What Will I Be When I Grow Up?: Recent Episodes
MABECS Malaysia
For as long as we can remember, we have been told that it is better to be a doctor, engineer or lawyer when we grow up. We want to inspire students and parents to think holistically, beyond the social constructs instilled in their minds. Join us as we explore ideas with people who are at the top of their game, pursuing their dreams and making a difference in the world.
The climate crisis is real, and it is already affecting our future, including the jobs it is creating and will create. The key to looking for a successful, sustainable career is asking questions that are environmentally related - as Dr Phil Murphy elaborates fascinatingly in this episode.
“I started off with no real clear direction,” Dr Eoin Jordan confessed about his career journey. But as we listen, his non-linear career journey is anything but unclear. What if clarity is really a process rather than a destination? That’s what we’ve learnt as we listen to Dr Jordan’s illustrious work journey across his travels in the UK, Canada, Japan and China.
If you’re an audiophile, you might have heard of Warwick Acoustics, which its director, Dr Duncan Billson claims to make the “world’s best headphones by a long way”. Duncan, who is Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, takes us through the highs and lows of his career, advising students to “always do something a little scary in life”.
Sacha Leong is no stranger to the global interior design scene, having designed global projects such as the Ace Hotel in London, Odette, a fine-dining restaurant housed in the National Gallery of Singapore, as well as Claudine, a fresh restaurant housed in an old chapel. But just how exactly does one get to this point? The answer, unsurprisingly, starts with a relentless curiosity and a sense of wonder from growing up in his 1980’s hometown Singapore that was so very different from what it is today.
“He’s abandoning his bright future to cook food for someone else,” Bo Li’s father said in dismay when Bo Li decided to drop out of his Master’s degree in Architecture at Deakin University. Discover how and why Bo Li embarked on a completely different career trajectory, even winning 2023’s best ramen in Victoria.
As young as nine years old, Laych experienced firsthand a lesson of humiliation and also kindness from an unpleasant classroom experience in Malaysia which she believed had shaped her view of empathy and compassion. From there, Laych went on to be a ‘rockstar’ journalist (in Devina’s words) for many years before retraining as a teacher in London while being owner and publisher of popular Malaysian parenting site Makchic. This is her story.
If you’ve watched Ili on screen, she’s always bursting with so much joy and laughter. The joy is real and permeates everything she does from her studies, to every career move, which includes serving at Will and Kate’s wedding (!). You don’t want to miss this episode!
Does fashion matter, or is it just frivolous? Also, what does a museum and archaeology expert do when she gets more confused from visiting Nepal’s Narayanhiti Palace Museum? Dig deep into all these and more as we chat with Professor Bryony Whitmarsh, Professor of Heritage and Museum Studies; as well as Amanda Bragg-Mollison, Deputy Head of School (Education) at the University of Southampton.
Wole Talabi’s curiosity has taken him places. At nine, he read his parents’ entire collection of encyclopedias because he enjoyed the process of finding things. Later, as a chemical engineer, he went to Imperial College to pursue a Master’s degree in Reservoir Engineering because he was so frustrated at the uncertain numbers given to him to design facilities for the oil and gas company. When given negative feedback on his writing as a new writer, he took it as a challenge. He continued to write and studied how he could improve as a writer over many years before becoming an award-winning writer.
The word ‘text’ originates from ‘textile’ - which means woven together. To Dr Dibyadyuti Roy, this was the single most accurate way of describing his journey from literature into digital humanities. To him, his foray into media studies digital humanities was about looking at texts in the largest possible dimension. Listen to discover how digital humanities and media studies will be a core partner to help students retain skills necessary for jobs in the next ten years.
“It won’t work,” people told Kim when she first bounced the idea of a blowdry bar. “You’re going to get eaten alive by the big fish.” Kim, the perennial lover of challenges, set out to prove everyone wrong. Here’s her story of starting Malaysia’s first blowdry bar to mind-blowing success.
Straight from the heart, Dr Ria Dunkley revealed that she didn’t know what she wanted to do at university. Her tutor encouraged her to study tourism. She thrived at university and became a lecturer in tourism - then dedicated her life to ecopedagogy after she worked for the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. Learn about her struggles with imposter syndrome, working part-time jobs while pursuing her doctorate, and how you too can play a part in the climate crisis right where you are.
