Experience and Education

Pretty much my CV, only more detailed. Find out what I’ve done and what I’ve learnt.

Education
Creative Industries, Media, and Performance
Social Enterprise and Business
Community and International Development
Youth Development
University and School Involvement

Download a PDF of my CV/resume.

University and School Involvement

• Childcare Assistant, Fortitude Valley State School (May – August 2008)
  The OSHC program, available in many schools in Queensland, provides before-and-after-school childcare to students aged between 4 and 13.
  My job mainly involved interacting with the kids, ensuring that they’re safe and all right, and assisting with duties such as food preparation and clean-up. There were a couple of special-needs students in OSHC and part of the job was to make sure they functioned well without disrupting the other students. The job required skills in compassion and discipline, being imaginative and creative, and being willing to jump into any situation as crafted by the kids (such as playing dress-up). I was not able to work for very long due to not having the right credentials (people without childcare-related credentials can only work for 6 months before having to get certification or leave) but it was very fulfilling, fun, and enjoyable.

• Student Resident, nternational House Brisbane (July 2006 – November 2007)
  The International House residences worldwide provide lodging for university students while encouraging interaction between cultures, through activities and housing a diverse international population.
  As a resident at IH, I was quite active in various intra- and inter-college activities. Among them are ChoralFest, DanceFest, Soiree, squash, BandFest, Boro Khana (monthly formal dinner), and so on. As the Food Convenor, I had weekly meetings with college staff and catering to discuss meal options, go through the meal comments book, and discuss themes for upcoming Bhoro Khanas. I earned a Student Achievement Award for my keen involvement, and am actually back in IH for a short time before graduation – though not as active due to personal commitments and low activity within college during the holidays.

• International Students Director, QUT Student Guild (February – May 2007)
  The QUT Student Guild provides advocacy and services to QUT students, including retail outlets, clubs & societies, advice, and so on.
  As the International Students Director, I kept in touch with the cultural societies on campus and endeavoured to research the needs and opinions of international students in QUT. I attended meetings with QUT International and other faculty members involved with international students. I assisted the Chaplain with their campaign for better support during their relocation, and proposed diversity training for the Guild and student leaders. I did not stay long due to my distrust of internal politics and general life issues, but I hope that the coming directors for future years will be able to put politics aside and concentrate on helping their constituents.

Youth Development

• Founding Blogger, EducateDeviate (January 2006 – Ongoing)
  EducateDeviate features resources, people, thoughts, analysis, and information relating to alternative education and youth empowerment from a Malaysian perspective.
  On EducateDeviate I profile inspiring young people, promote interesting opportunities for youth, write guides to various forms of alternative education, discuss Malaysian education, and essentially advocate for young people to learn what they want to learn in their own way. Besides the blog, I’ve also set up a booth at the 2006 Levis 501 Youth Festival, and am co-creating a Young Speakers list with the International Young Professionals Foundation.

• Delegate, Asia Pacific Cities Summit Youth Forum (September 2007)
  The Asia Pacific Cities Summit brings leaders in government, business, and community around the Asia Pacific region to Brisbane and other cities biennially to discuss urban development, economics, and other national matters.
  The Youth Forum – the first of its kind in the Summit – brought about 100 young people from around the Asia Pacific region to work on youth development in the region. There were various talks and sessions about community development, water, migration, and so on. We also had the opportunity to network and create projects for Asia-Pacific youth, one of them being the Youth Without Borders project which trains young people to support their peers in the Pacific islands. It was an amazing experience, especially since it was new and organised wholly by young people, and is one of the few conferences I’ve seen that has resulted in real-world action.

• Delegate, 4th Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations (August 2007)
  Organised by the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, the yearly conference brings young people worldwide together for three days at the United Nations, as well as a pre-conference leadership training session and tours around New York.
  Our conference dealt with the Millennium Development Goals and had speakers from various industries, such as media, development, business, and so on. There was a particular focus on using hip-hop as a means of spreading the word about the MPGs. The leadership training had sessions with business leaders (Pepsi-Cola, etc), Model UN, and group projects. Personally I found the conference a letdown as it was not very well-organised and hardly any real-world action came out of the conference. The majority of the attendees came from a youth religious organisation, which affected the balance somewhat. The potential for great impact was there, but not fully realised. I kept a liveblog of the conference that includes details on the speakers and sessions.

