was born in Borneo Sarawak in a town
called Cebu and my dad owned a shop in a
rural area of Sarawak when I was young
so the place is called Ruben Balian as
shown in the picture so behind our
grocery shop this is a grocery shop
there is a longhouse iban longhouse
which we lived together in the
neighborhood so most of our customers
are in bands so these events they are
very very steep very steep person they
celebrate New Year Christmas Hawaii
grandly
so those are the time when our shop got
the best business you know they’re gonna
buy a lot of homebrew chicken they’re
gonna buy a lot of beers gonna buy a lot
of soft drinks or cakes from us and
since I was young I used to ask my
parents why am i look so different from
the other kids around us the face
feature slightly different my eyes is a
pet and the eyes Abby became wrong so we
the parents my parents bought a house
and when I was 8 years old and the house
was our house is 2 hours drive from our
grocery shop when I enter school then I
started to make friends my school was in
a town area I after I went to school I
actually has a date to go back to the
grocery shop or even to how about my dad
the reason is in balligan there’s is
like cut off from the outside world
we don’t have clean water so if we want
to get what we have to pump all the way
from the river so the water is brown in
color
you have to filter it before you buy it
or you use it or sometimes we will store
the water in the tank II is a big
container sometimes if we don’t have
enough water if the rainwater is too
less and my mom would say so we’re gonna
just research more water for cooking and
drinking
so today you’re going to take both with
your dad by the river and we don’t have
electricity we have to get a generator
to to get light at night and we don’t
have internet signal no phone signal and
there’s no telephone signal at all
that’s why I felt so bored there then I
chose not to help help out my parents
after work so when I was doing that time
newspaper is something very exciting for
my parents because there’s the only
source to connect them with with the
outside world and often when I read a
newspaper or even sometimes in the
classroom in textbook I read a lot of
story you know the teacher or the news
would tell me hey you know what there’s
a continent called Africa so in Africa
people is very poor they don’t food
they’re doing water no electric supply
and I feel like hey this sounds very
familiar it’s like the place I lived and
then very contradicted is that my
teacher used to tell me we should be
very grateful to stay in the country
because we have everything we have water
we have electric but when I look back at
the place I grew up there’s nothing
about that so I started to realize that
what I see in
eeeh sometimes he doesn’t actually
reflect the truth and I read I read and
then I decided that maybe someday I can
write something about my hometown about
the place I grew up so then I finished
my high school I went to university my
result was quite good I got a
scholarship JP a scholarship to France
to study engineer I went for an
orientation for one we then I quit my
parents was so mad then I went for a
private university I studied actuarial
science because I was told it’s a good
job to make a lot of money and then I
joined for two years then I realized I
didn’t like it so I quit I used to get
lost a lot and as I tell myself okay
maybe it’s time to take a break so I saw
something into internet saying there’s
there’s a thing which is called gap
you’re like traveling around by packing
so I I feel like maybe a way to find
myself maybe I can find my calling
during the trip the kind of tree so I
spent six months work in KL save some
money and when for several months trip
in 8 countries which is including eight
months in sorry includes
two months in Afghanistan before I enter
up Anniston I didn’t tell my parents I
was just a big paper Bay picker so after
I went there for a week I call my mom
hey man I’m in Afghanistan so so you
know our impression of Afghanistan is
war country terrorist suicide bombing
and you are a foreigner they’re going to
kill Nate you you know you is everything
is so bad so of course my parents were
so worried so I say no no no so far so
fine and I’m gonna stay here just for
one month so after months I call my mom
again
hey mom I’m going to extend my visa for
another month so I stay for two months
he’s she’s just very angry so the reason
I say there is because after a week or
two I was there
it changed my perception on the
countries it’s very different from what
I saw or read in mainstream media of
course there is some terrorist attack
happens once in a while in a country but
what I saw when I was there is the
hospital hospitable of the people there
I was a very poor Bay Packers so in
during my trip I just had one meal in a
day and I tried to save her money so
there’s 70 to 80% of my time in
Afghanistan I was hosted by the locals
