ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/Nelynnnnn

Greetings! This is my first time ever attending such a big conference that includes so many diverse attendees from around the globe. I shall offer some of my perspectives regarding the Wikimedia ESEAP Conference 2024 in this report. Come on, let's dive right in!

This year ESEAP Conference was the third regional conference for Wikimedia communities across the ESEAP region which is East, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. The conference was held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from 10-12 May, 2024. For this year 2024, the conference theme is Collaboration beyond the horizon.

Sponsorship

First and foremost, I would like to thank the Wikimedia Foundation for granting my application for the full scholarship to attend this conference. By receiving this scholarship, I was able to attend this conference without expending an excessive amount of money and throughout the conference, I felt at ease in terms of accommodations, hospitality, and food. Aside from that, I also got the opportunity to visit and enjoy trips to some amazing places.

Roles

During the conference, I carried out three roles which is :

Full scholarship participant
Interpreter for Ms-dtp
Member of Kelab Wiki Kent

Overview of the Conference

Hybrid-conference

Conference held online and face to face

The conference includes both online and offline (face-to-face) participants which allows the attendees to participate either in person or virtually, offering greater flexibility and accessibility. Online attendees of the conference were connected using the Zoom and YouTube applications. The conference allows for participation in many languages and promotes language diversity. The committee presented many language interpretations during the session. Some of the languages that were available for interpretation are Malay, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Kadazandusun. This helps participants who are having difficulty understanding the language used for this conference, which is English.

Conference Management

The committee members was effective in setting up the sessions and activities that took place during the conference. My observations show that while there were occasional technical issues during some of the sessions, they professionally overcame the issues. Other than that, the committee team provided Trust and Safety (T&S) committee that ensure the safety of the participants throughout the conference.

Accommodations & Facilities

All participants are facilitated during the programme by the excellent accommodations and facilities that the committee has supplied. I felt quite at ease with the hotel's amenities and services for the entire four days and three nights that I spent there, especially the meals. In order to facilitate participant access to water, the hotel has installed water dispensers in each hall. Additionally, pencils and paper are placed on tables at the beginning of each session to facilitate note-taking of presentation contents.

Things I learned from the conference

Day 1 (10th May 2024)
During the first day, I started my role as an Interpreter for ms to dtp during the opening ceremony. After that I attended the Wiki in Education session that was held in Sayat-sayat Room. The other session I attended Editing Wikipedia to understand our past: Enriching Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s local history on Wikipedia . During the session, it was discussed how the Wikipedia Summer Students deal with the difficulties in using Wikipedia to improve local history. From what they've shared, I've discovered that some indigenous people were reluctant to share their knowledge because they wanted to protect it from outsiders editing it on Wikipedia. They also emphasized that with pure intentions harm can still be caused.	Four Wikipedia Summer Students presenting during their session
I also attended the Utilization of Wikimedia in Lessons session as well. During the session, there was a discussion about the strategic ways to promote open educational resources to teachers. They talked about the educational uses of Wikimedia sources. Examples of images that can be used in education are those found on Wikipedia, many of which are free to use, licenced media, and instructional materials. Other than that, narrative and descriptive tests can be administered using literary text kinds from Wikimedia. Crediting the content is still necessary even if the sources are freely available.	Presenter of the Utilization of Wikimedia in Lessons session
At Timpohon Room, I attended 3 differents session presented by students and lecturers from IPGM Campus Kent. The sessions presented by MTI Campus Kent are Bridging IPGM Campus Kent’s Collaboration Network With the Community through Wikimedia, Kent Wiki Club IPGM Campus Kent: Globalizing Kadazandusun Language and Culture via Wikimedia ESEAP and Wikimedia's role in collaborating with IPGM Campus Kent to promote and preserve the Kadazandusun Language. The sessions introduced Kent Wiki Club, discussed about how IPGM Campus Kent develop and enhance the Kadazan Dusun Language Teacher Education Curriculum. IPGM Campus Kent also has established a network with the community through various activities that aimed tp uplift and empower the Kadazandusun Language. Other than that, participants also got to know about Kent Wiki Club’s IPGM Kent Campus initiative regarding the globalization of Kadazandusun’s language and culture through Wikimedia starting from the local community in the ESEAP.	Dr. Hamidah director of MTI Kent Bridging IPGM Campus Kent’s Collaboration Network With the Community through Wikimedia Dr. Linah headchief of the Bahasa Kadazandusun deparment at MTI Campus Kent Wikimedia's role in collaborating with IPGM Campus Kent to promote and preserve the Kadazandusun Language. Jurina Jonimin, Jilorisa John and James Molijoh presenting Community through Wikimedia, Kent Wiki Club IPGM Campus Kent: Globalizing Kadazandusun Language and Culture via Wikimedia ESEAP
I took a part in activities related to cultural village trips as well. At 5:45 PM, we went to the Mari Mari Cultural Village, where I had the opportunity to meet fellow Wikimedians. Other Wikimedians aboard the bus delighted us with a performance as we were traveling to the location. They kept singing till we arrived at our destination. Upon reaching the location, I had the opportunity to go on a nighttime tour of a traditional home, something I had never done before. Despite being a local participant, I certainly learned something new from this trip, which gave me the opportunity to try a variety of foods such as rice wine (montoku), kuih karas, herb tea and kuih panjaram. I also got the chance to experience numerous cultures from Sabah throughout this trip and enjoyed traditional dance performances.	Participants divided into groups for the tour Wikimedians on a bus to Mari Mari Cultural Village A sweet lady preparing panjaram


