Community Driven Change: empowering citizens to create change

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation together with Balairakyat organized a forum on Community Driven Change on Saturday July 8, 2006 from 02.30pm to 05.30pm in Hotel Malaya. The prime objectives are to empower citizens to create changes in their communities and also to have experience sharing by people who have attempted community driven changes in their environment.

For the forum, two speakers were selected based on their effort and experiences in mobilizing communities to effect changes in their environment. These two speakers were Mr. Edward Lee, a Resident Association leader in USJ 5 and Mr. Sivarajan Arumugam, the treasurer of Parti Socialis Malaysia. The forum was moderated by Mr. Praba Ganesan, and the MC was Sharizal Shaarani, both members of Balairakyat.

Mr. Lee described his efforts in working with communities in Petaling Jaya, and how they pushed the local council to be concerned about security around the neighborhood. He also stressed that communities should work with authorities rather than consider them a threat.

Mr. Arumugam spoke about the urban poor communities in Malaysia and how he felt they were marginalized by the government. He described his own involvement and PSM’s effort to mobilize these communities so that their plight is taken into consideration. He stressed that people have to be vocal about their needs if they want change.

The discussion followed by a Q&A session. The participants were very vocal about the problems they faced in their communities and were concerned about finding a solution that is catered to their environment. Most attendees were concerned citizens and members of resident association.
This forum is the first of six forums that BalaiRakayt and FNF intend to organize with the intention of empowering and educating citizens on issues that concern them. This forum themed community driven change will have a follow-up in the last forum of the series.

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