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Tweets replace history books to tell story of Malaysian independence

Merdeka Day campaignAd agency TBWA is behind a social media campaign to mark Malaysia’s day of independence, or Merdeka Day, at the end of this month.

The campaign, called Road to Merdeka, offers tweets as an alternative to history books to tell the Merdeka Day story to young Malaysians.

The client behind the campaign is youth organisation 1 Malaysia for Youth (1M4U).

A series of tweets recounting the tales of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Malaysia’s other founding fathers will run until 31 August, Merdeka Day.

A Facebook page will house the tweets, images and Merdeka Day-themed video links.

The campaign is being promoted using guerrilla wall tagging, as well as covering a part of the Sungai Klang wall in Kuala Lumpur with Merdeka Day graffiti.

The campaign can be followed on Twitter via @TunkuMerdeka, @RazakMerdeka @THTanMerdeka, TanCLMerdeka, HSLeeMerdeka, DrIsmailMerdeka and VTSamMerdeka.

Sa’ad Hussein, chief creative officer of TBWA\Kuala Lumpur said: “We imagined what it was like to be in their shoes. The tweets not only recount the events, but they serve as their inner voice, letting followers know what went through their mind as things unfolded.”

“We wanted to show that The Tunku and the other founding fathers were just like you and me, and we tried our best to reveal little gems that people may not necessarily know – like how the Merdeka delegation stopped negotiations so that they could all go to Wembley to catch a football game,” he said.

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