I just came back from a meeting with a few people, which were previously strangers to me. Who they are, would remain unmentioned here, but one thing made my mind spin. It was the question ‘What is your agenda?‘
The question was presented to me when I was asked to elaborate on how Sarawak Bloggers works and operates. It was pressed on to me even further when I said that Sarawak Bloggers is not funded by any party or organization, except actually myself, in which I do not mind as it just involves cost for domain, hosting and of course quite a huge portion of my personal time. I didn’t mention the last part. I stopped at ‘we are not funded’.
Another question came, “WHY?” and then the “HOW”, and then of course “WHAT’S YOUR AGENDA?”.
The “Why” was for “Why are we (Sarawak Bloggers) not funded, the “How” is for how we can operate without funding, and the “What’s your agenda?’ deserves an answer.
Let me start first by saying that Sarawak Bloggers is not funded by anyone because I am personally funding it. It’s not that I am rich, but it’s because its not that expensive. It started out with a few friends working together with passion as fuel, and it has surprisingly grown to be where it is today. Who would have guessed? I didn’t for once.
Money is the root of all evil they say, and with that in mind, I prefer to keep the Sarawak Bloggers clear of monetary issues because it will bring us apart. I’d rather spend a little extra and have my friends close, than gain a little and have my friends far. Think about it.
So then there’s the question of ‘How’?
Easily answered too. We seek funding for our projects. For example the recent Tweet-Up Kuching, we outsourced sponsors, and used that money for that event only. How about the profit from the event? Seriously. Profit? Honestly, rugi adalah because we found out that we were actually forking out our own money at some point, and working without pay. Why did we go on you may ask? Simple; ‘Passion’.
..and there’s the question of ‘Agenda’.
Sarawak Bloggers does not have any hidden agenda, and if it did, it was to unite everyone under one name; ‘Sarawak’. The whole idea of the name Sarawak Bloggers was to bring up the name Sarawak, and show that we all love Sarawak in our very own way. Nothing else.
Of course, we also promote the good use of social media, non political events, encourage bloggers to be paid for post, and collaborate with numerous other companies/bodies, but that does not in any way sway us from our one goal, which is unity under the name ‘Sarawak’.
After all, when you do something out of passion which has that element of ‘fun’ while doing it. And you get to do it with good friends, an ‘agenda’ seems to be the last thing you need, because you are happy.
That for me, is important.