International Steem Meetup #1—Team Malaysia CNY Gathering 2018

When I first started organising these Steem meetups in India and producing videos for the same, somewhere deep inside I wanted to take the concept to other markets and test it out. I always felt that it would be great to bring forth some amazing Steemians from across the world and get their views on video.

It’s difficult to bridge the gap between communities across various countries. I was hoping to do a meetup in Malaysia, bring some Steemians together and find out first hand what they think and truly feel about the platform. Team Malaysia CNY Gathering 2018 gave me the perfect opportunity and the core team also brought together some enthusiastic people together.

Steemit as a platform has made the world smaller and has brought people together from across the world. I felt it would be great to get a few nationalities under one roof in a few different areas across South-East Asia to begin with.

Team Malaysia meetup was the perfect setting. We were were over 6-7 nationalities sharing our cultures, ideas, and thoughts and it had a real sense of bonding there.

I came back on the 1st of March but my personal life caught up with me with a ton of errands. This pushed the timelines for my work and delayed this post on the meetup. I’ve also missed out on replying to many posts and comments out there as I have been busy with several hospital visits as I have a surgery coming up next month.

There are also a lot of ideas that are being brainstormed right now and hopefully as the platform grows I hope to be able to execute more of these ideas.

Team Malaysia CNY Gathering 2018

@aaronleang, @joannewong with help and support from the awesome @bitrocker2020 and TeamMalaysia committee members @littlenewthings, @elizacheng, @karinzdailygrind, @orangila and @zord189 were the amazing hosts to the entire event.

I got in touch with @bitrocker2020 few weeks ago about the possibility of doing a meetup in Malaysia and he invited me to join this event. It was too good to refuse and I got there with my crew @varunpinto @shenoy and @sjennon.

It was an honor to be there amongst enthusiastic and lively people. It was one of the best meetups we’ve had so far. Kuala Lumpur is a fantastic metro-city with people residing and traveling there from all over the world.

Culture fascinates me and I had the opportunity to learn more about the Malaysian Chinese culture from some of the wonderful people I interacted on the day.

It was fun participating in Yee Shang toss. The higher you toss it the more prosperous your year will be-@bitrocker2020. I must admit, it was fun and it was also delicious to eat! Check out this video from @aaronleang

After the Yeeshan we sat to eat our dinner. It was an early dinner for us because in India we eat a little later usually after 9PM. The food was great and there was a variety of options.

It sort of reminded me of the Day 1 of SteemFest 2016 when everyone gathered for beers after registration. The vibe was similar and as the drinks started flowing everyone began to unwind and enjoy the evening.

However, this was a smaller crowd and many of people here knew each and some of them were friends. Team Malaysia seemed like a closely knit community of Steemians looking out for each other.

Cryptocurrency itself is popular in Malaysia and many people know about it. Team Malaysia has nearly 1000 active members which is a huge achievement and kudos for the team behind the meetup to keep everyone engaged with one another.

This is a market that delights me to the core. People are so warm and friendly and very welcoming. It's great to hang out and exchange idea, culture, discuss the platform and share opinions and experiences about our individual journey on the platform.

We raised a toast and cheered for the amazing evening together in complete unison saying Yam/Yum Sheng. It is probably the best way to raise a toast so far and also quite a lot of fun! Aaron shot a video of a funny moment during the toast.

Some of the things we discussed in the meetup are:

1. How Team Malaysia are recruiting new users.
2. How they are supporting each other and using their Discord channel to onboard users.
3. How Steemit is helping their community with side income and better standard of living.
4. What Steemit means to them and its future potential at scale.
5. How Steem is helping shape social media slowly but steadily.
6. Various ways of utilizing the platform.
7. Cryptocurrency scenario in Malaysia.

Various other topics related to Malaysia, local users and contribution of top local members were also discussed on the day. Overall it gave me a great insight into how communities are developing in another country.

Thanks to all who made it on that night and for the hosts for having my friends and myself over the awesome meetup!

@aaronleang, @joannewong, @bitrocker2020 @elizacheng @littlenewthings @karinzdailygrind @orangila @zord189 @firepower @sjennon @varunpinto @shenoy @kevinwong @nickychu @branlee87 @siren87 @maverickfoo @deborism @ackhoo @michelleloh168 @iamjadeline @happycrazycon @calebleejl @kokuryo @wanaf @chloephuan93 @kimzwarch @chuazm @elvira.galina @cshaw @vikapuzach @joyceann21 @arwinzen @natalielo @crypto3d @digitalmind @wackybecky @khimgoh @yasminep @aaronteng @dianaxiaz @halleyleow @ryenneleow @vinnieleow @casperleow @asherlee

I apologise if I left out mentioning any names. I hope to meet some of you on my next trip. In fact @varunpinto @shenoy and I are looking forward to coming back to this awesome country later in the year. Meanwhile stay tuned for the pictures and video from the meetup. This was our first International Steem Meetup and we hope to do more as we go!

You can read @aaronleong's detailed post and you will also find links to many other posts on the meetup from other wonderful users.

Pictures and Video: @varunpinto @orangila and @aaronleong

You can vote for my witness 'firepower' here: https://steemit.com/~witnesses and read my proposal here! This will allow me to continue building up our community and continue my efforts on the platform.

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If you like my work kindly resteem it to your friends. You may also continue reading my recent posts which might interest you:

1. Steem.Chat Contest #19 + Contest #18 Winners Announcement!
   
2. Why You Should Vote For @firepower As Witness—Witness Campaign Post From India!
3. India Steem Meetup #4—An AWESOME Meetup In New Delhi—India's Capital and 40+ Attended!

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