2018 YouTube Malaysia Report

YouTube:
The Malaysian
Story
NOVEMBER 2018

YouTube:TheMalaysianStory
1
YOUTUBE:
THE
STORY
September 2018

2 3
Foreword
As we enter an exciting phase of growth for
YouTube in Malaysia, I am delighted to be able to
share our publication “YouTube: The Malaysian
Story” with you. As we mark six years since
we launched the YouTube Partner Program in
Malaysia, the YouTube community is now truly
more vibrant and diverse than ever. And we
couldn’t be more proud of what our Malaysian
creators and partners have achieved.
In this report, we showcase some inspirational
Malaysian creator stories across a wide array of
genres. Our creators are musicians, educators,
filmmakers, chefs, and local fitness enthusiasts,
to name a few. They have used YouTube as
a springboard for their careers. Malaysian
creators have been delighting audiences with
their entrepreneurship and creativity, and since
their initial YouTube days, many have found
wider and broader success across Malaysia and
internationally.
What really makes us proud is the fact that many
of our creators have used YouTube not only to
promote their own talent, but to promote Malaysia
to the world as well. Malaysian culture, food,
and roads less travelled are being showcased as
they never have been before. Many Malaysian
creators have also used the YouTube platform to
raise awareness and spread important messages
around social issues.
YouTube in Malaysia would not be where it is
today were it not for the key players that YouTube
and its creators collaborate with on a daily basis.
These include our partners - broadcasters, music
labels, publishers and thousands of independent
producers. We are also proud of our engagement
with the Malaysian government and NGOs,
and the use of the YouTube platform to spread
important public service messages to viewers.
I am delighted with how far YouTube has come in
Malaysia, and my team and I are looking forward
to more new milestones for YouTube.
With best regards,
Marc Woo
Country Head, Google Malaysia

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4
Executive
summary
The internet has enabled people worldwide to
connect, create, and distribute new works of art
like never before in human history. This boom in
the creative economy has generated an enormous
amount of revenue worldwide. Digital video
revenues are expected to soar from US$64 billion
to US$119 billion between 2017 and 2022.1
In
Southeast Asia, digital products and services are
projected to contribute an additional US$1 trillion
to the region’s GDP by 2025.2
In Malaysia, the creative content and technology
industry is growing at an exponential rate. Already,
over 11,000 professionals are employed in sectors
such as animation, games, visual effects & new
media, multimedia assets for apps, and content-
enabled delivery platforms. According to the
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, their work
results in exports valued at RM1.2 billion in 2016
alone, making this the fastest growing technology
marketplace in the last three years.3
YouTube continues to be an important part of
that growth and success. YouTube is the world’s
most popular video-sharing website. Here, people
search for and watch one billion hours of content
every day, with YouTube watch time on mobile
devices alone averaging at 60 minutes per day.
Malaysian stories can now be watched by new
audiences all over the world, and creators in
Malaysia have become widely known not only in
their homeland but also worldwide.
That sort of opportunity is drawing creative and
entrepreneurial Malaysians to YouTube’s platform.
Gone are the days when future Malaysian stars
had only traditional formats like TV to bring their
ideas to life. Instead, YouTube delivers a global
audience of keenly engaged viewers who are
watching more online content than ever before.
On YouTube, revenues creators earn mostly come
from advertisements that run with their content.
In addition to their earnings from YouTube, many
creators also benefit from brand sponsorships
with top advertisers. This enables Malaysian
creators’ stories, from children’s cartoons to
fascinating short films, to be seen and enjoyed by
people all over the world.
Along with hosting all of this great Malaysian
content, YouTube is helping to build the new
creative ecosystem by directly supporting
creators. Through workshops, commissioned
content, and partnerships with established
industry bodies, YouTube is providing a new
wave of creators with the tools they need to build
sustainable careers in an ever-changing media
environment.
YouTube doesn’t just benefit the viewers and
creators. Content owners such as broadcasters
and production houses can also monetize
their content on YouTube, finding new ways of
engaging their audiences. Thanks to our award
winning copyright management system called
Content ID, YouTube offers content owners an
effective way to protect their intellectual property.
Using this technology, they can scan videos
uploaded by other users against their own content
and have the option to track, block, or monetize
them. Since its launch in 2012, YouTube has paid
more than US$3 billion to rights holders who have
chosen to monetize their content through Content
ID.
The internet has created new streams of revenue
for creators and fundamentally changed how
audiences enjoy videos, music, and other media.
Services like YouTube export cultural content
between countries at an unprecedented scale,
generating new opportunities for creators,
consumers, and the creative industry.
1 Juniper Research, “OTTs Vs TV Networks ~ 3 Winning Strategies,” <https://goo.gl/AxbsMt>
2 AtKearny, “The ASEAN Digital Revolution,” 2016, <https://goo. gl/1O8J6W>
3 MDec, Creativity will drive new engines of innovation, < https://mdec.my/blog/?p=83>

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01 What is
YouTube?

