Speakers

Aaron Sarma
Founder & CEO, Touristly

Andrew Dixon
Nikoi/Cempedak Islands, Indonesia

Angelld Quah
COO, FundedByMe

KL born and Penang bred, Amran trained as an engineer at Bristol, worked as a banker in KL, and currently spends his time in between KL, Penang and Langkawi where he manages his family-owned Ambong-Ambong Rainforest Retreat and Ambong Pool Villas.

 Amran Ahmed
Ambong-Ambong Rainforest Retreat and Ambong Pool Villas, Langkawi

Bettina Chua Abdullah has long travelled independently, from crafting her own experiences as an 18-year old in Bali, to creating learning holidays that fuel her passion for Islamic art and architecture. Her professional life has been one of rich variety – from CNBC Asia’s award-winning business news anchor to independent content producer; property developer to manager of retail and F&B design and concepts. She is the founder of social enterprise The Free Tree Society, and most recently The Fay Khoo Award for Food+Drink Writing. Bettina was once told that she would never have a single career, but would take many paths in her life. The predication turned out to be remarkably accurate, and is why hers is an insightful and rewarding presence at any conference. She presently lives between Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Bettina Chua Abdullah
Business News Anchor, Content Producer, Entrepreneur

Chee Sek Thim is a theatre director and performer from George Town, Penang. Since 1991 he has worked closely with many esteemed luminaries in Malaysia’s theatre scene, including the dancer/choreographer Marion D’Cruz, Malaysia’s theatre doyen Krishen Jit and the playwright Leow Puay Tin. His directorial projects span a range of genres, from solo to ensemble work, monologues to musicals. Stories from local histories and identities are the mainstays of his work. In 2017, he launched Wayang diSinkeh - a season of theatre over 2 months in SINKEH, George Town, a guesthouse he owns an manages. As a performer, he was last seen in the George Town Festival 2017’s The Italian Restaurant directed by renowned Noh master Umewaka Naohiko. Sek Thim is the founder of Reka Art Space, a Penang-based theatre company that focuses on creating new theatre with local content and supports the work of emerging practitioners. He is also a member of Kuala Lumpur-based Five Arts Centre, a theatre collective of practitioners, producers and educators.

Chee Sek Thim
Owner, Sin Keh

Christine Tan
Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Asia Pacific, Fastbooking

Chris Ong
Founder, Georgetown Heritage Hotels

Ch’ng Kiah Kiean, born 1974 in George Town, Penang. He was trained in architecture from Universiti Sains Malaysia and loves art, design and photography. He is a blog correspondent of Urban Sketchers and also one of the founder members of Urban Sketchers Penang. He published Sketchers of Pulo Pinang in 2009 and Line-line Journey in 2011. Find out more of his work at www.kiahkiean.com.

Ch’ng Kiah Kiean
Artist

Dan Lynn
Co-CEO, Zuzu Hospitality Solutions

A musician at heart, a singer at weddings, a band leader among music peers, and generally an entrepreneur in the music scene. From an unnoticed passion for music when he was younger, he has struggled to find something worth making an effort for until he realised the concept of self-belief and the danger of regret. At the age of 22, Damien decided to make music his lifetime journey despite graduating with a degree totally unrelated to music.

Damien Chew
Musician

Edmond Ip
Vice Chairman, Artyzen Hospitality Group

Erica Annuar worked in marketing and corporate communications for nearly 10 years which also includes having a passion for teaching. Her professional journey started from a position as a corporate communications executive for AmBank to a marketing specialist for Cambridge English for Life and The Little Gym. She now leads the marketing and content wing for Tripfez on weekdays and in her free time, she’s affectionately known by her students as Teacher Erica at Cambridge English for Life. She enjoys having heated ‘Harry Potter vs The Lord of the Rings’ debates over a good cup of coffee. Erica’s passion for travel was ignited when her parents made her pack her bag and join them on an Islamic Historical tour to Turkey, Spain and Morocco when she was 10. When her travel needs can't be achieved, she will find an alternative to indulge her travel lust in between pages of her favourite books. Erica holds a Bachelor of Multimedia in Media Innovation from Multimedia University.

Erica Annuar
Marketing Lead, Tripfez

Germaine Yeap
Action Actress

Graham Hills
Chief Commercial Officer, BeMyGuest

Jack Tan
IdeaWeaver Consulting

Jason Jeeshen Lee
Softinn Hospitality Solutions

Katy Gallagher
Sr. Sales Director, Sojern APAC

Kei co-founded Venture Republic Inc. As CEO, he took the company public in 2008 after 7 years of operation. Over the last 13 years, Kei has built the various online vertical media including “Travel.jp,” “Hotel.jp,” and “coneco.net” (online comparison shopping engine). Kei also serves as an active investor and board member of various startups including Telunjuk (Indonesia) and Trip101 (Singapore). With his extensive knowledge of online travel, e-commerce and his strong entrepreneurship, Kei is responsible for driving the company by shaping its strategy, making commercialization efforts and building organization. Previously, Kei worked at Mitsubishi Corporation for 11 years, playing a key role in company’s largest M&A deal to acquire the Lawson Inc., one of the largest convenience store chains in Japan. Kei received a BA of Law from Keio University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Kei Shibata
CEO, Venture Republic

Laurence Loh
Founder, Arkitek LLA

Low Teng Lei
Ren I Tang

Mohan Belani
Co-founder & CEO, e27

Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng
Director of PI

Robert Basiuk
Borneo Adventure, Kuching, Sarawak

Simon Wong
CEO, Triquetra.sg

Sriram Vaidhya
Head of Trips Southeast Asia & India, Airbnb

Stephen Joyce
CEO & Co-founder, Rezgo

Uttara Sarkar Crees
Gyalthang Eco-Travel, China

Wan Imran is the director of PAPER + TOAST, the first co-working space in Malaysia. He focuses on optimizing networking opportunities and linking ideas and innovation to people and to bring about the best and most complete community experiences. He has provided many consultations and mentoring sessions to start-ups on implementation and optimization platforms for the start-up ecosystems.

Wan Imran Wan Abdul Rahaman
Director, PAPER + TOAST

A local Penang boy, Dr William Khor graduated as a doctor from University College London in 2007. After living and working abroad in London and Singapore, he decided to return to his hometown of Penang in 2015. He works as a doctor for International SOS providing medical support from home and has recently fulfilled his dream of restoring a George Town inner city shop house, which he now runs with his wife as an Airbnb.

William Khor
Airbnb host

Yap Mun Ching
Head, AirAsia Foundation

Yeap Mei Yi
Peatix

Yeoh Siew Hoon
Founder of WIT (Web In Travel)