An Interactive Feature

Smile Army: The BTS Charity Helping Indonesia’s Children

By Trisha Dantiani

BTS Fans Partnering with UNICEF to Help Malnutritioned Children

When Ms Dessy Rossy first heard about the free ticket giveaway for the Art Exhibition in Plaza Indonesia that was being held for the popular Korean boy group, BTS, she knew she had to see it. She was lucky enough to receive one by filling out the Google Form to reserve her free ticket, though she admitted it was difficult to get one in the first place.

“ARMYs [BTS’s fanbase] are lightning fast when they do things like this, You blink once and it's gone in an instant.” she laughed, remembering how the form was closed because of the overwhelming number of responses. “So I posted about it on my story, about how the struggle to get a ticket for the exhibition was like fighting for a concert ticket.”

Ms Dessy Rossy had the opportunity to visit the Art Exhibition for BTS in Plaza Indonesia held from June 11 to August 8 2021 (*Supplied: Dessy Rossy)*

Ms Dessy Rossy is one of the newer members of Smile Army who had the opportunity to visit the Art Exhibition for BTS in Plaza Indonesia held from June 11 to August 8 2021

Her post received a reply from Mrs Selly Wilson, founder of the community of BTS fans that made the Art Exhibition possible. They started chatting, and Ms Rossy immediately asked if she could register to become a member.

“Selly said, 'oh it's still possible, we are still open for members’ So I followed the instructions, and I officially joined,” she said.

According to the BTS Fandom Wiki, the collective BTS fanbase is known as ARMY, an acronym for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth.

Senyum Army (Smile Army) is a community of Indonesian fans of BTS that was founded by Mrs Selly Wilson in 2019. Since then, the community has garnered coverage from international media for their BTS Art Exhibition program held in honor of BTS 8th anniversary, their ongoing partnership with UNICEF to raise funds for malnutritioned children, and their Stay Gold for the Vaccinated program which successfully gave out 10,000 free vaccinations for Indonesian.

In recent years, BTS has grown to become one of the most popular musical groups in the world, becoming the first group to reach 40 million followers on Spotify.

Mrs Wilson stated that she started off just like any other fan, buying gifts for her idols when it was still permitted by their agency Hybe Corporation, then Big Hit Entertainment.

“If we make ARMY happy, we make BTS happy too. So I thought with the same amount of money why not make something meaningful,” said Mrs Wilson.

In 2018, Mrs Wilson launched her first Art Exhibition at CG Artspace Rumah Miring, South Jakarta as a personal project that lasted from 14 to 16 September 2018. She continued to make annual Art Exhibitions every BTS anniversary up until 2020 when she decided to form a community of BTS fans who want to be involved.

“Because I want it to be even better, I thought about how I can make this community work together to make this anniversary project.”

What started out as a small community of BTS fans grew into a charity foundation that was officially established on 31 August 2021 under the legal name Yayasan Senyum Ungu Indonesia (Purple Smile Indonesia Foundation).

This year, Smile Army partnered with UNICEF Indonesia to support their program to provide Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for malnourished children. They were able to set up a booth at their Art Exhibition in Plaza Indonesia, with 60% of the funds collected from ticket sales, merchandise, and paintings sold donated to UNICEF Indonesia.

Mrs Wilson posing in front of the UNICEF Indonesia booth with two volunteers to promote their RUTF donation program (*Supplied: Selly Wilson*)

Mrs Wilson posing in front of the UNICEF Indonesia booth with two volunteers to promote their RUTF donation program (*Supplied: Selly Wilson*)

Smile Army also set up a donation drive on Kitabisa.com that has raised more than 33 million rupiah ($3106) from online donations.

Ms Blandina Rosalina Bait, Nutrition Specialist from UNICEF Indonesia stated how the country does not have its own production centre for RUTF, a nutrition paste that is crucial for the treatment of severely wasted children.