8 9
The first video on YouTube was a 19-second-
long clip entitled “Me at the Zoo,”4
uploaded by
YouTube’s co-founder, Jawed Karim, in May 2005.
With this humble beginning, YouTube has grown
as an online video-sharing platform boasting 1.9
billion monthly logged in users worldwide.5
The popularity of the YouTube platform means
the opportunities for creators on YouTube are
incredible.
4 Me at the Zoo (April 23 2005) YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw>.
5 YouTube Internal Data, Global, January 2017-2018
YouTube is an online video
sharing platform that
empowers people to create
content and to share that
content with friends, family,
and even a global audience.
YouTube has launched local versions in
more than 91 countries, including Malaysia.
Every month, more than
1.9 billion people watch YouTube.
YouTube is available in 80 languages. This
means that 95% of the total Internet population
can use it in the language they speak.
The number of users following creators and
engaging with their channels globally every day
grew 70% in the last year.
Every minute, more than 400 hours of
new videos are uploaded to YouTube.
Every day, people watch one billion hours
of YouTube. This genereates billions of
views for videos created by the global
creative community.
80
91LOCAL
VERSIONS
BILLION
PEOPLE
1.9
70%

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02 YouTube in
Malaysia

12 13
Malaysians have embraced
YouTube both as a source of
information and entertainment,
and as a platform to share
Malaysian stories with each
other and with the world.
According to Kantar TNS, 70% of audiences in
Malaysia across life stages (single professionals,
couples and parents) say they watch YouTube
every day.6
Moreover, 4-in-5 of them say that they
visit YouTube as the first stop when looking for
any kind of videos.7
So it is no surprise that in Malaysia YouTube
watchtime across all devices grew in 2017 at a
rate of more than 47% year on year.8
When asked
about genre preferences, here is what Malaysians
loved the most on YouTube: music, movies,
comedy, sports, TV shows, cooking videos as well
as tech and news.9
When it comes to device usage, it is interesting
to note that the country is very much mobile-
first, with 60% of Malaysians exclusively using
their smartphones more than any other device to
access the Internet.
6, 7 Kantar TNS YouTube Audience Profiling Study, 2018.
8 YouTube Internal Data, 2017
9 The Connected Consumer Survey, Malaysia, 2017
Malaysians love watching videos
YouTube is the platform for content creators to
share their voices and grow a creative business.
We are proud that creators are growing their
audiences quickly. Globally, there has been a 75%
increase in the number of channels with +1M
subscribers in just one year.10
This ecosystem of content creators is thriving in
Malaysia too. Cartoon Hooligans became the first
Malaysian channel to reach 1 million subscribers
just two years ago, in 2016. Since then, we’ve
seen more channels reach that impressive
threshold, with even more creators showing
healthy growth with audiences in the tens and
hundreds of thousands.
Malaysian creators are attracting not only local
subscribers but also loyal fans from all over
the world. Take Digital Durian’s ‘Didi & Friends’.
Recognized for their animated sing-along videos
of Malay folk songs that feature a group of cute
cartoon chickens, the Didi & Friends channel has
since branched out into nine languages, including
Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi and
Thai, for a combined reach of nearly 1.5 million
subscribers around the world. What’s more, there
are already plans to have the content dubbed into
even more languages in the future.
Malaysian stories are being loved by the world
10 YouTube Internal Data, Global

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03
How Malaysian
creators use
YouTube
to build a
business

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What’s so amazing about
YouTube is that people all
over the world use it as a
tool to express their passion
and creativity. By doing so,
they attract fans and position
themselves as creators.
Today, millions of channels in over 90 countries
are earning revenue from their videos through
the YouTube Partner Program. They range from
independent musicians, comedians and creators
to major international music labels, film studios,
emerging publishers, and broadcasters. For an
increasing number, YouTube is becoming their
main business and source of income. In fact,
over the last year, the number of channels earning
over US$100,000 annually grew by more than
50 percent.11
Malaysian creators are also making the most
of these opportunities.
THE NUMBER OF YOUTUBE CHANNELS
MAKING MORE THAN $100,000
IN THE LAST YEAR
GREW 50%
11 YouTube Internal Data, Global,2018
YouTube as a springboard for wider creative success
Many content creators are also able to translate their popularity on YouTube into entirely new revenue
streams and business opportunities. On top of revenue earned from advertising on YouTube, creators
have been able to diversify their success through new projects from broadcasting deals, merchandising,
fan meet-ups, sponsorships, brand endorsements, and best-selling books.
The primary way creators make money from
their YouTube videos is from advertising.
Creators receive the majority of the advertising
revenue generated from ads associated with
their content. Advertising appears on YouTube
in several different forms, including display and
video advertising.
The key ingredients for a profitable YouTube
channel are a loyal, engaged community and a
steady stream of great videos. Creators can
grow their audiences with videos that people
love to watch.
As members of the YouTube Partner Program,
creators can earn money from advertisements
served on their videos. Once a channel reaches
4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months
and 1,000 subscribers, it is eligible to apply for
membership in the program, and applications are
subject to a manual review.12
Once approved all
they need to do is keep making great content that
people want to watch!
How do Malaysian creators make money on YouTube?
12 Requirements include that the video is advertiser-friendly, created by them or they have permission to use it commercially, and complies with
YouTube Partner Program policies, YouTube’s Terms of Service, and Community Guidelines.

