geek in white

ASEAN Blogger Conference, Bali 2011.

Just about this moment two weeks ago (time check: 10:30pm), I landed in Ngurah Rai International Airpot together with two representative from Vietnam - Anh-Minh & Tai Tran - for the ASEAN Blogger Conference (ABC). Arriving with us were Sayra & Tony representing the Philippines.

We were met by Fickry and Chi-Chi who took us to Pop Harris Hotel. It’s quite a funky hotel and very colorful, just the way I like it.

After about 6 hours or so of sleep/rest, we got ready for breakfast and then took a coach to the venue, Museum Pasifika at Nusa Dua. Altogether there were about 200 bloggers in attendance, 95% of them from all over Indonesia.

The event was officiated by Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Information, Tifatul Sembiring. In his speech he hoped that the conference will unite all the ASEAN members in building a community with a single voice by 2015.

To start-off the day, all the representatives from various ASEAN countries in attendance were given 10mins each to present a brief info on the blogging scene in their own respective country. Indonesia as host went first, displaying amazing stats. Currently they’re the second biggest nation on Facebook (43 million I think) and they’ve got 2.7 million bloggers from various communities.

Philippines were next, then Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and lastly Brunei. I was totally not prepared so I was slide-less. I told the crowd that blogging is quite dead in Brunei except for some. We don’t have the quantity but quality ones worth following. We have moved into social media micro-blogs with a staggering 55% of the population is on Facebook. I think those in attendance were surprised that Brunei has a 70% internet penetration too.

Throughout the day, there was a talk by a representative from Google, a lady who is one of the pioneer in start-ups in Indonesia and independent legal representatives from Indonesia talking about how their freedom of speech which is slowly being limited.

The participants were also divided into 3 groups where everyone was asked to come up with content for the ABC Bali Declaration. It was quite a lengthy discussion (with really good debates) but in the end, some concise points were agreed. It was carefully composed so that it is acceptable and within the laws of each ASEAN countries. I shall post that declaration on my next post, so stay tuned.

ASEAN Bloggers (left to right): Tai Tran (Vietnam), Irwan & wife (Malaysia), Me, Sayra (Philippines), Sounay (Laos), Tonyo (Philippines), Anh-Minh (Vietnam) and Wason (Thailand).

Photo credit (me holding the mic): Baban Sarbana