either by couchsurfing is a online
website and most of the time it’s like I
just asked someone random Afghan people
on the strip street is if they can host
me and yeah I got a lot of I made a lot
of good people they invited me to stay
in the house for a few days and they fed
me well and they gave me most fabulous
food they have at the house like you
know fried chicken some beef they love
living in the Central Asia so I just
wondering when I was eating are they so
rich because when I say in a house for
let’s say five days three meals lunch
and meals lunch and dinner I will always
get this fried chicken coke 7up a lot of
things I was wrong yet isn’t it
Afghanistan should be some some places
that is very very poor but and then so
so one day when I after I eat so I we
were eating in the different place I was
sitting in the guest room so there they
are watching me eating so they eat in
their own kitchen separated from me so I
was curious so one day I just need into
the kitchen and I saw everything what
they are eating is just a piece of bread
and some yogurt no vegetable No
no meat so that’s the time when I
realized that they try to be very very
kind to guess they are just like any any
any good house we have around the world
we can’t generalize Afghan as a
terrorist because of what we read in
mainstream media there’s always two
sides of course this I didn’t mean that
there’s no terrorists in the country
there are some people who are very
extreme but always there are a lot of
good people as well there’s good and bad
that’s why I learned from Afghanistan
and then I met one old man during my
visit in Afghan big village called
Bamian so this old man they thought he
thought I was a journalist at that time
2012 I was just a bit bakers so he just
came to me he told me about the back
situation of the relational you know
like he complained like he complained
like we don’t have all these Bessy next
even medical help sir or education
system they are neglected by their own
government so they told me hey Chris
maybe you go back to your country your
French there right so you when you go
back to your country you can tell
government that in Afghanistan so we
have this situation you know ask your
government to help so you are generally
journalists you are a way for us to get
help I felt very good at that time
because I was just I was just a bit
Pickers
then along the way I started to think a
lot and when I get came back Malaysia
after the trip I decided to study mass
communication and I started as a
freelance journalist as well then I
travelled to Syria Lebanon Iran Egypt
Turkey and a lot of Middle Eastern
country even Africa as well I started to
convey the message that c2 newspaper or
news Porter and I saw some changes come
the impact of
some child is lost experience then I
came to into journalism I I see the
changes that journalism journalism can
actually make for example like my story
on jihadi in Syria get attention
recently and our government is trying
not recently but used two years ago two
years ago and it comes to a UN
conference and we talked a lot about
anti-terrorism and some of the
organization NGOs they they heard about
all this extract story stories when I
was in Syria so they used the stories to
promote promote and get funding to help
the Syrians people so this the the
things that I saw when I was on the
ground and the reason I want I wanted to
be a journalist and I am Joanie’s today
is I I still believe that to be to tell
a stories is something that can can
change life sometimes generates ourself
we can be part of the story and then we
can help to make this world a better
place and this remind me of my bowling
and Lulu Banyan our grocery shop back
then the story was untold until it was
demolished in May 2017 all the shop was
demolished because they wanted to build
the barn burner highway in Sarawak so we
don’t we we got our shop demolished and
I can definitely did relate this kind of
pain or lose to how the Afghans and
Syrian lost their families or their
their homes whenever I was there yeah I
believe I truly believe that what we
usually see in a in a mainstream media
is there’s two side and we have got to
filter
we have to see in a good way and see in
their way and we try to think it
critically and as a young people right
here right now I what I want to say is
that I think it’s good to make mistake
in your life like what I did when I was
in trying to shift from one course to
other course and I was I just graduated
end of last year which my friends most
of them graduated or yeah a year earlier
than me so I think it’s good it’s fine
to make mistake because we learn from a
mistake and then we grow up from there
and we become stronger and as for my war
experience it’s more – I think as long
as we plan something we know what is the
consequences a and B we go for it as
long as we can bear the consequences or
the risk and then you just go go for it
and leave for now that’s it thank you