Shari’s teacher would complain to her parents, “Shari’s just a daydreamer, she should really focus more in class.” But being a daydreamer had grown her observation and reflection skills, which in turn, she put to writing and illustrating. Today, Shari is a sought-after multi disciplinary creative who has worked for local and international brands, from Monki, Uniqlo, to local brands such as U Mobile.
“There was always an action at the workplace,” Southampton University’s Assistant Professor of Marketing, Dr Tugra Akarsu shares. She confesses that growing up with her working parents had sown the seeds of sales and marketing in her from her early years. Discover how her food engineer parents’ influence had made her emotionally mature, resilient and took her to the heights of her career today.
“I’ll just sell my car - that will do our salaries for a while, and we can just walk to meetings,” thought Carl Hewitt when his co-founder Reece Matthews and him first started their little-known media agency. Discover how these 18-year-old’s rose against all odds and gave their all to build an award-winning digital marketing agency.
“We won’t be able to send you to university anymore, we couldn’t afford it. You got to think for yourself,” Venon Tian’s mother told him as he finished high school.
Amazingly, Venon (who is now COO at ZUS Coffee) went ahead with university and even funded his own law degree in the UK. Tune in to find out how Venon overcame his financial challenges, secured a job in the UK and went on to preach and breathe operational excellence at work.
As the founder and leader of the UK’s two highest-performing A-level colleges for twelve consecutive years, Yasmin started her career “purely by chance” in her kitchen-turned-to-lab when she was waiting for her research grant in Cardiff. Tune in to find out how this Malaysian education entrepreneur rose to the top of A-level education in the UK while continuing to help students rise the ranks in their career as well.
When James Barton broke his leg as a teenager, his dreams of being a professional rugby player had to take a dramatic shift. Looking back, the mishap literally ushered him into a new ‘stage’ of his life: acting and Indiana Jones (yes) were part of that stage. Tune in to discover how it all came together for James who is now a renowned ambassador of UK education and a successful public speaker and actor.
Julian Brimmers grew up in unassuming Straelen, Germany where he “yearned for the exciting stuff”. He went on to be a journalist, filmmaker and podcaster whose works have been published by the BBC, the Paris Review, and many more. For Julian, the path that led him there was all about “going through the stories”. Tune in to find out more.
Prof. Manuel Barcia’s first day of work at a museum archive changed his life forever. “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” he thought to himself. Tune in to find out what’s in the museum archives and how he journeyed from Cuban history to global history at Leeds.
Annette Lee is the Head of Press & Communications at the British independent record label 4AD (part of the Beggars Group, which includes the labels Matador Records, Rough Trade Records and XL Recordings). Born and raised in the UK to Chinese immigrant parents, she interned at the label’s parent company The Beggars Group before being offered a receptionist job at its London HQ after graduating in 2005. A publicist with 15 years’ experience, Annette has been in her current role since 2011. Annette studied Music Industry Management and Marketing at Bucks New University in High Wycombe.
In recent years, Annette has overseen UK publicity campaigns for Dry Cleaning, Tkay Maidza, Holly Herndon, Future Islands, Big Thief and Aldous Harding, adding to a history of working with the likes of Scott Walker, The National, The Breeders, St. Vincent, David Byrne, Tune-Yards, Daughter, Mark Lanegan, Deerhunter, among many more. Annette was named Best In-House PR of the Year in 2011 at the Record of the Day Awards, while her team picked up Best In-House Department in both 2011 and 2012.
Corinna Gardner is Senior Curator of Design and Digital at the V&A. Corinna leads the museum’s Rapid Response Collecting programme and her research focuses on product and digital design. Current projects include a new gallery for 20th and 21st century design at the V&A in London and the development and delivery of a digital design collecting strategy for the museum.
Corinna is also working towards an exhibition about the problem and promise of plastic in today’s world opening at the Vitra Design Museum in March 2022. In 2015, Corinna co-curated All of This Belongs to You, an exhibition about the design of public life and the role institutions the 21st century. Before joining the V&A, Corinna worked at the Barbican Art Gallery on exhibitions, including OMA: Progress, Bauhaus: Art as Life, Ron Arad: Restless, Random International’s Rain Room and Cory Arcangel’s Beat the Champ.
