NEW YORK, November 20, 1998. More than 180 heads of state and ambassadors from
all over the world had gathered for the United Nations General Assembly to discuss
technology issues. They'd just been interrupted, and asked to bear witness to a new UN
declaration. A young man
walks up the platform, representing the teenagers of the world. He's their official voice.
He seems a bit nervous, but that fades away as soon he starts speaking. He proposes the
idea, others take up the call:
``We believe in ethics rather than
laws ... trust, not fear,'' says another teenage delegate.
The result? The establishment of
Nation1 (see In.Tech, Dec 1, 1998), a ``country for children'' that exists in cyberspace
as a forum for young people to express ideas and fight for their rights.
And the young man who stood in the
front of the world? He was 16-year-old Gerald Tan Chuang Win.
Yes, that's right -- a Malaysian.
The homepage boy The declaration of
Nation1 came after the week-long ``Junior Summit'' hosted by the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology's Media Lab, attended by some 100 young people from all over the world.
For Gerald personally, it was a
culmination of ideas he had been championing since he got online in 1995, when his father
first bought him a modem.
Only 13 years old then, the Penang
Free School (PFS) student ventured online with his trusty 486 PC, just when the Internet
was beginning to make its presence felt in Malaysia.
``I still remember my Jaring
membership number -- 4503,'' Gerald says.
Being at the start of the wave
proved fortuitous. ``When I first went online, I used to surf to kids and teenage websites
looking for other kids. But I found that most `teenage stuff' was written by adults.''
``I remember wondering about this --
teenagers should be doing it! So I started designing homepages for teenagers for free,''
he recalls.
Gerald speaks with a maturity seldom
found among his peers. His father, Cris Tan, says he's sometimes awed by his son.
``I am amazed by some of the
articles he has written. I sometimes even wonder if the words he uses exist. This is my
son?''
Tan is clearly proud of his son's
achievements. Although he himself is not a PC user or an Internet surfer, he wanted Gerald
and his sister to explore the Internet.
``The Internet was the latest thing
then, and new things excite me. I did not know how Gerald would gain from it, but that was
not important to me then,'' adds the managing director of Tele-Link Sistem Sdn Bhd.
Tan has no regrets, and believes
that parents who prevent their children from gaining Internet access stand to lose out in
the long run. Rising phone bills should not be an excuse, he adds.
Tan says that responsible parents
would understand their childrens' character, capabilities and handicaps.
``I am glad to know that my kids are
at home in front of the PC, instead of loafing at malls or video arcades,'' adds Gerald's
mother, Linda Cheoy.
His parents' confidence seem quite
justified -- Gerald comes across as a trustworthy and honest fellow.
``Even as a kid, when I gave him
RM10 to buy something, he'd return the change, no matter how little,'' says Tan.
The Tans were thrilled when Gerald
became the second Malaysian -- the first was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
-- to have a live broadcast via the Internet (In.Tech, Dec 13, 1996).
Building online neighbourhoods In
1995, Gerald set up the first public website for teenagers, which he called Beverly Hills
Internet Teens 90210, to help kids and teenagers around the world create their personal
homepages, and to provide a platform to make their ideas and creativity available to
others on the Internet.
The site was named after the company
which hosted the page. The BHI (now known as GeoCities) site garnered 11 excellence awards
including Lycos' (then Point Communications) ``Top 5% of All Websites'' award.
To test his worth, he followed a
banner on Yahoo.com and submitted his Wonders of the Web site
(teenworld.com.my/gerald/wow) as his entry to MIT's Junior Summit (see sidebar).
``I received an e-mail saying my
entry had been rejected. So I wrote back to ask why, and the next thing I knew, they said
they had made a mistake and the entry was in ... I had won!''
The prestigious Junior Summit
attracted 2,000 people, although only 100 were qualified to attend. Gerald was the only
Malaysian who made it.
Not all rosy Like any young man,
Gerald's sights are set on the future. Yet, for all his achievements, he sometimes has
doubts. For one, he is not sure of a career -- he says he's weak in Additional
Mathematics, which may not qualify him for a course in Computer Science.
And while he's had fun meeting all
types of people, the ``lowest points'' of his life, he says, have to do with dealing with
people.
``Sometimes, I end up doing
everything myself, and people complain about my efforts. I've been called a dictator
before,'' he muses.
Even his relationship with his
parents went through a strained period when they couldn't understand why he was spending
three to 24 hours on the computer. They were worried that he was not getting enough sleep
and was going to do badly in school.
But their fears have proven
unfounded. Right now, Gerald's priority is the SPM exams.
``I want to study in a college or
university. What is important to me is that I have the time and freedom to do my own
stuff,'' he says.
Gerald was also thrilled to be
interviewed by his favourite publication.
``But I think In.Tech is too
technical -- you should humanise the paper, and have more stories on people.''
Well Gerald, how's this for a start?
Links:
Highs and lows
Through teenage eyes
Published in In.Tech, Star Publications (M) Bhd.