A ‘Covid-19 Malaysia Memorial’ website has been built to commemorate and honour the souls that have lost their lives as a result of the pandemic in our country. This initiative was exerted by a group of volunteers consisting of various races and religions and can be accessed through c19memorial.my. The website shares pictures and information of the deceased obtained from the victims’ families through the website when it was first announced on 31 August.
As quoted by Berita Harian, one of the volunteers explained that,
“Data is also taken and collected through different news media as well as public posting status on social media. In addition, the website also provides reference assistance for mental health as well as links to agencies offering assistance related to this pandemic. Thus, the 19th day of each month is set as the day to commemorate the victims of Covid-19.”
The initiative for the website first appeared in a tweet from Twitter account owner Aidila Razak on August 6 when she voiced the idea of a memorial for the Covid-19 death toll that the compilation reached 10,000 people.
More than 12 individuals volunteered to work on the initiative and the first discussion in-depth took place on August 10 last year. The discussions and collaborations throughout the development of the memorial went smoothly as every volunteer involved was highly enthusiastic and had something that could be offered. These include skills in technical aspects of website development, graphic design, data collection, writing, translation and editorial, as well as social media management.
The development of the website also received the advice of Bolehspace, a group that actively fights for the issue of fair accessibility for people with disabilities. Malaysians are also welcome to share stories of their loved ones on the 19th of each month via social media using #c19memorialmy and the covid19memorialmy tag.
Any comments and suggestions for improvements of the memorial website can be sent to them via email at ym.lairomem91c@ofni.
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