Jennifer Lindsay is an award-winning writer, translator, researcher and cultural ambassador whose breadth of work reflects her deeply lived understanding of Indonesia. She studied in New Zealand, the United States and Australia.
Jennifer has translated many literary works from Indonesian into English. Her translations include four anthologies of essays by Goenawan Mohamad; Leila S Chudori’s novel Nadira; Hersri Setiawan’s Buru Island: A Prison Memoir; Linus Suryadi’s poetic work Pariyem’s Confession; and short stories by various writers.
Jennifer has edited, translated and contributed essays to many academic volumes, writing on cultural policy, cultural history, performance, media, and language. She also directed a documentary film about Indonesia’s cultural missions during the Soekarno period.
An Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Culture, History and Language at The Australian National University, she now focuses on translation and divides her time between Indonesia and Australia.
As an internationally recognised spiritual teacher, professional artist, social healer, life coach, and community leader, Hun Ming Kwang is relentless in his mission to illuminate individuals to their deepest truths, callings and authentic selves, helping them awaken and harness their power to actualize their lives at their highest creative potential. Today, he has helped over 10,000 individuals transform their lives and attain a higher level of awareness.
He also focuses on championing humanitarian campaigns and efforts to invoke and inspire awareness on social causes such as mental health and suicide prevention at a national level. He is the founder and creative director of ThisConnect.today, where he designs and produces experiential art, interactive films and conscious conversations to make a difference to the public.
In 1995 Mark Eveleigh bought an Indonesian/English dictionary from a travel bookstore in London. He was working as a security guard at the time, and for much of the following year would use his night shifts to teach himself Bahasa Indonesia in preparation for an expedition into the heart of Indonesian Borneo. Since then the British-born writer (who lived most of his first decade in West Africa) has travelled widely in Africa, Latin America and Asia working for some of the world’s most prestigious publications – including BBC, Telegraph,
Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveller and CNN. That Borneo expedition was the start of a quarter-century love-affair with Indonesia which has led him to more than a hundred Indonesian islands.
If he were ever told he could only travel in one country for the rest of his life he’d choose Indonesia.
Christine Amour-Levar is a French-Swiss-Filipina philanthropist, adventurer, author and human rights advocate. She has built a global career as a marketing and communications expert and social entrepreneur intent on solving some of the world’s most pressing issues. A passionate champion of female empowerment and environmental conservation, Christine co-founded Women on a Mission (WOAM) and founded HER Planet Earth, two award winning, not-for-profit organizations that take all-female teams on pioneering expeditions as a way to support worthy causes. HER Planet Earth’s primary objective is to raise awareness and funds for underprivileged women affected by climate change, while WOAM aims to empower women who have been subjected to violence and abuse.
Christine is also an active board member and advisor to several purpose-led organizations in the Social Impact, Fintech and Cellular Agriculture spaces. As a writer she has published The Smart Girl’s Handbook to Being Mummylicious in 2012 and contributed to international publications such as Forbes, the HuffPost, the Straits Times of Singapore, the Manila Bulletin Newspaper of the Philippines, etc., and has had speaking engagements with INSEAD, Nike, TBWA, Microsoft, Unilever, Credit Suisse, TEDx and more. Being included on Tatler Asia’s Most Influential Impact List 2020, Christine has won multiple awards including the United Women Singapore Gender Equality Impact Changemaker Award, a Women of the Future Kindness and Leadership Southeast Asia Leading Lights 2020 and the ‘100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World’ Award™. She is currently based in Singapore, where she lives with her husband and four children. www.christineamourlevar.com
Dr Mohammed Kheir Alwadi was born in 1948. He studied Media and Publicity in Moscow State University from 1968 to 1974, from where he received his master’s degree.
He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg, of which he became an integral member. He served as a Director for foreign radio stations in Radio Damascus in 1975, then as a General Director of Syrian Radio in 1977. In the period 1978-1980 he was Director of Syrian National Television.
He became Chief Editor, General Director General of Alwahda Foundation for Press and Publishing, and Chief Editor of Al-Thawra newspaper in Syria from 1980 to 1990.
In 1990, he became Director General for Tishreen Foundation for Press and Publishing, and the Chief Editor for Tishreen newspaper.
In 2000, he became an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for the Syrian Arab Republic in the People’s Republic of China, until the end of 2008.
In 2002, he became a Non-Resident Ambassador for Syria in both Vietnam and Mongolia.