Community and International Involvement

• Wonder Factory Volunteer, Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation (December 2008 – Ongoing)
  The Working Wonders Foundation, through the Wonder Factory and other programs, provide support and entertainment for children admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital, as well as their families and carers. The Wonder Factory is a room in the hospital that provides games, toys, books, computers, events, and other entertainment for children.
  As a Wonder Factory volunteer, I assist the other volunteers with running and managing the Wonder Factory space. This usually involves cleaning up and checking out toys and media, and interacting with the kids and assisting them where possible. I and other volunteers also bring toys and games to the wards and play with children that aren’t able to come down to the Wonder Factory.

• Delegate, Brightest Young Minds 2008 (August 2008)
  The Brightest Young Minds summit brought together 100 of Australia’s best young people in social change, business, creativity, and so on to learn practical skills on social change, and to create and develop real-world projects based on community development through the Open Space model.
  In the workshops, we gained skills in community organising, project planning, marketing, image development, business planning, and so on. I proposed projects on social enterprise education in Australia and supporting high achievers, but eventually went to work on The Social Broker, a project that connects related businesses, non-profits, and university students together for mutual benefit.

• Participant, ActNow Incubator (July 2007)
  ActNow provides young Australians with information and resources on social change, activism, and community development.
  The Incubator worked as a focus group for ActNow, critiquing the website and providing suggestions for improvement. There were also hands-on training in social change through letter-writing as well as talks with people from the Inspire Foundation and Médecins Sans Frontières Australia.

• Participant, AWAM Writers for Women’s Rights (March 2006)
  The All Women’s Action Society is a feminist organisation that campaigns for women’s rights in Malaysia.
  In the WWRP program, we were given training on using writing as a medium for social change – specifically, writing letters to the editor and news articles. We wrote letters on issues such as gender rights, gay rights, and discrimination, and analysed gender bias in contemporary Malaysian media. We also organised and performed a skit about women’s rights for International Women’s Day.

Social Enterprise and Business

• Workshop Participant, KaosPilots (Stockholm and Rotterdam) (November 2007 and June 2008)
  The KaosPilots schools, based in various cities in Europe, provide a 3-year experiential course in social enterprise, business skills, and the creative industries.
  I was selected to join the workshop stage (to select potential students) for Team 1 Stockholm and Team 2 Rotterdam. The two-day workshops involved various tasks and exercises on teamwork, organisation, leadership, creativity, and so on. We also worked on a local project aimed at revitalising the host city through creative means.
  Rotterdam: To promote Voorstraat as an attractive historical and cultural venue, our group proposed a community organisation made up of various stakeholders of Voorstraat (residents, shopkeepers, council, educators, etc) as well as other cultural items such as a “Street museum” with antiques embedded in the sidewalk.
  Stockholm: Our group proposed a wiki to promote avenues for public art in Nacka.

• Media Volunteer, Youth Social Enterprise Forum (December 2007)
  The Youth Social Enterprise Forum, part of the 3rd Global Knowledge Partnerships Forum, brought young social entrepreneurs from around the world together to gain business skills, pitch their ideas, and network with like-minded youth.
  As the Media volunteer, I followed the YSEF attendees around and wrote articles for the daily conference newsletter. I also participated in events with the YSEF attendees, including the conference-long IdeaFactory session organised by BrainStore, where we generated ideas for encouraging social entrepreneurship globally.

• Contestant, Queensland Business Icon (August 2007)
  The Queensland Business Icon is a week-long elimination challenge, based on The Apprentice, where contestants work on various challenges that test their business and leadership skills.
  I made the first two rounds of QBI. My team for the first round won the challenge to create the most awareness and funds for the Oaktree Foundation, through a “dinner” event that featured presentations from Oaktree volunteers and team members. Collectively, about AU$11,000 was raised for Oaktree in one night. The second round involved creating a marketing plan for a proposed alcoholic beverage. I protested the challenge (especially after it led to two top contestants dropping out due to conflicts with religious beliefs) and opted instead to research the ethics of the alcohol industry. This has led to an increased emphasis on ethics in future rounds of QBI.