Day 2 - (11th May 2024)
On the second day, I attended the Indonesian Vulgarities in Wiktionary session held at . I've discovered from this session that Wikitionary has no censoring guidelines, which explains why many offensive terms are allowed there. For instance, Wiktionary provides definitions for filthy words like "pukimak" without any form of restriction. Furthermore, editing an entry on Wikitionary is open to everybody, and the changes take effect simultaneously. Although Wikitonary may not filter those offensive terms, it does demonstrate that it offers us something different from the typical dictionary. Next is Women@Work: More than Just a Wikimedia Contribution session that introduced me to SheSaid and Art+Feminism, which began in 2020 and are currently being used to address issues that will help close the gender gap in the Wikimedia movement. In the session it was mentioned that in 2020 report only 34.5% of women participated in the labor force. There is still an abundance of untapped information. The talk provide information about how we can close the gender gap between Wiki projects and how to gather information such as interviewing people. On the same day I also attended the How to Encourage Women in Mainland China to Actively Participate in the Wikimedia Global Movement session. I've learned that in mainland China there's a lack of Chinese women contributing to Wikipedia plus most of students in Mainland China's university is male. Some of the reasons why female students won't contribute in Wikipedia are because editing on Wikimedia is a technical work which made them afraid of it and they don't have the motivation to edit plus Wikipedia is generally banned in China. To overcome this issue the students in Mainland China's university especially female students need to be encourage to participate in Wikimedia projects.


Day 3 - (12th May 2024)
I joined the group that participate in the photowalk session at Gaya Street Sunday Market after breakfast. We walked about 400 metres from Le Meridien Hotel to Gaya Street Sunday Market and took some pictures along the walk. After the photo walk session, I continued my role as an Interpreter for the Imagining Community-led AI Governance in ESEAP session. Other than that, I also participated in ESEAP Hub (3) – Future Plan, ESEAP Hub (4) – The Plan and the Closing Ceremony. All of the participants gather at Sayat-sayat room for the ESEAP Hub 3, 4 and for the closing Ceremony. The last day of the conference kinda ended joyfully.

Things contributed or participated in or since the conference

Uploading photos in Wiki Commons
Interpreting sessions from ms to dtp
Photo walk session at Gaya Street Sunday Market
Visit to Mari Mari Cultural Village
Assisted the committee member preparing the lanyards and goodies for the participants. I also assisted them with registering and welcoming the participants for a short period of time.

Me assisting my friend during the participants registration

Future Plans

After participating in ESEAP Conference 2024 I am looking forward to participate in other Wiki programme not only in Kent Wiki Club but also in any other projects.
Contribute more in Wiki projects and applying what I have learned from ESEAP.
More active in Wiki projects.
Explore other Wiki projects.
Creating/translating more dtp infobox template.
Making art through Wiki projects.
Adding more Kadazandusun info in any Wiki projects.

Improvements

Rehearse before the big day since we are unfamiliar with the venue especially the electrical equipment that they provides, as there was a technical problem during the first session. Being able to hear everyone who was interpreting, including the primary audio, presents challenges for me as the interpreter during the session.
Provide seperate room for the interpreters. I found it challenging to translate during that period since I could hear the other interpreters providing their interpretations in their languages. Since it's quieter there, I advise the interpreters to utilize their hotel room for interpretation, depending on how comfortable they are with the choice provided by the committee team.
Extend the conference's duration. This is a result of there being too many sessions, some of which I would like to attend but can't as they are scheduled at the same time.