Dumping unwanted babies is a social illness that is on the rise in Malaysia which has reached crisis proportions. Baby dumping refers to discarding or leaving alone, for an extended period of time, a child younger than 12 months of age in a public or private setting with the intent to dispose of the child. Based on statistics from Bukit Aman Police Headquarters a total of 580 babies were dumped between the years 2000 to 2006. The number of cases increased every year from as much as 65 baby dumping cases in 2000 to 83 cases in 2006. In the last 5 months, there have been reports in local newspapers on baby dumping. Predominantly many of these cases take place in Chow Kit which is known from people with low incomea and a longstanding reputation for sex work, drug sales, and organized crime, as well as being a neighborhood for undocumented immigrants.

Yayasan Chow Kit (YCK) which was formerly known as Nur Salam, grew out of a day care centre, or Pusat Aktiviti Kanak-Kanak (PAKK) that was opened to serve the Chow Kit neighborhood in 2001 by the Malaysian Welfare Department. Most of the children were born in Chow Kit, but there are also children who have come to the area from other parts of Malaysia, who may have been trafficked, or who may be refugees. Most children come from one-parent homes, and many are the children of sex workers and/or drug addicts. In addition, many of the children do not have documents such as birth certificates or identity cards; some are stateless and unable to attend regular schools. Some of these children are still in their infancy, and right now there are 21 babies being fed everyday to ensure that they stand a chance to have a future ahead of them.

The Social Media Chambers is glad to work with Yayasan Chow Kit to support their efforts in taking care of these babies, hereby nicknamed the Social Media Babies (#SMBabies) where we will run a year long campaign to source for donations from social media users throughout the week long Malaysia Social Media Week 2012 as well as our other events spread out throughout 2012.Donations received will be used to buy milk and pampers, two essential items for all 21 of the babies in Yayasan Chow Kit's care. A milk can and a set of pampers will cost RM69 per baby for 2 weeks, so to ensure 21 babies gets taken care of for a month, we'll need to raise RM2,898.00. For a year, a sum of RM34,776.00 will be needed for 21 babies. Friends, we just need 35,000 people (some of you have bigger followings than this number!) to fork out RM1, and we get to directly impact 21 lives and see them grow.

All proceeds from the donations will go straight to serve these babies, hence our nickname for them as Social Media Babies. The organizers, volunteers as well as YCK will not take a single sen out of this. With a small effort, we are able to make a difference, and it takes YOU and ME to be a part of it. If you would like to volunteer, do send us an e-mail at christopher@socialmediachambers.org, as we will be organizing #SMBabiesTwtup to check on the babies once every 2 months, and at the same time join the kids at YCK for some activities. After all, everyone needs a little love :)

Come make a difference, join the #SMBabies Campaign!