One pedal at a time

Jeffrey shares with us, his personal journey of self discovery and identity through a bicycle. By using this discovery, he created and map out Kuala Lumpur’s first bicycle map with a group of avid cyclists. With this map, he hopes to re-introdcuce the community about the hidden trails of Kuala Lumpur, it’s rich history and heritage.

Speaker Profile

Nature is filled with surprises

Calvin Soh is an avid amateur photographer, through his lens, he re-discovered the amazing design of Nature. How, nature can design such wonderful eco-systems and life. And from there, we as humans mimic and re-create Nature’s design and redefine it to suit our way of life. Come explore Nature’s surprises in Calvin’s talk.

Speaker Profile

The gourmet and food remnants

Agnes talked about how Michelin Star rated chefs and restaurants deal with food waste, how they re-invent many ingenious and creative ways to use all their produce to full and create exciting flavours that befits their ranks accordingly. Food wastage is a real problem in the world. With increase demand for food crops, and immense food waste, Agnes reminds us to do our part: Want not, Waste not.

Speaker Profile

The power of music: How music influences us as used in film, tv & musical theatre

Onn takes us on the journey of Sound/ Music. This talk looks at how music plays an important role in a movie, drama, play. Music delivers some emotions that words cannot be used or describe. it connects use to our deep primitive emotional psyche and creates those emotions as we are lead on to the journey of watching a movie. The power of music redefines a film, it is one of the game changer for a movie to be a blockbuster or block-busted

Speaker Profile

Journeys without a map

Vancelee takes us into a journey, of using our five senses and the art of imagination to travel and explore a new place. Almost everyone will refer to Trip Advisor, or other online Travel guide when they go check out a certain place of interest. In his talk, he shared about travelling the path less travelled, by using the basic of the human sense to explore, indulgence and discover the hidden trail of sights, sounds, scents, taste and touch.

Speaker Profile

In honour of languages

In this talk, Kee How share with us the diversity of the Chinese language and its dialects, its unique syllables, tones and nuances that was adapted in East asian countries like Korea and Japan. Startled at the rate of disappearance of some Chinese dialects in Malaysia, he champions for the preservation of these dialects and how to teach the future generation to venerate and uphold their dialect.

Speaker Profile

The future of farming

Mr. Ng deliberates on the importance of organic farming. With statistics that showed man-made fertilisers causing more harm to our bodies and the environment, the soil getting arid and plagued with diseases that yield poor quality crops. Mr. Ng showed us how we can change and redefine our diet, through good governance of farming production and sustainability. You are what you eat.

Speaker Profile

Be our truth self

Jia Hui’s talk is about finding your true self. How someone like her can be lost through the trials and tribulations of life, find back the strength and peace in acceptance, embracing the diversity of her own character and personality. It is through self acceptance and self acknowledgement she said, you can be free and be truly yourself.

Speaker Profile

Original flavours surprises

Sum is an advocate of the Java drink. Through her own experiences and experimentation with Typica Beans – the coffee pods grown here in Malaysia, she discovered new ways to enhance the flavour and roasting methods to bring this humble coffee bean to a different taste profile. Learn as she share her findings on re-defining the coffee industry of Malaysia.

Speaker Profile

Teh Tarik: Our Culture and Identity.

What is Malaysian culture? How do we define it? For a Malaysian, our culture is akin to a special Malaysian salad dish known and enjoyed locally; it’s called ‘Rojak’. ‘Rojak’ is a local salad dish that is only unique to Malaysia. Now, what’s so interesting about this dish? As ‘Ser Shaw Hong puts it, “ It’s a blend of ingredients that is influenced by the taste profiles of three races”.

Ser Shaw Hong is a professor of cultural studies, based in Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University. In his talk, he discussed on the ethnic diversity and the identity of being, a Malaysian. Malaysia is made up of Malays, Chinese, Indians and a small percentage of mixed ancestries and natives. Any foreigner coming to Malaysia will experience something that is different. Shaw Hong points out that most Malaysians can speak and read more than one language, dialect, and Malaysian has a unique identity as its people has assimilated and adopted cultural differences.

