Chief curator's Note

Hey there! To you reading this, thank you so much for giving BERSUARA! the chance to flourish, and grow as a zine that is way more than just artistic and literary expression.
When I was approached by Chee Yong in early 2018 to head the Think Tank (yes, back then in Hubb’s infancy, we were the Think Tank and our job was to formulate policies for social problems), I couldn’t help but feel the need to call for a new direction that would be much more engaging and far-reaching. We are people overflowing and bursting and flowering with nothing but ideas and creativity and voice, so what’s stopping us from creating an online platform for free and ungoverned expressions of all these thoughts? The essence of the youth is to engage in change, and so here we are, not a Think Tank, but a budding side-project of The Hubb Movement that supports our central ethos of youth empowerment in social change.
So, why the name “BERSUARA!”? I didn’t come up with the name itself, sadly because I do not speak or understand Malay (but that doesn’t make me any less Malaysian!). Our small team of 4 wanted a name that encapsulated the core value of the zine - the act of voicing out. And it is only through this continuous act of voicing out that positive social change can be called for. Everyone has a voice, and it is high time we use it.
Let your voice start laying the grounds for social change, and let’s all look forward to a better Malaysia we will help shape.
When I was approached by Chee Yong in early 2018 to head the Think Tank (yes, back then in Hubb’s infancy, we were the Think Tank and our job was to formulate policies for social problems), I couldn’t help but feel the need to call for a new direction that would be much more engaging and far-reaching. We are people overflowing and bursting and flowering with nothing but ideas and creativity and voice, so what’s stopping us from creating an online platform for free and ungoverned expressions of all these thoughts? The essence of the youth is to engage in change, and so here we are, not a Think Tank, but a budding side-project of The Hubb Movement that supports our central ethos of youth empowerment in social change.
So, why the name “BERSUARA!”? I didn’t come up with the name itself, sadly because I do not speak or understand Malay (but that doesn’t make me any less Malaysian!). Our small team of 4 wanted a name that encapsulated the core value of the zine - the act of voicing out. And it is only through this continuous act of voicing out that positive social change can be called for. Everyone has a voice, and it is high time we use it.
Let your voice start laying the grounds for social change, and let’s all look forward to a better Malaysia we will help shape.
Elly Chaw
Chief Curator
Chief Curator