Tell us a bit about youself!
Where did you grow up?
Officially, I was born in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Six months passed and I moved to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. I spent 17 and a half years there. That’s where I grew up. A metropolitan city that can absorb up to 10 million people during workdays.
What is your interest growing up?
If you mean a job that I want to have, I couldn’t really recall everything. There were many. As long as it is not under the spotlight, I might have an interest on it. A formula one racer. A soldier. A farmer. An animator. Pixar animator to be precise. Voice actor.
I don’t have any particular dream job, but I really love learning since I was a child. Growing up, I had a weekly children magazine called Bobo. I really love the short stories and the ‘do you know?’ rubric. That and coupled with comics titled ‘Fisika itu Asyik’ (Physic is fun) and ‘Biologi itu Asyik’ (Biology is fun) drove my interest in science and imagination.
Share that quirky side of yours, what is it?
One of the weird things of me I suppose is talking to my ride. I often talked to my ride and considered them as my pet. I named them and sometimes I told them my stories of my day. A motorcycle when I was in Indonesia. A bike when I am here in the Netherlands. I talked to them on various times, when I’m happy, anxious, taking exam or just simply being late, when I consider taking a new route and then get lost, when it’s raining. If they could speak, they would know as much as my smartphone does. Or even better.
Why EPA?
What is your experience prior to joining EPA?
I am working as a freelance for approximately 2 years. Developing basic websites. Giving a private tutor to senior high school students. Volunteering. Working as an outsourced consultant in solid waste management. Doing research with NGOs. Writing a book… I mean contributing. Translating and interpreting. Conducting survey. You name it.
What led you to joining EPA? Your expectations of EPA?
I companied my former supervisor around my bachelor graduation (I forget whether it’s before or after) to receive a group of researchers from the Netherlands. I was there to help interpret English-Indonesia when we went site survey. At some point, my graduation was brought up during a conversation and a researcher told me about TPM. That’s how I knew EPA. The researcher’s name is Louise, she’s not from TU Delft. She’s managed to convince me because here I am. She explained how important a policy maker compared to the engineer to improve our environment situation. And that’s kind of make sense because I also experienced afterwards how bad planning guarantee a failure in implementation.
Based on the specialization option, I expected that I would be able either to have experience intern in the infrastructure and environmental ministry or to make a serious game. Spoiler alert: I achieved the second one. From a general point of view, I only assume that I will learn something wild and out of my imagination at that time. Policy often associated with law and regulation. Or at least my past me think so. Yet, I still applied for EPA.
How does it align with your interest(s), are the expectations met?
As a nerd, I really enjoy learning in EPA even though I have to admit the first three months felt like the education wanted to kill me. Everything is a shock to me. Culture shock. Culinary shock. Weather shock. Language shock. Education shock. A little bit of remnants. Luckily, I am blessed with kind friends. Learning EPA has nudged me to learn many things such as epistemology, ontology, and semantics. It’s not directly taught but it became intuitive based on what I had in EPA. There’s so many novelties that even though I know Dunning-Krueger effect, I still don’t care. I think the modeling part especially is interesting because it really challenges my point of view. I often though being methodical and analytic never fail to solve problem, but modeling slapped me in the face and told me it doesn’t. It shaped a whole lot of my perspective in life.
What is the most exciting opportunity that you have been working on since EPA?
In the academic realm, making a serious game about plastic soup problem is one of the most memorable moment. We brainstormed using emails. Spending 20 hours I think just for playtest it. We have a real client and we also played it with target groups. Week after week, we tinker, break it, and improve it. It’s so much joy. Making games. What else would I ask for.
After EPA
How would you describe the impact you’d like to make after EPA?
I think I want to develop a mastery in serious gaming if that’s possible to do in Indonesia. Conducting a workshop. Showing a way that learning doesn’t have to be boring and dull. A seminar often associated with one way communication but what if they can receive a message without me telling them explicitly. Wouldn’t it be fun?
Also, I want to keep writing as a hobby and at least publish a book whether it’s non-fiction, anthology, or novel. I started my newsletter, anyway.
And any messages, advice to current/ prospective EPA students out there?
Living in the present become more important after I learned EPA. All model is wrong they said. And when you start thinking about your life which means you make a model out of it, you are not living your life. And well, the quickest way to know what’s in the future is… to live your life. Life is complex and so that mean, there is no single right way to live it. Hakuna Matata~