Of all the TEDx talks presented that day, His was most enjoyed and well received. His jokes were sartorial and aimed at Malaysians themselves. Few examples sited by him drew tremendous applause and recognition simply because the audience identified very well with the examples given. It certainly brought the audience a new meaning and perspective of being a Malaysian.

Even in the language, one will find something uniquely Malaysian and only a Malaysian could understand, non-Malaysian will be clueless as to what the message was. His gregarious example of our Mandarin colloquial usage of ‘Wait a Minute’ (等一下), Apparently, Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese does not use this phrase at all! This phrase was borrowed from the Cantonese origin and is widely accepted in all Malaysian Chinese community.

One memorable account which he shares with the audience, ‘If you wish to let your foreign friend to know more about us Malaysians, bring them to a Mamak Stall!’ And with that, the audience laughed and approved in unison. The Mamak stall is definitely a Malaysian institution. It’s a restaurant, could be in an open air alfresco dining environment or in a shop lot and it is where one would see all three races, let’s just say: All Malaysian will hang out, and catch up with friends. If there’s one thing that unites all Malaysians, it’s the Mamak stall.

Shaw Hong’s 18 min of enlightening talk is a beautiful reminder to cherish and appreciate the diversities of the Malaysian culture, to be proud of the heritage and uniqueness of this community. ‘We’re Malaysian lah’!

Speaker Profile

The road less traveled, an intimate journey into the hidden tourist gems of Malaysia

Chok Yen Hau is a writer, photographer, photography instructor and columnist at several major travel magazines and newspapers. He founded My Road Planner Sdn Bhd – specialized in domestic in-depth travel and thematic travel planning.

After years of globetrotting, Chok Yen Hau’s recent journey through the 739km long Federal Route 3, one of Malaysia’s oldest highway, struck a chord with him. He invites you to appreciate the beauty of his homeland as he re-discover the mystical Malaysia through his camera lens. Truly, there’s no place like home.

www.myroadplanner.com
www.facebook.com/myroadplanner

Speaker Profile

I’mperfect. Making Imperfections to be perfect.

Eyes were wide, the auditorium was silent right after Eddy Yu stepped onto the stage, wearing a simple attire with apron. Eddy began his simple talk about imperfections.

Eddy, a Malaysian creative consultant based in Hong Kong highlighted on one obvious trait in manufacturing or retail business, products that didn’t made it to retail space. In this age where production cost/ overheads are weighed heavily and affects the profit one make, how does one minimize defect loss, recycle the pieces and re-brand them?

Eddy’s ingenious way of delivering his idea in the most simple format to a layperson was highly commendable. I’mpefect is the idea of turning something imperfect into something perfect from a human’s perspective. Eddy’s own interpretation of ‘Beauty lies on the eye of the beholder’, elaborates that it is one’s perspective that will be the main factor in engaging someone to take interest in something. His approach got our audience so involved that every joke he crack and every slide he presented, the audiences were enthralled.

One of our audience who was from a manufacturing background felt his presentation was the best in his selection. According to him, he has heard many talks about branding and marketing but none that is as depth and insightful as Eddy’s The audience enjoyed his presentation and many has gain a better understanding of the term ‘Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder’, Indeed. It does.

Speaker Profile

Unwavering ‘Silent mentors’. Education at its finest even after death.

When we hear Dr. Chin Kin Fah’s brief and powerful talk on ‘Silent Mentor’ One cannot help being solemn and serious. Dr. Chin is a professor of Neurology and a teacher with University Malaya. In his talk, he explains in great detail about this ‘Silent Mentor’. Silent Mentor is actually a program about a consenting adult giving his/ her final ‘gift’ to others, via donating his/ her remains for the advancement and research of Medical Science.

‘Silent Mentor’ was conceived from a message that Dr. Chin picked up in his Buddhist studies. And in line and accordance with his faith, he decided to try out this program and it has garnered a lot of support both locally and internationally. In this program, The mentor starts to teach the moment the person passes on. This is to say, that the body shall be used as a cadaver and also as experiment and for future doctors, specialists to use for medical research, drug experiments and virology studies. Hence, the deceased is ‘teaching’ in silence.