called Cebu and my dad owned a shop in a
rural area of Sarawak when I was young
so the place is called Ruben Balian as
shown in the picture so behind our
grocery shop this is a grocery shop
there is a longhouse iban longhouse
which we lived together in the
neighborhood so most of our customers
are in bands so these events they are
very very steep very steep person they
celebrate New Year Christmas Hawaii
grandly
so those are the time when our shop got
the best business you know they’re gonna
buy a lot of homebrew chicken they’re
gonna buy a lot of beers gonna buy a lot
of soft drinks or cakes from us and
since I was young I used to ask my
parents why am i look so different from
the other kids around us the face
feature slightly different my eyes is a
pet and the eyes Abby became wrong so we
the parents my parents bought a house
and when I was 8 years old and the house
was our house is 2 hours drive from our
grocery shop when I enter school then I
started to make friends my school was in
a town area I after I went to school I
actually has a date to go back to the
grocery shop or even to how about my dad
the reason is in balligan there’s is
like cut off from the outside world
we don’t have clean water so if we want
to get what we have to pump all the way
from the river so the water is brown in
color
you have to filter it before you buy it
or you use it or sometimes we will store
the water in the tank II is a big
container sometimes if we don’t have
enough water if the rainwater is too
less and my mom would say so we’re gonna
just research more water for cooking and
drinking
so today you’re going to take both with
your dad by the river and we don’t have
electricity we have to get a generator
to to get light at night and we don’t
have internet signal no phone signal and
there’s no telephone signal at all
that’s why I felt so bored there then I
chose not to help help out my parents
after work so when I was doing that time
newspaper is something very exciting for
my parents because there’s the only
source to connect them with with the
outside world and often when I read a
newspaper or even sometimes in the
classroom in textbook I read a lot of
story you know the teacher or the news
would tell me hey you know what there’s
a continent called Africa so in Africa
people is very poor they don’t food
they’re doing water no electric supply
and I feel like hey this sounds very
familiar it’s like the place I lived and
then very contradicted is that my
teacher used to tell me we should be
very grateful to stay in the country
because we have everything we have water
we have electric but when I look back at
the place I grew up there’s nothing
about that so I started to realize that
what I see in
eeeh sometimes he doesn’t actually
reflect the truth and I read I read and
then I decided that maybe someday I can
write something about my hometown about
the place I grew up so then I finished
my high school I went to university my
result was quite good I got a
scholarship JP a scholarship to France
to study engineer I went for an
orientation for one we then I quit my
parents was so mad then I went for a
private university I studied actuarial
science because I was told it’s a good
job to make a lot of money and then I
joined for two years then I realized I
didn’t like it so I quit I used to get
lost a lot and as I tell myself okay
maybe it’s time to take a break so I saw
something into internet saying there’s
there’s a thing which is called gap
you’re like traveling around by packing
so I I feel like maybe a way to find
myself maybe I can find my calling
during the trip the kind of tree so I
spent six months work in KL save some
money and when for several months trip
in 8 countries which is including eight
months in sorry includes
two months in Afghanistan before I enter
up Anniston I didn’t tell my parents I
was just a big paper Bay picker so after
I went there for a week I call my mom
hey man I’m in Afghanistan so so you
know our impression of Afghanistan is
war country terrorist suicide bombing
and you are a foreigner they’re going to
kill Nate you you know you is everything
is so bad so of course my parents were
so worried so I say no no no so far so
fine and I’m gonna stay here just for
one month so after months I call my mom
again
hey mom I’m going to extend my visa for
another month so I stay for two months
he’s she’s just very angry so the reason
I say there is because after a week or
two I was there
it changed my perception on the
countries it’s very different from what
I saw or read in mainstream media of
course there is some terrorist attack
happens once in a while in a country but
what I saw when I was there is the
hospital hospitable of the people there
I was a very poor Bay Packers so in
during my trip I just had one meal in a
day and I tried to save her money so
there’s 70 to 80% of my time in
Afghanistan I was hosted by the locals
either by couchsurfing is a online
website and most of the time it’s like I
