Hannah Kam, Anand Shiva Kulendran, Azeem Abu Bakar and Danni Rais share with Tien Chew about the formation, operation and aspirations of the Organisation for National Empowerment.

What started out as a group of friends meeting once a week for a teh tarik session to banter and discuss matters both personal and national led to a collective conclusion that the current culture of cynicism and criticism pervasive in the country was detrimental to Malaysia’s future. Too often did they find individuals complaining about issues of all sorts without actually taking any action or offering any constructive solutions.

To counter this, they felt that something positive and proactive was needed in order to reverse this sentiment with hopes of achieving greater prospects for the future of the nation. Thus, the Organisation for National Empowerment (ONE), a non-governmental body run by and for youths was born in January 2016.

ONE’s central aim is to promote national unity, believing it to be the essential ingredient for Malaysia to become a more prosperous country. By providing a platform for Malaysian youths to voice their thoughts and views, the organisation strives to encourage and empower individuals from all over the country to be more engaged in the nation building process to shape a better Malaysia by the year 2057.

For this, they hope to instil patriotism, excellence, tolerance and mutual respect among Malaysians in order to make meaningful changes in the social, political and economical sectors.


Hannah Kam

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“I have a very strong sense of national identity even though I studied overseas. I do love my country and I have never wanted to live permanently elsewhere. I believe that I’m Malaysian through and through and it’s because of these strong convictions that I understand the importance of identifying with and loving one’s country.” – Hannah Kam


Anand Shiva Kulendran

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“I’ve met many new people and they’ve given me different perspectives on how they want the country to be. I realised that there are more people like me who love the country and that the more I get involved in all of this, the more I meet people who want Malaysia to more forward.” – Anand Shiva Kulendran


Azeem Abu Bakar

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“What I love about this country is the diversity and how it seems to work. In comparison to other nations, I think we are faring pretty well.” – Azeem Abu Bakar


Danni Rais

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“When you find a lot of joy in what you do, it doesn’t matter how tired you are, you will always be able to do it.” – Danni Rais


Pick up a copy of our August 2016 issue, out in newsstands now or click here to purchase a digital copy.

Photography: Kim Mun/Hopscotch Photography; Art Direction: Allan Casal; Hair & make-up: Anita Tang from A Cut Above; Location: Bean Brothers Malaysia.