Just 5 reasons NOT to Miss TEDxKL this year

TEDxKL – the biggest TEDx event in Asia – is back and is set to be bigger than ever! This will the non-profit’s seventh year in KL and about 4,000 people are expected to attend the conference, with more than a dozen luminaries scheduled to speak. It’s certainly come a long way since the first TEDxKL in 2009, which had 80 people attending.

To describe TED as a “conference” is a bit of an understatement, though. Since the first TED (Technology, Education and Design) was held in California in 1984, it has grown into a global movement.
 

Inspired by its slogan “Ideas Worth Spreading” and Its signature format of rapid-fire not-more-than-18-minutes presentations by leading thinkers, TEDx events have since spread across the planet. These independently organised talks are regularly held in places like Vancouver, Hong Kong and right here in KL. 

TEDxKL 2015 will again push forward some bold ideas and visionary thinking. The roster of speakers includes a who’s who of Malaysian scientists, activists, artists, entrepreneurs and more. This year’s theme is ‘Infinity & Beyond’, which is intended to encourage Malaysians to challenge the limits and expand the boundaries of possibilities. 

For the full list of speakers who will be sharing their thoughts, experiences and most of all, passion this year, click here. We’d like to showcase just 5 of them to give you a taste of what kind of awesomeness you can expect.

1. Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, Malaysian Cultural Dance Icon 

Ramli Ibrahim
Image credit: TEDxKL website

Datuk Ramli Ibrahim has set dance stages ablaze from Chennai to Paris for over 30 years. He has nurtured some of the brightest dance talents in Malaysia and has received many accolades in his career. Among them are the Fulbright Distinguished Artist Award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Datuk Ramli is also acknowledgement as a ‘Living Heritage’ by the Government of Malaysia.

2. Afdlin Shauki, Actor-Director-Comedian-Singer

Afdlin Shauki
Image credit: TEDxKL website

Afdlin Shauki gave up a government scholarship to study abroad when he realised he’d rather make people laugh than be an engineer. In a career that spans more than 20 years, Afdlin has won many awards for his work in various entertainment genres. More recently, the actor-director-comedian-singer has turned his attention to business and humanitarian activities.

3. Dr Amani Salim, Scientist-Researcher-Teacher

Dr Amani
Image credit: TEDxKL website

Dr Amani was the first Malaysian to participate in NASA’s reduced gravity FAST parabolic flight research program. In 2012, she won the Thora Halstead ‘Young Investigator’ award and in 2014, she was the principal investigator to NASA SporeSat, a spacecraft conducting experiments on gravity effects. She is currently a lecturer at IIUM, where she works on promoting research into new sensor technologies, Biosensors and bioMEMS, and MEAs. She also volunteers at ‘Women of NASA’.

4. Datuk Sri Idris Jala, PEMANDU CEO and world-class business advisor

Idris Jala
Image credit: TEDxKL website

YB Senator Dato’ Sri Idris Jala was the former CEO of MAS who turned the company around and achieved a record profit of USD260 million. In 2009, he was appointed as CEO of PEMANDU. Under his leadership, PEMANDU was named one of the world’s Top 20 innovation teams in government by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Idris was also named in Bloomberg Markets’ ‘50 Most Influential list’. He was previously on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council. Idris now advises countries on how to replicate PEMANDU’s success. He is also an advisor for the World Bank.

5. H.E. Vicki Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia

Vicki
Image credit: TEDxKL website

Victoria Treadell was born in Malaysia and received her early education at Tarcisian Convent Ipoh before moving back to the UK. Her diplomatic career spans a range of roles, and has taken her around the world. In 2014, Vicki was appointed the British High Commissioner to Malaysia. She is a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO), a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and has won the Public Sector Award in the UK’s prestigious Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

TEDxKL will be held on Saturday, 8 August at Putra Indoor Stadium, Bukit Jalil. The event is from 11am until 6.30pm and provides a great platform to exchange ideas with diverse people. Tickets are priced at RM150 and are available online at http://peatix.com/event/69064. 

For more information, visit: www.tedxkl.com.

Coconuts KL is among the media partners for this event.



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