From 10 to 12 May, 2024, ESEAP Conference 2024 was held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. In the conference, Wikimedians from ESEAP region (East and South East Asia and Pacific) gathered and learned about Wikimedia Movement.
In this article, I introduce my experiences on 9 May. Though the conference didn’t start on that day, I communicated with Wikimedians at airport and hotel.
Kuala Lumpur Airport
I left Narita airport in Japan and arrived at Kuala Lumpur airport at 4:45pm. I was alone and worried about the transfer to Kota Kinabalu airport. Then I found Belinda Spry, a staff member of Wikimedia Australia. We celebrated our reunion and walked to the Kota Kinabalu terminal together.
Needless to say, we had a lot of Wikimedia talks on that way! I asked Belinda about the Wikimedian in Residence programs in Australia, especially a project titled “The Record: Australian Music On Wikipedia.” On the other hand, Belinda asked me about the international projects I lead, such as Wikimedia Japan-Malaysia Friendship and Wikimedia Japan-Türkiye Friendship. I am very happy that our projects are known to Wikimedians from other communities.
Kota Kinabalu International Airport
At Kota Kinabalu International Airport, I met some Wikimedians from ESEAP region! We rode a bus for hotel together and had conversations. I talked with Binsar from Timor-Leste and shared the Wikimedia Movement in respective communities.
Actually, we missed some interesting pre-conference events such as Wiktionary event or Welcome party because we arrived at night. But instead of them, we could spend a good time in the bus!
Hotel
After we arrived at Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu, the hotel and the venue of the conference, we received lanyards and went to our rooms. My roommate Masaki Murakami, a member of Wikimedians of Japan User Group was already there and we exchanged greetings. It was first time for us to meet.
Then, I went to a room to meet one of my best friend: Taufik Rosman from Malaysia! We were delighted to meet again since Wikimania 2023 in Singapore and soon started to enjoy conversations. We talked about Wikimedia Movement in our communities, Wikimedia Japan-Malaysia Friendship project we organize together, how to persuade embassies or universities to collaborate with Wikimedia projects, and more more more…… We were so engrossed that both of us forgot to take photos for our reunion!
If you want to know about our collaborative works, please read a Diff article titled “Wikimedia Japan-Malaysia Friendship ASEAN-Japan 50 Editathon.”
I still wanted to communicate with Wikimedians, but the time has come. I went to bed and fell asleep quickly, looking forward to the next day!
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