Malaysia Celebrates Big Wins at the “ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change” Programme
Three Winning Creators, One Region:
How TikTok LIVE Became Their Space to Educate, Inspire and Celebrate Local Stories
[From left to right: Yulfia Arnis (Project Specialist at ASEAN Foundation), Jhonatan (TikTok LIVE Creator, 1st winner of the ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme), Leni (ASEAN LIVE Creator, 2nd winner of the ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme), Dr. Piti Srisangnam (Executive Director at ASEAN Foundation), Firdaus (ASEAN LIVE Creator, 3rd winner of the ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme), Fatima Alifha (Communications Officer at ASEAN Foundation), Kharista Nandakirana (Communications Support at ASEAN Foundation)]
The top three winners of the “ASEAN LIVE
Creators for Change” Programme celebrate their achievements alongside
representatives from the ASEAN Foundation during the awarding ceremony held at
the ASEAN SEDP 4.0 Regional Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand.
Source photo: ASEAN Foundation
The ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme, supported by TikTok LIVE and delivered by the ASEAN
Foundation, brought together young creators from across Southeast Asia to
be empowered and explore one shared question: what happens when purpose
meets platform?
This
year’s top three creators, Jhonatan (@jhonatanyuditya_pratama),
Leni (@lenirezi),
and Sir Pedot (@sirpedot),
each championed a different mission yet equally meaningful, delivering a
powerful impact on their community. Through their lenses, they show how TikTok
LIVE can serve as a classroom, a cultural bridge, and a space where identity is
celebrated once more.
Jhonatan: Carrying Dayak Culture into the Digital Spotlight
As the first-place winner,
Jhonatan shines a spotlight on his Dayak heritage from Borneo, Kalimantan – not
as a distant tradition, but as values that shape daily life. This sentiment
strongly echoes East Malaysian Communities, where culture is lived and not
staged.
His sincerity paid off. During his Gawai Dayak LIVE
session, over 16,000 viewers tuned in to watch parades and exhibitions
showcasing traditional Dayak dances while actively engaging in the comment
section. He calls it a moment of collective pride, which is not only for
himself, but for his community.
What makes him distinct is the way he frames culture not as
an artefact, but as a lived rhythm. His viewers learn the meaning behind
traditions, not just the visuals. “I want people to feel the culture, not
just see it,” he said.
The programme strengthened his belief that digital
platforms can help preserve heritage while empowering communities and MSMEs. “The
ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme has been such a powerful reminder that
creativity is not just entertainment, but it’s empowerment,” he emphasised.
His mission is clear: bridge Dayak culture with modern storytelling tools,
while keeping authenticity at the centre.
Leni: Making Indonesia’s Local Languages Go Mainstream Again
Second-place winner Leni, began her journey
with a concern – that Indonesia’s local languages were disappearing from
everyday use. Findings from language institutions and UNESCO(1) pointed to a
consistent drop in daily use, and some languages had already disappeared from
active conversation.
Growing
up in East Belitung, she wasn’t fully fluent in her own dialect, and that
became her motivation. On TikTok LIVE, she focused her content on simple
expressions, practical use, and cultural context that felt approachable. She
often invites viewers to join through the Multi-Guest feature, turning the
experience into a lively two-way exchange. These sessions naturally flow into
friendly conversations where participants share idioms, jokes, and everyday
phrases in their own dialects, making learning both fun and relatable.
Everything ties back to one goal: keeping local languages relevant and easy to
learn.
The programme added another layer to her growth. She
learned how to plan content, read audience behaviour more effectively, and
refine the way she communicates. Through the programme, she connected with
creators from the Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia who face similar
linguistic challenges. “I hope initiatives like this continue,” Leni
said. “So more young people feel inspired to contribute to their region,
their country, and to Southeast Asia.”
Sir Pedot: Making Education Digitally Accessible for Malaysians
Third-place winner, Firdaus,
better known online as Sir Pedot or #YourTikTokLecturer, began content creation
with a simple intention: to make knowledge more digitally accessible for
students. As a lecturer, he saw gaps that traditional syllabuses often miss,
such as scholarships, digital literacy, public speaking, academic preparation,
and even cultural understanding across ASEAN.
He brought these conversations into TikTok LIVE with an
approach that feels like a personalised mentoring session, just scaled across
thousands. One quiet moment confirmed the value of what he was doing: a student
messaged saying they finally understood a concept after watching his LIVE. For
Firdaus, this became proof that educational content isn’t just “possible” on
TikTok where it can shift confidence, direction, and opportunity.
Through the programme, he learned to structure sessions
more intentionally, read audience insights, and stay consistent even when
numbers fluctuate. “Going LIVE takes courage,” he said. “The training
made me more focused. Now I create with clarity.”
His mission: build a generation that adapts, learns, and steps forward
with resilience and confidence. Through this, he also recognises the broader
impact of digital communities and cross-regional collaboration, as he mentioned
in the interview, “ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme provides a
meaningful opportunity not only for creators, but also for audiences across
Southeast Asia to access quality educational content.”
Three Creators, Three Missions
— One Shared Momentum
Together, Jhonatan, Leni, and Sir Pedot show how TikTok
LIVE can be a practical space for sharing knowledge, culture, and community.
"The ASEAN LIVE Creators for Change Programme
perfectly embodies TikTok’s mission to inspire creativity and bring joy. We are
immensely heartened to see these creators harness TikTok LIVE as a powerful and
authentic space for spreading knowledge, preserving cultures, and keeping local
languages alive. Digital storytelling on TikTok LIVE offers us a window to the
world, and is a powerful tool to spotlight and celebrate the rich diversity of
Southeast Asia,” said Chanida Klyphun, Director of
Public Policy for Southeast Asia, TikTok.
The ASEAN LIVE
Creators for Change Programme, initiated from October 2024 until
August 2025, is an ASEAN Foundation and TikTok initiative that equipped 18
creators across Southeast Asia with mentorship, funding, and tools to host
impactful TikTok LIVE sessions on ASEAN sociocultural issues and awareness.
Through the programme, participants gained practical
skills; from improving technical setups to planning consistent content and
understanding their audiences more deeply. These foundations help them carry
their missions forward with greater confidence and impact, curating responsible
digital influence and strengthening youth-led storytelling in an increasingly
connected ASEAN community.
“Through our partnership with TikTok LIVE, the ASEAN
Foundation continues to nurture young creators who use digital platforms for
positive impact including fostering learning, inclusivity, and cultural
appreciation across the region,” said Dr. Piti Srisangnam, Executive
Director of the ASEAN Foundation.
About ASEAN Foundation
Three decades after ASEAN was established, ASEAN leaders recognised that: there remained inadequate shared prosperity, ASEAN awareness and contact among people of ASEAN. It was of this concern that ASEAN leaders established the ASEAN Foundation during ASEAN's 30th Anniversary Commemorative Summit in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on 15 December 1997. ASEAN Foundation is an organisation from and for the people of ASEAN. The Foundation exists because of one vision: to build a cohesive and prosperous ASEAN Community. As an ASEAN body, the Foundation is tasked to support ASEAN mainly in promoting awareness, identity, interaction, and development of the people of ASEAN.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and its offices include New York, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
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