In conjunction with the Merdeka Day celebrations on August 31, Astro will showcase local films portraying the multi-cultural landscape of Malaysia through its 'Negaraku 2015' campaign.

According to its Chief Operating Officer, Henry Tan, selected films produced by our home-grown talents will also be available on Astro On-The-Go.

Astro will also carry out its ‘KitaSama Blood Donation Drive’ for the second year running, in a bid to replenish the country’s blood bank.

The drive will be held at seven locations throughout the country and it is expected to benefit some 1,000 individuals in need of daily blood transfusion.

National Blood Centre Director, Dr Noryati Abu Amin said, last year alone, the blood bank received as much as 675,000 blood bags nationwide and she expects the number to rise this year.

“The blood we received last year benefitted some 337,000 patients nationwide under the Health Ministry. We expected there will be an increase of three to five bags collected every year,” she said.

The public are urged to promote the campaign on social media using #ScarednotScared to encourage more people to donate blood.

The blood donation drive will kickstart in Johor Bahru on August 14.

For more information on Astro's Merdeka campaigns, log on to www.astro.com.my/Negaraku.