Through usage of the remains as a cadaver or as a culture for viral studies, Many future doctors and specialists will benefit and new surgical techniques will be found and invented. All these would not have happened for the generosity of the donors. Although Dr. Chin’s message was solemn and serious, it also inspired us to be aware and consider the actions and what anyone can do to help future physicians and medical experts.

Behind its ghastly presentation, one can fill the impact and profound effect of Dr. Chin’s program. It brings us back to the very basic nature of being a better human being. And with this, it definitely will leave a lasting imprint and legacy for the donor and his/ her family.

Speaker Profile

Poverty in Taste

From a simple Malaysian dish Nasi Lemak, gourmet reseacher Lim Kim Chern embarked on his lifelong work in excavating the origins of famous Malaysian dishes — Teh Terik and Char Kuay Teow, to name a few — in order to make new discoveries. Discoveries not all Malaysians might know. His profound interest in the Chinese diaspora has also pushed him to look at the different histories of the Chinese people, linking them to the histories of the food they prepare. The result of his findings is the proclaimation of an era of poor eating. Concepts such as insufficient time given to appreciating foods, to a lack of taste for good food, to a lack of cultural awareness, to a lack of aesthetics in choosing the right kind of food, to a lack of understanding of the ingredients in the foods, to a lack of self-awareness of one’s own existence with the food they consume — All of which define the root causes of a decline in quality of life in contemporary Malaysian society.

Speaker Profile

La Voce’s Acapella

We were very delighted with the start of our Event with an angelic and flash mob performance by La Voce, a local internationally acclaimed Choir from Klang.

Local talented principal, Madam Tang Hui Kung, with 30 choristers, mostly children and young adults brought the house down with their arrangement of local songs. Founded in April 2006, They have performed locally and abroad, won silver medal a the Fourth World Choir Games in 2006, Xiamen, China and recently performed in Seoul, Korea. In our TEDx Event, La Voce teamed up with Tarrega Childern Choir to give us a morning performance that left audience with ovation.

When these children sing, they sing with their hearts and souls. Madam Tang said that these kids are very talented and their passion for singing was the sole reason on how these kids got into the Choir. The kids were selected not because of family status or social network influences. What made them different was they had to convince their parents (mostly middle class wage earners) that their passion for the art should not be neglected and they deserve every chance to explore this talent in hope of their recognition.

Their morning repertoire gave the audience a refreshing start and perked up everyone as we begin the journey of inspiration and connecting the dots at TEDxPetalingStreet. Angelic voices were heard… And the connection starts.

Speaker Profile

Making Georgetown a World Heritage City

Most of us would know little about the history of Penang Island, more so the history of Georgetown. How did Georgetown came into being? Ms. GS Lim’s talk focused on how Penang island was discovered, how it was named Pulau Pinang and how Georgetown was established.

Georgetown was first a small trading post/ settlement when Sir Francis Light came to Penang Island. He knew of the island’s strategic location and positioning near the Straits of Malacca, making Penang Island a suitable sentry post for ships to dock and disembark before making its journey down south to Singapore and to Canton, China.

And with the thriving trade route, Georgetown soon became an important port for the British Imperial Empire. Many people came to seek new life and build the city. As such, Georgetown is rich with old buildings and fortresses. With this in mind, Ms. GS Lim worked tirelessly to make Georgetown a Unesco world heritage site, due to its rich history and Peranakan Culture.

Speaker Profile

1002 Decisions

‘I love making movies, but I’ve yet to achieve it…’ This is what Dick Chua shared. His passion to direct and produce his own movie, has lead him to many paths, some roadblocks and the people whom he has gotten to met with along the way.

Walking down the path of a Director, Producer is not easy. It took him many years of hard work, taking up TV commercial projects and participating in short film festivals, crafting his skills and improving himself; then got him a chance to submit his own short movie entitled ‘Murdered by someone’ for a BMW Shorty film festival in 2012.

