ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/Raflinoer32

Wikimedia ESEAP Conference Kota Kinabalu 2024 group photo

From The Land of Pasundan to The Land of Aki Nabalu,

Attending my first Wikimedia ESEAP Conference was an extraordinary experience. I was immensely grateful and overjoyed to have had the opportunity to attend this conference with a full scholarship. Throughout the event, I gained numerous valuable lessons and experiences from contributors across the ESEAP region. I could meet and connect with many amazing Wikimedian here. Every moment of this conference was deeply impressive and unforgettable. Therefore, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the organizers who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this event.

Things learned at the conference

Know more about ESEAP

As a participant, I actively attended every session at the conference, from the Welcome Sunset Reception & Dinner and Cultural Performance to the Closing Ceremony. One of the highlights for me was gaining deeper insights into ESEAP. For instance, I participated in the ESEAP Partnerships session, Seeding an Ecosystem of Partners – Funding and Beyond and Regional Grants Committee (ESEAP). In these sessions, I learned about ESEAP's strategies for establishing partnerships with various parties and the funding processes involved. Additionally, all participants, including myself, were involved in determining future plans for ESEAP, one of which was through voting in ESEAP Hub - Future Plan and ESEAP Hub - The Plan sessions.

Innovation and creativity from contributors and communities around ESEAP

Furthermore, I was impressed by the innovation and creativity demonstrated by contributors and communities in the ESEAP region. For example, I attended the Language Workshop, Harmonizing Voices with WikiTutur: Wiktionary and Lingua Libre Collaboration for Language Preservation. This workshop aimed to train participants in editing Wiktionary and Lingua Libre as an effort to preserve languages. I also gained valuable insights from other communities, such as the contributors from Taiwan, who strive to preserve their language through the Wikipedia, as discussed in the session Facing the Heritage Language Crisis: We Provide Promotion and Teaching through Wikipedia. Additionally, I learned from individuals like Eugene Ormandy and Taufik Rosman in the session Experiences of Wikimedian of the Year 2023 Winners. I was greatly impressed and proud of their hard work. Their victories last year did not make them complacent; instead, they became even more enthusiastic about contributing to the mission of free knowledge in their countries.

Culture and everything in between

Besides the highly insightful sessions, one of the highlights of this conference was the effort to introduce the culture of Sabah, Malaysia. From the opening ceremony to the closing event, I was captivated by the uniqueness and distinctiveness of Sabah's culture. This included traditional dances, songs, cuisine, and language. A particularly memorable experience was my visit to the Mari Mari Cultural Village. Through this activity, I was able to learn firsthand about the various tribes in Sabah, Malaysia. We could directly experience their way of life by entering miniature traditional houses, interacting with the inhabitants, tasting their traditional foods, dancing with them, and, of course, sharing laughter. This experience will always hold a special place in my heart and ensure that I never forget Sabah, Malaysia.

Things the participant contributed or participated in or since the conference

I presented my project at the Wikimedia ESEAP Conference 2024.

As a speaker

I had the opportunity to present my project titled WikiRenjana: Perpetuating Sundanese Culinary on Wikibooks Indonesia to Maintain Cultural Heritage. My colleague, Hayati Mayang Arum, and I developed this project at the end of 2023 through Dana Wiki program from Wikimedia Indonesia. Inspired by our love for the richness of Sundanese culture, this project aims to document Sundanese culinary recipes on Wikibooks Indonesia. We observed that gastronomic content is still very limited in Wikimedia projects in Indonesia, particularly on Wikibooks. To address this gap and enrich gastronomic content, we initiated this project.

We hope this project will inspire many contributors to document their cultural heritage, especially culinary traditions, in Wikimedia projects. We are very pleased that our project received a positive response from the audience, along with many suggestions for its sustainability. Through this ESEAP conference, we hope to collaborate with other contributors. We believe that the small steps we take can make a significant impact.

Click the link below to learn more about our project:

• WikiRenjana

As a host

In addition to attending as a participant, I was also entrusted with the responsibility of being a host at this year's ESEAP Conference. Specifically, I was assigned to host session Malay Heritage. This session featured three presentation topics, including Preserving The Manuscripts Of The Malay World Using Wikisource by Lim Natee from Indonesia, WikiMelayu: Inheriting the Malay AudioVisual Heritage of North Sumatra by Rafaraah from Indonesia, and Transforming Boarding School Students Through Wikipedia by Iamirene2 and Cikgu Mullet.

For me, this was a valuable experience as it allowed me to enhance my confidence and public speaking skills. Moreover, I had the opportunity to learn a great deal from the topics presented in this session, particularly on how to preserve Malay culture through Wikimedia projects.