18 19
YOUTUBE IS A PLACE
WHERE TRENDS ARE BROKEN -
AND GO MAINSTREAM
- WHERE NEW STARS ARE
DISCOVERED,
AND NEW BUSINESS MODELS
FLOURISH
The growth of the digital creator economy,
boosted by video sharing platforms like YouTube,
led to the creation of new types of entertainment
businesses. Multi-Channel Networks (“MCNs” or
“networks”) are service providers that affiliate with
multiple online video channels to offer services
that may include audience development, content
programming, creator collaborations, digital rights
management, monetization, and/or sales.
Malaysia is home to one of Asia’s biggest MCNs.
WebTVAsia, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur,
was founded in 2013 and is one of the fastest
growing digital media entertainment companies
in Asia with offices and studios in 9 countries. Its
partners are leading entertainment brands and
artists from China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia,
and Singapore. With over 1,000 top channels, it
has a global audience of over 700 million people.
New entertainment businesses – meet MCNs

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04
Malaysian
YouTube
Creators are
making it big
locally and
around the
world

22 23
Eye-catching stories presented
by talented creators in
Malaysia are attracting
people’s attention both in
Malaysia and all across the
globe. From folk songs that
have captured the attention
of fans in Thailand, Vietnam,
India, and even South America,
to fitness routines that are
winning fans in every corner
of the world, Malaysians are
communicating with the whole
world through their videos.
Les
Copaque
Malaysian animation studio Les’ Copaque -
named after the colloquial Malay term ‘last kopek’,
which means ‘the last card’ - has grown leaps
and bounds since it was founded back in 2005.
The founder Hj Burhanuddin Md Radzi, a former
oil and gas engineer, is passionate about telling
wholesome tales that are also uniquely Malaysian,
which led to the creation of their iconic duo ‘Upin
& Ipin’ in 2007.
Set in a Malaysian ‘kampung’, ‘Upin & Ipin’ tells
the story of a pair of 5-year-old identical twins
who share fun and amusing activities with their
friends. Each episode would harken back to a
collective Malaysian memory of a certain game
we used to play as kids, or scenarios we’ve
experienced while growing up, neatly wrapped
up in lessons about various good values that are
relevant to the show’s young audience.
While the show made its name on the small
screen, Les Copaque was able to really grow the
‘Upin & Ipin’ brand on YouTube. Ever since the
creation of the show’s channel in 2009, they have
pulled in more than 3 million subscribers and over
2 billion views. This has opened up opportunities
for the studio to branch into merchandising and
experiential attractions, a model that have formed
the benchmark for other local animation studios.
Today, Les’ Copaque’s reach has penetrated
markets as far away as Indonesia, Brunei, India
and even the United States.
Sharing Malaysian stories with the world

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Zee Avi’s meteoric rise to fame is a YouTube
success story that many Malaysians have come
to know and aspire to. Born Izyan Alirahman, her
very first YouTube video was of a performance
she uploaded back in 2007 to be shared with
a friend. She was surprised to find more than
just a handful of views, and decided to continue
uploading more videos.
Before long, she found herself right on the
YouTube homepage. Views began surging in like
a torrent past the one million mark, and soon she
was dubbed a “YouTube Sensation.” While some
may have crumbled at the new-found attention,
the Bornean has channeled them into a drive to
churn out more original compositions. She was
soon approached by an American agency that
managed big hitters like The White Stripes, and
the rest is history.
To date, the singer has three studio albums under
her belt, along with a multitude of awards and
recognition. Despite all of that glitz and glam, she
still calls YouTube home and continues to upload
videos of her performances with fans just as she
had done for friends all those years ago.
Cross-continent musical musings
25
Zee Avi

26 27
Didi and Friends
In 2008, school friends Sinan Ismail and Hairul
Faizal Izwan founded Digital Durian to provide
digital and design services. Having soon realised
that this was not their passion, Sinan and Hairul
took a chance by creating the ‘Didi and Friends’
animation series after taking part in an Intellectual
Property Creators’ Challenge (IPCC) organised
by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation
(MDEC), and winning a RM50,000 grant.
The character Didi started out as a Science
Explorer, but the series was not gaining the
traction Sinan and Hairul wanted. After tweaking
Didi’s design, which is inspired by the Malaysian
serama chicken, and shifting the focus to children
folk songs, ‘Didi and Friends’ has grown to
become a household name, especially among
parents with young children. In fact, the channel
was so well received that it has since branched
out to other markets, including Indonesia, Spain,
Brazil, India, and Thailand, which pulled in a total
of nearly 1.5 million subscribers worldwide.
Digital Durian’s other success story, Omar and
Hana, was launched in February 2017, and is
already making it big on YouTube. The Islamic
pre-school channel has more than 700,000
subscribers, with more than three million views as
of today.
Did and Friends gets Malaysian kids to sing-along to folk songs
Joanna Soh
Joanna Soh started on YouTube in 2013 and
is focused on inspiring her followers to live a
happy, healthy, and balanced life. While her
videos primarily cover topics like effective home
exercises, simple and healthy recipes, and fitness
tips and advice, she also uses the occasional
lifestyle vlogs to interact with fans - not just in
Malaysia, but from countries around the world
such as India and the United Arab Emirates.13
Joanna got her start when she was studying in
the UK, where she juggled jobs as a part-time
personal trainer and talk show producer. Wanting
to create a bigger impact, she quit her job to
pursue YouTube.
Expanding on her content and taking a step to
reach out to her audience, she started diversifying
her content to improve its production value,
creating videos on approaching a fitter life with
recipes, tips, vlogs and educational content.
“I believe through my presence on YouTube, it
has allowed me to distinguish myself from just
being a ‘personal trainer’. The reality is there are
a lot of personal trainers out there, but by being
on YouTube, I’m able to take my experiences and
knowledge one step further by making myself a
‘trusted brand’. Without YouTube, I’d pretty much
just be in a gym setting engaging with people on a
one-to-one basis.”
Her determination and willpower paid off when
she earned her Gold Creator Award in 2017 after
reaching over a million subscribers.
Fitness guru Joanna Soh’s gold approach to a healthy lifestyle
13 Star R.AGE, “Fitness Youtuber Joanna Soh Hopes To Empower Women”, August 2016

