Ferry Tan was born in Malang, East Java to a Chinese-Indonesian
family. She spent most of her childhood in her hometown where
from early on had a flair for art, especially architectural
drawing and painting. Most of Ferry’s relatives were
in the garment business, so when she was just seven years
old she already knew how to operate a sewing machine and even
made her own Barbie Doll dresses.
What is your professional/educational background?
I went to Columbus College of Art & Design for four years
in Ohio, USA. After college I worked in Columbus for a couple
of years with a video production company, then an advertising
agency and also with a nation-wide retail business. I returned
to Indonesia and spent 3 years traveling in Java: Malang,
Surabaya, Yogja and Jakarta. In 2005 I established my own
furniture design company in East Java, then decided to close
it down and move to Bali because I got itchy feet and needed
an adventure. I am now establishing my own creative communication
company as well as writing about extreme sports for Bali-based
magazine, Hello Bali.
How has living in both the USA and Indonesia helped you in
your work?
Experiencing deeply both cultures has enabled me to develop
into a more flexible individual. I learned how to be able
to live within a society and yet still be able to maintain
my “homegrown” cultural values. Creative work
is subjective. There are no right or wrong answers. You have
to be able to communicate and to compromise with others. More
than just being purely creative, it’s a learning process.
After six years in the U.S.A., why did you move back to Indonesia?
I was craving more challenges. In such a powerful country
as America, society is organized and structured to make our
life easier. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is so
easy to get lost in the situation. I was trying to learn more
about myself, about human relationships, about life. In developing
countries like Indonesia, it affords more opportunities to
do this. It is very challenging to live in such a chaotic
environment. We have to find our own way. We have to be more
creative and cautious, which is also good for our spiritual
needs.
What attracts you about Indonesia and makes you want to live
here?
Especially in Bali, a mix of west and east, its rich culture,
the many opportunities, and I never know what’s going
to happen next. I meet many different kinds of people and
I learn from each and every one of them. New challenges arise
everyday. They may not be easy but they are very intriguing.
As someone said, what doesn’t kill you will make you
stronger.
What is the biggest difference between living in the States
and living in Indonesia?
Stability. In the USA, everything is so predictable. Here
in Indonesia, you never know what is going to happen. This
factor sometimes keeps me awake at night thinking that there
is more to life than what you see on the surface and it motivates
me to find out more.
How did you first become interested in writing about extreme
sports?
I am scared of heights and also sometimes find it difficult
to trust people. In a process of trying to become a better
person, there is no better way to confront your own fears
that to face them, slowly…step by step.
What is the most dangerous extreme sport you’ve tried?
It may sound silly, but… surfing is the most thrilling
sport I’ve ever tried. I am frightened of the ocean.
Its power is overwhelming to me. By taking up surfing, I learned
I needed to have the confidence, the trust and the belief
that I can do it. Every fear comes from within ourselves.
Every human has fear but it is our choice to turn it around
and to start believing in ourselves. We can choose to live
in fear or to learn how to face it and approach life with
an open mind.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?
I am always worried that I can’t deliver what is expected
of me. We are all shadowed by our failures of the past. At
the end of the day, we just have to remember that no one is
perfect and people make mistakes. As long as we can learn
from those mistakes and keep on growing and never stop learning,
we can live our lives the way we are supposed to. Life is
about creating, not discovering. We are what we create. We
and no one else are responsible for our own life.
Ferry Tan can be contacted via her email ferrytan.creative@gmail.com
and her adventure articles can be found at www.hellobalimagazine.com
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please
contact : pakbill2003@yahoo.com
Copyright@2007 Al Hickey
You can read all past articles of Siapa
at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
