One of Malaysia’s most popular blogs, or ‘blawg’ as the founders would have it, LoyarBurok, recently opened its own Pusat Rakyat LB at Bangsar Utama. The LB centre is also known as the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights.
This centre represents LB’s first venture outside of its cyberspace existence, said K Shanmuga, one of LB’s six founders.
“We thought we needed to move beyond the online arena, into something more concrete; a place through which we can help educate the country’s voters on issues,” he said.
Shanmuga said the LB community centre is open to all members of the public.
“We are especially hoping that the NGOs will now have a space where they can hold meetings, for example.
“This should be a safe space for people to come and have chat about on-going issues,” he added.
The funds to maintain the centre, Shanmuga said, are being provided by the 200-odd Loyars Burok that are part of the movement now.
“We are trying to do some merchandising, the proceeds from which will be used to maintain this centre,” he said.
Fellow founder Edmund Bon warned that the process of raising awareness of grassroots issues is not a quick one.
“We know that Malaysians are an impatient lot, but this is a slow process. We are not doing it for the next election; it is a long-term project,” he emphasised.
The centre is also equipped with an orange wall called ‘Coretan Dinding Rakyat’ (The People’s Musing Wall), where members of the public are allowed to chalk down their hopes and rumbles about a better Malaysia.
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