Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia/Reports/NYAA x WMF Volunteer Workshop

The NYAA x WMF Volunteer Workshop is a Wikimedia training with Singaporean youths held in Singapore on 20 May 2023.

Representatives

The Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia was represented by:

• Taufik
• Jurina

Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia was invited to be the trainer for the Singaporean youths that will be volunteering for Wikimania 2023 due to the close proximity and mutual culture between the two countries.

Report Summary

Experiences

Taufik

This is the very first we trained someone from different country. We learnt that there are many opportunities to explore with Singapore. Since we have similar culture, Malaysia could help Singapore in building its community of editors in the free knowledge movement. I have met Butch after a long time since Wikimania 2019. The participants were very new to the movement. Surprisingly, most of them forgot their Wikipedia account passwords and even some of them are studying in IT.

Jurina

This activity signifies my initial involvement as an active member of Wikimedia. I belong to Wikimedia Malaysia and have actively participated for the past seven months. While this duration may seem short, I deeply appreciate the Wikimedia Foundation and NYAA for inviting myself and my colleague, Taufik, from Wikimedia Malaysia to serve as trainers in the Volunteer Workshop for Wikimania 2023 held in Singapore. This experience holds immense value as it allowed me to share my knowledge of Wikimedia Commons with university students in Singapore, marking my first interaction with students from a foreign country. I feel privileged for the opportunity to inspire and encourage participants to contribute to the Wikimedia community. As a trainer in the Volunteer Workshop, my role was vital in guiding participants to actively engage in various Wikimedia projects. I sincerely hope that I delivered impactful training to the participants during this Volunteer Workshop, and I wish them a rewarding experience at the upcoming Wikimania 2023 event in Singapore.

Discusssion contribution

• Discussed with a staff from the National Cultural Board and shared the problems Malaysia is facing for local and indigenous languages. Proposed to make an event with Wikipedia for local languages like Malay, Tamil and Orang Seletar.

Plans after the workshop (from what was learnt or contributed in the workshop)

• Monitor user's retention
• Keep the relation with NYAA
• Establish a Singapore user group

Comments/suggestions/improvements about the workshop

• Add more editing workshop time for new users be able to get the true Wikimedian experience
• It is crucial to maintain a list of participants' wiki accounts and passwords to prevent password forgetfulness during the workshop, thus saving time.