Dr Aleks Krotoski is an award-winning international broadcaster, author and academic.
For the BBC and Channel 4, she has topped the ratings, won Emmy, BAFTA, Radio Academy, and Royal Society awards, and written and presented the landmark technology and social-science series for both radio – with BBC Radio 4’s The Digital Human – and international television – with BBC World’s The Virtual Revolution.
For The Guardian, she has consistently led the iTunes charts with the Tech Weekly podcast (2007-2015), pioneered environmental and business reporting with The Biggest Story In The World (2015), and taken her hit weekly column from newspaper to acclaimed book (Guardian Faber, 2013). Her award-winning video series for The Guardian, “The Power of Privacy”, was produced in 2015 in 5 countries.
Aleks established Pillowfort Productions in 2015, an audio production company that finds human stories to help listeners make sense out of our complex world. She writes a column for BBC Science Magazine.
As host, writer, and producer, Aleks Krotoski’s broadcasting success, has mirrored her academic credentials. Dr Krotoski has held fellowships at University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics. In 2009, her PhD broke new ground, studying information flow and the spread of ideas across digital spaces. She received an Honourary Doctorate from the Open University in 2018.
Most of Cheah Wai Seng’s childhood memories revolved around what he did outside of school. Discover how these puzzles of life fit into his journey from childhood to his successful career in one of the world’s top management consulting firms today.
Cheah Wai Seng is the Southeast Asia Energy Lead for Accenture. He studied for a degree in Computer Systems Engineering at UMIST (now the University of Manchester).
Since graduating, he has worked at Accenture in multiple roles in Malaysia and globally for more than 20 years. This includes a diverse range of industries, including government, postal, oil and gas, telecommunications, airlines, chemicals and mining. The postal expertise he helped develop was awarded a patent for which he is listed as an inventor. He plays a regional leadership role in Accenture, and is very proud to be able to bring the Malaysian story to the rest of the world.
Vinita Templeton disliked studying law and thought it was the most dreary thing ever. “I’d sooner pick up a novel than read a law book,” thought Vinita when she was studying her LLB in the UK. Little did she know that she would be Director of Immigration and Public Law at Duncan Lewis Cardiff office today.
Vinita’s journey has been nothing short of serendipitous: tune in to this episode as we discover Vinita’s rich Kelantanese and Thai upbringing, her adventures in Camp America, Thailand, Nepal before settling in Swansea, Wales doing what she thought she had dreaded.
About Vinita Templeton:
Vinita Templeton is the Director of Immigration and Public Law at the Duncan Lewis Cardiff office. She specialises in a wide range of complex asylum, immigration and human rights matters, including cases involving vulnerable individuals such as victims of torture and human trafficking.
Vinita is ranked as a Leading Individual in the 2019 edition of The Legal 500. Vinita frequently achieves success for clients in challenging cases where appeal rights had previously been exhausted. She has an excellent track record of turning around cases that have been deemed without merit. Due to strict legal aid rules, she often undertakes extensive pro bono work before being able to secure legal aid funding in these cases. Some of these cases have resulted in changes to Home Office Policy, such as the Home Office policy on Discretionary Leave for victims of trafficking and also changes to policy relating to ex armed-forces personnel. She has significant experience leading immigration appeal cases before the Upper Tribunal and the Higher Courts. She works closely with charity organisations in South Wales committed to helping asylum seekers.
Creativity—as author Shivani Sivagurunathan discovered for herself—was birthed out of the lack of activities and events in her quiet hometown in Port Dickson. Because she kept to herself mostly, she often invented creative activities of her own while burying herself in books. Tune in to discover how this successful Malaysian author and lecturer found her own writing voice from the age of eight.
Shivani Sivagurunathan’s first collection of short stories, Wildlife on Coal Island, was published by UPM Press in 2011 and republished by HarperCollins India in 2012. The Indian writer Tabish Khair, described the book as ‘R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi, turned into an island, meets Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book in this highly readable collection of stories by a new and distinctive voice from Malaysia’.
Her short stories and poems have been published in numerous international journals including “Cha: An Asian Literary Magazine”, “Agenda”, “Construction Literary Magazine” and many others. Her first novel Yalpanam, published by Penguin-Random House Southeast Asia, is out in September 2021.
