“HackerSpace requires substantial dedication and effort, and thus can be considered to indicate the existence of a more developed and substantial geek community,” she wrote, adding that Hackerspaces are gaining momentum in Southeast Asia. These spaces are distinct in that they are independent from the government and large corporations.

Within a year, four new establishments arose in Indonesia, and they are located in the cities of Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, and Medan. Jakarta is on track to have one too.

HackerSpace Bandung was in fact inspired by HackerSpace.SG. A group of Bandung geeks visited Singapore and enjoyed the activities, venue, and vibe in what was nicknamed the “Zouk of Geekdom” (Zouk is a popular nightclub in Singapore). The Bandung establishment in turn inspired similar venues in other parts of Indonesia. Malaysia has two HackerSpaces in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. Vietnam and the Philippines too have their own establishments.

Zane also touched on the popularity of BarCamps in Southeast Asia, which in fact sowed the seeds for the genesis of HackerSpaces in the region. The first BarCamp was held in Singapore in 2007, and quickly spread to other parts of Southeast Asia. The initiators behind these meetings are usually geek entrepreneurs who, in exchange for their organizing efforts, receive new contacts, increased visibility and authority.

Malaysian BarCamps are described as “One big tech kenduri“, a Malay term which means celebration, religious ceremony, or feast. In Myanmar, the opening of BarCamp Yangon saw over 4,000 participants, making it the world’s largest event of its kind.

Online platforms have also arisen to serve as information sources for geeks and a first point of contact for someone from Silicon Valley who wants to know the local geek communities. Websites that Zane highlighted include: Dailysocial.net from Indonesia, Entrepreneurs.my from Malaysia, as well as e27.sg and SGE from Singapore.

To conclude, Zane highlighted existing tensions between local geeks and the environment they reside in. She noted that much of geek culture is adopted from the West, resulting in some discontent with local circumstances.

She quoted a Malaysian geek entrepreneur: “I am banana: yellow outside, white inside… I don’t belong here.”

In many cases, geek status is not entirely accepted by parents and not well-loved outside of the geek community. In the cases of Malaysia and Indonesia, infrastructure remains a problem; while in Singapore, its small market of five million and cultural incompatibilities are seen as troublesome.

“Geeks in Singapore often joke that Singapore is too perfect and controlled to actually have ‘space’ for the next big thing:  creative innovation that could shake the technological universe,” wrote Zane.

“Cultural explanations are sought to explain success or the lack of it. An excessive focus on prestige and success, risk aversion and unwillingness to share new ideas and collaborate, is often mentioned as the reason why the Singaporean cultural environment is not well-fitted for entrepreneurship.”

About Sean Bonner from Bode Media & Neoteny: Sean Bonner has been involved with media, online and off, for the better part of the last 16 years. He has been featured in GOOD, Wired, Playboy, Salon, Forbes and others, been included in Yahoo!’s Best of the Web, and has spoken at conferences, events, and coffee shops around the world. As co-founder and CEO of Bode Media Inc, Sean helped create Metblogs, the worlds largest network of local media blogs.

As a consultant, he has helped The Groop, Jack In The Box, LAPD, Suicide Girls, Obey Giant, Shopzilla and others interact with their customers, clients, and fans online. He also speaks frequently at conferences covering blogs, media, networks and grassroots journalism. Recently he’s spoken at IzeaFest (Orlando, FL), SXSWi (Austin, TX), Roboexotica (Vienna, Austria) and Re:Publica (Berlin, Germany).

Sean is well connected to the startup scene in Asia as one of the guys behind Neoteny Labs, a venture fund and incubator which opened its doors in Q1 2010. Neoteny Labs aims to find and grow some of the most interesting technology startups in Asia and the Middle East. It is one of seven technology incubators chosen to participate in the S$50 million National Research Foundation (NRF) Technology Incubation Scheme (TIS).

