my experiences so far. Meta-Wiki users may recall that our tale began modestly in 2016 with a get-together in Nusajaya, Johor. We received official approval from the Wikimedia Foundation in 2017, and by 2020, we had secured our non-governmental organization status with Malaysia’s Registry of Societies. We went from being a disorganized group of editors to a well-organized organization with over 28 dedicated volunteers and committee members now because of that game-changer.

As one of the early core members, I stepped in as Vice President shortly after recognition and then took on the Chairman role to assist with the citizenship obstacle for registration; I’ve enjoyed seeing us grow. Sure, my day job and other gigs prevent me from delving deeply into every project, but I’ve been right there approving budgets, signing off on documents, and cheering on the team as we launch meetups, training sessions, and outreach campaigns. We’ve held seminars to encourage new editors, ran on-wiki campaigns to increase Malaysian content, and even worked with regional groups to make Wikipedia and other projects more inclusive and accessible. It’s all about the zero-discrimination vibe, keeping things open and welcoming to everyone. You can see all of our activities through out the years here.

In October 2025, I participated as a mentor for the Wikimedia Boot Camp in Kuala Lumpur, a collaboration with the Wikikent Club IPG (Institute of Higher Learning) Kent.

I was very impressed by how motivated the participants were to learn editing across various projects for the first time. On Day 1, we focused on creating new accounts, learning how to edit their userpages, and adding new entries (lemmas) of the Kadazandusun language to the Malay Wiktionary. The accompanying lecturer was highly engaged, as she aims to become a mentor for future events for her colleagues.

On Day 2, we moved to Wikibooks editing, focusing on sharing recipes the students liked. It was clear that they were eager to be part of the Wikimedia community rather than feeling forced, which was a great success.

Looking back, it’s the tiny victories that stand out, such as seeing a newbie’s first article published following one of our courses. And, with events scheduled through 2025 and beyond, I’m preparing to lead more hands-on sessions this year. Wikimedia Malaysia isn’t only expanding; it’s becoming a major force for open information in Southeast Asia. I am grateful to be a part of it.