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05
A new
generation
of creative
talent

30 31
With more and more
Malaysians creating exciting
and unique content on
YouTube, a new generation
of creative entrepreneurs
has emerged. They invest in
growing their digital marketing,
online video production and
creative skills, thus building
exciting new careers on the
platforms.
While we often see headlines featuring the
latest overnight viral sensation, most successful
Malaysian creators spend years learning and
refining their craft and building up a dedicated
fan base.
These are just a few of the Malaysian voices
engaging their audience while pursuing their
passion thanks to YouTube.
GamerZakh
Zakhren Yazid, otherwise known as GamerZakh,
operates his YouTube channel with one focus: to
share his love of computer games, both old and
new. Under his YouTube moniker, he takes his
viewers across distant lands from nostalgic titles
of the mid-90s and early 2000s, to modern day
fan favorites.
Having grown up as a gamer since the time of
MS-DOS and dial-up internet, he crafted his niche
of ‘Nostalgic Gaming’ after gaining inspiration
from other YouTube creators and started his
channel in 2011. The platform didn’t only help him
connect with other like-minded gamers, but it also
became useful in polishing his multimedia know-
how and soft skills, both of which have helped
shaped him into the creator he is today.
GamerZakh takes a unique and calculated
approach to his online strategy for the growth
of his channel. As a multimedia graduate, he
knew that he had to stand out against billions
of channels on YouTube, so he needed to pay
attention to discoverability. He was able to
slowly make a name for himself by paying more
attention to the little things like titles, descriptions,
and content so that he can easily be found
by fans. Doing so allowed him to reach out to
viewers globally as he is better able to connect
with international audiences who support his
content.
While other similar creators chase trends
and pursue the latest games in the market,
GamerZakh believes retro old school games are
timeless and revisits classics with his fans around
the globe.
One person’s bargain bin is GamerZahk’s retro gold

3332
Luna Tasha
Millennial vlogger and TV host Nurnatasha Binti
Mohd Shahrizan began her YouTube journey at a
young age. Going by the name Luna Tasha on her
channel, she learned to overcome her shyness
and gain confidence by vlogging on YouTube.
Luna started her channel as a means of
expressing herself. She was inspired by other
well-known beauty creators like Bethany Mota
(US) and Zoella (UK), so she mustered up the
courage to put herself before a camera and began
creating beauty and fashion content for YouTube.
“I was a very shy kid, and my extreme eczema on
my upper lip area at that time did not help with
that situation. I realised I began to open up when I
discovered technology. I wasn’t shy in front of the
camera. After creating content for awhile , I grew
out of my shyness and started to document my
life on my YouTube channel,” said Luna.
“I have the career and confidence that I have
because of YouTube. I’m no longer that shy girl
who stares at the ground when she speaks,
but an 18-year-old that can speak to a crowd
of thousands live at a whim. I am immensely
grateful!”
Whenever the camera is focused on her, the timid
Nurnatasha is replaced by the confident Luna
Tasha. The more time she spent on screen, the
more confident she became, and the more she
was able to explore new types of content to be
shared with her fans, such as vlogging her day-to-
day life. In fact, her decision to include vlogs in her
channel programming eventually landed her the
chance to be the host of a popular children’s talk
show, “Bananana!” in which she was the longest
running host for the programme.
YouTube has definitely changed this 18-year-old’s
life for the better, but it has also helped to do the
same for her fans. With the support of her family
and friends, Luna now stands proud, confident
and empowered to fulfill the role of a star and
young role model for her fans.
From mobile vlogger to TV host

34
The endlessly witty Zukie Mohamad has carved a
name for himself on YouTube under the moniker
Zukieee, where he showcases his unique take on
comedy in the form of sketches that add color to
what would typically be mundane situations.
His passion for creation stemmed from a
childhood filled with video experimentations. That
love for videography from a young age has fueled
his drive to create quality comedy. A few years
ago Zukie, who was then working as a zookeeper,
saved up enough money to purchase his first
smartphone and thus began his YouTube content
upload journey.
“Before YouTube, I had a very limited fanbase.
Nowadays, my videos have reached a wide
range of viewers and has often trended. With
all this exposure, I was able to greatly increase
subscriptions to my channel and many have come
to know more about my videos and I.”
“This drive to create content has led me to
continue making good videos, especially on a
platform like YouTube. My aim is to build a new
‘empire’ on YouTube over the next foreseeable
future,” shared Zukie.
For Zukie, YouTube is an appealing platform as its
vast popularity allows him to reach out to a large
audience across different demographics without
having to worry about having his ideas stolen. He
highly values the way YouTube has made it easy
to report stolen videos or unapproved reuploads
in order to protect his channel. This provides him
a safe space for both himself and his viewers,
whereby searching for Zukie on YouTube would
mean getting the real deal, which would allow his
channel to grow more.
More than just comedic timing for Zukieee
Zukieee
35

