As a K-pop lover in Malaysia, I was always fascinated by the Korean culture and lifestyle outside of their famous pop music genre. The way that K-pop idols promote their food and life routine piqued my interest through their group vlog series on YouTube. After watching the vlogs, I would be eager to know more about my favorite idols and their group.

When searching about them on Google, the results always featured the idols on Wikipedia articles first before the rest of the results. Some of the famous idols have their complete biodata and detailed information on Wikipedia, which is expected, but unfortunately some of the lesser known idols from the same K-pop group might have simple and sometimes incomplete information on them. Seeing lesser known idols get little information coverage while coming from famous groups makes me sad and it feels unfair to them. This motivated me to find more information online on these idols through official data and news.

I was ecstatic when I was invited by my friend who is a fellow K-pop fan and a Wikimedian, Farouk (User:Ultron90), to join a Wikimedia event named “Wikimedia Korea-Malaysia Friendship 2025 Editathon” on 11 October 2025, organized by Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia. It was an event where Korean and Malaysians gather in their respective countries to learn how to edit on Wikimedia projects (such as Wikipedia) and experience editathons to create content about each other’s countries. I never knew that events like this existed anywhere in the world, let alone in Malaysia.

Group photo of Malaysian and Korean participants during the Wikimedia Korea-Malaysia 2025 Editathon event (Farouk Azim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

During the event day, I was surprised that there were many local Malaysian Wikimedians attending the event. I also met a lot of new people with diverse backgrounds ranging from engineering officers, political science students, and IT students to school teachers. Most of them already have years of experience contributing in Wikipedia while there were a few newbies like me and my friends. It’s a rare occurrence for me to talk with new people that share the same passion and goal as me.

As mentioned before, the main goal of the event was to create or improve Wikipedia articles about each other’s countries. In Malaysia, we were taught to use the Content Translation tool to translate articles related to South Korean food and culture. An example would be by translating Bibimbap (비빔밥), a famous Korean dish, from Korean or English into Malay on Malay Wikipedia. Our fellow Korean counterparts on the other hand were taught to create or improve articles about Malaysian culture and food, such as Laksa (락사), a famous Malaysian dish, on Korean Wikipedia. Other than food, we also learned about each other country’s history, culture, and geography simply just by translating articles about them.

Introduction to Wikimedia CUG Malaysia session at Wikimedia Malaysia Office. (Dody Ismoyo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

During the Wikipedia editing workshop session, we were told to use proper citations when adding information into articles. At first, I was not sure which websites can be trusted as proper sources. After asking questions and listening to the explanations, I learned about the type of sources that can and cannot be used when adding citations in Wikipedia articles. I learned to avoid using personal blogs and fandom sites as sources of information and to only take information from official websites and notable news articles. Through this experience, I became more confident in properly editing Wikipedia articles even though I still have a lot more to learn.

Through this event, we had group video call with participants in South Korea to say Hi and have a small chat. We shared our experience about how translating articles into our mother tongue is not as easy as it seems. Every sentence that was automatically translated using the Content Translation tool needed to be double checked so it made sense and was grammatically correct in the target language for readers to understand. By interacting with our Korean counterparts, it actually taught me that K-pop and Hallyu have made such a big impact in the world to the point that Malaysians and Koreans with very different cultures can still feel connected just by discussing about K-pop. The differences in cultures make us more appreciative and accepting of each other, like the famous quote “Unity in Diversity“.

Finally, we also celebrated Korean Wikipedia’s birthday through birthday wishes and singing. It has been 23 years since its creation! Congratulations to Youngjin and the Wikimedia Korea team for helping to sustain the Korean Wikipedia community!!

Ever since the editathon, I have continued to edit on Malay Wikipedia about K-pop idols in my free time. I now regularly visit Wikimedia CUG Malaysia’s office to spend time learning about more ways to edit on Wikimedia projects. Seeing my dedication, I was taught by Wikimedia CUG Malaysia staff, such as Zahirul, on how to use Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata. They have also invited me to come to more Wikimedia events and serve as a volunteer facilitator for those events.

In short, I wish to be a part of more Wikimedia events as a volunteer in the future to spread the invaluable Wikimedia tools to the general public and fight against misinformation and over-reliance on AI overviews. May the Wikimedia movement continue to collect and share knowledge for humanity.

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