She’s currently working on a book of creative nonfiction essays as well as a collection of nature-based poems. She teaches creative writing and English Literature at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. When she’s not writing or teaching, she enjoys painting, spending time in nature and meditating.
Ever wondered what it is like to study at one of the most sought-after MBA programmes in the world at the University of Southampton? Listen in as Southampton MBA Director Professor Peter Rodgers shares about the programme and his journey from political science into the world of business.
Professor Peter Rodgers is a Professor of Strategy and International Management and MBA Director within Southampton Business School, University of Southampton. He gained a BA (Hons) degree in Social and Political Sciences from Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge and an MA and PhD from the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham. His research interests focus on informality within state-business relations, non-market strategies and entrepreneurship and have published in leading journals such as Work, Employment and Society, Management Learning, Management International Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Public Management Review, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Industrial Relations Journal and Global Networks.
He is a fluent Russian speaker and have worked on and managed several large international collaborative research projects across the former Soviet Union and the Western Balkans, involving universities and a variety of different stakeholders. He continues to provide expert briefing advice to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office on matters relating to the business environment in Ukraine.
What really is the value of a liberal arts degree? Associate Professor (Liberal Arts) at the University of Warwick, Dr Bryan Brazeau, has answers and questions for those of you considering a liberal arts degree.
Discover how the world can be your oyster with this degree and how it’s made Dr Bryan cross oceans and transformed his life.
Dr Bryan Brazeau is Associate Professor (Liberal Arts) at the University of Warwick, UK. Before joining the Warwick’s School for Cross-faculty Studies in 2017, Bryan was a Research Fellow in Italian Studies at Warwick on the project of Aristotelianism in the Italian Vernacular, funded by the European Research Council. He has taught all levels of Italian language and culture from the middle ages to present day, along with classical Greco-Roman epic poetry, medieval and renaissance French literature, early modern English epic, and renaissance Latin. He has also designed an introductory course to the Digital Humanities. Bryan has been passionate about interdisciplinary Liberal Arts education since his undergraduate degree at the Liberal Arts College of Concordia University in Montréal, Canada, where he was born and raised. Qualifications:Ph.D.: Italian Studies (New York University, 2015)M.A.: Italian Studies (New York University, 2010)B.A.: Western Society and Culture: Liberal Arts College (Concordia University, Montréal, 2008)Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)Fellow of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA). For more information:https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/schoolforcross-facultystudies/liberalarts/lapeople/bryanbrazeau/https://globuswarwick.com/2018/02/06/schools-of-athens-liberal-arts-and-global-challenges/
Feel free to email Dr Bryan Brazeau at B.Brazeau@warwick.ac.uk
Fashion educator Karen Heard grew up in the West Country, England where the seeds of curiosity and exploration were first sown. Later, when faced with “what will I be when I grow up” at secondary school, she was advised by her teacher to work in a bank, despite her obvious interests in creative work. Karen was not going to let that happen.
Tune in to unfold the story of how Karen ‘stubbornly’ got into art school, the world of couture, backpacking around the world and now a fashion educator at University of the Arts London.
About Karen Heard:
Karen is an imaginative and quirky Fashion Educator and maker with an extensive lecturing career specialising in Fashion and Textiles study from Foundation to Post Graduate, including course leader and pathway leader responsibility. As a designer / maker and curious hunter / gatherer of specialist collections, there is unending inspiration and investigation that underpin Karen’s specialisms.
As an International Academic, Karen works globally to identify and guide talented individuals into their preferred creative studies through a toolkit of interactive content including workshops, seminars, lectures and tutorials. With over a decade of expertise in this area, Karen has delivered transformative educational experiences in a range of locations including Colombia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, Mexico and beyond. This extends to delivery at partner institutes including: BIFT, Ryerson, Donghua, PEARL, La Colegiatura and more.
In 2016, Dewakan was named the Best Restaurant in Malaysia on the prestigious Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant list. Join us as we talk to Dewakan’s head chef, Darren Teoh about his journey from childhood to being a world renowned chef.
As first generation child of Indian migrants to Canada in the 70’s, Dr Lata Narayanaswamy, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds traces her interest in global development back to her identity as an immigrant in Canada. Learn how Dr Lata grapples with the big questions on belonging, identity, and “following her heart” in her career so far.
