By Priscilla Ho Yu Xin

Have you ever thought of how often we are told to change our appearance? Probably quite frequently. Body shaming happens in all vicinities and all the time around us or to us. Anyone could be a victim of body shaming. 

Considering the viciousness of body shaming and to raise public support against it, the Final Year Public Relations and Advertising students of Han Chiang University College of Communication (HCUC) are organising an online campaign to denounce the act of body shaming entitled ‘It’s Me!’ from 28th June to 11th July.

The president of the ‘It’s Me!’ online campaign, Janice Ooi Yi Ting.

The president of the ‘It’s Me!’ online campaign, Janice Ooi Yi Ting, says the objective of this campaign is to increase people’s awareness about body shaming. 

“We hope to raise public awareness on body shaming which can affect a person’s physical and mental well-being,” Janice articulated. 

Furthermore, the campaign aims to motivate the public to appreciate their own beauty as it can boost their self-esteem and evoke positive emotions.

The embedded meaning of the campaign ‘It’s Me!’ refers to a person who expresses the discomfort as a result of body shaming perpetrated by others. It is supposed to sound as if it says “Please Respect Me!”. 

Janice excitedly explained the numerous activities that will be carried out during the campaign such as quiz and giveaways, Instagram challenge with the campaign’s filter, lucky draws, mini games and a sharing session called ‘Me’ Fm.

“All of our activities are designed to enunciate knowledge regarding body shaming and encourage people to be appreciative of their own body,” she added.

She hopes that the campaign can create awareness of not to hurt someone based on their appearance.

“I hope that people can pay more attention to every word they say, because we might hurt someone without knowing,” Janice quickly quipped an additional tip.

The head of the publicity department of ‘It’s Me!’ online campaign, Lee Pei Yoong. 

The head of the publicity department of ‘It’s Me!’ online campaign, Lee Pei Yoong, said that they have publicised the campaign through the social media platform.

“We posted the event information on ‘It’s Me’ Facebook page and Instagram page known as ‘itsme2021_____’. Besides, media organisations have been informed with news releases. We have also invited politicians and influencers to cooperate with us to promote this event, ” Lee added.

Lee said currently they have received a lot of encouraging responses from the public. The public, according to Lee, communicated with the organising team that the theme resonates with their life and it is a crucial topic that society must pay attention to.

She adds that the publicity team aims to spread this awareness all over Malaysia through this online campaign.

“Our target for this event is not limited to Penang, but the entire Malaysia and even to all the other countries,” Lee added ambitiously.

For more information, feel free to visit the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Its-Me-103659898598470 and Instagram of the “It’s Me!” online campaign at https://www.instagram.com/itsme2021_____/?fbclid=IwAR3xyUo-u_uPFxACkgdxUj8BjIAubhAOqQfZKhQFVWLtucWMj522AyY_9e4.