I am going to South Korea to participate in the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit – as a blogger. This will be the second conference for me as a blogger – the first being the Free Expression in Asian Cyberspace held in Manila, the Philippines earlier this year.
More than a foreign tour, what I like most about these conference is that I got to meet new people and learn from them. It was at Manila, where I met with Rebecca McKinnon of GlobalVoices and conceived the idea of NepaliVoices along with the realizing that we, as a blogger, should do something for the vibrant Nepali blogosphere.
What Nepali blogosphere, no matter how small it was, did during the direct rule of King Gyanendra is exemplary for the blogging world in understanding what blogging can do. Bloggers from China, Iran and even Singapore giving headaches to their rulers, but the role of Nepali blogs in advocacy for freedom of expression and democracy has contributed, probably only in a small scale, for the April Revolution – the mass revolt that forced the king to step down paving the way for people’s rule again.
The April Revolution is also important because it also paved the way for peace process that looks like ending the bloody insurgency. Nepali bloggers can be proud of that history – and of course, there are few bloggers like me who can really be proud of being the bloggers at that time. Sometimes, not-so-good events are opportunities.
In South Korea, I will be talking about Nepali blogosphere and the opportunities blogging provides to the citizens including the leaders. And, I hope to learn a lot of lessons from it despite the conference itself not being much about the blogging. I will share new things about blogging and the summit from South Korea if possible.
