TEDxYouth@KL

I found out about Ted.com and it's awesomeness about two years ago. It wasn't until a month or so before STPM, when everything other than revising for the "most difficult exam in the world" (so everyone says!) seems waaaay interesting, that I stumbled onto a TEDxKLWomen promotional write-up online and realised that there was TED Talks in Malaysia! Sadly I couldn't make it to that one 'cause it clashed with STPM. And I had to pass on TEDxKL which happened this year 'cause I was still in JB ruffling through university applications and such. Fortunately, TEDxYouth@KL came around last weekend and when I found out about it, I made sure I bought the tickets about a month before, to make sure I won't back out last minute.

To those of you who thought TED was a teddy bear or a certain character from a certain 'motherly' TV drama, it's basically a non-profit organisation which organises talks and conferences all over the world, spanning across various topics and issues like Technology, Entertainment and Design etc. It's really cool like you, so do check them out here.

Initially, I was bummed that Naomi couldn't make it 'cause her sister was graduating on the same day, but I guess I didn't mind taking the LRT and going alone, as long as I got there. But thankfully, I found out that my AIESECer mates won tickets and were carpooling, so I joined them and had so much fun :)

This time round, TEDxYouth@KL which was themed, "Innovation: From Ideas To Impact", was held at the Penthouse at The Icon, that was situated on Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. It featured pretty awesome presenters ranging from business extraordinaires to environmental advocates to famous personalities. It was quite a diverse line-up which I thought was great in terms of catering to a wider audience.

I knew tickets were sold out and expected a lot of people to be there but I really didn't expect it to be THAT many attendees. When we got there, which was fairly early I'd say, the venue was packed to the core! People were busy registering, visiting the many booths which were around the perimeter of the venue, munching on refreshments whilst networking and taking pictures. It was definitely a very happening and positive atmosphere. Exceptionally welcoming, I'd say.

The line-up this year as I said earlier was diverse and interesting. All of the talks were great but I'll just highlight some of them that I really enjoyed and felt like I could relate to more. 

Kicking-off the event was an amazing contemporary dance performance by Suhaili Micheline, which I appreciated fully. I know dance isn't for everyone, considering that my friend Sitham was dozing off already hahaha

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Shanghai founder, Li Pheng Phng who emphasized on how FEAR is just False Emotions Appearing Real and that we shouldn't fear failure. 

Marine biologist, Dr. Louisa Ponnampalam who specializes in dolphins and whales (eeek!), talked about her journey of bringing sea mammal research into the limelight here in Malaysia and ocean conservation must be highlighted and emphasized more here. 

Jin from JinnyBoyTV and Hitz.fm shared his journey of becoming what he is today. I really liked it when he said, "If you can't achieve your dream, go around it". That inspired me always get a grip when something doesn't go my way 'cause there is ALWAYS another way. On a different note, no, I wasn't jealous that he gave a free hoodie to that girl in front. Nope, not one bit.  

 I also really enjoyed Azim Huzaimi, a Malaysian animator who was one of the animators for Life of Pi. He gave us all an insight to what really happened behind the scenes on set and how much work they had to put into creating the perfect shot or was it frames? (I think that's what they call it). Every detail like Richard Parker's fur, the background and etc. I was mesmerized, just as the others were.

The good thing about these events is that every person there is more than willing to strike up a conversation with you and when it is written in the programme that it's a networking event, trust that there will be a lot of networking opportunities with partners, corporates, organisations and just, people! It's just a matter of grabbing those opportunities or not. I was honoured to have the chance to talk to most of the presenters and met people who have inspired me like Michael Teoh (if you don't know him, he's just the Global Youth ambassador of Malaysia) and other AIESECers as well. It was swell!

With the AIESEC in Sunway gang

Catch this! Instead of saying your conventional "Cheese!" before taking a picture, we decided to go with "AIESEC!" and guess what? This fellow AIESECer from Bulgaria was just around the corner and she came to say hi :) It's just proof that AIESEC connects people. 

With Michael Teoh, whom I'm more familiar as the world traveller who writes his escapades in a NST column! Guess what? he was an AIESECer in NZ in his degree days!

 With Dr. Clarence Tan, Ambassador of Singularity University and gang

 With Jin! After this picture, everybody started flocking him!

With Joyce Tagal, founder of Otak-Otak. I think her organisation's pretty remarkable because instead of sending students overseas for exchange, Otak-Otak strives to bring Malaysians studying overseas back to Malaysia to contribute. I think this is very noble of them.

 With Azim Huzaimi! Life of Pi animator whom I was a little start-stuck of 'cause I researched the group and wrote about them in one of my academic blogposts on littlebigtalks.com. 

With Christian Palencia, the barefoot musician whom I've seen him played a couple of times during open-mics and whom I think is amazing in what he does. Check him out here! And with Razif Hashim, an actorpreneur whom I've been a big fan of since his Gol and Gincu days and now, his makan escapades on 8TV! Talented guy, he is! :D

It was such a great outing and I was so glad to have gone with my AIESECer mates! I shall end this post with a very funny scenario that happened to me when I was networking during TED. I was just walking around with my drink and suddenly there was this guy who stopped me halfway like we knew each other. He was like, "Heyy!" He must have seen my weird-out-but-trying to-stay-friendly-face and started to explained that we met at some event. I swear I was trying to figure out where I've met him but we clearly do not know each other! hahaha It was funny cuz to make things not feel so awkward I asked him about the event that apparently was where we met.

It was some science exhibition, apparently.