COMMENT | I remember an interview with Malaysiakini that I did with my colleagues back in 2016, about Projek Dialog - its founding purpose, objectives, and general reasons for existing.

So much has happened in the last three years with Projek Dialog that I often had to reflect on what really makes it special, what makes what we do necessary, and what makes it underappreciated.

What started as a humble web portal for youths to learn about other people's cultures and beliefs has now grown into a multifaceted platform that discusses sociopolitical issues affecting young Malaysians today.

It provides that platform, online or offline, to listen to stories we do not hear about in the mainstream media, to elevate the current discourse to instill progressive thoughts into the people's minds, so that they materialise into real practices.

Why are conversations so important? Because social change does not happen without them.

Every major idea that ever changed a society culturally was done via sustained heavy debate on those new ideas, their relevance, their value to society and, ultimately, their ability to introduce an entire society to a new way of thinking.

There was a time when it was believed that women could not be allowed to vote because their brains were too small to make good political decisions.

There was a time when Malayans thought it was impossible to run a country without the colonial rule of the British.

There was a time when girls as young as nine were old enough to marry and have children.

There was a time when people thought racism was a good thing.

Oh wait, some of that is still happening.

But the point is, these ideas, which seem so ridiculous to us today in hindsight, now change in meaning because someone somewhere started conversations for new ideas to be the norm, so that we may progress as a society...