Taufik Rosman and Eugene Ormandy were interviewed by BBC

by , Japanese Wikimedian / One of the Wikimedian of the Year 2023 winners (Newcomer) / An alumnus of Student Wikipedian Community in Waseda Uni Tokyo / Toumon Wikipedian Club Japan / Wikimedia Japan-Malaysia Friendship / Wikimedia Japan-Türkiye Friendship
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In August, 2023, Malaysian Wikimedian Taufik Rosman and Japanese Wikimedian Eugene Ormandy were interviewed by BBC for the podcast “TECH LIFE.”

Interview

The interview was implemented online on August 22, 2023. Wikimedia Foundation staff Junko Nakayama and Vidhu Goyal also join the interview to support the Wikimedians.

Podcast

The interview was published on the next day’s program “Why do smart speakers get facts wrong?” In the interview, two Wikimedians introduced their journeys and interests as Wikimedian of the Year 2023 awardees. You can listen to it on official site or spotify. Wikimedians’ interview starts from 22:30.

22:30

Comments from Wikimedians who listened to the podcast

Japanese Wikimedian Takenari Higuchi, a member of Student Wikipedian Community in Waseda University Tokyo, listened to the podcast and made a comment on their Twitter (X). Takenari said that many people seem to wonder why Wikimedians contribute to Wikimedia projects without reward.

Tweets of Japanese Wikimedian Takenari Higuchi. Archive of the first tweet is here. The second is here.

Other Wikimedians also gave comments to me.

  • It is a very rare occassion for Wikipedians working in non-English Wikipedias to be covered by BBC. I hope more and more people will realise that Wikipedia, including non-English versions, are run by flesh-and-blood people, not emotionless bots. — User:さえぼー (Dr. Sae Kitamura, Japan)
  • As a Wikipedian, I have heard of the Wikimedian of the Year award before, but have been thinking of it as something distant. The Tech Life Podcast is nice in that I came to know more about the award winners, on how they got involved with the Wikimedia Movement, and what were their motivations to contribute. — User:ネイ (Admin of Japanese Wikipedia, Toumon Wikipedian Club Japan)
  • Someone who is interested in Taufik words and Eugene is someone who is interested in Japanese classical music. Wikimedia projects have offered them various opportunities to work according to their interests. This, in turn, formed the path to learning, effort, and success. I should underline that the examples in the interview you listened to are actually a very good example of young people contributing to Wikimedia projects according to their interests and discovering their potential. —User:Kurmanbek (Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group & Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey)
  • I was impressed by their activities with high aspirations to share knowledge. The situation of Wikipedia in Japan is not well known, even though there is an environment where people can use Wikipedia from an early age, lectures on Wikipedia are given, and as a result, this wonderful Wikipedian has been born. There should be more detailed and active communication about the acceptance and spread of Wikipedia in Japan. — User:McYata (Toumon Wikipedian Club Japan)

Acknowledgments

As one of the interviewees, I appreciate many people; BBC staff, Wikimedia Foundation staff, Taufik, and Wikimedians who listened to the podcast. I hope more and more Wikimedians express their ideas or activities on interview.

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