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As one of Malaysia’s notable comedic car
enthusiast personalities in the vein of Top
Gear, Hee Wei Seng’s channel features car
modifications, heart-wrenching stunts and rubber-
burning challenges. When he’s not doing donuts
with his race cars, Wei Seng also explores his
funny side with occasional comedy shorts.
Wei Seng has long held onto a childhood dream
of becoming an actor, and found his medium
to entertain when he stumbled upon YouTube.
Before venturing into car-centric content, he
directed his own short films as a way to explore
his interest in acting. As his interests evolved, so
did his channel.
As a motoring sports enthusiast, Wei Seng is
thankful for the opportunities he’s gained from
being part of the YouTube community. It has
allowed him to reach an international audience,
flying him from place to place to meet up with car
enthusiasts and professionals around the world.
“I started my channel because I had a dream as
a child to make it as an actor. When I made my
first film, the only available platform I had was
YouTube so I uploaded it there and the rest was
history,” said Wei Seng.
“YouTube has allowed me to meet a lot of
professionals around the world, from modified car
enthusiasts to car technicians and more. Without
YouTube, the world would never be able to see my
works and I would never have been able to get my
work out there.”
Wei Seng takes it all in stride, and understands
that creating videos for his fellow car fans is
still at the core of who he is. He is glad to have
had the chance to show the world his work, and
his persistence in making videos weekly has
opened many doors to new collaborations and
sponsorships.
Hee Wei Seng puts the pedal to the metal
Hee Wei Seng
37

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Jenn Chia
Multi-talented creator Jenn Chia, who’s famously
known just by her channel name SoImJenn, uses
her channel to encourage her followers to be the
best version of themselves.
Her brand name can best be summarised by her
end tag – “You be You” – a perfect reflection of
her content, which encourages her viewers to be
true to who they are.
“After a couple of years creating videos, I realise
that my content revolves around one theme -
being true to who you are. I want my channel and
voice to empower and inspire my supporters to
have the courage to be who they are or want to
be,” shared Jenn.
Starting off her YouTube journey through music,
Jenn initially uploaded her original compositions
on YouTube. But she eventually realized that
sharing an idea or a story on the platform would
better enable her to connect with other people
on a personal level. That’s why she branched out,
expanding her channel to include comedy skits,
makeup tutorials, and travel vlogs.
“I never had a digital strategy with YouTube. I
uploaded my first video without any expectations
other than to share my experiences through
music. I continued uploading videos to connect
with my audience, share my stories or simply to
entertain them.”
Jenn’s channel is her personal gallery. Although
she enjoys creating content, her YouTube
channel also serves as a great place to store her
memories of her YouTube journey and reflect on
the content she’s created. That being said, her
ultimate goal is for her to empower every single
one of her 58,000 followers with the courage to be
themselves.
A creator with an empowering message

40 41
Cupcake Aisyah
Aisyah started experimenting with videos on
‘live’ social video platforms. However, a growing
interest in her beauty and fashion-oriented
content motivated her to start posting more
permanent videos on YouTube in 2015.
Despite a massive following on her social media
accounts, YouTube is Aisyah’s top choice as she
believes that it is her generation’s version of TV.
YouTube has allowed Aisyah to not only build
her personal brand, but also to help other brands
elevate their marketing campaigns. With her
channel’s recent growth, Aisyah is becoming
increasingly influential with many opportunities
coming her way, including a promotional
campaign with McDonald’s. As such, she strives
to stay authentic by only working with brands that
are appropriate to be featured on her channel.
Cupcake Aisyah shares sweet tips on YouTube
First introduced as TryMasak in 2008, iCookAsia
is YouTube’s first Malaysian recipe channel.
Initially focused on sharing recipes for good ol’
home-made local dishes, the channel has since
uploaded over 2,000 videos of recipes from
Malaysia as well as other countries across Asia.
iCookAsia’s catalog of videos covers a variety of
styles - from straight-up step-by-step recipes, to
food reviews and chef highlights. iCookAsia also
doubles as a digital agency specializing in helping
food & beverage brands such as Delicious and
Yakult to increase their audience and engagement
on social media.
This combination of communal spirit and their
consistent showcase of diverse recipes in an
easy-to-follow format has garnered them a
following of over 175,000 subscribers.
Previously known as EC Inspirasi on UnifiTV
when they first launched in 2012, Inspirasi is a
family-friendly channel that features food-inspired
lifestyle content. Along with many delicious
recipe videos, the channel features occasional
appearances by celebrities who share tips and
tricks on executing the perfect meal.
With a multitude of shows produced on Inspirasi,
fan favourites such as #BakarInspirasi, Aroma
Masak and #BujangSenang aim to be relatable to
fellow Malaysians who may find it difficult to set
time or money aside to figure out meal ideas.
As the self-proclaimed first dedicated youth
TV channel in Malaysia, Inspirasi looks to whet
appetites for more than just food, with film
reviews, fashion tutorials and holiday destinations.
The diversity and consistency of quality in content
that Inspirasi puts out are certainly big drivers of
its 156,000 subscriber base.
iCookAsia
Inspirasi
Spreading good vibes
through good food
Inspiring appetites and
foodies alike

42
YouTube is the place where everyone can explore
their passion. Awesome Toys is the go-to channel
for geeky collectibles - from custom die-cast
model cars to DIY anime robot figures, and
everything in between - with an eye on the latest
sought-after releases, collection highlights, as well
as toy reviews catering to collectors of all ages.
As collectors themselves, co-founder Peter Loo
and his fellow Awesome Toys team were always
looking for the latest news on all things toys,
but found that there weren’t enough resources
catering to Malaysian collectors. Therefore, they
started Awesome Toys as an information hub for
the community, but the process of growing their
channel was not without its challenges.
“When we just started on YouTube, there was
not much of a local support that we could find.
We just observed what others were doing and
learn from them. As with the recent changes and
growth in the YouTube community, the popularity
of the platform has ensured our brand name to
become synonymous with being the premier toy
channel across the globe!” said Peter.
Through content such as collector showcases,
on-ground coverage of toy conferences, as well as
in-depth reviews of the latest products, they were
able to gradually grow the channel to over 27,000
subscribers and gained over 10 million views
within the span of four years.
“YouTube is our core channel to showcase our
content and videos. We regularly see 4 to 5 million
impressions from YouTube recommending our
content to viewers, and that has really helped us
to build our fan base.”
As they continue to build their brand and content
off the platform, Awesome Toys has bigger
ambitions. Dubbing themselves part of the
community of geeks in Malaysia, the channel
aims to put out more than just toy collecting by
introducing a series of geeky platforms such as a
film review channel and a toy photography page
for their fans.
Malaysia’s own curators of collectibles for the young at heart
Awesome Toys
43