just asked someone random Afghan people
on the strip street is if they can host
me and yeah I got a lot of I made a lot
of good people they invited me to stay
in the house for a few days and they fed
me well and they gave me most fabulous
food they have at the house like you
know fried chicken some beef they love
living in the Central Asia so I just
wondering when I was eating are they so
rich because when I say in a house for
let’s say five days three meals lunch
and meals lunch and dinner I will always
get this fried chicken coke 7up a lot of
things I was wrong yet isn’t it
Afghanistan should be some some places
that is very very poor but and then so
so one day when I after I eat so I we
were eating in the different place I was
sitting in the guest room so there they
are watching me eating so they eat in
their own kitchen separated from me so I
was curious so one day I just need into
the kitchen and I saw everything what
they are eating is just a piece of bread
and some yogurt no vegetable No
no meat so that’s the time when I
realized that they try to be very very
kind to guess they are just like any any
any good house we have around the world
we can’t generalize Afghan as a
terrorist because of what we read in
mainstream media there’s always two
sides of course this I didn’t mean that
there’s no terrorists in the country
there are some people who are very
extreme but always there are a lot of
good people as well there’s good and bad
that’s why I learned from Afghanistan
and then I met one old man during my
visit in Afghan big village called
Bamian so this old man they thought he
thought I was a journalist at that time
2012 I was just a bit bakers so he just
came to me he told me about the back
situation of the relational you know
like he complained like he complained
like we don’t have all these Bessy next
even medical help sir or education
system they are neglected by their own
government so they told me hey Chris
maybe you go back to your country your
French there right so you when you go
back to your country you can tell
government that in Afghanistan so we
have this situation you know ask your
government to help so you are generally
journalists you are a way for us to get
help I felt very good at that time
because I was just I was just a bit
Pickers
then along the way I started to think a
lot and when I get came back Malaysia
after the trip I decided to study mass
communication and I started as a
freelance journalist as well then I
travelled to Syria Lebanon Iran Egypt
Turkey and a lot of Middle Eastern
country even Africa as well I started to
convey the message that c2 newspaper or
news Porter and I saw some changes come
the impact of
some child is lost experience then I
came to into journalism I I see the
changes that journalism journalism can
actually make for example like my story
on jihadi in Syria get attention
recently and our government is trying
not recently but used two years ago two
years ago and it comes to a UN
conference and we talked a lot about
anti-terrorism and some of the
organization NGOs they they heard about
all this extract story stories when I
was in Syria so they used the stories to
promote promote and get funding to help
the Syrians people so this the the
things that I saw when I was on the
ground and the reason I want I wanted to
be a journalist and I am Joanie’s today
is I I still believe that to be to tell
a stories is something that can can
change life sometimes generates ourself
we can be part of the story and then we
can help to make this world a better
place and this remind me of my bowling
and Lulu Banyan our grocery shop back
then the story was untold until it was
demolished in May 2017 all the shop was
demolished because they wanted to build
the barn burner highway in Sarawak so we
don’t we we got our shop demolished and
I can definitely did relate this kind of
pain or lose to how the Afghans and
Syrian lost their families or their
their homes whenever I was there yeah I
believe I truly believe that what we
usually see in a in a mainstream media
is there’s two side and we have got to
filter
we have to see in a good way and see in
their way and we try to think it
critically and as a young people right
here right now I what I want to say is
that I think it’s good to make mistake
in your life like what I did when I was
in trying to shift from one course to
other course and I was I just graduated
end of last year which my friends most
of them graduated or yeah a year earlier
than me so I think it’s good it’s fine
to make mistake because we learn from a
mistake and then we grow up from there
and we become stronger and as for my war
experience it’s more – I think as long
as we plan something we know what is the
consequences a and B we go for it as
long as we can bear the consequences or
the risk and then you just go go for it
and leave for now that’s it thank you
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