Stay tuned for upcoming events and campaigns!
Apr 1, 2021
By
Marissa Wambeck

#RIUHStories: An Open Letter from the Head of RIUH

BLOG

Hello everyone,

Thank you for visiting our freshly revamped website – I hope you’re as excited as we are to get going on this uncharted territory! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Marissa, and I’ve been with RIUH ever since its inception in August 2017 – alongside the founding team: Melissa Low, Affendy Ali and Sara Athira. I now serve as the Head of RIUH, working with a dream team to elevate the Malaysian creative industry!

2017

For many, RIUH is a place where you: 

Ah, feels like AGES AGO #RINDURIUH 💔

That first RIUH weekend of August 2017 - all I knew was that RIUH had to live up to its name, which literally translated to ‘noise’, and it would have been dead awkward if it turned out to be the opposite…*krik krik*. So when 6,500 of you showed up, and I woke up on Monday morning to so many messages, emails and comments congratulating us on the success, I felt like I got hit by a bus (in the best way, of course!). It’s a feeling I’ll always remember.

And from then on, it was non-stop! We churned out 26 editions from 2017-2019 thanks to your support. Every RIUH was different and each special in its own way - be it at the cosy grounds of APW, the majestic space of Sentul Depot, the rugged hub of Gasket Alley, the downtown vibes of River of Life and the small-town charm of Ipoh for our first RIUH Out of The City, pun intended.

The work that went into putting on one good show after another was INTENSE. There are so many things that I can laugh about now but sent me into a panic at the time. Electricity trip right smack in the middle of Bil Musa’s set (major potong moment), heavy thunderstorms resulting in water leaks, making food runs to feed hungry visitors because all our vendors sold out, and other things that have now become bittersweet memories. What’s a RIUH event without a few bumps, kan?

RIUH

*Sigh* but the pandemic though… THAT was a huge boulder that no one saw coming. The essence of what we are which involved people coming together was way out of the window. And so 2020 went by without a single RIUH event. 🌧

We couldn’t sit still and do nothing. So we did the next best thing we can, shift our efforts online to support the creatives and connect with all of you through our social media accounts! IG live performances, takeovers by creative personalities, online RIUH Talks, a few festive online campaigns – we tried it all. Thus the inspiration to create RIUH 24/7! Over these few weeks, you’ll get to know more of what RIUH 24/7 entails – so I’ll leave the details out for now, but we hope you like it!

Before I sign off, if there is one thing I’d like for you to take away, it is to know that RIUH is really, at its core, the result of us coming together to celebrate our differences and the little quirks that make us, through the common ground of shared love for our beloved home – Malaysia.

RIUH wouldn't be RIUH without the support you have shown and the love you have given it to flourish – and it is with that that I end this little welcome note with: RIUH is US and is OURS 🙂