45
44
06
Malaysians
use YouTube
as a learning
tool

46 47
Malaysians are using
YouTube to learn and follow
their passions. Simply choose
a subject or topic - whether
it be a foreign language,
science, mathematics,
swimming, guitar, or golf
- and you’ll find endless
learning materials.
13 YouTube Internal Data, GLOBAL, Q3 2017
14 Ipsos YouTube User Profiling Study, TW, June 2018
Funded and run by the BAC Education Group,
BACfreeschool is a Malaysian channel dedicated
to providing free educational resources for
students across the nation. Since its inception in
2012, the channel has developed a variety of both
fun and curriculum-specific videos to help primary
and secondary school students revise and brush
up on school work.
Featuring a combination of videos with advice
from professional mentors and tips on tackling
examinations, BACfreeschool also explores
a more interactive side of education through
livestream sessions to allow students to post their
questions and get advice on the spot. By providing
students with the extra learning edge at an added
convenience, it is a niche that certainly inspires
educators and students alike.
By marrying tech and education, BACfreeschool
has built an engaged audience of over 52,000
subscribers.
Creators of accessible e-learning

48 4948
Financial advisor Spark Liang started his channel
in 2009 to showcase his music covers and
hobbies before realizing that there was a lack of
financial know-how and resources for Malaysian
millennials. Wanting to share his expertise with
his peers, Spark started making a series of videos
about various topics relating to financial education
and planning.
By keeping himself and his audience informed,
Spark dives into topics that many are afraid to
ask or are unsure about in personal finances.
Whether it’s about doing your taxes, applying
for house loans, saving for retirement or
basic budget planning, Spark has it all
covered in his weekly videos.
Spark currently has over
105,000 subscribers who
make up the community of
financially savvy youths that
tune in weekly for an
electrifying dose of fiscal
education.
Cashing in with the right
financial education
Spark Liang
YouTube Kids is an app for kids and their parents.
Available in 37 countries including Malaysia, we
created YouTube Kids to make it safer and simpler
for kids to explore the world through online video
– from their favorite shows and music to learning
how to build a model volcano.
YouTube Kids is used by more than 11 million
users weekly with the app’s aggregate views
reaching 70 billion. Parents can set age-wise
authorization to ensure age-appropriate content
is shown on the app. They can also build a
watching environment suitable for their children
by setting a timer and allowing or blocking the
search function.
A safer online experience for children - YouTube Kids

50
In 2018, Cartoon Hooligans - the very first
Malaysian YouTube channel to hit 1 million
subscribers - collaborated with Google and telco
service provider Digi on a series of educational
animated shorts focused on teaching kids about
internet safety and empowering them with ways
to react appropriately and confidently.
Using localized takes on popular superhero
characters and modelled after Google’s Be
Internet Awesome program, the five-part Yellow
Heart Cyber Series tackled issues such as
cyberbullying and online grooming, some through
relatable everyday moments and others through
situations that they may have read or heard about.
The videos also formed the basis of Digi’s
‘CyberSafe in Schools’ competition for
2018. Organized annually by the company in
collaboration with the Ministry of Education
and Cybersecurity Malaysia, the competition
challenged public school students all across
Malaysia to test their understanding of the
topics highlighted in the series through a quiz.
Participants can also choose to submit a
captioned photo of themselves teaching the
lessons to an adult.
After wrapping up on September 30th, the results
were found to be very encouraging: more than
16,000 students from a total of 174 schools took
part in the competition over the 1-month period it
was in effect. The series itself pulled in a collective
of more than 316,000 views, which speaks
volumes about how education can be appealing
when packaged in the right way.
Educating the youth through entertainment
51
Cartoon
Hooligans

53
52
07 Creators for
Change

54 55
YouTube Creators for Change
is a global program dedicated
to amplifying the voices of
YouTube role models who
are tackling social issues with
their YouTube channels.
YouTube is creating a healthy content ecosystem in Malaysia
YouTube is heavily investing in technology to allow Malaysian creators to deliver their stories to
people all around the world through the free platform, as well as in creating an ecosystem to help
creators express their creativity and build their professional career. YouTube Creator Workshops,
1:1 support from YouTube partner managers, and networking events are in place to assist content
creators in Malaysia.
The YouTube Creator Academy helps emerging
creators in Malaysia understand YouTube and
make use of this platform. In doing so, YouTube
offers free online training materials, best practices
and success strategies designed to polish their
operational skills on YouTube.
YouTube also offers a range of face to face
training opportunities to help creators grow and
connect themselves with each other, such as the
YouTube Creator Workshop focusing on content
strategies and channel branding as well as
Creator Collaboration Days and Partner Summits.
Initiated in Malaysia in 2016, YouTube Week is a
celebration of the nation’s creators, brands, media,
and creative agencies that have made a mark on
the platform. During the celebration, YouTube runs
workshops to help creators learn about channel
management strategies as well as various
content development ideas.
The year’s YouTube Week is the biggest we’ve
ever organised, featuring a fan-friendly YouTube
Showcase performance where fans will see the
live shows prepared by creators.
YouTube offers a range of online and offline support to help
talented creators develop quality content, attract subscribers
all over the world, and grow a stable business.

