Tabula Rasa

March 27, 2011. On the 2nd TEDxBandung, we continued our aim of bringing most creative and visionary minds of Bandung in the same stage to share their dreams and passions.

In this event, we combined the international atmosphere of TEDx together with the local wisdom of Bandung in one of Bandung’s well-known iconic cultural center, Saung Angklung Udjo. Although TEDx is an international event, the organizing team agreed that TEDxBandung should be rooted from local interest and wisdom.

All of our eight speakers came from different background and interests, but one similarity united us: the pride of being Bandung citizens. Just like what Aat Soeratin, one of our speakers said, “citizens of Bandung are crazy”.

The event kick-started with the anthem of Indonesia, “Indonesia Raya”, sang together by all of the attendees, simultaneously visualized with wave flag by our friend from Wanadri.

Nancy Margried had the honor of being the first speaker with her talk, “Into The Wild”, sharing her passion of Indonesian batik and what she and her friends are doing to bring it to the next level through fractal science. The result was Batik Fractal, batik design that generated by mathematical calculations.

Nada Zharfania, our youngest speaker (age 12) successfully struck the attendees of the environmental issues through her funny and simple explanation of environmental degradation. She described the global warming as “a melted ice cream”.

And now, break session. The TEDxBandung team filled beautiful garden of Saung Angklung Udjo with “off-stage pranks”, notably the exhibition stage by Batik Fractal, Indonesian Frontier Islands Expedition Team, board game from Kummara, Saman dance game, as well as cozy spaces to discuss around our with fellow TEDxBandung attendees.

The event continued with Roby Muhamad, physicist-turned-sociologist who shared the power of social network and storytelling as critical instruments to spark social movement. He elegantly recalled that Indonesian independence struggle proved to be an inspiration for Martin Luther King, Jr. who would pioneered civil rights movement in US.

Then Goris Mustaqim, one of the rising stars in Indonesian young entrepreneur scene continued the flow by sharing his passion of building his hometown, Garut, through people-empowering program delivered by nonprofit he co-founded, Asgar Muda.

Adew Habtsa then closed the second session with his enchanting poetry of humanity and peace through his grasping guitar play.

The third and last session was opened by Budi Rahardjo (who bravely told us of his 7-out-of-10 failure in venturing new businesses) about the future of digital entertainment in Indonesia. Through his engaging explanation, he revealed many opportunities that can be futher explored and exploited. “Because our lives revolved around entertainment”, he said.

Aat Soeratin, 57-old-year explorer from Nusantara Frontier Islands Expedition Team shared his journey of exploring all of 92 frontiers island of Indonesia. “Seeing Indonesia with the perspective of hope”, His passion and spirit about Indonesia ignited all of the attendees. “Indonesia deserves to be loved!”, he said.

Arumba Udjo, one of the music group from our host Saung Angklung Udjo closed the event with their genuine exploration of traditional instruments, bringing them to the next level with heir composition of jazz, classic, and contemporary tunes. Satria, Saung Angklung Udjo’s board member, hosted them while address the importance of love and passion in everything we do. “Whatever you do, whatever your work is, do it with love. Without love, you’re dead before you die”, he said, quoting Saung Angklung Udjo founder Udjo Ngalagena.

In summary, this TEDxBandung unexpectedly brought the spirit of Indonesian hope through the collective unconciousness of its speakers. As Aat Soeratin said, “This event is about seeing Indonesia through different perspectives”. Undoubtly, this TEDxBandung sparked hope that Indonesia (still) has bright future, and it is we that will bring it to reality.

Hopefully, the optimism and inspiration from this TEDxBandung will continued again in our next gathering. We are, (in our most sincere heart) hopefully that we will met again and together celebrate the power of ideas, dreams, and inspirations.

Until next time!

Sincerely,

Radix J. Hidayat

Greeter

TEDxBandung