An Indonesian diaspora project comprising Indonesians in 19 countries. This presentation will be led by:
Harun Mahbub Billah (The Initiator) is a journalist who graduated from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Harun has worked as a journalist for Tempo magazine. Since 2015 Harun has been working for Liputan6.com PT. Kreatif Media Karya (KMK Online). He is an experienced copywriter with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry.
Edhie Prayitno Ige (Editor) is a journalist. Since 2000, Edhi has been working as a journalist for Radio Elshinta Jakarta, sending cultural news to BBC Radio. He currently works for Liputan6.com PT, Kreatif Media Karya (KMK Online). Edhi is also a Batik artist, managing Batik Semarang 16 Studio for training and learning centre.
Indah Morgan (Indonesian Diaspora from China / *SPEAKER) has lived in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China since 2013. Indah is a certified bookkeeper, obtaining her UK bookkeeping practice licence from The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, London. She established “Indah Consultancy” to connect people in education, trade, tourism, and investment and is the China representative for Indonesia Research & Development International (IRDI). Indah has long been passionate about assisting Indonesians abroad, and was the principal organiser of the Indonesian Group – Hong Kong (IGHK), the first and only non-government Indonesian migrant worker organisation registered with the Hong Kong Government.
Iswadi Suhari Mawabagja (Indonesian Diaspora from Italy) specialises in the development of agricultural statistics in Indonesia. He is the former Deputy Director of Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization United Nations (FAO UN). Iswadi was the Deputy Director of Statistical Analysis in BPS Statistics, Indonesian National Statistics Office and led large national statistics projects of national significance. He has published in several leading Indonesian newspapers, highlighting important national issues on agriculture, food, child labor, and child deprivation, and the author of a book on opinion writing for newspapers. Iswadi has also authored an Islamic novel, “Cintaku Setengah Agama” (My Love is a Half of Religion).
Nina Kawai Hopson (Indonesian Diaspora from England) is the Projects Manager and College Coordinator at Warnborough College. Since 2015, she has been involved in Canterbury Arts Conference. Her media work for Warnborough currently focuses on promotional videos, social media and SEO. She also assists in Kent Japanese primary school classes for international learners, teaching and planning art, games, dance and traditional Japanese food occasions. Nina was also involved in learning support for primary school children, preparing art and decoration for classrooms on a range of topics. She is a certified Japanese ‘Ikebana’ Ohara-Ryu style flower arrangement instructor. She has also presented fashion, food and lifestyle programmes for Japanese NTV and appeared in Japanese lifestyle magazine, VOCE and Keiko To Manabu.
COVID-19 Stories from 19 Countries
The coronavirus outbreak is a global phenomenon that is too big not to be perpetuated. The project initiator, Harun Mahbub Billah, launched his book on COVID-19. He encourages the Indonesian Diaspora to tell their story from around the world. The purpose of this project is to serve world history. Together we are perpetuating the big moment on planet Earth.
This project is personal stories on daily activities from ordinary people: migrant worker activists, professionals, housewives, academics, nurses, social workers, pastors, and many more. Choosing countries for contributions is not easy, and not everyone would like to share their life stories during COVID-19. Some say it is too painful to tell and others say by writing their story it releases the pain to empower others to survive.
We have received 19 stories from 19 countries, and we plan to present a few for discussion:
- The awareness
The social impact on emergence of solidarity – an example of how the Chinese local government controlled social distancing using automatic speaking drones when more than 2 people gather. The social distance versus social solidarity, when there are undocumented migrant workers, who don’t get financial compensation from their employer because they have been forced to resign: who will help them? - The habit, a way of thinking and spiritual change
Humans are adaptable; we are just ordinary people with an extraordinary lifesaving skill. In just a couple of months, we have learnt new mechanism skills such as looking inward for the spiritual journey and believing that the storm will pass. The choice is ours to think positively or negatively, happy feelings will create happy thoughts and happy thoughts will create a happy environment and a happy environment will make the body produce happy hormones. - The Impact on technology education and economy
What is the impact on family and economy? One of the stories coming from a contributor running his own business as an international education agency is how foreign students are not able to go back to study since the borders are still closed. Will the new normal be the future and the virtual school will be the only option? - What we learn
Fight or flight? These are common body mechanisms that enable humans to mobilize a lot of energy in order to cope with threats to survival. How it is important to wash our hands, eat healthy food, take regular exercise, take multivitamins and maintain happiness to produce happy hormones.