It goes without saying that the moment I heard about it, I booked the tickets immediately, because slots were limited and going fast! Booking tickets early was a good move, seeing that all 1,500 slots had been filled only a few weeks after going on sale~
Fast-forward a few weeks later to Saturday August 3rd. The talks were scheduled to begin at 1.00pm, and I shot down to Mid Valley Convention Center around 12pm~
When I got there, the crowd was pretty amazing ... there were booths offering all sorts of things, from free popcorn and cotton candy, to black-and-white portrait photos. Registration lines were separated by the registrees' names, and since I registered under my name 'A', it was a pretty long queue~ =w=;;
After registering, we got a messenger bag/satchel (pretty neat!), and a name tag.
One of the talks that inspired me the most was done by Peter Sage: "Making the Impossible, Possible".
Peter Sage is the Chairman of Space Energy, pioneering technology to harness space-based solar energy ... basically, just like the Orbital Elevators we see in Gundam00, heheh~! XD Needless to say, the minute he mentioned harnessing solar energy in space, he had my attention. Was I witnessing the beginnings of Celestial Being?
But his presentation barely even mentioned the revolutionary technology his company was developing ... instead, his speech was more about navigating the complexity of life, letting opportunities find you ... or simply, "making the impossible, possible."
One thing that he said that had a really profound effect on me was this quote:
"What do you need to give up, and what do you need to replace it with? The first thing you need to give up the illusion of separateness ... you can't take an atom on one side of the universe, and not have it effect another atom on the other side. The illusion is that we're all separate ... when in fact we're all connected. And what do you have to replace that with? Unconditional love."For some reason, that fact gripped me so strongly, I can remember it now. The way he said, 'unconditional love' so matter-of-factly like he was just reporting the weather only reinforced the point. It made total and complete sense to me: You need to be able to give and accept love unconditionally to be able to figure out how this complex, confusing, oftentimes tragic but wonderful life works, and it's still something I mull over from time to time. No, don't laugh at me, I know it's an overly-romantic sentiment, but the simplest things make the most sense, sometimes. :) And it's more than just an overly-romantic sentiment if you look further than just the surface~!
Another speaker that stuck with me was wordsmith and poet Khosal Kiev.
I guess it was the passionate way he delivered his poems (and - heh - how he also touched on the subject of unconditional love as a stepping stone towards happiness), but I actually teared up a bit during his talk. It must take getting through incredible hardship to be able to achieve that much acceptance and peace with the world, and I think he's someone who has been there and come back to tell the story:
Another talk that really resonated with me was by local photographer Zung: He told his life story, how he began taking simple wedding photos, and how that brought him in a step-by-step journey to photographing portraits for international figures like Anthony Robbins and Donald Trump.
He's since traveled the world on photography assignments and trips, highlighting that one incident where he traveled to Antarctica and fell ill for the whole journey.
It was very inspirational for me, since I've always wanted to explore photography in my own way, and felt that maybe I could have a life and career like his someday, if I took the right risks, stepped up to the plate and put myself out there. :)
There were so many other notable speakers, such as Red Hong Yi, the local-born artist who became an Instagram sensation for posting artworks using foods, and drawing a portrait of Yao Ming using a basketball ... to a musical performance by the ridiculously talented Az Samad & Cheryl Tan, featuring covers of Malaysian-made songs and original pieces.
The event itself was nicely organized -- they served 'ifthar' after the talks had ended, being the middle of the fasting month of Ramadhan, where they served a buffet of Arabian rice and curries, and free samples of mille crepe from Humble Beginnings (very yummy!).
From someone who could only watch TEDx talks on YouTube, I really appreciated the chance to be able to finally experience them live. :)
For more information:
- TEDxKL Official Website
Special thanks to Zhian for the heads up and company! :)
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