ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/BiancaBrazal

This is my first time receiving a scholarship for a Wikimedia conference. I attended Wikimania last year in Singapore and was inspired by the speakers sharing what they do in their respective affiliates. I wanted to experience that, too.

Observations and experiences

Before personally experiencing Sabah, I had prior knowledge that the culture is similar to what we have in the Philippines. I just didn't realize the astounding extent.

Different and the same

Our team arrived at the hotel on the late night of May 9. We decided to have our dinner at the seafood market right in front of the hotel. The prices were unbelievably affordable for the assortment of seafood we ordered. The owner talked to us in Tagalog after learning we are from the Philippines. Once at the table, the lady serving us placed a pitcher on our table. It came with a container underneath with holes in its lid. At first, we thought the pitcher was for drinking, albeit a little odd-looking. But upon serving each of us bottled water, the only logical purpose left for it would be for handwashing. We didn’t have that in the Philippines. Eating by hand is not new to us, but having a specific item to use for hand washing surprised us. With the help of Google, I found its name, teko cuci tangan.

After our sumptuous dinner, we strolled around the market stalls. At a distant stall, a speaker was playing an old Tagalog ballad. Surrounded by people not too different from Filipinos, it was like a Sunday evening in the Philippines when radio stations played old songs.

At the hotel lobby the next morning during breakfast, we were greeted in what I presume was Malay language. Maybe because we don’t look that different from other Sabahan. At our perplexed reaction and further clarifications in English, she then guessed that we were Filipinos. This similar exchange happened multiple times with different people during our stay. This made me feel a little disconnected from other participants, and on a larger scale, from other Southeast Asian countries, as most can speak and understand Malay. I feel an even deeper hatred with our colonizers.

The next evening, during the cultural trip to Mari-Mari Cultural Village, I was extra attentive to the delicacies being prepared in the different houses. At home I spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen so this piqued my interest. I learned from one Indonesian Wikimedian that the word bawang (garlic in Tagalog/Bikol) means onion, and garlic is bawang putih. Puti in Tagalog means white so that kinda makes sense.

In one of the houses, upon entering I saw a coconut grater that looks like what we have in the Philippines. The lady was cooking pancakes. It was made of rice flour, coconut milk, and sugar. The ingredients used are the usual components of kakanin (Filipino delicacies). It tasted uncannily familiar. It was like a fried version of bibingka without the toppings. The next house served a crispy stringy delicacy that resembled the taste of the batter used in maruya (banana fritters). The food consoled me a little. I may not understand Malay, but I know these tastes by heart.

As if knowing my thoughts, on the bus ride back to the hotel, a Tagalog song was sung by an Indonesian Wikimedian.

Things learned at the conference

The cultures in the ESEAP region are so closely tied that the approach to the projects from other affiliates can be used in implementing similar projects in the Philippines.

Being a Wikimedian does not automatically make one see the hurdles women face before they can even start editing, as I have observed from the question thrown at the speaker from the session, How to Encourage Women in Mainland China to Actively Participate in the Wikimedia Global Movement. I felt disappointed by that. There is a lot of work to be done in raising awareness of the gender imbalance in the movement.

This was both a funny and enlightening moment from the session Indonesian Vulgarities in Wiktionary. The Indonesian expletive "puki mak" has an exact translation in the Central Bikol language, which is (forgive me for this) "buray ni ina (nya/mo)." I can't be the only one who still remembers that phrase. This certainly was a way to feel connected.

Contribution and Participation

Program Presentation

Human Rights Day in the Philippines: A Community Outreach
I discussed areas of human rights advocacy our affiliate worked on and the strategies we took in tackling sensitive issues on human rights.

Link to Presentation: Human Rights Day in the Philippines: A Community Outreach

Sessions Attended

May 10, 2024

Seeding an Ecosystem of Partners – Funding and Beyond
Regional Grants Committee (ESEAP)
Utilizing Let's Connect in the ESEAP Region
Wikisource Loves Manuscripts: A Partnership Perspective on Collaborative Efforts to Preserve Cultural Heritage
Bridging IPGM Campus Kent’s Collaboration Network With the Community through Wikimedia
Wikidata Workshop on the Language of Education in the ESEAP Region

May 11, 2024

Indonesian Vulgarities in Wiktionary
Women@Work: More than Just a Wikimedia Contribution
How to Encourage Women in Mainland China to Actively Participate in the Wikimedia Global Movement
UNESCO-WMID on the Training in Ethnic (Indigenous) Languages on Mis/Disinformation and Hate Speech in the Context of Election 2024
Data Partnerships: 2024 and Beyond
WikiDunong: An Eduwiki Initiative in the Philippines
Hatch A Wikimedian

May 12, 2024

WikiRenjana: Perpetuating Sundanese Culinary on Wikibooks Indonesia to Maintain Cultural Heritage
What is WANZ?
Human Rights Day in the Philippines: A Community Outreach
Facing the Heritage Language Crisis, We Provide Promotion and Teaching through Wikipedia
Uniting networks for free knowledge
Crowdmapping is More Fun with OpenStreetMap!

Plans after the conference

Preparation for the ESEAP Summit 2025
Adopt best practices from other affiliates
Learn Malay language?

Comments/ suggestions about the conference

The pre-conference guides and instructions provided were complete and helpful. I especially appreciate the prompt responses to my emails before the conference.