Hari Raya is around the corner and for many Malaysians, tis the season to head home to loved ones and become round through food!

It is a Muslim festival but we Malaysians are known to embrace the celebration as one great open-house party for all.

What we get out of this is a collection of great memories and stories that live on beyond the holiday period. Some are so epic, they are retold again and again at every get together.

If you have one of these balik kampung anecdotal gems, now is the chance for you to share it with a wider audience and win yourself food vouchers worth up to RM250. through the “Share your Malaysian Stories” contest.

What’s more, the first prize winner will get to bask in the limelight as a guest star of a travel video by Songs & Stories.

The big idea is to get people to share their stories via photos or videos on Instagram and Facebook. It is something that most Malaysians are already doing on a daily basis – sharing bits and pieces of their daily life online. But through this campaign, we would like to encourage them to share something positive, something they love about their hometown, something uniquely Malaysian,” says, storyteller and writer Gina Yap Lai Yoong.

While the contest is being held in conjunction with Hari Raya, the stories you share can be anything lah, as long as the Malaysia chop (stamp) is there. The campaign starts 12 June and set to run until 2 July 2017.

Gina and singer-songwriter Juwita Suwito, who started Songs & Stories,  have been going around Malaysia to document a slice of life moments through a series of short videos, online stories and photo-essays. They have since collated a treasure trove of interesting tales and are aiming to continue on their inspiration trail.

Their recent #WarisanSandakan series took the Malaysian online community by storm with over 55,800 views in January 2017. Check out their website for yourself lah.

For the “Share your Malaysian Stories” contest, Songs & Stories is collaborating with local cuisine specialist, Sepiring to spread the storytelling spirit further.

“We were enjoying nasi dagang with gulai ikan at one of our favourite hangouts – Sepiring at Mid Valley, and it struck us that Sepiring would be the ideal partner for our Balik Kampung campaign,” said Juwita.

“Their ‘Uniquely Malaysian’ tagline was the ultimate bonus!,” she added.

To join the contest, just capture your favourite Malaysian moment and share your on Facebook or Instagram, by tagging Songs & Stories and Sepiring. You also gotta include the hashtags #UniquelyMalaysian and #MySongsAndStories to qualify.

Get more details at the contest page here

Are you eager to spread the Raya festivities through the arts? Give us the deets via [email protected]

Tags: Gina Yap Lai Yoong, Juwita Suwito