He won an award for the BMW Shorty film festival and was given some funding to produce more films. He shares his story on how the trials and tribulation helped shaped his character and strengthen his passion in film making.

Speaker Profile

Stargazing the Malaysian way

No one ever thought of watching the astral heavens in Malaysia. Not until Gradient Lok and William Chin gave us an insightful talk about it. Both Gradient & William are astronomers and they have been gazing up the universe for a long time. What started as a simple photography hobby has turned into a passionate study on Astronomy and Night photography, Gradient’s path into the heavenly studies began.

As for William, he studied Astronomy and was passionate on researching all the various celestial bodies that one can see with the naked eye and telescope. The dynamic duo, begin hunting down safe spots around Malaysia to capture and document the movements of the stars.

These safe spots, protected from the light pollution as a result of urban development are places where astronomers and people who are fascinated with the stars can see, take photos and document these wonderful miracles of Nature.

Speaker Profile

Jazz Diva in the house.

Right after the lunch break, We were rejuvenated with the sultry voice of Winnie Ho, Asian Jazz Diva, sensational jazz artiste with steady growing fans and few records under her belt. She became internationally known especially in the Asian Jazz circle for her brilliant performance in China, Taiwan and Singapore.

With her band, Jazz extraordinaire Tay Ser Siang, jazz arranger, musician and master teacher at the helm. Winnie’s rendition over evergreen classics and local hits made a memorable experience in Connecting Dots.

Speaker Profile

Rap. It’s expressing yourself in your own way.

We have had many interesting guest speakers with myriads of interesting ideas to share, one that caught our attention here was an idea shared by two person. Rapper BeeMan & Hour Tan. When someone mentions about Rap, Hip Hop, Graffiti art work or Be-Bop dancing. Images that will come first into the mind is : A Gangster.

Bee Man together with Hour Tan, shared a moving and eye-opening story about how their lives
were changed, forever thanks to Rap. The talk begins with Hour Tan and Bee Man, explaining what actually is Rap. It is the most misunderstood musical genre in the Malaysia Chinese community. Their talk with their informative slides, seek to educate the community and sharing the true value of RAP.

RAP consist of four types of element: Rap/Hip Hop singing style, Be-Bop, Graffiti works and Beat Box. As they unfold each layer, the audience were immersed in their presentation. Hour Tan is a landscape gardener by day, and a Rapper by night. It was in his lorry that he passes his time in the traffic jam with rap music. This inspired him to rap and he began to write songs about what he feels, about what he see and what he knows. His songs are his take on his interpretation on the current society’s issues, he delivers these issues with conviction and his lyrics strikes an accord with all the audience.

One of the highlights of this talk was Bee Man’s personal experience about his change. Bee Man came from a dysfunctional family background with harsh living environment, hence he had to learn about the world the hard way. As he puts it, “I’m a chinese gangster, I had done all the kind of work the ‘Company’ has required me to do”, In his poignant moment, “It was the moment when I witness my young Boy, saw myself being handcuffed by the Police after a raid for illegal sale of Fire crackers before the Chinese Lunar New Year, and my son, whispered softly to my wife, “Why is the Uncle (Police) is doing with my Father? Why are they locking him and putting him into Jail?”

Hour Tan Profile     MC Bee Profile

The Change that connected everyone…

That thing called Change. What inspired you to change? Why you had to change? These were some of the questions asked and answered by Dato’ Ambiga Sreenavasan when it was her turn to share her story to our audience at Connecting Dots. Dato’ Ambiga, an prominent and respected lawyer and renown activist in Malaysia gave her take on what made her change to be who she is now and how that change influenced her life.

During the eighteen minutes, the audience got to know the personal side of Dato’ Ambiga. She simply decided to take action and change for the fact that she didn’t like what was going on, she felt the people’s needs and rights were compromised and something had to be done. We caught few glimpses of her role models like the late Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the founder of Malaysia, Pak Said, the man that all Malaysian activists look up to as the role model for Malaysian activism, and a host of other historical figures who made an imprint that changed the world.

