Cover Story: Sharing Hope
For Kuching Food Aid founder Shen-tel Lee, her organisation’s origins are rooted in a moment of crisis. However, her entrepreneurial spirit, a deep sense of community, and a growing understanding of how technology can fuel social good transformed a simple act of kindness into a lifeline for thousands in need.
Off the bat, Shen-tel is immediately identifiable as one half of kitschy accessories brand Sereni & Shentel and Bowerhaus. But this is The Giving Issue, so we’re sharing a side to her that not many know about. To really get into this story, there are three things you should know about Shen-tel Lee. First, she’s a proud Sarawakian-Australian deeply in love with Kuching. Second, family is the cornerstone of her life—as a mother, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and sister. And third, she’s great at Instagram in an effortless way that draws followers to her account, all of whom I’m certain feel like they are being drawn into the confidence of one of their closest friends. And with good reason.
Scrolling through Shen-tel’s posts, Stories, and Highlights, it becomes apparent that her Instagram account is a private journal made public. Carousels of photos and videos throw up treasured memories that move beyond her style or haunts she frequents; they reveal what makes her tick. One such endearing series of photos shows Shen-tel horsing around with her husband, Dato’ Bobby Ting, and two sons, Benjamin and Kingston. All four of them are decked out in Krispy Kreme paper hats while in the American doughnut shop, having a ball of a time. Travels to exciting locales are documented in editorial-style Reels, packed with tips on where to stay, where to eat, where to shop, and why to do these things in those places. Cameos from friends show us her girlish sense of humour.
“I’m very visual,” Shen-tel shares. “Instagram is my therapy. I take photos of everything, reliving that moment through the visual. To smell and hear everything that was there in that moment. At the end of the day, I’ll sit back, go through my photos and videos, and choose what to share. It’s how I connect with my family! They see my feed and my mom will ring up and ask, ‘How was the mortadella you had for lunch?’ and we can just jump straight into a conversation. I like to go back and look at my Highlights; they’re like my own scrapbook.”
But the absolute best part of Shen-tel’s Instagram account are the three squares pinned to the top of her feed. The first is a call to action for providing aid to Kuching Food Aid (KFA), while the second and third are helpful guides on donating nomad e-sims to Gazans to keep them connected to the world in the face of catastrophe. These reveal the way in which Shen-tel has been putting the social into social media over the past four years—through her charity and advocacy work—which has led to the latest iteration of Shen-tel as a passionate philanthropist.
She demures at this description, reminding me that her title at KFA is that of volunteer, despite instigating the food bank project that aims to support some of Kuching’s most vulnerable citizens. As she describes the inception and growth of KFA and the Kuching Community Social Support Centre (KCSSC), it becomes clear that this passion project has emerged thanks to the set of conditions listed in the first paragraph: Shen-tel’s love for Kuching, the support she finds and gives back in her community, and her ability to easily mobilise social media.
SWIPE RIGHT FOR CHANGE
We are often told that technology paves the way forward for increasingly malleable lives, with remote working paraded as a particularly desirable benefit. Shen-tel has clearly embraced this as she straddles life between two cities on separate continents. What’s even more striking is how she’s found ways to connect with and mobilise social sectors that have wide socio-economic gulfs, utilising the immediacy and transparency the online world can afford us. Her efforts have transformed into her two distinct yet intertwined charity projects of KFA and KCSSC.
KFA’s success is a testament to the power social media and networking yield in driving change, especially in times of crisis. The immense challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic fostered an environment in which out-of-the-box thinking allowed for a community-based support system that transcended traditional charity models. Shen-tel’s ability to leverage digital platforms enabled KFA to respond quickly and efficiently to urgent needs. “KFA started from a total stranger messaging me on Instagram to help him and his community in Kampung Haji Baki. It was one of the first zones that had complete lockdown status where the military was involved,” Shen-tel recounts. She then pledged RM5,000 towards the much-needed sanitisers and face masks via an 11PM Instagram post that she invited her followers to join in on.
When she woke up the next morning, she found she had a sea of messages and had raised RM30,000. With this tidy sum, Shen-tel was able to buy both items for 300 families and still have some left over which she directed to milk powder and diapers for the same area. This was the moment that solidified Shen-tel’s belief in the power of social media to bring about rapid change. Unlike the sometimes-slower route of traditional charity events, which can take time to organise and often face logistical challenges, Instagram enabled her to raise funds almost instantly, connecting her to a wider community of
supporters.
“That was really the thing that started this community outpouring through Instagram. I saw that there was power there and I could raise funds quickly.” When asked to describe KFA in the simplest terms, Shen-tel does not miss a beat. “KFA is basically the only food bank in East Malaysia. It has no political or religious ties; it’s an independent food bank that the community built. KFA can only exist if the community wants it to exist.” She stresses that one issue constantly staring them in the face is the lack of funds. “We’ll never have enough funds to help all the people who need it.”
Editor: Tengku Zai
Photographer: Bibo Aswan
Stylist: Andrea Wong
Videography: Por Jia Jun, Stanley Loh
Writer: Zena Khan
Makeup: Kevin Lee
Hair: Bibian Leong
Photography Assistant: Saiful Azwan
This cover story first appeared in PRESTIGE Malaysia’s December 2024 issue. To read the full story, pick up a copy in store or subscribe on Magzter.