As an event organizer, Sean brought Neoteny Singapore Camp 1 (NSC1) to Singapore which brought together a fascinating mix of entrepreneurs and investors, sharing possibilities over a 2 day event. Check this out for an interesting discussion around startups from that event. He also brought BarCamp to Los Angeles, produced the first art exhibition comprised solely of phonecam images, ran art auctions and benefits for the West Memphis Three. Sean has also been a guest blogger/contributor for BoingBoingVideo and hosted the iPhone game review show iPhun.

He is one of the founders of Crash Space, a Los Angeles hackerspace and is the creative director for the brand R5315T. Prior to all this, Sean helped build the groundbreaking contemporary art gallery sixspace exhibiting artists such as Glen E. Friedman, Shepard Fairey, Coop, Chad Robertson and others. He also ran a record label and produced several records by Hot Water Music and Less Than Jake to name a few. He’s also managed a design firm, worked as Sr. Designer for Playboy.com and Creative Director for Victory Records.

When and where:

Date: Saturday March 27 2010
Venue: Singapore Polytechnic, Block T16 Level 03

This particular block is 5 minutes walk from the Dover MRT. Our hosts have sent us this photo-guide illustrating the path from Dover MRT to the venue. For those driving, here is a campus map of Singapore Polytechnic. Use the entrance 8 on Dover Road. There is free parking inside the campus.

Hashtags

The twitter hashtag for the event is #barcampsg5
The tinyurl for the event is http://bit.ly/barcampsg5

Schedule
9 AM: Venue opens, those presenting will post their topics on the topic-board
9.30 AM: Introductions, barcamp how-tos
10AM to 1PM: Multiple sessions in multiple rooms
1PM to 2 PM: Lunch
3PM to 6PM: Multiple sessions in multiple rooms
7 PM: Barcamp afterparty at Hackerspace.sg.

Check the sessions here

Notes for those presenting or leading a discussion

Technically you have only 25 minutes, as we need 5 minutes for people to exit and enter. Keep your presentations short – say 10 or 15 minutes and spend more time on discussions, Q&A. Post your presentations on Slideshare.net with the tag barcampsg5. If you are running a longer session (or a hack session) book two simultaneous slots.

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week with Mike Foong (theITChannel and TWIA) as the special guest in Barcamp Singapore 4 sponsored by IDA Singapore: [1] Google Maps finally fully featured in Singapore Correction: Transit information like MRT and Bus routes are also available in Singapore Google Map, [2] Google’s Chrome OS revealed and [3] Windows Mobile loses nearly a third of market share. Do click and check out their latest podcast here.

Barcamp Singapore 4 is open to all developers/hardware hackers/designers/social media ppl/educators/startups/non-profits/social entrepreneurs/musicians/writers/painters/sculptors. Barcamp is a festival of doing, learning, sharing of doing and sharing of learning. Barcamp is also the place where many ideas are shared, discussed and brought into reality. The event will happen on 21 Nov 2009 (Saturday) beginning from 9 am (morning) in Infocomm Development Authority, Singapore (Suntec Tower, 14th Floor, 8 Temasek Boulevard, Singapore 038988). We also thank IDA Singapore for their kind support and help to make this event happen.

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week: [1] Creative Zii MediaBook, [2] Michael Arrington’s CrunchPad still not available, maybe never will be? [3] Motorola Droid, [4] BarCamp Singapore 4: 21 Nov 09, Suntec Tower 3, 14th Floor. Do click and check out their latest podcast here.

Yes, after a successful event which happened in March, we are coming back this time round with Barcamp Singapore 4. This event is open to all developers/designers/social-media professionals/startups and tech enthusiasts. We are also expecting tech professionals from other parts of Asia and beyond. The event will be happening on 21 Nov 2009 (Sat) in IDA Singapore, Suntec Tower 3, 14th Floor. If you are keen to be part of the organizing team, a participant or even present new ideas and thoughts, then sign up here to take part.