We hoped that the change that Dato’ Ambiga found, will inspire our audience to find the cause to change themselves, for better and to take a positive and active role in changing one’s community for a better future.

Speaker Profile

Man & God

Human beings have been asking the fundamental question of whether God exists, and man’s own relationship with “him/her/it” for a long time. Departing from this fundamental question, Joseph Foo and his collaborators — from artists to Malaysian dancer Lee Swee Keong — have creatively interpreted or re-interpreted the approaches towards the answering of the question. In his journey, he discovered many different labels assigned, which resulted in many different representations of God. Through the artists’ imagination — and how “God” has affected and impact lives of people — the exhibits, products and designs have travelled from Kuala Lumpur to many other cities, since 2003. In his work, the central theme of God creates and Man imitates has been a central motif. Basically, Joseph Foo provides an intense visual experience exploring the relationship between Man and God through the eyes and ideas of creative minds of different faiths and cultures. To top it all, his collaborator Malaysian dancer Lee Swee Keong gave a riveting performance to the audiences.

Speaker Profile

The lighter side of life

Most probably, Kelvin Leong has gotten the best from Malaysia, having grown up with peoples of different races, having the ability to learn many different languages. His mantra: If you are able to master another race’s language, you will be able to accomplish many things. From this, he embarked on the journey to study and research about Chinese cultures. Within these cultures, he is also involved in the transcending the cultures. In Chinese cultures, great emphasis is given to one’s accumulation of experience and wisdom, collectively known as the under-current of maturity. In the performing arts form of Cross-talk, the existence of such undercurrent is paramount. Every verse within the scripts, Kelvin Leong discovers a little more about Chinese culture, especially in the tones and registers of the Chinese Language. Having founded the association for the art cross-talking in Malaysia, in the last 27 years of practice, he has only received three disciples; all of them are committed to pass the dwindling art of cross-talking to the next generation. Laughter is what cross-talk brings, and Kelvin is very clear about what lies underneath the laughter — a reflection of life.

Speaker Profile

Dare to dream – Like the myriad stars on heaven

Everyone has a dream – Goh Boon Pings began his talk. Very true indeed, each one of us have a dream, and our dreams maybe different, but the end journey is what we all wish to achieve. Boon Ping’s dream came about after meeting a visiting Taiwanese Professor, in a cafe and they shared some ideas on crowd funding.

The rest, like everyone say: is history. If you have a dream and wish to make it true, with many possibilities like the myriad of stars you see up the sky at night, then make time and enjoy his talk…

Speaker Profile

Jessie Ng

Curator | Programs | Open Translation Project (OTP)

Jessie is an entrepreneur, having been in the furniture industry for over twenty odd years, she is an avid observer; she also visualises what possibilities lie ahead. Through her observation as an entrepreneur especially in retail, this innate strength has made her gained recognition by her peers.

Jessie loves to explore, experience and enjoy every process in business and life. Hooked on ideas worth spreading, She got to know about TEDx. While watching a TED and TEDx talk on YouTube in 2011, that sparked a passion in her heart, and her vision to share local ideas to the world, connect people and create and impact so peoples’ lives are enriched, began.

In her free time, she loves reading magazine, exploring new place, travel, looking for interesting items at the vintage flea market, local and abroad, she loves gourmet food and Slow Living.

Jacky Tan

Co-curator | Partnership

Jacky is a jovial guy with a big heart. He is a Financial Advisor and has about ten years of extensive experience in financial services, he specialises in Corporate Risk Management and Estate Planning Services. He also actively involve in Buddha Light Mountain activities

He got to know about TEDxPetalingStreet through a friend who introduced him to the event. He thought about doing something for the community and he became active in partnerships team. He hopes he can contribute more and inspire the young.

In his free time, he loves to cook and he loves to fly drones. He is also an avid food lover.

Bunz Yeoh

Programs | Open Translation Project (OTP)

Ever since he began to recognise TED via newspaper, further to get in touch with TED video through the internet, by pondering how TEDx could embark its journey in his motherland with Chinese Language, his friend introduced him to TEDxPetalingStreet team by chance.

