About K2K Idol
According to UNICEF Malaysia’s Families on the Edge (Part 1) study, the COVID-19 crisis has largely impacted the mental health of those from low-income urban families[1]. Families experience distress and anxiety due to economic implications of the Movement Control Order (MCO), and children are anxious from being in confined spaces and not being able to go to school. This is on top of the existing evidence that shows how B40 communities living in public housing units like PPRs (Projek Perumahan Rakyat) experience higher levels of negative mental well-being[2] from factors such as residential crowding[3] and socioeconomic disparities[4].
K2K Idol is a mental health intervention project in the form of a singing competition to lift the spirits of the public housing community, build social cohesion and discover talent. The inaugural K2K Idol took place at PPR Kampung Baru Hicom with residents who participated online and later received mentorship from singer and influencer, Baby Shima who had come from the PPR flats herself.
This project is a component of Think City’s K2K programme and supported by the Citi Foundation. K2K is a programme by Think City, co-developed with the World Bank aiming to reduce poverty and reverse the social, economic and physical decay at PPRs. It is a multi-dimensional social resilience programme that strengthens community leaders, builds social cohesion and well-being, addresses livelihoods and cost of living with affordable food and transforms the public housing management system. While the project concept is owned by Think City, various components are run by or with partners and funded by various sources. The K2K Idol project, which was a key component for K2K’s community mobilisation, was supported by Citi Foundation and implemented with various partners.
The competition was completely online to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions. Despite that, K2K Idol garnered much attention with 49 participants and a total reach of 695 residents through social media. The competition finals took place on 13th December 2020 and was recorded in a studio to be livestreamed on Facebook for all PPR residents to watch and support their favourite finalists!
On the 16th December 2020, Think City held another closing ceremony for the PPR Kampung Baru HICOM community, to give out the community prizes. Finalists performed and shared their gratitude for the project, citing that it allowed them to get to know their neighbours better. The Top 3 winners won community prizes for their neighbours living on the same floor. The prizes were food and beverages, sourced from three PPR Kampung Baru HICOM entrepreneurs, which benefitted approximately 60 families.
Project Components
The K2K Idol project was designed to promote positive mental well-being, strengthen social cohesion and find talent at the PPRs through healthy competition. As the inaugural K2K Idol at PPR Kampung Baru HICOM took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was conducted completely online through the use of social media platforms such as a dedicated Facebook page, a WhatsApp group for administrative purposes, and the use of music application Smule for the singing video submissions.
Why Smule?
The singing application, Smule is popular among Malay community users, who were the target audience of the inaugural K2K Idol. It was ultimately chosen for K2K Idol due to its accessibility and following key features:
- Extensive song bank
- Video links can be shared to other platforms
- Has solo singing feature
- Has ‘Like’ button for non-app users too (only need to login via Facebook/ e-mail/ phone number to vote)
The only disadvantage of the app is that it had a RM0.99 fee for the solo singing feature, which is crucial for the competition. However, it is still relatively cheap and can be a sign of commitment from the participants to follow through with the competition.
The other singing app that was considered was WeSing as it is free, has a good song bank and the solo singing feature. However, it was not chosen as there is no ‘Like’ button for non-app users, which means only WeSing app users can login to ‘Like’ rather than the general public. This would have significantly reduced the engagement of K2K Idol submissions.
Competition process
The process for K2K Idol can be broken down into six phases in total: Launch, Competition entry, Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, Mentorship, and Finals.
Phase 1: Launch
The first phase is a launch that involves reaching out to the PPR residents and getting competition registrations. This was done via social media platforms such as Facebook, community WhatsApp groups, and collaterals on-site such as posters and banners. To boost registrations, early bird prizes were also given to the first 50 people who registered.
The process begins with participants registering for K2K Idol via an online form. Registered participants will be added to the official K2K Idol WhatsApp group, whereby the following will be conveyed to the participants:
- Competition guides and briefing, include the Smule app activation
- Terms and conditions
- Question and answer session
Some considerations were also made, as follows:
Phase 2: Competition entry (Selection)
Once the Smule app is activated, contestants can begin recording their singing submissions on the app and share with the hashtag #K2KIdolHICOM to quality for selection.
From all the entries, only 20 were shortlisted by internal judges for the Quarter Finals round. The internal judges panel was made up of co-organisers, Think City and Karyawan.