In 2009, he founded the China and Asia Research Centre, which to date he still heads. In 2013, he became an integral member of the Russian Peter the Great Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is a member of International, Arab, and Syrian Federations of Journalists. He has written many political articles and studies about international affairs and Chinese-Arab relations as well as a large number of books on politics and mass media, including:
The Most Important Media Bodies in the World
1. British Broadcasting Corporation – the Arabic Section
2. Studies about Psychological War and Propaganda
3. Chinese Foreign Policy
4. China’s Experiences from Extremism to Moderation
5. Chinese-Israeli Relations – Cold Considerations
6. Meetings with Leaders from Countries of Asia
7. The Chinese Community: A View from the Inside (under publication)
8. He has also published a number of literary works, including the novel The Flaming Frost and a collection of short stories.
Dr Karim Alwadi is an entrepreneur/ political scientist based in Beijing since 2001. Started up and founded several companies in China spanning sectors from machinery manufacturing, infrastructure investment and development, to the travel industry.
He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in International Relations, focusing on Sino Arab Relations, at China RenMin University. obtained his PHD degree in International Politics from China Foreign Affairs University. An active member in the Chinese Academic society.
Karim currently holds the following positions:
– Fellow of Ren Min University Middle East and African Studies Institute.
– Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Governance and Development at Tong Ji University in Shanghai.
– China-Arab State Expo Advisory Board Member
Co-Founder of the Saving Syrian Children Program, a charity program initiated in 2017, with a focus on providing aid to Syrian families affected by war.
– Fellow of the Aspen Institute-Global leaders Program.
– YPO (Young President Organaization) Beijing Chapter member.
– Author of the book Real Story of Hezbollah (Chinese), Recipient of the 2019 McNulty Prize Catalyst Fund.
Jovina Ang is Managing Director of Communicatio and formerly an award-winning corporate executive of multiple Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Dell and Cisco Systems. She launched Singapore’s first inter-company mentoring programme for emerging leaders in the IT industry. She is the author of three books on leadership communication, career sponsorship and the university landscape in Singapore. And she is an accredited mentor and volunteer of the Global Mentor Institute, helping refugee students in their job search.
Jaclyn Lee is Chief Human Resources Officer of Singapore University of Technology and Design. She holds the IHRP Master Professional Certification. She is an award-winning and recognised HR leader who has over 20 years of experience covering the full spectrum of HR in Singapore and across Asia Pacific. She is a frequently invited speaker at local and international conferences. In 2019, she received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) for her contributions to higher education. She published her first book on accelerating culture change in 2020.
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is the Member of Parliament for Setiawangsa, Kuala Lumpur and Vice President of Malaysia’s most successful multi-racial party, the People’s Justice Party (KEADILAN).
He was elected as a state legislator in the neighbouring Selangor at 26, the youngest candidate to win in the 2008 elections.
Born in 1982, Nik Nazmi grew up in the suburb of Petaling Jaya. He attended the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar before receiving a scholarship to read law in King’s College London, where he became active in student organisations during the Reformasi and anti-Iraq War movements.
He returned in 2005 to serve his scholarship sponsors but resigned less than a year later to work for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
As a state legislator, Nik Nazmi was appointed to various positions in the Selangor Government and KEADILAN. He was re-elected to the State Assembly in 2013 and was appointed to Selangor’s EXCO (i.e. the state cabinet), overseeing the education, human capital and science portfolios.
In 2014, he was elected as the Leader of KEADILAN’s Youth Wing and later became the opposition coalition PH’s Youth Leader.
In the 2018 election, Nik Nazmi contested in Setiawangsa, a stronghold of the dominant UMNO party. That election not only saw Nazmi’s victory but UMNO’s first-ever defeat at the
federal level.
Nik Nazmi has authored multiple books. He also founded the Mentari Project, an urban educational access program as well as a community football club, Setiawangsa Rangers FC.
He lives in Petaling Jaya with his wife, Farah and their children.
Prashant Kumar is the founder of Entropia, a next-gen marketing services company, now part of Accenture. Entropia has been a pioneer in the area of marketing in the Industry 4.0 era.
In 2020, Entropia was recognized as the third-fastest-growing large agency in the world by AdWeek, New York. Earlier, Prashant served as president, Asia world markets, at IPG Mediabrands. He has been on the juries of the prestigious Cannes Lions and Crystal Festival, France, and Lynx Festival, Dubai. He was also a speaker at the Digital Marketing Expo, Germany, and Global Festival of Media, Rome. He has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. In 2019, the International Advertising Association (IAA) recognized him as one of the five digital marketing thought leaders globally.
He is an alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Delhi, MICA, Ahmedabad and Harvard Business School.