About Dr Lata Narayanaswamy:
Since 2001, Dr Lata Narayanaswamy has worked as a research practitioner, consultant and lecturer in gender and development. Her research problematises how knowledge is actualised as a driver of development in both discourse and practice. She is Associate Professor in the Politics of Global Development at the University of Leeds.
Before joining Leeds in 2014, Dr Lata held Lecturer and Visiting posts at the Universities of Sheffield and Hull in the UK, and at Carleton University and York University in Canada. She was awarded a PhD from the University of Durham in 2011.
Nini Marini is a full-time multidisciplinary artist and maker who explores art through various mediums such as ceramic, textile, metal and even artificial intelligence. This year, Nini was listed on Tatler Asia’s Most Influential: The Culture List 2021 that identifies leaders making indelible impacts in their respective fields. In this episode, Nini bares all about her journey in art school, the hardest thing to reckon in art school, and her wisdom for those who want to pursue a career in art.
Nini pursued Bachelor of Arts (BA), Visual Communications, Time-Based Media at Birmingham City University and Foundation Studies on Ceramics, Graphic design, Painting, Illustration, Digital Art at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Bourneville.
Ever wondered what it’s like to study English Literature and Genetics together? These two fields may seem worlds apart, but Dr David Kent, Deputy Head of University of York’s Department of Biology, begs to differ. Listen in to find out how and why he combined those two fields in his undergraduate degree! Dr. David Kent is the Deputy Head of Department of Biology at University of York.
A historian of colonial Malaya, Dr Sandra Khor Manickam didn’t start her university life with studying history. She wanted to study filmmaking, but found that it wasn’t what she expected. Studying history, she discovered, helped her to tap into her curiosity of the world. Listen to Sandra as she shares her exciting journey from Malaysia to the US, then to Singapore, UK, Australia and now at the Netherlands.
Dr Sandra graduated with a PhD in History (2011) from Australia National University, MA in History (2005) from National University of Singapore and BA in History and Economics (2000) from University of Southern California
What was it like studying at Imperial College, London as a young man from Petaling Jaya under the tutelage of professors who are leaders in their own fields? Dr James Lau shares his experience as an undergraduate and postgraduate student at Imperial and growing his career in the UK for over a decade. Dr Lau is an Associate Director at Dr Nik & Associates and an Honorary Lecturer, Imperial College London. He graduated with a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Imperial College London and MEng in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London.
A Chevening scholar and formerly a journalist in a Malaysian daily, Natasha Joibi attributed her current vocation at an environmental services NGO to her childhood days. Discover how Natasha is breaking out from the patriarchal, socialistic exposure in her childhood to carve out a future of her own. Natasha is currently a Communication Specialist for an environmental NGO. She was also a 2019/20 Chevening Scholar. She pursued Master of Science in Equality and Human Rights at University of Glasgow and Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Simon Fraser University, Canada.
Dr. Ian Oliver grew up in Adelaide, Australia where he enjoyed the great outdoors, animals, plants, math and the sciences. Discover how a degree and career in Environmental Science helped Ian to combine these interests together, along with why earthworms are such a fascinating study. Dr. Ian Oliver is Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at Keele University. He obtained a Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry. 2004. School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia. Thesis: Copper Bioavailability in Biosolids; Honours Degree (Research) in Environmental Management (first class). 1999. Department of Soil & Water, University of Adelaide, Australia. Thesis: Potential phosphorus release from water treatment residuals under anaerobic conditions; Bachelor of Applied Science (Natural Resource Management). 1997. University of Adelaide, Australia. Subject majors: Environmental Chemistry, Soil Science, Environmental Management.
When Michelle Gunaselan saw villagers and their children being evicted from their homes due to Malaysia’s zero squatter policy, she decided that news reporting is not enough. She wants to be a part of things that matter. Listen in as Michelle shares about what it’s like to be an international aid worker and how she got there. Michelle holds a BSc degree in Journalism from Taylor’s College & University Sains Malaysia and a MSc degree in Human Rights from London School of Economics.
What if there are careers out there that you didn’t even know existed? What if being a teacher isn’t what you expected it to be? Listen in to find out why we started this podcast.