Theme: The Interconnectedness of Existence

With curiosity's nails clawing its way into your skull, the urge to stay locked within the spiral of knowledge consumption remains as the only answer for there is just so much to learn. You can only begin to grasp the chaos of the world by trying to control the intertwinement of how much you know.

Welcome to AISVIETNAM’s TEDx, where we explore the intricate connections between seemingly disparate concepts under the theme, “The Interconnectedness of Existence” as the threads around our globe grow tighter. It's all quite simple: everything in the universe is linked either scientifically, spiritually, or philosophically. This theme explores and showcases how the different connected aspects of existence influence one another to create and maintain life, which we will magnify for you through the lens of science. Join us to discover more about how the deep ties of life bind us all together.

Australian International School
264 Đ. Mai Chí Thọ, An Phú, Quận 2, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
2
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 713000
Vietnam

Anya Zhang

Student

With the world around us rapidly globalizing and going digital, the importance of staying connected with one another continues to rise. Language has served as a crucial tool to achieve this. Especially with its ability to evolve alongside the human brain all throughout history. Now beginning to learn her sixth language, Anya Zhang hopes that her research and personal observations from living in international communities can help explore the ability language has to bring people closer, yet simultaneously push us apart. How identity can be shaped around it, and even at times someone’s worth. Having received numerous academic awards from different constituents of the arts as well as achieving the roles of Prefect and House Captain, Anya also understands how the articulation of words has a significant amount of power to it. She sees its impact, and wishes to explain the value language holds in relation to ‘interconnectedness’.

Asua Han

Film Director

Asua Han has been a commercial film director for over a decade, with a background in media arts from the University of Sydney. After facing challenges in securing work in the Australian film industry, he decided to explore opportunities in Asia to advance his career. Starting in Hong Kong and later moving to Shanghai, Asua found new doors opening for him, although navigating the highly competitive and ever-evolving commercial industry was no easy feat. Now based in Vietnam, he has managed to stay relevant by continuously reinventing himself and upholding a commitment to quality in every project. Internationally sought-after, Asua is represented by several production houses across the globe. Despite his extensive experience, his passion for filmmaking remains undiminished, and he continues to strive for excellence in all his work.

Bich Phuong Vu

Psychology Lecturer

Phuong received her BSc. Psychology in England (2014) and MSc. Behavioral Science in the Netherlands (2018). After 6 years teaching at Vietnam National University HCM, Faculty of Psychology, she is currently a fulltime psychology lecturer at RMIT University Vietnam and a PhD candidate in Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychology. She teaches Philosophy and Research Methods in Psychology, Statistics, Cognitive, and Biological Psychology. Coming to TEDxYouthAIS, she seeks to illustrate that to understand the most complicated essence in the world - the human mind and cognition - we need a multidisciplinary effort from philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and even computer scientists. The most ironical yet interesting question is that, can multiple minds understand the mind itself at all? What is nothing, something, and everything all at once? Come to Phuong’s talk to find out!

Gateau Dang

Student

Despite having only spent 1 year at AIS, Gateau Dang has become a proud member of the community, achieving all A*s for his IGCSEs as well as getting promoted to the highly prestigious prefect role. Apart from his academics, he is also dedicated to the arts, having been playing piano since 1st grade and violin since 3rd grade. With many years of musical experience under his belt, Gateau has earned himself a place in our school orchestra. His childhood passion for math, music and how the world functions around them have carried him to the TEDx stage where he hopes to bring the mathematical golden ratio to the creative field of music, and uncover how interconnected our world truly is.

Hakim Nik

Student

When one door closes, a window opens. Having never lived anywhere outside Malaysia prior, for Hakim, moving to Vietnam meant an entirely new chapter in his life. A new country, culture, and community – it wasn’t easy, especially for a shy and anti-social Hakim. Nevertheless, over the years, he learnt to adapt to Vietnamese culture and grew to be more social. Now in his final year of IBDP, Hakim has been striving in many leadership roles, from co-founding the Angels Project, which involves raising funds to renovate playrooms in Mái Ấm Thiên Thần orphanage, to being President of the Global Issues Network (GIN), or most recently, being appointed the role of Head Boy. In the era of technology, where our attention span and motivation are less than ever, Hakim’s story is a reminder of how crucial ambitions and relentless hard work are, as he continues his journey of pursuing a career in Law overseas.

Merikh Tran

Student

During her 4 years at AIS, Merikh took on many roles and experienced diverse activities, from academics to music. This brought her closer to others and helped her understand the community. Having attended both local and international schools, she can see problems from multiple perspectives, especially in human relationships and social events. As someone who overcame bullying and struggled to fit in, she understands the nervousness and worries students may face. She knows that communication and relationship difficulties can arise for anyone, not just with friends but also with family. Wanting to share her journey, she hopes others can relate to her or simply know that support is always available.

Riley Tran

Student

Being a lively and passionate student, Riley finds school one of the special places for her to connect and create vivid memories with her peers. She’s extensively involved across the student leadership board with various roles ranging from president of the Natural Science Council, House council executive captain, to co-leader of the AIS Dance Team - Limitless. Despite always displaying her uttermost enthusiasm and dedication towards her extracurricular interests, Riley shared that she can also get caught up in the midst of the responsibilities that she brought on to herself. Besides her personal accomplishments, she remembers the many times when even a little mistake can make her doubt her entire personality. This has inspired her to look into the remarkable relationship between one’s memories and their identity, along which journey she learns how it helps to establish interconnection as well.