Phase 3: Quarter Finals (Top 20)
When the shortlist was finalised, the Top 20 finalists were announced on K2K Idol’s Facebook page and the official WhatsApp group. Participants are then asked to submit another singing video on Smule, with the hashtag #K2KIdolHICOM.
From the 20 participants, 10 were shortlisted for the Semi Finals, based on judging by two celebrity judges (70%) and popular votes (30%).
Phase 4: Semi Finals (Top 10)
When the shortlist was finalised, the Top 10 finalists were announced on K2K Idol’s Facebook page and the official WhatsApp group. Participants are then asked to submit a singing video on Smule again, with the hashtag #K2KIdolHICOM.
From the 10 participants, 5 were shortlisted for the Semi Finals based on judging by two celebrity judges (70%) and popular votes (30%).
Phase 5: Mentorship
The Top 5 finalists were announced on K2K Idol’s Facebook page and the official WhatsApp group. They were then invited for an online mentoring session with the Mentor Artist, Baby Shima via Google Meets. Baby Shima covered singing techniques and stage presence during the call.
Phase 6: Finals (Top 5)
For the Finals, the finalists were invited to a studio from where the livestream was recorded to Facebook for all PPR Kampung Baru HICOM residents to watch and support their favourite finalists. All finalists received comments on their performance from the celebrity judges, Michelle Melodi and Andy Flop Poppy, as well as Mentor Artist, Baby Shima, who later made the decision on the winners.
For the inaugural K2K Idol at PPR Kampung Baru HICOM, these were the winners:
First Place: Izwan Yazid
Second Place: Dayana Ahmad
Third Place: Aisyah Lokman
Consolation Prize: Alauddin Amri, Haris Mohd Iqbal
All Top 5 finalists walked home with cash prizes. For the winners from the Top 3 places, they also won a community prize. The community prizes were to be shared with their neighbours living on the same floor. The prizes were food and beverages, sourced from three PPR Kampung Baru Hicom entrepreneurs, which benefitted approximately 60 families. Since there was a popular voting process throughout the competition, K2K Idol participants cited that this competition allowed them to get to know their neighbours and strengthened camaraderie.
Judging Criteria
Voting Mechanism
Two different voting mechanisms were considered for K2K Idol — voting through the Facebook page Album or Smule (In-app). The final recommended option was Smule in-app voting for its accessibility and automated process, rather than downloading and reuploading onto Facebook. At least for the first pilot K2K Idol, this was the best option.
The comparison table is as follows:
Other concerns:
- Transparency of the voting process: as organisers, we consistently posted up voting results through easily read infographics for the public to see.
- Longevity archiving (for future projects): as organisers, we can still download the videos for the purpose of archiving, not for voting and sharing.
Mentors and judges
Apart from the Mentor Artist, Baby Shima, six other judges from the music industry were invited to shortlist and judge with their expert opinion through all the competition rounds. They were Damien VE, Andy Flop Poppy, Salwa Abdul Rahman, Aru R.O.B., Asheed Def Gab C, Michelle Melodi. At the Finals, two judges were also joined by emcee Radhi Khalid during the recording process.
Project Communication
The project utilised Facebook and WhatsApp groups as communication channels for K2K Idol to ensure the success of the project outreach.
On-site collaterals and community partner
Posters and banners were printed and put up at all blocks, at spaces where people would often pass by such as the notice boards near the elevator and the entrance by the gate. This was complemented by a strong community partner with members who would spread the word about the project through word-of-mouth and on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp group
WhatsApp, which was the most used communication channel for residents at PPR HICOM, was used to promote K2K Idol during the launch via our community partner. Once participants had signed up, a WhatsApp group was also set up to manage administrative communication between organisers and the K2K Idol participants.
These online groups allowed participants who have previously never interacted with each other have an avenue for developing new connections.
Facebook Page
A Facebook page titled ‘K2K Idol Ekspresikan Bakatmu‘ was set up to be a platform for the dissemination of information to the wider community to promote the project, share singing video submissions, as well as conduct the Finals livestream.
The page garnered 257 likes, 343 follows, and had approximately ~25,000 post reaches.
The Finals Livestream which took place on the 13th of December garnered the most views and interaction, with 2,500 views, 1,400 comments and a total of 18,000 reach.
