Telling the story of diversity with music

The story of diversity in Malaysia has been told and retold in many different ways since we came together as a nation, six decades ago. As Malaysians, we live and breathe diversity every day. It is our way of life that we sometimes seem inure to it.As a brand, Celcom embraces diversity. We aspire to continuously improve our appreciation of inclusiveness and racial harmony through storytelling. However, storytelling is but one part of the equation; because storytelling is incomplete without the magic of music. I believe that music has a profound effect on people.And thus, Celcom recognises its "specialness" and hopes to use it to strike a chord deep within each Malaysian, to make the notes of unity resonate and beat inside their hearts. More than words and characters, moving pictures and still photos – the stories we tell are made more poignant, more powerful through music.But not just any music. We asked ourselves, what does diversity sound like?We experimented and evaluated with our first two campaigns – Emma and Lagenda 5 Sekawan. Both are two short films introducing five multi-ethnic schoolmates whose friendship has stood the tests of time and differences. At the start of each music composition, the team worked very closely with me to identify the lead instrument and the local musical instruments to feature.It’s important to understand the emotion each instrument can express and how each complement another in scoring a radiant melody. Rigorous sessions with the composers and music directors were held to discuss the personality, styling and detailing of each accompanying musical piece. We studied the layering in the storytelling and tried at least three instruments that could be weaved in elegantly. Finally, we decided on a nostalgic Chinese song remixed with Indian percussion, Malay seruling and Chinese er hu.Malaysians loved it, to the tune of almost four million views. It gave us the encouragement and pleasure to continue with 5 Sekawan Kembali Lagi. It is a Deepavali short film that featured an Indian music composition played with traditional Malaysian instruments, including sitar, shennai, tabla, er hu and sape. We then took it another level up with our 5 Sekawan Selamanya during Chinese New Year. Led by the er hu, accentuated with the sitar and the seruling, to score a Peranakan story of family and love which has achieved almost 5 million views on YouTube.And our most recent remix of Hebat Negaraku really spotlighted our growing knack for celebrating diversity through music, in music. Words of love and pride for our nation were enlivened with the tender timbres of the seruling, the poignant strums of the sitar and the stirring melody of the er hu. It was our most sonorous celebration of diversity to date.In every video, we looked at the high and low points of the execution and selected instruments that would strike a deeper recognition in the viewers.  Sometimes we can provoke all the five senses though music. Think about it. For example, a tune could bring us back to a day in our life that to the exact moment we had the loveliest kueh kosui in our grandparents’ home.I hope that each piece creates awesome moments for our consumers and remind them that these instruments are wonderful treasures of our beautiful Malaysia. As a tool, music helped us tell a better story of diversity. As a strategy, music is a key differentiator that lands us in a special space in owning a truly Malaysian identity. We would humbly love to touch as many hearts and to inspire as many Malaysians as we can, all in the spirit of racial harmony, tolerance and inclusiveness.All of the above short films were produced in collaboration with M&C Saatchi and are still available for viewing on Celcom’s YouTube channel.The writer is Grace Chan, head of brand marketing, Celcom Axiata.