At young age, he was active in religious groups, involved in event planning and hosting. When he became thirty, The urge to experience a different category of community work is growing, eventually, he found his direction to begin with TEDxPetalingStreet. Story listening and thought exploring are his favourite, and he hope the world could discover Malaysia via TEDxPetalingStreet.

In his heart, he wish to be a day maker for him to spread happiness and joyfulness every day; however, he desire to be Ripple maker, in believing by transforming oneself and influencing other , such little ripple effect to start with, it allows the rest surrounding could make a better life, but not just make a living.

Wil Khee

Editorial | Social-Media

Back from Taiwan after 7 year living there, back to this lovely land.
Enjoyed as a sales person, while facing many communication problems, it didn’t stop him but make him more interest on human and consumer psychology. Current work as sales planning in a start-up business.

A simple dinner start his journey involve in TEDx community. First touch with TEDxPetalingStreet, he found many field can explore and more to learn. Back to starting point, well prepared and synergies team power will bring community to achieve higher level. He believed, every result starts from action.

WIL know that life is a journey, whenever, or wherever, find the route back to inner self is a great project. Well prepared himself and influence the others, always happened in the same time. He is on his track…

See Wei Jie

Administration | Pop Up

As a policy maker at Bank Negara Malaysia, he enjoyed the privilege to investigate consumer’s issues from the macro perspective and impact the man on the street through influencing policy decision-making and instigating change from top-down approach.

He believe that everyone can live their life doing what they love; ideation and execution are the key to unlock people’s limitless potential. Being part of a family of awesome individuals at TEDxPetalingStreet, he strives to harness the power of community to create impact that ripples via spreading ideas, nurturing minds and inspiring actions.

He loves the whole of process of learning something, mastering it and sharing it with people. You will always find him in the loop of learning, doing, failing and repeat until he see success or found other better things worth learning. If there is ONE thing that drives him. It is IMPACT.

Jade Leong

Administration

Jade has started from advertising industry then moved into education line with passion on passing on knowledge to the younger generation. She is currently lecturer for Mass Communication department in Dasein Academy of Art, specialising in PR and advertising.

She believes in jumping out from the ordinary stereotype. Everyone should have the freedom to be themselves without being criticised by anyone. Everyone is born with their own uniqueness and that’s the most precious thing in the world.

Through TEDxPetalingStreet, she rediscovered the beauty of Malaysia. The fact that there are so many beautiful untold stories of our nation that yet to be discovered keeps her inspired to help all she can for the first Chinese TEDx event in Malaysia.

She constantly finds a peace of mind in books and movies. She is a homebody, at the same time a traveller. Contradictory, but that’s how life is, isn’t it?

Mingsen Tan

Logistics

Despite leading an extremely busy life as a Regional Field Operations Manager, Mingsen has dedicated more than 15 years of his time to volunteering for many organisations, covering Community, Social Works, Animal & Environment, Education and many more.

He loves sharing ideas, and with his passion in volunteering, it is not hard to understand why he decided to be a volunteer at TEDxPetalingStreet. Although as a Malaysian Chinese, he has spends much of his time with Chinese from the other countries, it is therefore fortunately that through TEDxPetalingStreet he relearned about the local Chinese culture, its beauty and rich heritage.

Mingsen is an avid photographer, who lets the moment speak for itself, he loves producing natural, candid shots rather than stuffy, posed photographs. Apart from photography and tech stuff, he also loves to write lyrics and poems.

CK Wai

Stage

As a trained Engineer for a logistics company, he was inspired to be a full time photographer. He had freelanced and his photos graced some inflight airline and travel magazines. He now does Portraits, Travel, Food & Beverage, Fashion and high profile events.

He got to know about TEDxPetalingStreet through a business meeting with Jessie, and talked about volunteering for the team. As stage manager, CK gets up close and personal with our speakers, he manages them during backstage, before and after the talk. CK enjoys being in the company of people with the right attitude, passionate about teamwork and collaborating together to strive for a common goal, while understanding and embracing the diversity and uniqueness of people’s needs and capabilities.

