Hey! 👋
Welcome to Kawan—our vibrant community of data heads and storytellers. We’re all about improving data literacy and sharing nuanced stories about Asia. Come hang!
no better way to make sambal — issue #63
Ever since I can remember, the first day of Syawal, or Hari Raya, was not complete without a steaming, spicy bowl of kuah chelok in my late grandmother’s house. The traditional tangy soup was closely linked to our Boyan heritage, a word derived from Bawean Island in East Java,
Carrying memory through kitchen tools
How is cooking a symbol of community, memory, and cultural expression? In this behind-the-scenes article, writer Taahira Ayoob and designer Griselda Gabriele walk us through their process of crafting our latest story on natural utensils in Tamil kitchens. This story is based on Taahira’s research trip to Sri Lanka,
Meet the Community! Julia Janicki, data visualisation designer/ developer and data journalist
Julia Janicki is an award-winning data visualisation developer and data journalist currently based in Paris, where she works at the Agence…
How do we learn? When will we learn? — issue #38
Recently, I travelled to Christmas Island to learn more about the Malay community there. I spoke to islanders whose ancestors hailed from all over the Malay archipelago—people whose culture, language, and traditions are an amalgamation of their diverse roots. I left feeling more informed, my insights both supplementing and
Humans of Kontinentalist: Nabilah Said
Nabilah joined Kontinentalist in June 2022 as our new Editorial Lead. Over the past few months, she’s written a micro-story on Mystical…
What are the spaces where you feel safest? — issue #37
In school, I was always considered the smart kid who could do no wrong. While this sounds like a cliché, the cardinal rule at my all-girls Catholic high school was to never stray from this label assigned to me. “Stick to the status quo”, as dictated by one of the
The silent crises in our hands —issue #36
To me, it is a country whose brilliance sometimes casts a shadow on its untold stories. We may be attractive and glamorous from the outside à la Crazy Rich Asians, but what’s less talked about is how our society and its systems can often, intentionally or not, overlook the
Meet the Community! Daisy Chung, visual communicator and illustrator
Daisy Chung is an award-winning science visual communicator and illustrator based in California and originally from Taiwan.
The stories we tell of ourselves — issue #35
Writing stories as a child, I was always tempted to inhabit the bodies and worlds of others. My characters ate treacle pudding and scones with clotted cream, bursting through attics and chimneys, generally being up to no good in locales vastly different from my own. No surprise, as the books
Humans of Kontinentalist: Qijin Tay
Qijin first joined as a web development intern before becoming a full-time member of Kontinentalist. We interviewed her twice, once in each…
Meet the Community! Wendy Wang Shijia, data viz designer, Tableau Public Ambassador and Visionary
Wendy Wang Shijia is a Shanghai-based data visualization designer, Tableau Public Ambassador and Tableau Visionary. Drawing on her decade…
Of things that flow and connect— issue #34
How does our built infrastructure affect our lives and our identities? What do these indelible marks on our landscapes mean? These are some of the questions asked at a new exhibition opened by the Singapore Art Museum, titled Lonely Vectors, where a map of ours is on display. While I’
Humans of Kontinentalist: Angel Martinez
Angel interned with us in our editorial and marketing departments for six months. Ever bright and helpful, she’s contributed to many…
How to make: The workshop-survey data story
(or how to amp up a data story with Flourish viz + some code)