Innovative storytelling

The stories you see here were produced while I was the BBC's East Asia Visual Journalism team lead. My team was made up of two designers and one developer, all of whom I worked very closely with to produce these pieces. I wore many hats while at the BBC - I was team manager, project manager as well as data and visual journalist, the latter being the role I played for the stories listed here.

I conceptualized the visual presentation for this piece as well as sourced and analyzed the mapping data seen here. I project managed this piece which includes newer innovations like animated infographics and mixed-media scrollmations. I worked alongside Martin Yip, a journalist in Hong Kong and an editor in Singapore.

In pre-reporting, I conducted the research and data analysis for this. We decided on a data approach in hopes of gaining a deeper understanding of this long-running issue. My colleague Rafki Hidayat and I reported on this story together. I wrote the English version while he wrote the Indonesian version. I conceptualized and project managed the various elements in this story namely the animated explainer and data visualizations.

For this piece, I worked with a journalist to conceptualize the visual presentation. I then took care of the online production while the journalist, Saira Asher in Singapore, carried out the reporting. Apart from producing this visual story, I also conceptualized and project managed the data visualizations in this story.

Translation: 2050, North Jakarta underwater: Everything you need to know.

This is the Indonesian version of the story of Jakarta's sinking. We included many interactive components and data visualizations to help explain this complex issue. I conducted the research and analyzed the data, as well as conceptualized and project managed the many interactive components here including the interactive component that lets users measure how much their districts have sunk. We hoped the component would really personalize the experience for the reader.

Translation: Earthquake, tsunami, ‘quicksand’: A visul guide to what happened in Palu

This is a piece I pitched and conceptualized in an attempt to explain the complexities and devastations from the trifector natural disasters happened in succession - a powerful earthquake followed by a tsunami and then liquefaction that happened in Sulawesi. My editor Rebecca Henschke and I wrote this piece which my colleague Abraham Utama later translated into Indonesian. I produced and project managed this entire piece, including the many visual components.

I pitched this story as a means to highlight the work of female East Asia activists, which often comes at a higher cost to their male counterparts. I worked closely with my colleague Lara Owen in London took the lead on the reporting but I wrote and reported the section on Maria Chin, the Malaysian activist fighting for free and fair elections. I also conceptualized and project managed the visual concept for this piece, choosing to have illustrated gifs with subtle movements anchor the piece without having the images take away from the content.

Ahead of the historic 2018 Malaysian elections, I wrote this data story about the power of the youth's vote. I chose to write it as a data story to gain a deeper understanding of sentiments on the ground. I analyzed the data, carried out the reporting back in Malaysia and produced the data visualizations with the help of a designer.

Translation: Should the komodo dragon be separated from humans?

I worked with Indonesian journalist Callistasia Wijaya & Rebecca Henschke to produce this visual story, while collaborating with the TV team in London who was also deployed to report on this issue.

For this piece, I wrote the section about Najib Razak, Malaysia's then-prime minister who has since been charged for crimes related to the global 1MDB scandal. I also project managed the production of visuals in this piece with the BBC team in Singapore who commissioned them.