When not at work, he enjoys a good book in a quiet corner of a bustling cafe, or watch a movie by himself. He’s spontaneous, loves food, enjoys gym and coffee sessions to catch up with close friends.

Ng Hwee Yun

Production Manager

Graduated with a Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Dasein Academy of Art in 2015. Now, pursuing her degree in BA (HONS) Mass Communication at UCSI University. She loves variety of arts which including music, dance, handcraft, photo shooting, acting and etc. She especially passionate in theater because it combines all artistic elements that you can ever imagine. She enjoy the process from zero to an accomplishment in masterminding; and shine like a star under the spotlight on stage. By joining Tedx Petaling Street core team, she knew everything is possible with team work despite her small contribution. Hwee Yun always ask “why” if she’s in doubt. Keep on moving with passion in life is her ambition. She uphold strong belief in “any minor act can influence others”, to explore among people and contribute her sincerity with no regret.

Mervin Lee

Co-curator | Partnership | Stage | Open Translation Project (OTP)

Mervin has been around the hood, with fifteen years of experience in Broadcast and TV production. Now, he moonlights as an ID consultant, focusing on corporate and F&B projects.

He believes in great ideas, a positive mindset and loves to share these to anyone who is keen to learn something new. When he found out about TEDxPetalingStreet, he decided to be a volunteer. Though English and Malay educated, this was his eye-opening experience as TEDxPetalingStreet was the first Chinese TEDx event in Malaysia.Through TEDxPetalingStreet, he relearned about his Chinese roots, the Chinese community, the culture and its unique nuances and colours. He also learned how to speak mandarin and read some basic Chinese words.

Mervin is an avid traveller, loves capturing moments with his camera. He loves to run with his dogs, cook and discover the trendiest cafes and restaurants in the region.

Kai Ye Ong

Administration | Pop Up

Having completed her degree in Actuarial Science in Scotland, Kai Ye is now working as an Executive in Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia). She enjoys listening to life lessons and stories of people from all walks of life. After attending TEDxPetalingStreet event in year 2014, It inspired her to be a volunteer. She is motivated by the simple fact that she is able to meet, learn and give back to the community.

She is a strong believer that no act of kindness is ever too small to make a difference. Being one who has been showered with myriad of blessings throughout her journey across the continents, she strives to spread kindness and authenticity, with the effort to encourage pure faith and love among people, especially strangers.

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed, that is all who ever have.” – Margaret Mead

Soon Aik

Pop Up

Soon Aik’s role as a consultant with a digital strategy firm sees him assisting enterprises, startups and non-profits across Asia to improve business performances.

He strives to promote cultural understanding and loves sharing great ideas that could possibly make this world a better place. His existence in the TEDxPetalingStreet fulfils his wish to spread the most authentic Malaysian stories to the world.

When he is not volunteering or scratching his head with the team to provide delightful experience to TEDx event attendees, you will probably find him on his way hustling at work, despite of his strong urge to tackle social or environmental problems worth solving. He’s an explorer who consumes new interests in various fields to survive; contradictorily, He is restless at times.

Rachel Yap Yen Teng

Partnership | Social-Media

Graduated with a Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Dasein Academy of Art in 2013. Now, majoring in BA (HONS) Public Relations, at HELP University, she moonlights as a promoter for leather goods.

A nineties kid and local girl from Kuala Lumpur, through TEDxPetalingStreet, the event gave her an opportunity to explore the unknown, to know more interesting, inspiring people. By collaborating with excellent team members and engaging with attendees who believed in sharing powerful ideas and stories, this has been her rewarding experience.

A curious soul, positive spirited, strategist planner, thinker and a doer. Into indie movements, classical music and orchestra, especially the trumpet. She has a soft spot for animals and is a nature lover. A thrill seeker for high intensified physical activities like flying fox or zip line to snorkelling and swimming. Her heart is with the ocean. Very passionate about language and photography. Seeks out local brands, artisans and local made crafts.