“It is still challenging because RUTF is still being imported and as you know importing is not easy, it requires a lot of work and in terms of price it’s also challenging,” said Ms Bait.

Smile Army partners with UNICEF Indonesia to provide RUTF (Ready to Use Therapeutic Food) to malnourished children in Indonesia (*Supplied: Selly Wilson*)

Smile Army partners with UNICEF Indonesia to provide RUTF (Ready to Use Therapeutic Food) to malnourished children in Indonesia (*Supplied: Selly Wilson*)

According to the Prevention and Management of Malnutritional Children Report published by the Ministry of Health Republic of Indonesia in 2019, Indonesia has the second-highest number of severe wasting children in Southeast Asia.

“We create demand, but at the same time, [we have to] ensure supply,” she said.

She emphasized that the RUTF program is now needed more than ever because severe wasted children are at a higher risk of getting infected by Covid-19 because they have weaker immune systems.

“My job is to ensure that every penny collected from Smile Army is really being utilized in terms of accountability and that we have a strong impact,” said Ms Bait.

A Second Family Driven to Making an Impact

Ms Hesty Wijayanti discovered BTS from watching one of their dance rehearsal videos.

“After watching their dance practice, I listened to their songs first, and then I paid attention to each member. That’s when I realized 'Oh, there are seven members and I knew their names.” said Ms Wijayanti

When Ms Wijayanti’s old school friends welcomed her with open arms, so did her coworkers at H&M. She ended up forming a group chat with all her friends who identified as ARMY, that’s when she found out about the BTS Art Exhibition held in 2019.

“I visited two or three times, and on one of the days, I met Selly.” she said.

“We started talking, and I told her that if she were to make another exhibition again, I’d like to help out.”

They bonded over their love for BTS and the visual arts, moving from Instagram to chatting on WhatsApp. As time went on, Mrs Wilson expressed her idea to create a community of BTS ARMY, something that Ms Wijayanti wholeheartedly agreed with.

“Right now, there are so many ARMYs in Indonesia, there are more and more new ARMYs popping up, it would be great to create a community,” said Ms Wijayanti.

According to the 2020 ARMY Census, Indonesian fans made up 20% of the 400.000 respondents from more than 100 countries.

By October 2021, the foundation itself had 81 members, aged between 18 to 45 years old, from more than 10 different regions across Indonesia including those living overseas in Japan and Korea.

Ms Wijayanti emphasized that because Smile Army’s members come from different backgrounds and have different skills and occupations, they are able to complete each other and make their projects a success.

“I'm really grateful that I met Selly and got to know a lot of ARMY friends and ended up creating this community with a purpose.”

Ms Wijayanti said that they were not simply ‘fans’ of BTS as a music group, but they also look at how kind and wise the members are. Particularly in their openness and engagement with their fans that inspire them to want to be better people.

“We as ARMYs become motivated, I feel like I want to do something, something that not only makes BTS proud but makes other people happy,” she said.

Ms Wijayanti currently serves as the Vice-Treasurer of Smile Army and assists in creating projects such as the ARMY Tableware and other forms of BTS-themed merchandise.

“We’re showing people that we're not just wasting money for the sake of our idols, we actually care about our surroundings through charity and programs like that. I'm very happy to be part of this community,” said Ms Wijayanti.

Unlike Ms Wjayanti, Ms Karizza Rakmavika was a K-Pop fan long before she became an ARMY. But she only just discovered BTS when she was recovering from an anxiety disorder.

“I suffered from anxiety in 2016, sometime after I finished my master's degree, then I struggled with it for two years,” said Ms Rakmavika.

During this time, she found an article spotlighting one of the members, Kim “RM” Namjoon, who persuaded his parents to let him become a rapper. This inspired her to take action and open up to her parents about what path she wanted to take in life.

“Because all this time I’ve always agreed with whatever they said, and I never communicated what I wanted. Since then, I have become brave enough to speak up."

