The Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the nationwide MCOs, has severely impacted the welfare and wellbeing of the Malaysian citizen.
The increased rate of unemployment and the deteriorating economy has affected the earning ability of many families. Hence, this has critically hampered their capacity to obtain daily basic necessities. As such, many families are falling into a state of disarray. In light of this situation, the White Flag movement began, allowing desperate families the opportunity to request aid. The white flag allows those who can help to recognise and provide for those who need it.
In the last 2 month since I wrote this article, me and my friends has taken this intiative toward to build a platform to help those who are in dire need, by connecting aid providers to those in need. We named it Ma-Kasih that literally means 'Thank you' in Indonesian and also convey an idea of 'Malaysia Cares'.
At the initial stage, we are targetting people in dire need, especially those who are desparate for food. Therefore we maxed out our site's accessibility, no user sign-in required, localised translation in three main languages used in Malaysia.
Those requesting help on Ma-Kasih have to provide their address, number of beneficiaries, their phone number, what aid they need, and a 4-digit PIN number that will be required to make changes to their requests later. We even provide the dietary restriction for fellow Malaysian, which majority of them is Muslim.
We also think of user privacy in the first place. The seemingly unnecessary 4-digit PIN number is designed for submitter to edit or potentially take down their request after they have gone through their hardship.
