Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia/Reports/International Bajau Fraternity Dialogue 2023

The International Bajau Fraternity Dialogue 2023 was an international conference for the Sama Bajau community of Indonesia and Malaysia which was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 25 January 2023. One member of the user group was invited by the Bajau Sama Language and Culture Association (BSBB) to present about the ongoing Wikipedia Incubator project for the Bajau Sama language.

Representative

Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia (WCUGMY) was represented for the first time by User:Tofeiku from Sabah, Borneo Malaysia. He mainly edits in Malay Wiktionary and Wikipedia, and he is also one of the admin of Malay Wikipedia. The user group has good relationship with BSBB as they are the one that start the Incubator project for the language until now. Hence, the chair of the association invited the user group to present about the project.

Report summary

Visit to Wikimedia Indonesia

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE BY USER:TOFEIKU

I am really grateful to have the privilege to attend the conference in short notice. The trip was very impactful to me because I learnt a lot from building more connections within the Bajau Sama community and also from learning more from Wikimedia Indonesia throughout my trip/

Entry process

I (User:Tofeiku) was invited to attend the conference in short notice since one of the BSBB members was not able to attend. Travelling cost was covered by the user group's grant.

RECOMMENDATION:

Suggest partners to invite Wikimedians more to their events.

Communication, Financial & Travel Advice for Malaysian Attendee

Flights to and from Jakarta, accommodations were fully covered by the user group. I travelled together with the BSBB delegation as I was invited by them.

Malaysians do not need a visa for Indonesia.

Meals are provided for free for breakfast in the hotel and lunch in the conference venue. Do bring some snacks from Malaysia.

It is hard to find free WiFi in Jakarta. It is recommended to buy roaming data.

Bring souvenirs from Malaysia to be shared in the conference and to the local chapter here.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Having a sum of money on hand is important. It is important to exchange the money before arriving. However, debit or credit card can be used. Make sure to activate overseas transaction before travelling.
Make sure to have an international adapter due to different socket.

Conference experience

Day 1: Tuesday, 24 January 2023

Session	Notes
Pre-conference session: Majlis Sangom Mag Lami-Lami	Even though our delegate arrived late evening, we attended the pre-conference session with all the Bajau Sama communities from Indonesia and Malaysia. There were prominent figures especially from Malaysia like the son of the former governor of Sabah.

Day 2: Wednesday, 25 January 2023

Session	Notes
Welcome ceremony	Bajau Sama traditional dance from Indonesia was performed before entering the hall. It was a hybrid conference as there were many of them that could not attend the conference physically.
BSBB session	The chair of BSBB was presenting on their effort to preserve the language in Sabah like publishing its first dictionary and having an editing programme for Wikipedia. After that, I present our collaboration with BSBB to the conference about editing in Wikipedia for the Bajau Sama language. I invited the Indonesian delegates to do the same for Bajau Sama in Indonesia since we have different language codes. Overall, they were quite impress and intrigued the idea of having their own Wikipedia edition. I also invited the chair of Wikimedia Indonesia, Rachmat to attend the conference and also to do some networking with the local Bajau Sama community there. We were able to meet a lot of people there. Some of the people that I met was Ibu Erni from POSBI which is the organiser. After the presentation, she told that the Bajau Sama community in Indonesia should have its own Wikipedia as well. Other than that, Ana Safiana, an Indonesian university student who is part of the student group there. We have talked about the possibilities for collaboration and establishing a Wikipedia community in her university. Also, Bapak Hari Prasetio which is a local Bajau Sama community who do research on the community.
Visiting Wikimedia Indonesia office	After the conference ended in the afternoon, Rachmat and I visited Wikimedia Indonesia's office. I learnt a lot from the visit as I want to figure out how to strive as a community and having its own office for the affiliate's activities. I was also interviewed by the Wikidata Indonesia team, Raisha, to discuss about lexemes in Wikidata as the Malay language has no problem in decision making. However, the Indonesia community is still discussion on its terminology and format for lexemes.

Day 3: Thursday, 26 January 2023

Session	Notes
Visiting Wikimedia Indonesia office	I discussed more with the members there like Leni. We discussed about how they manage reimbursements and grants with the community. Leni also told me to think about more planning as I will be working full time soon in the future as a teacher.
Visiting National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)	Rachmat and I met Ibu Sastri at BRIN's office to catch up and discuss from the last time I met her online. We did a webinar together few years ago for International Mother Language Day. I told her more on the conference that I attended before this and told the works done by the user group. She mentioned about a huge Indonesian language conference that will be held at the end of the year. I learnt a lot from Indonesia as they were more active in language and volunteer work. We discussed for future collaboration in the future.
Visiting Education Ministry Library	Rachmat and I visited the library and finding some books to read. I found some dictionaries and added some words into Malay Wiktionary.

Day 4: Friday, 27 January 2023

Session	Notes
Visiting Wikimedia Indonesia office	I visited the office again for the last time before I depart later evening. I met with Sakti who I have known before online. We discussed about partnerships done by the user group and also suggestions for Wikimania Singapore on who to invite for delivering speech and others.

Minor impressions

The conference was casual and short
Fascinated with the idea of having our own office like Wikimedia Indonesia
Ate delicious local foods and they were quite cheap
Many need to learn in short trip from Wikimedia Indonesia