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Speaking on Innovation at rAsia Forum Moscow 2014
The only thing I remember about Russian is usually they’re on Hollywood movies in furry coat, being a secret agent, lots of snow and cold face. So when I’m invited by the Embassy of The Republic Indonesia for The Russian Federation to speak at rAsia Forum in Moscow, I met Russian who speak and joke in Bahasa Indonesia, like Dr Ludmila Demedyuk, plus beautiful sunny weather. It’s nothing like I ever imagine before. Indonesia is the partner of rAsia Forum 2014. rAsia Forum is an international event held in Moscow, inviting speakers from all around the world including Indonesia, USA, UK, Hong Kong, Germany, and many more, to share knowledge and…
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From Tech Forum Central Asia 3 In Almaty, Kazakhstan
I came to Almaty, Kazakhstan, as a trainer at Tech Forum Central Asia 3, but the truth is, I’m the one learning so much from this trip. First, I’ve learned that Almaty is one beautiful and unique city. The city has a magical background of the snow-capped mountains that reminds me of Narnia. I told my friends that nobody can ever be depressed in Almaty. When you feeling down, all you have to do is to held your head up, watch the mountains and you’ll be okay in no time. A mix of ethnic groups in Almaty also the reason why there are a lot of beautiful people with strong…
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Tales on Mother’s Day
“How come there’s no Auntie’s Day?” That’s what I asked this morning to embrace Mother’s Day. I’m not married and I don’t have kids. My only way to show my motherly love is to shower my baby nephew, or other people kids, with presents. I’m the sweet Auntie O. I have another technique to pour my love: having ‘kids’ of my own by sending children back to school. Now, if you live in Brunei and Bahrain, you’re lucky. The government will send you to study up until Bachelor degree. In Indonesia, kids who can’t afford education, just won’t continue their study and work in the lower level jobs, earning lower…
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Girls & Tech Book Launch
“I think I have picked the wrong subject (in university), I’m not good with IT.” I’ve heard this complaint a lot of time, often from girls. This is not about the subject, it’s all about mindset. We all know that IT industry is overwhelmingly filled with men. When girls see that, they immediately label IT as ‘made for men’ and difficult. Some of the girls never wanted to have anything to do with technology because of this perspective. I spend my teenage years knowing what I wanted to do: building websites. This idea came naturally after spending most of my time interacting with people on the internet and see how…
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A New Beginning: From Washington DC to New York City
People often go to India or Nepal for spiritual search. But to me, I had my spiritual journey in the United States of America. I was invited by US State Department as one of 28 delegates from 28 countries (Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, and Uzbekistan) to participate in IVLP (International Visitor Leadership Program), with a focus in entrepreneurship. We call the program, ‘A New Beginning 2013’ #ANB13 I’ve been invited to similar program before, so I have guessed a bit of…
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Unleashing Women Power with Technology
Just like Michelangelo who already can see ‘an angel’ inside a marble stone that later we know as statue of ‘David’, I also can see how women potential can sparks with technology. Women have highly potential traits like the ability to multitask; able to use time effectively, they have more empathy, they will think about the community wellbeing first before themselves. All the qualities that will be more powerful when combined with technology. I wasn’t born knowing that someday I will be a web developer and co-found tech startups. But gradually I build the love of using technology from a very early age. My dad bought me my first laptop…
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Things to do Before You Turn 30
I’m inspired by this post by Dimas about what you should do before 30. By reading the title of this post alone, you should know a little bit about my age :)) So here we go, my version of what you should do before 30: Backpack out of the country My first time backpacking was when I turn 24. Me and my best girls pack our bag and went to Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Bangkok and Singapore. I brought a real backpack, which I regret later because it was too heavy. I remember we must eat cheap sandwiches for breakfast because we splurge on seafood dinner the night before :)) My…
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From the First ASEAN Youth Entrepreneurs Seminar & Exposition Brunei
This is my second time visiting Brunei. The last time was to speak at Think Big Innovate 2012. And few days ago I’m back to Brunei to speak about entrepreneurship to ASEAN young entrepreneurs on the first ASEAN Youth Entrepreneurs Seminar and Exposition. I thought this time I’m going to focus on one message: about being perfect. I always say that I’m an imperfectionist. I start small and quick, far from perfect, because I believe perfection is a journey. So, this ‘lean startup’ spirit is the one that I want to spread in the forum. Speaking with me was Muzamir Mustafa and Azura Liyana, both entrepreneurs from Malaysia. From the…
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Why Teachers must Write
Saya merasa di Indonesia, menulis belum mendapat ruang yang cukup di sekolah. Padahal saat ini semua dilakukan dengan menulis. Mulai dari menulis email, menulis pesan via whatsapp/bbm, ngetwit sampai update status. Semua membutuhkan keahlian menulis. Jika tidak biasa menulis, bisa-bisa yang ditulis akan menimbulkan kebingungan dan salah kaprah banyak orang, pesan dalam tulisan tidak akan sampai dengan baik. Belajar menulis bukan soal menulisnya itu sendiri, tapi belajar menganalisa, belajar berpikir, belajar berkomunikasi secara efektif. Saya percaya salah satu orang yang harus jago nulis adalah guru, terutama guru di sekolah, dalam berbagai mata pelajaran. Kenapa? Karena guru lah yang berhadapan dengan murid setiap harinya. Guru berpeluang membuat murid mempunyai kebiasaan menulis…
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Kartini Next Generation Award 2013: Inspiring Women in ICT
It’s an honor for me to receive the Kartini Next Generation 2013 Special Award – Inspiring Woman in ICT by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Republic of Indonesia with other inspiring women in several sectors like education, entrepreneurship, social community and creative media. My love to technology started when my dad bought me my first laptop when I was 13 years old. I started to get connected to internet, find new friends all over the world, curious on how to make a website, starting my first web consultant company in highschool with the name ‘Kalong design’ :)) Creating websites with Geocities for my teachers. Not many people knows, because…
