Introducing Me: The Cartoonist

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My name is @sireh which means betel leaves in my native language (Malay Language). I am a cartoonist and I am also an educator. I teach in a public university known as Multimedia University in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. I work in the Creative Multimedia Department. My application for this ambassador program is spurred by my love for my community, the cartoon and comic community. The main reason I gave the steem blockchain a try was because I was not able to find a viable alternative to market the artwork of a cartoonist at the scale that the printed media can. Facebook was the closest but it does not return any income. It is a good way to get a good following and be known.

Source
(a little bit about myself)

I started my career by working in the cartoon industry. I was a contributor to the local publication. I was a graduate from New Zealand. The industry that I used to work in was a tough one because it has become a victim of the changing times. At that time I was heading this magazine called APO and I was asked to sack my own colleagues. That was something that I could not do and I decided to call it quits. I cannot bear taking away someone's rice bowl or take away a career that puts food on their table.

To me there must be a solution and the moment I started to understand how it works, it seems like a viable alternative to the conventional marketing and printed media. Looks like we have a plan.

My Experience in Steemit

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My experience in Steemit was a very pleasant one. It started as an attempt to give the social media a try and whether it returns money or not as promised wasn't really a priority for me. I wanted a platform for my students to showcase their work and be open to appraisal from the public. I achieved that target, but the icing on the cake was that it pays and it pays quite handsomely too.

I got hooked on steemit. It was becoming quite addictive probably because we are social creatures. That is how facebook feeds on our need for social affirmation. I started to introduce steemit to my cartoon and comic community and I even talked about it national television.

The introduction of steemit to my community and my students was probably one of the best contributions that I have made to them. It is not easy being a cartoonist and living off your artwork and I know many of my talented friends from the days of printed magazines, they are very passionate about their work and I hope that with this, even if it does not become a major income it will at least help in some way to supplement their income.

This clip below is a short video by my students and I give a shoutout to them for the hardwork that they put into this piece and they are @shuazir, @joii,@zhafiqkun, @ariffashraff and afiq. The subtitle was included to cater for all audiences because some of the dialogues are in the Malay Language.

Creating #steem-cartoon

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I thought that survival in this ecosystem requires the support of the community and I proceeded on those grounds. I formed my own community or artist and cartoonist. The first few people who I pulled to join me are some of the industry leaders in the cartoon and comic industry. They are the first batch of people that became the frontrunners for this new community called #steem-cartoon. The support that we received was tremendous and I was surprised that we received so much of attention when our community was still new.

The Culture of Engagement

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Through steemit I learnt that our lives become richer if there is a healthy engagement between communities and I find the whole lot of interaction to be quite fun and fulfilling. Through the same group of friends some with passion in music has proceeded with their community called #steem-music. There is also a women's group that consists of close friends of mine that are in #teammalaysiababes.

I start to learn that in this ecosystem, we do not live alone and in fact we live in communities and these communitIies are the ones that will give us the platform to help us get better exposure and visibility. It is also a ground for exchange of ideas and guiding each other in this steem blockchain.

Why I Choose the Steem Blockchain

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There are many social media out there that we cartoonist use to gain followers and to get them interested in our art. But Steemit is the first and only viable alternative that combines social media and income through the same channel and that was what I have been looking for. I started learning and reading about the blockchain technology and I learnt that it is in fact a trustless system. It does not operate on believes or humans. Many times people in my industry become frustrated was because money are being kept at ransom by the publishers or producers and in the end of the day the artist suffers.

The steem blockchain gives me an avenue to push the work of art to an international crowd. It is wider than just my country and the idea sharing is richer. To me this platform promises more than just money, it is very conducive for my industry that feeds on creative idea and input.

My Plan as Ambassador

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If I am chosen as an ambassador I would use it to promote steem blockchain to the wider community. I have plans to engage with the public universities because currently the figures and statistic of #steem-cartoon has caught the eyes of many. I play to use this blockchain technology as a ground to market artwork by people in my community and help them gain better exposure.

Blockchain to me is more than a mechanism to produce coins. It is the future and this future is capable of giving opportunities when it was none in the past. This technology also gives us a good peek how the world can be closer and warmer whereby like minded people can come together and share their thoughts and make every effort count. I want this platform to be known and used. We all know that printed publication is a sunset industry.

Conclusion

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I have always thought that I am a simple man that has big dreams to transform my community. I thought that it was quite impossible but I realised that it can be possible when a group of talented and passionate people strive to make a difference. I want to be that difference and the passion behind this initiative and having this ambassadorship is the greatest honour and the best arsenal that I can ask for to be able to do my bit for my community and to the larger steemit community as a whole.

(I term my quest for ideas and skills as 'sharpening our axe')

credit to @zomagic