There have been many initiatives set up by regular folks banding together to spread goodness.

Kita Malaysia, a community initiative Facebook page, was set up as well as hashtag #KitaMalaysia started to embrace the cultural diversity of Malaysians.

Born from its founders’ perception that the country is gripped by growing distrust, intolerance and bigotry, Kita Malaysia celebrates local culture with heartwarming posters using photography and catchy taglines for people to share around and further spread the message.

It also promotes the use of images to be posted wherever Facebook users see any bigotry or ignorance being expressed online.

Among the most popular is the tag line “I like Malaysia the way I like my nasi: campur”, garnering over 500 shares.

Users are also invited to share their own images and quotes that they feel best describes what being Malaysian means to them.

The convenor of the social activist group Malaysians for Malaysia, Azrul Mohd Khalib, said the group spearheaded the peace walks to various places of worship from January to show inter-faith solidarity, starting with a visit to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Klang.

“Our group is made up of people from all walks of life. It’s for ordinary people looking to be connected with issues and engage through non-partisan means and discourse for objective solutions,” said Azrul.

With a Facebook page aimed at starting conversations, support has been growing (close to 3000 likes and counting) for their call for moderation and non-confrontational solutions.

Azrul, who believes that social media has its good and bad side to it, said it was part of the democratisation of information

“Let’s face it. Everything has its good and bad side to it. Social media is just another instrument for spreading information,” he said.

“The best thing we can do is to educate and spread awareness, and then trust the people to think for themselves. At the end of the day, the more educated people are, the better the possibilities of the outcome.”

There is also Faces of KL. Taking its cue from the popular Humans of New York page, the Faces of KL team roam the streets of Kuala Lumpur to capture a slice of people’s lives with a snapshot and a one-question interview.

The page does not champion any particular stance but takes an intimate approach by putting faces to certain issues should they unfold in their interviews with strangers.

According to its profile, Faces of KL was created by its admins out of frustration with Malaysians’ love for complaining.