As a attendee

I and User:Kanzcech were joining the session

As a participant, I attended the following sessions.

Pre-conference: Thursday, 09 May 2024

• Welcome Sunset Reception & Dinner and Cultural performance

Day 1: Friday, 10 May 2024

• Opening Ceremony
• ESEAP Hub (1) – Introduction
• ESEAP Partnerships

1. Seeding an Ecosystem of Partners – Funding and Beyond
2. Regional Grants Committee (ESEAP)

• Language workshop

1. Harmonizing Voices with WikiTutur: Wiktionary and Lingua Libre Collaboration for Language Preservation

• GLAM

1. WikiNaskah: Digitization of Manuscripts as a Massive Effort to Provide Resources for the Development of the Sundanese Wikisource (Wikipabukon)
2. Wikimedia Australia’s Partnership with Alice Springs Public Library: Adding an Image Collection to Wikimedia Commons
3. Lisa's Wikipedia Bookclub and other initiatives from Aotearoa New Zealand

• Cultural Village Trip Activities at Mari Mari Cultural Village

Day 2: Saturday, 11 May 2024

• ESEAP Hub (2) – Meetup
• Technology

1. Challenges in Building Multilingual Technology Platforms
2. Trust and Safety Product - The Road Ahead

• Malay Heritage

1. Preserving The Manuscripts Of The Malay World Using Wikisource
2. WikiMelayu: Inheriting the Malay AudioVisual Heritage of North Sumatra
3. Transforming Boarding School Students through Wikipedia

• Community Spotlight: Japan

1. The Report of Questionnaire of Japanese Wikimedians 2023
2. A 70-year-old Wikipedian Talks About the Charm of Libraries
3. Experiences of Wikimedian of the Year 2023 winners

• Live Band, Karaoke Party, Dinner Buffet, and Game Session

Day 3: Sunday, 12 May 2024

• Around our Region

1. WikiRenjana: Perpetuating Sundanese Culinary on Wikibooks Indonesia to Maintain Cultural Heritage
2. What is WANZ?
3. Human Rights Day in the Philippines: A Community Outreach
4. Facing the Heritage Language Crisis, We Provide Promotion and Teaching through Wikipedia
5. Uniting networks for free knowledge

• Copyright

1. Free the Freedom of Panorama in ESEAP
2. Awareness of Copyright Issues in South Korea
3. VideoCutTool: Streamlining Video Campaigns on Wikimedia Commons

• ESEAP Hub (3) – Future Plan
• ESEAP Hub (4) – The Plan
• Closing Ceremony

Plans after the conference (from what was learned or contributed in the conference)

Here are the plans I will undertake after the conference:

1. Sharing my experiences with others through various channels such as blogging, media, and social media.
2. Sharing experiences and learnings with my local community, namely Komunitas Wikimedia Bandung.
3. Implementing the knowledge I have acquired to continue contributing to Wikimedia projects in my capacity as an individual.
4. Increasing my involvement in the Wikimedia movement, both nationally and within the ESEAP scope.
5. Continuing the WikiRenjana project. I plan to initiate a project for documenting culinary recipes across all regions of Indonesia.
6. Collaborating with various stakeholders to create innovative projects, especially in the preservation of language and culture, which are the fields I specialize in.

Comments/ suggestions about the conference

I have no comments or suggestions regarding the organization of the conference as it was excellent overall. However, there are a few comments and suggestions I would like to share to further improve future ESEAP conferences:

1. As a suggestion, in the future, technical issues such as Zoom Meetings, microphones, speakers, and others should be more thoroughly prepared to avoid problems like those experienced in this conference. Although these issues may seem trivial, they can consume time and make the event less effective.
2. As a comment, I really enjoyed the venue and food at this conference. I hope to have the opportunity to attend the ESEAP Conference again, to meet and connect with many people, and of course, to learn about their cultures and languages. It's something incredibly valuable in my life.

Output reports

I had the opportunity to be covered by my university, Universitas Airlangga, for my participation in the ESEAP conference. Below is the link to the article.

• UNAIR student explores culture of Sabah Malaysia during international conference

Gallery

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  I was attending Welcome Sunset Reception & Dinner and Cultural performance
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  Indonesia scholars in Welcome Sunset Reception & Dinner and Cultural performance
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  Eugene and I were in closing ceremony
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  I was in ESEAP session
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  I sang dangdut at karaoke night
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  Visiting Mari Mari Culture Village
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  Indonesia and Malaysia scholars group photo