TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a series of conferences devoted to ‘ideas worth spreading’. TED conferences bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers to present their research and work.
Created in the spirit of this conference series, TEDxYouth@KL took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 16 November 2013. The event sought to gather people to spark world-changing ideas, a goal shared by Microsoft’s YouthSpark initiative. It also drew Microsoft Malaysia’s participation to raise awareness of the possibilities that YouthSpark can bring.
TEDxYouth@KL saw an overwhelming turnout of 811 attendees, mainly students and entrepreneurs who were treated to ingenious and fascinating stories of innovation. One such story belonged to Sunny Singh, an innovator and two-time Microsoft Imagine Cup Singapore winner who had previously represented his country at the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in Poland and New York. He shared with the audience many inspiring stories, including how he came upon the idea of developing Kinect games to assist with stroke rehabilitation for the elderly after his own father suffered a stroke.
Other speakers at the event included Phng Li Kheng, Chief Executive Officer of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Company Shanghai; Toh Yit Ming, co-founder of technology firm Soft Space; and Joyce Tagal, Alumni Function Lead at Teach for Malaysia.
Event participants visited the Microsoft booth to discover how the YouthSpark programme can empower them to use technology to make a difference. There were several video presentations at the booth that enabled Microsoft staff to showcase the various YouthSpark initiatives, including one about the work of John-Son Oei, a Malaysian entrepreneur helping underprivileged indigenous people of Malaysia.
“TEDx is a great platform for us to meet and interact with many youth and aspiring entrepreneurs who dream big and possess brilliant ideas to create positive change. Our participation at TEDx provided us with the opportunity to showcase the different ways we support young Malaysians in their social initiatives, as well as how the various YouthSpark programmes can act as the catalyst for transforming their ideas into reality,” said Mandeep Kaur, Community Affairs Manager at Microsoft Malaysia.