56 57
The program started in 2016 with the goal of
championing creators with big ideas to help
counter issues like extremism and hate with
content promoting positive values like respect,
diversity and pluralism.
Video has enormous power to inspire people, to
increase understanding, and to develop empathy.
YouTube creators have long known the power
of video to express themselves, encourage new
perspectives, and inspire solidarity within global
fan bases. In fact, over half of our millennial
subscribers have said a YouTube creator has
changed their life. Creators have also pioneered
new forms of advocacy through YouTube -
through videos, communities have come together
to spur positive change on the issues that matter
to them.
Last year, Creators for Change generated 55
thought-provoking videos to combat hate and
promote tolerance that collectively garnered
over 731,000 hours of watchtime. Across more
than 200 locations over 14,000 young people
participated in Creatorsfor Change workshops on
how to combat hate online.14
In May this year, YouTube announced 47 creators
as its 2018 class of Ambassadors. These
Ambassadors, who were chosen for their passion
and dedication in creating social change, come
from over 16 countries and represent a combined
audience of 20 million fans.15
Malaysian creator the TheMingThing is one of 47
creators worldwide to be selected as a Creators
for Change Ambassador. The Ming Thing channel
was formed by a couple of friends who wanted
to do something more with their love for filming
and storytelling. What started out as a platform
for simple vlogs slowly grew into a whole platform
for content with a goal to both entertain and put
out a good message in the form of short stories,
sketches and much more.
As part of our US$5 million investment in this
program, these creators will receive support
from YouTube through a combination of project
funding, mentorship opportunities, and ongoing
production assistance at our YouTube Spaces.
They also joined us for our second annual Social
Impact Camp at YouTube Space London this
summer. The Social Impact Camp is an exclusive
two-day-long camp featuring inspirational
speakers, video production workshops, and
mentorship opportunities with experts as well as
time for the Ambassadors to connect with one
another.
We’ve also joined forces with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and social
change agency Love Frankie to support YouTube
creators from the Asia-Pacific region who are
passionate about creating social impact and
tackling tough issues through their videos. The
partnership included a series of Boot Camps
in Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines
and Thailand between June - November 2018
where local creators worked on content about
local issues alongside experts such as NGOs,
academic authorities, and subject matter
specialists.
Promoting positive values online
14 YouTube Creators for Change Yearly Report, Global, 2016 - 2017
15 YouTube Creators For Change Official Blog, May 2018
Following these Boot Camps, UNDP and YouTube
have selected a group of Creators for Change
Fellows, based on the most successful video
projects highlighting social issues affecting
communities – such as xenophobia, intolerance,
and cyberbullying – with the aim to promote
tolerance and positivity online.
The Fellows will participate in a three-month
Academy Program that includes mentoring from
Creators for Change Ambassadors, local experts,
and NGOs to help produce informed, high-quality
content that resonates in their countries.
We are delighted that two Malaysian creators -
The Salad Show and Vikarworld - were selected to
be part of this programme.
The Salad Show currently has over 12k
subscribers and creates short comic sketches
and films. Together with Projek Dialog, an
organisation that opens up discussions about
the socio-political state of culture and religion in
Malaysia, the Salad Show’s video will explore how
racial stereotypes can lead to xenophobia.
Musical entertainment and parody channel
Vikarworld will be creating a video to help their
70k subscribers understand why people turn
to terrorism, in partnership with the Southeast
Asia Regional Centre for Counter Terrorism
(SEARCCT). Through composing a rap song
and music video, the project hopes to contrast
the views of an ordinary civilian and those of a
terrorist to explore the repercussions when people
commit violent acts.
The MingThing

59
58
08
Traditional
content owners
are also using
YouTube to
promote their
content and
earn additional
revenues

60 61
YouTube is a new medium
for Malaysians to read news
and search for information.
Traditional content producers
such as printed media and
movie makers attract new
consumers and generate
additional revenues by
producing content tailored to
YouTube users and making
changes in how they deliver
their content.
We believe in the importance of quality journalism
and our responsibility to support innovation in
products and funding for news.
YouTube users often come to YouTube to
learn about developing events and engage with
channels from local and international news
publishers. To ensure they get diverse and
authoritative news results, especially during fast-
moving, breaking news events, YouTube has been
investing in a number of initiatives and product
innovations.
To improve the news experience on the
platform and make credible sources more
readily accessible to users, we recently rolled
out the Breaking News and Top News features
to viewers in Malaysia. When a breaking news
event happens, this feature will highlight videos
and news sources from local news organizations
directly on the YouTube homepage.
Working alongside publishers, we’ve also
launched Player for Publishers, a solution that
enables news organizations to use YouTube’s
video player to give viewers a world-class video
experience across their own websites and mobile
apps. Player for Publishers already reduces costs
and offers improved monetization for over 100
publishers in more than 25 countries.
Media Prima Berhad, Malaysia’s largest integrated
media group, is now working with YouTube
through the Player for Publishers service. This
will enable Media Prima to reach more viewers
and access greater monetisation opportunities
by consolidating its online video content
through YouTube’s video streaming service.
The collaboration – in-line with the Group’s
transformation to become Malaysia’s leading
digital-first content and commerce company
– will see all Media Prima video content (more
than thirty years’ worth) available on YouTube.
It will also enable the Group to reduce costs by
embedding YouTube’s video player across its
platforms, while giving audiences a better video
viewing experience of its popular content across
multiple devices. This move will allow Media
Prima to generate sustainable revenue through
programmatic advertising, one of the fastest
growing digital revenue segments.
Consuming news and supporting quality journalism
16 Media Prima Press release, 7th August 2018, https://bit.ly/2JXPeHj