As her life took on a new direction, Ms Rakmavika admitted to being drawn to BTS’ songs which had lyrics that touched on mental health, gender, and social issues.

BTS's discography has spanned eight years since their debut in 2013, fans resonate with the themes of mental health, social issues, gender and positivity that are apparent in their songs. (Source: Spotify)

“The songs that resonate with me most are Magic Shop, Tomorrow, So What, Answer: Love Myself.” said Ms Rakmavika.

“After reading that article about RM and listening to their songs, I got the strength to actually do what I wanted to do. I was especially interested in mental health.”

Ms Rakmavika was inspired to take up a coaching certification to promote mental health in Indonesia and help people struggling with their hardships.

“My coaching is more about helping people, so I don't profit from listening to their stories. My focus is on helping people with their problems."

In 2020, she was introduced to Smile Army through her friend who was already a member. She was contacted by Mrs Wilson because they needed her expertise as a public notary to establish their foundation.

"I chatted a lot with Selly, and I really like their vision and mission for the Art Exhibition, then I said I'll join, so I can help them with anything they might need."

Smile Army’s motto, We can Make ARMY Smile with our Projects, and their vision to always do everything for charity, resonated deeply with Ms Rakmavika who felt that her idols really helped a lot of people.

“Many recovered from mental health struggles and their personality changed because of BTS. There’s also a member who likes BTS because at that time they were undergoing chemotherapy, recovering from a critical illness and found BTS that sped up their recovery,” said Ms Rakmavika.

She believes that the work that Smile Army and other fan communities are doing is changing the way BTS fans are perceived in Indonesia.

"Liking BTS doesn't mean that we forget our nationalism because we like someone from South Korea. We take inspiration from them so that we can do something useful for Indonesia,” said Ms Rakmavika.

Ms Hesty Wijayanti is one of the founding members of Smile Army who works as a Visual Merchandiser at a multinational clothing-retail company (Supplied: Hesty Wijayanti)

Ms Wijayanti is seen holding a "Home" Pop Socket, one of Smile Army's Art Exhibition official merchandise that she helped visualize. (Instagram: @senyum.army)

Ms Karizza Rakmavika is one of the newer members of Smile ARMY who has not had a chance to visit the Exhibition before it closed down due to nationwide Covid-19 restrictions. (Supplied: Karizza Rakmavika)

Ms Rakmavika has actively posted about mental health and held Live talks on Instagram where she discussed topics like self-love, stress management, and toxic positivity. (Supplied: Karizza Rakmavika)

BTS and Their Fandom’s Global Impact

Not just in Indonesia, BTS fan communities in different countries have also banded together to create social projects and make large donations in honor of the members, who themselves have been known for taking action against child violence as well as making education and health care more accessible.

Dr. CedarBough Saeji, a professor of Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, stated that BTS appeals to fans because their songs have themes like “Love Yourself” that resonate with fans.

“Because the BTS fandom emphasizes community and taking care of ourselves and each other, and the members demonstrate charity, the fans have followed this example,” she said.

This was demonstrated in June 2020, when BTS fans organized an online campaign to match BTS’s donation of 1 million USD using the hashtag #MatchAMillion and reached their goal in just 25 hours.

“I think this type of activity will continue, and it's beautiful. I feel that many fans love being part of something larger than themselves, and appreciate that with many people donating just a little time or money a real difference can be made. It's empowering!” said Dr Saeji.

At the BTS Art Exhibition, Ms Rossy stopped by the UNICEF booth that was set up in the middle of the hall.

She made a donation to the RUTF cause while also registering herself as a Warrior for Children, a title given to people who donate monthly funds to UNICEF for bettering the education and welfare of children across Indonesia.

Ms Rossy stated that seeing her idols donate their funds to meaningful causes has motivated herself and so many other ARMYs out there to help those in need.

"BTS has had a tremendous impact on me, they have led me to this new family, Smile Army that make projects which create more positive change," she said.