Kopitiam Conversations

This is Episode 12.

Our guest for this episode is Terry Leong, the Acting Chief Executive Officer for World Vision Malaysia.

Prior to her appointment Terry served as the Senior Director overseeing World Vision Malaysia's local projects, which include Community Development Projects in Mukim Tulid and Tatalaan in Sabah, covering key areas such as education, child protection, economic development, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

Terry was a corporate legal advisor before joining World Vision International in 2009.

Listen to her share on the plans she has for World Vision Malaysia and how each of us can make the world a better place one child at a time because "every you counts".

To know more about the work of World Vision Malaysia or to become a sponsor, visit www.worldvision.com.my

This is Episode 11.

This is also the first episode of Season 2, with new episodes from 11 June 2022.

Our guest for this episode is Ms Sharon Lee, the Founder of Tender Hearts Cafe, a social enterprise founded in 2016 for special needs youths, championing inclusion, acceptance and equality for special needs.

Sharon shares her personal journey of being a mother to a person with special needs and, with a few other parents, established Tender Hearts as a centre to equip special needs youths with skills such as baking, cooking and living skills. Sharon reflects on the time when she had to manage a fledgling Tender Hearts while seeking treatment for breast cancer.

It has been 4 years since her cancer treatment and Sharon is now cancer-free.

Listen to the story of passion, strength and a quest for equality in this episode.

Follow Sharon and Tender Hearts Cafe at www.instagram.com/tenderheartsmalaysia or www.facebook.com/TenderHeartsMalaysia

Kopitiam Conversations X/Presso (KCX) is an audio-only podcast series from Kopitiam Conversations.

This series will feature shorter and more concentrated sound bites, so that you're able to listen to shorter, condensed and more "kaw-kaw" inspirational stories featuring our little everyday wins while you're on the go.

For this episode, I have not one, but two guests--two caregivers to cats who happen to be housemates--both of whom we had the privilege to know some time back. One is a lawyer by profession, and the other is a designer-turned-legal clerk. 

Forced by circumstances to work from home during the Movement Control Order lockdown, the two of them made the collective decision to adopt stray cats into their home. My guest today is Abigail Lim and Clara Tan.

Learn more about what they do by visiting their Instagram at @floofs.at.home

This is Episode 10.

Our guest for this episode is Dr Emelia Thiran, PhD, who is an artist, art writer, art educator and designer based in Kuala Lumpur. Emelia received her BFA from the University of Bridgeport (USA), and later her PhD in Art History from University Sains Malaysia. She has been teaching design, visual art studies and art history in numerous art colleges while freelancing as a graphic designer. She is the author of Living Art: The Inspired Lives of 14 Malaysian Artists & their Art Practice (2020). She quit full-time teaching to pursue painting in 2019.

Emelia shares her personal journey of being an art educator who worked her way to earn her PhD only to change the course of her career by embarking on becoming a full-time professional artist--following a health scare and some soul-searching--and feeling a lot more contented and fulfilled today.

You can follow, view and even purchase Dr Thiran's work at https://www.emythiran.com and www.instagram.com/emythiran

This is Episode 9.

Winston hosts Daniel Mok, a freelance advertising copywriter and scriptwriter by day, and comic artist by night. In his work, he has written for award-winning ads, short films, web series, a feature film and more.

Daniel shares his story with Winston on how he went from studying to be a graphic designer only to realise his flair for words and storytelling which enabled him to dabble into copywriting, which brought him into collaboration with JinnyboyTV to produce award-winning advertisements and more recently revisiting his storytelling through his own Malaysian-flavoured web comics, Mokumentary.

You can view his works on www.instagram.com/themokumentary or at www.facebook.com/themokumentary 

This is Episode 8.

Winston hosts Britney Pang, a young singer/performer who has performed on China's Dragon TV's all-girls singing knockout competition 'Girls Fighting' in 2016 when she was only fifteen years old and had shared the stage with BIGBANG's Seungri.  

More recently, Britney was a finalist on ASTRO AEC's 'Classic Alive' (2020) belting out classic Chinese and English songs in that competition.

Britney shares her story on singing and training in China, being away from home and school at a young age, and her plans for the next stage of her life following the completion of her diploma in the field of marketing and advertising.

You can follow Britney on the following social media:

This is Episode 7.

My guest is Noelle Kan, who is a fashion designer and the founder of local homegrown tropical wear brand KANOE.

Noelle studied fashion design at Sydney, Australia, before obtaining a scholarship to do a Masters in Fashion as Art in Florence, Italy.

After teaching art for two years at a high school, followed by a stint doing social work at Boracay, the Philippines, she returned to Malaysia to start her fashion label, KANOE.

Noelle shares her story with our host Winston on how she went from a young girl who had fought her way to gain her parents' approval to do fashion design, but took a detour for self-development before realising her calling back into fashion.

This is Episode 6.

My guest is Dr Joliana Yee, PhD.

Dr Joliana Yee is the Assistant Dean of Yale College and Director of the Asian American Cultural Center (AACC) at Yale University.

Prior to joining Yale, Dr Yee served as a Residence Hall Director at the University of Connecticut for four years where she worked closely with campus partners to create an inclusive and equitable living and learning environment.

Dr Yee’s dedication to serving Asian/Asian American students and striving for social justice stems from her own re-racialization experiences as an Asian international undergraduate student at Miami University over a decade ago.

She recently completed her term as Co-Chair for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators' (NASPA) Asian Pacific Islander Knowledge Community (APIKC).

In this episode, Dr Yee discusses with Winston on her role representing the Asian and Asian American community in one of America's most prestigious universities and also on the recent alarming abuses and attacks on the Asian communities in the US and the emergence of the #stopasianhate campaigns which has far-reaching resonance across the world.

This is Episode 5.

For the month of August, in conjunction with our Merdeka National Day celebrations, my guest is someone who has served our country at the highest level in the sports arena having competed at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics. 

My guest is Khoo Cai Lin, who is a former Malaysian swimmer with five gold medals at the SEA Games to her name. She holds four individual national records, and previously was part of the team that holds three relay national record.

Cai Lin is currently in client servicing with Havas Immerse.

In this episode, Cai Lin shares with host Winston on growing up with scoliosis despite her career as a national swimmer, coming out to the world about her condition, the surgery and rehabilitation that followed, retirement from swimming, and life in advertising post-swimming career.

This is Episode 4.

My guest is Dr Antoon de Rycker, PhD, who is an Associate Professor at the School of Media and Communication at Taylor's University, Subang Jaya. A linguist and discourse analyst by training, Dr de Rycker has branched out into areas such as creativity, professional development and business communication. He has conducted training sessions and workshops for a wide range of audiences. His motto is “learn and build”. 

A Belgian national, he has lived and worked in Malaysia since 2009.

Host Winston discusses with Dr de Rycker on his twelve years in Malaysia, teaching in higher education, how the teaching philosophy in Belgium is different from Malaysia, and how the Covid-19 pandemic has been an opportunity to re-look and re-assess his priorities in life.