Project Outcomes
A survey was conducted after the project ended to gauge the feedback of K2K Idol participants and non-participating residents.
The project received positive responses.
- 100% of surveyed residents said they would recommend their friends/neighbours to join if K2K Idol were to be organised again
K2K Idol encouraged socialisation among neighbours.
- 58% of surveyed participating residents and 57% of non-participating residents said it improved their relationship with their neighbours.
- 67% of surveyed participating residents and 86% of non-participating residents said they interacted with new people (whether online or in real life) at PPR Hicom through K2K Idol.
Spirits were uplifted during the project.
- 67% of surveyed participating residents and 57% of non-participating residents said K2K Idol put them in a better mood.
One of the finalists shared that it was a creative outlet that she needed to de-stress during the stressful Covid-19 lockdown period.
Project Learnings
- More lead up time is needed to plan and get celebrities on board.
- Celebrities are generally quite keen to join an initiative like K2K Idol.
- Must have trusted community-based organisation to assist on site, i.e. we had a good relationship with PERWACOM (Persatuan Prihatin Wanita HICOM).
- Trust building takes time, at PPR Kampung Baru HICOM we had the advantage of doing that since there was another project before K2K Idol.
Conclusion
The project began as a mental health intervention with the aim of promoting positive mental well-being among B40 communities at public housing. The initiative was even more important when the COVID-19 crisis hit and exacerbated deep inequalities that were already faced by marginalised communities.
The project was deliberately organised to be conducted completely virtually considering the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place. It was successfully implemented with the expertise of Persatuan Karyawan, who are well versed with the production of a singing competition, as well as with the help of a strong on-site community, PERWACOM.
K2K Idol managed to reach approximately 695 residents at PPR Kampung Baru HICOM. The initiative encouraged neighbours to get to know each other and had uplifted their spirits during a turbulent time such as the pandemic.
This Intervention can be easily replicated at other public housing communities to continue providing a creative outlet for stress relief and promote social cohesion. The learnings and strategies for K2K Idol have been documented in this fact sheet to facilitate that process.
Resources
K2K Song, written by PPR Kampung Baru HICOM resident, Hatta bin Midy
Social media platforms
Facebook page: https://facebook.com/k2kidolekspresikanbakatmu
Social media posts
December 9, 2020 | Think City | K2K Idol Top 10 Finalists announcement teaser
December 13, 2020 | Think City | K2K Idol Finals Livestream announcement
December 14, 2020 | Think City | K2K Idol Winners announcement
February 25, 2021 | Think City | The Citymaker article “K2K Idol: Singing to Support the Urban Poor” update
February 25, 2021 | Think City | The Citymaker article “K2K Idol: Singing to Support the Urban Poor” update
February 25, 2021 | Think City | The Citymaker article “K2K Idol: Singing to Support the Urban Poor” update
Articles
December 15, 2020 | Malaysiakini | Alunan marhaen dari PPR
February 15, 2021 | The Citymaker | K2K Idol: Singing to support the urban poor
Selected Participants’ competition entries on Smule
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Citi Foundation, Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated, and the Selangor government for their support in making K2K Idol possible and enabling Think City’s efforts in creating more resilient communities.
The project was also jointly organised with Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia and Persatuan Wanita PPR HICOM (PERWACOM) who offered invaluable insights and support in designing and implementing the first K2K Idol.
Appendix
[1] United Nations Childrens’ Fund, Malaysia (UNICEF Malaysia) & United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). (2020). Families on the edge. Retrieved from https://malaysia.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Families%20on%20Edge%20part%201.pdf
[2] Shahar, S., Lau, H., Puteh, S.E.W. et al. (2019). Health, access and nutritional issues among low-income population in Malaysia: introductory note. BMC Public Health, 19(4). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6852-8
[3] N. F. Azmi, S. N. Ruslee, Y. A. Shamsul Harumain, S. N. Kamaruzzaman, S. J.L. Chua, & C. P. Au-Yong. (2019). A study of overcrowding factors in public low-cost housing in Malaysia. Journal of Building Performance, 10(1), 52-58. Retrieved from http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13666/1/286-1143-1-PB.pdf
[4] Azuddin, A. (2020). How the MCO affected income, jobs, and mental well-being. Retrieved from https://www.centre.my/post/mco-employment-income-jobs-mental-health