62 63
The popularity of the YouTube
platform has opened up new
audiences and important new
revenue streams for traditional
content industries.
20 Mia, “Google Follows Through: What’s Being Taught in a College YouTuber Course? Associate Professor Explains,” Inside, July 13, 2018,
https://www.inside.com.tw/2018/07/13/youtuber-courses.
Film Industry
Movie studios have harnessed the power of YouTube to promote the release of feature films.
Malaysian film studios like Astro Shaw use their YouTube channels to promote trailers and previews,
like the theatrical trailer for Hantu Kak Limah. That trailer alone has been viewed over 5.7 million
times, and was distributed freely through YouTube. This content is easily shareable on social media,
and plays a significant role in building hype before the release of a film.
YouTube has signed partnership agreements
not only with major labels but also hundreds
of copyright associations, independent labels
and music publishers, helping artists succeed
on YouTube. Under the license agreements
and based on the profit-sharing tool offered by
YouTube, rights holders are paid money from
revenues coming from ads put on their music
videos. YouTube has paid out over US$6 billion to
the music industry. In fact, half the revenues the
industry earns on YouTube come from content
uploaded by fans.
Music industry

65
64
09
Content ID
protects
copyright
on YouTube

66 67
Content ID is YouTube’s
proprietary copyright
management system. It is a
web-based tool that allows
rightsholders to protect and
monetise their content on
YouTube. Rightsholders can
use Content ID to identify user-
uploaded videos containing
their content, and choose
whether to monetise, track or
block that content.
Any of these actions can be country-specific.
For example, a content owner may choose to
monetise a video in one country, and block or
track in another. Content ID works by scanning
videos uploaded to YouTube against more
than 600 years of audio and visual reference
content. It then applies the rightholders’ preferred
action. YouTube has more than 65 million active
reference files in our Content ID database as of
February 2017, making it the most comprehensive
in the world.
The vast majority of rightsholders - more than
90 per cent - choose to monetise their claims,
leaving their content up on YouTube. That means
that users benefit as well - they get to continue to
freely remix and upload their new creations that
use existing works.
In the music industry, 99.5 percent of reported
sound recording copyright claims are automated
through Content ID.
Since launching Content ID in 2007, over 600
million videos have been claimed by partners, and
YouTube has paid out more than US$3 billion to
rightsholders who have opted to monetise their
content through Content ID.
Allow users to view the video
and display advertisements
with it.
Allow users to view the video
without advertisements; collect
statistics about video views.
Don’t allow users to view the
video on YouTube.
21 YouTube Internal Data, GlOBAL, Jan 2018

69
68
10
YouTube
Community
Guidelines

70 71
You might not like everything
you see on YouTube and we
have set ground rules to keep
YouTube safe and fun for
everyone.
If a user feels that content is inappropriate, they can use the flagging feature to submit content for
review by our YouTube staff. YouTube’s has dedicated teams that carefully review flagged content 24
hours a day, 7 days a week to determine whether there’s a violation of our Community Guidelines.
Copyright on YouTube
We take copyright seriously and we expect our
users to do the same. That means users not
uploading videos that they didn’t make, or using
content in videos that someone else owns the
copyright to, without necessary authorisations.
Our YouTube Copyright webpage17
contains more
information on the ground rules.
Harmful or dangerous content
We don’t allow users to post videos that
encourage others to do things that might cause
them to get badly hurt, especially kids. Videos
showing such harmful or dangerous acts may
get age-restricted or removed depending on
their severity.
YouTube Community Guidelines enforcement
YouTube relies on a combination of people and technology to flag inappropriate content and enforce
YouTube’s Community Guidelines at scale.
Between January and March 2018, a total of 9,790,082 YouTube videos were removed from YouTube
after being deemed in violation of our policies. Of these, over 7 million videos removed were first
detected via our automated flagging systems. YouTube’s automated flagging technology enables
YouTube to act more quickly to enforce our policies. In nearly three quarters of the videos removed that
were detected by our automated systems, they were removed prior to any viewing.
17 Copyright on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/copyright/#support-and-troubleshooting
Hateful content
YouTube is a platform for free expression, but
we don’t support content that promotes or
condones violence against individuals or groups,
based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability,
gender, age, nationality, veteran status, or sexual
orientation/gender identity, or whose primary
purpose is inciting hatred on the basis of these
core characteristics. This can be a delicate
balancing act, but if the primary purpose is to
attack a protected group, the content crosses
the line.
Threats
We take things like predatory behavior, stalking,
threats, harassment, intimidation, invading privacy,
revealing other people’s personal information, and
inciting others to commit violent acts or to violate
the YouTube Terms of Use very seriously. Anyone
caught doing these things may be permanently
banned from YouTube.
Nudity or sexual content
YouTube is not for pornography or sexually
explicit content. We also work closely with law
enforcement and we report child exploitation.

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