Technology – It Changes Lives
How has technology changed your life? Have you ever imagined this world without technology? Think about it – no Internet, no social media, no computers, no Microsoft Word and other office software. The world could hardly go round without technology that we’re having these days, no?
To have the opportunity to attend the Microsoft’s Accelerating Asia Pacific 2011 summit is a great honour. I was one of the lucky Microsoft Student Partners (MSP) selected to cover the conference as a student blogger alongside Keng Siang and Adila.
Accelerating Asia Pacific 2011 included open discussions around how technology and partnerships are rapidly accelerating social, economic and environmental change in the region of Asia Pacific. I managed to listen to a few discussions and they were quite an eye-opener to me! Let’s look back at the opening paragraph of this post – I mentioned about technology; for normal teenagers or students like me and you (if you are one), when someone mentions ‘technology’, I believe the first thing that comes to mind, I bet, would be the Internet.
Yes, it’s true, what is this world if there’s no Internet, right? But then again, have you thought about how technology has changed people’s lives? I heard about it during the event, and surely, I’ll be sharing more about it here.
Tan Siew Ling, of the Society for the Physically Disabled, is a visually-impaired woman who shared how technology changed her life. Through the Microsoft Citizenship programme, she got the opportunity to learn to use computer and now, realising her opportunity, she can use a computer like any other person. This is the type of life-changing experience through technology we’re talking about. It’s not about holding Microsoft high up, telling you how awesome they are; but focusing on how technology these days has helped to change people’s lives.
Picture of Tan Siew Ling sharing her experience with Microsoft Citizenship programme at the Accelerating Asia Pacific 2011
In another session of ‘The Moment Technology Changed My Life’, three young Malaysian ladies went on stage to share how have their life changed because of technology. One of them, a 27-year-old Chinese lady, who managed to learn basic usage of computers, was a school drop-out and a drug-addict at the lowest point of her life. However, technology came in and her life took a turning point.
See, technology – it’s not all about making money, it’s also about helping people around the world and changing their lives for the betterment of mankind.
In upcoming posts, I’ll be sharing on start-ups and entrepreneurship among students, which was discussed by Mr Ananth Lazarus, Johnathon Lee, Datuk Nordin, and Siti Mariam Abdullah. I’ll introduce them and the interesting things they’ve discussed in the next post so do check back!
This post was also posted on Facebook page of Citizenship Microsoft Asia Pacific.