Malaysia’s first Transformers club is known as Transformers Fans Malaysia (formerly the Malaysian Transformers Fandom Group). TransMY aims to gather and unite all Transformers fans and collectors from Malaysia. We provide a platform for information exchange, experiences, and enjoyment within the Transformers franchise and fandom.
The membership comprises old fans, rekindled enthusiasts, and newcomers alike. We unite as one of the largest and most consolidated Transformers fan groups, consumers, and collectors based in Malaysia.
Founding & Platforms
TransMY was founded on June 19, 2003, in the library of the University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom, while the founder was a student there. The original members consisted of the Wong brothers themselves – Wong Chin Yam (C.Y), the founder also known as Admin Prime, and Mike Wong, co-founder also known as ‘Monkticon’.
Before its founding, TransMY resided in Yahoo Groups as a small and relatively unknown online hobbyist group. The original group no longer exist as Yahoo Group has been shut down, though it was most active during its service from June 2003 to March 2004.
After approximately two months of operation on Yahoo Groups, we decided to advertise TransMY on Tformers, an international Transformers website based in the US. Several Malaysian members responded and joined TransMY immediately after the advertisement. With extensive knowledge of the fandom, some were promoted as moderators and continue to serve actively in that capacity.
On March 1, 2004, TransMY migrated to a bulletin board-style website using open-source software called phpBB. The site was hosted on phpbbhost.org (now defunct), which offered free phpBB forum hosting at the time.
What was initially an experiment quickly gained momentum as traffic and membership increased. The forum was more organized compared to Yahoo Groups. Discussion boards are split into sections for members to interact on their preferred topics.
TransMY then migrated again on May 1, 2004, to a CMS (Content Management System) using phpNuke, hosted in timichost.net (now defunct). Thanks to CEO of timichost.net, who noticed us during our search for free web hosting in a US-based web developers forum. Anthony generously sponsored us for approximately a year, during which our membership grew steadily.
We promoted ourselves on prominent search engines like cari.com.my, yahoo.com, and google.com. Additionally, we promoted TransMY in other Transformers forums in the US and UK, leading to a membership of 67 at the time.
In December 2005, TransMY acquired a web host and domain name with a personal DNS server and migrated to a new web host running Joomla CMS. In December 2007, we migrated again to a Malaysian-based web host, returning home after this Transformers club being hosted overseas for some time.
TransMY upgraded its content management system from Joomla to WordPress in March-April 2011, T. We aim to expand its presence across social media channels via blogging, Twitter, and Facebook. Additionally, the forum was upgraded to run independently using Simple Machines Forum as the platform.
Gatherings & Media Coverages
We held our very first official gathering on September 11, 2004, with over 30 attendees, which was the first for a Transformers club based in Malaysia. The second gathering took place a year later on February 19, 2005, coinciding with the founder’s return to Malaysia.
The next gathering was held from June 22nd to 24th at Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara, and was the largest yet. This coincided with the launch of Michael Bay’s blockbuster – Transformers Movie. The event garnered significant media coverage, with members featured in major newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and even TV talk shows.
TransMY was officially ‘branded’ in September of the same year when member ‘Tigatron’ (aka Yew Kok Hoong) completed a sketch. He designed our very first logo based on a tiger motif for our Transformers club reflecting Malaysian national identity.
The inaugural Cybertron Con launched in 2012 marked a groundbreaking event as it debuted for the first time in Southeast Asia. Hosted at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore, from March 11 to March 14, 2012, the convention was a collaborative effort between RWS and Hasbro Singapore.
Notably, this occasion also saw TransMY as the only Transformers club making history by contributing over 200 figures from the Beast Wars line to Singapore via air cargo. This marks a significant milestone in cross-border collaboration within the Transformers community.
In 2014, we achieved a significant milestone when we became an officially registered club under the law. Before the Transformers Expo in Genting Highlands, we completed the registration process with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) of Malaysia.
We contributed 1,500 of our most prized Transformers action figures to the 30th Anniversary Transformers Expo at Genting Highlands, running from January 31st to February 16th. The grand launch was graced by YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri b. Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.
Aligned with the government’s Visit Malaysia Year 2014, the event aimed to attract visitors during the Chinese New Year holiday season. Drawing over 250,000 attendees, the event showcased one of Southeast Asia’s largest collections from a single Transformers club.
Over 50 dedicated members of TransMY contributed various toylines from the Hasbro Transformers universe.
Partnerships
Over the past 17 years, TransMY has collaborated closely with United International Pictures (UIP) Malaysia, Hasbro, MyEvents, Cineleisure, and Queensbay Mall. Also extending them to other exhibitions catering to real estate companies, charity NGOs, anime groups and event companies.
We have maintained a strong partnership with United International Pictures Malaysia, actively promoting every instalment of the Transformers movie franchise. It spanned from Michael Bay’s pentalogy to the era of Steven Caple.
This collaboration extends to organizing tie-in events with Hasbro at various shopping malls and cinema companies like TGV and GSC. From 2007 until 2023, we have been involved in more than 50 events, 7 premieres and countless fan hangout sessions.
TransMY looks forward to organizing larger social events in the future to attract more fans and further foster appreciation for this fandom.
