Name: VELDESEN YAPUTRA 叶招升
Nationality: INDONESIA
Division: Arts-Design-Environment Design
Year of Enrollment: 2020
Find your outlook on life at Tsinghua University
I am from Pontianak, the capital city of West Kalimantan Province, where there had previously been a statewide forest fire from June to September 2019.
The "smog nightmare" in Southeast Asia that has recently been brought on by burning the forest for palm oil farms has gained international attention, and naturally, those who live nearby are the most impacted. These disasters gave me the impression that environmental issues impact our personal lives significantly in every aspect of our life.
After participating in Chinese Bridge in 2017, I was honored to receive a scholarship and to be able to study high school in Shenzhen, China. In Shenzhen, I was amazed by the green and clean urban environment. The city is full of green, which I believe is the city's spiritual outlook. That was the first time I realized that each urban environment's meanings were so different. Although cities in different countries have management characteristics, the short-term losses made me determined to make my hometown more attractive and sustainable.
I am fortunate to be a part of Tsinghua University and entered my ideal major， Environmental Design. Despite the pandemic, the university provides excellent support for online learning. I could take online courses in Indonesia, and my teachers are very accommodating and approachable. Even though I am a thousand miles away, one of my university professors gave me a private exchange and guided me to participate in various international competitions, where I was allowed to win some awards.
Through school courses and competitions, I discovered how my major could serve society based on self-discipline and social commitment. I can find people's wants through the most straightforward design thinking and solve big-angle things through small angles. I believe that design should start by understanding aspects relevant to local people's lives, cultures, and behaviors and connecting them to the human experience through characteristics of local architecture.
Design and architecture are more about community ownership. I hope the design process can establish a process that strengthens unity and community spirit. I imagine everyone is amazed at how the small community handcrafts their society's future from the local resources with which the locals are most familiar.
While expanding my professional knowledge, I am also constantly promoting the China-Indonesia relationship and sharing the knowledge I gained in China with Indonesians. By doing this, I hope to tell the story of China, spread Chinese culture, and bring new dreams to the people around me.
