Welcome to The Pixel Project’s “30 For 30” Father’s Day Campaign 2012! In honour of Father’s Day, we created this campaign:
- To acknowledge the vital role Dads play in families, cultures and communities worldwide.
- To showcase good men from different walks of life who are fabulous positive non-violent male role models.
Through this campaign, we will be publishing a short interview with a different Dad on each day of the month of June.
Our first “30 For 30” Dad is Asohan Aryaduray from Malaysia.
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The Dad Bio (In His Own Words):
I am a journalist with more than 20 years’ experience, except for a short stint doing public relations for Microsoft in Malaysia. I left that to get back to journalism, and with two other colleagues, have founded an independent news portal devoted to technology. The site, www.digitalnewsasia.com, goes live in late April.
I am a single father. My daughters are Alyssa Su-Yen, 16, and Ariane Priyanka, 14. I love reading, and have managed to infect the younger with that love. I have penned some thoughts on being a single father on Facebook: The Subang Singularity and parenting
1. What is the best thing about being a Dad?
One of the amazing things about being a parent is having these “little people,” fully sentient beings separate from you, but still a part of you. You can spot the similarities, the cultural and genetic tweaks, and see yourself in them – for better or worse. And yet they are their own selves, independent beings with their own motivations and ideas. It’s a remarkable feeling.
However, the best thing about being a parent is when one of your kids gives you a hug, just because “you looked like you needed one.”
2. A dad is usually the first male role model in a person’s life and fathers do have a significant impact on their sons’ attitude towards women and girls. How has your father influenced the way you see and treat women and girls?
My late father came from a very different generation, when “men were men and women were women.” However, unlike other men of his generation and very unlike others of his culture, my father was quite liberal in his thinking. He had four daughters and one son (me!), but he insisted that his girls get an education and craft their own careers too. He was not one to “marry off” his daughters; he wanted them to be successful in their own right.
We didn’t see eye-to-eye on most things, my father and I, except for this. It is what I am trying to inculcate in my daughters as well: That they should, and can, make their own way in life. That they have a voice and they should use it.
And while he was a product of his time in other ways, with fatherly and motherly roles being well-defined, he was always a gentleman. It was beyond his ability to understand how some men can actually physically strike a woman. It is one of the few things that he has passed on to me: That women’s empowerment does not mean you shouldn’t be a proper gentleman.
3. Communities and activists worldwide are starting to recognise that violence against women is not a “women’s issue” but a human rights issue and that men play a role in stopping the violence. How do you think fathers and other male role models can help get young men and boys to take an interest in and step up to help prevent and stop violence against women?
Beyond being good role models, men can do their part by standing firm to communicate this idea: That this is not acceptable. Real men do not act violently, and do not strike women (or children). A real man protects those under his care, and this includes his wife and children. A father has to communicate this very strongly to his sons. In my case, I am bringing up my girls not to take any s**t from any man.
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Want to honour your Dad in a different way this Father’s Day without breaking the bank?
We offer two (2) easy and fabulous options:
Option A: Make a Small Donation
Help us raise US$3000 or more this June by donating US$30 on behalf of your dad to our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign to help unveil our first superstar Celebrity Male Role Model – a beloved Nobel Laureate. US$30 will unveil 30 pixels and proceeds from the pixel sales are in benefit of the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation.
Click here to donate: https://reveal.thepixelproject.net/buy-pixels/
Option B: Dedicate a Song to Him
For just $0.99, you can download our first Music For Pixels song – a cover of ‘The Rose’ by AHMIR, YouTube’s #1 R&B group and load it onto your Dad’s computer’s iTunes or digital music player. Not sure about it? Listen before you buy here: