Every story has a beginning
I came from a small town called Cicurug, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. I spent my first 11 years in Cicurug. I went to Debora elementary school. I then spent 6 years going back and forth to Bogor (about 40 km away by car) to Regina Pacis high school. In the last year of high school, I was at a crossroad on what I want to do for the future. I had always wanted to go to Bandung Institute of Technology. It wasn't until later on that my dad persuaded me to go overseas. Dad wanted me to go to Japan, mum wanted me to go to Singapore, and grandma wanted me to stay in Indonesia.
So, when a scholarship opportunity to Japan came along through an ad in a newspaper, I decided to take my chance. As a backup, I also applied for study in Australia (by choosing it, I avoided confrontation with any of my folks or grandma). It turned out that I didn't get the scholarship to Japan after all. And by that time, it was too late to prepare all the remaining paperwork for RMIT (by the way, they accepted me). So, I ended up applying for a computer school in Jakarta called Bina Nusantara University. I got accepted to that. But, as fate would have it, I got another letter of offer from RMIT. So I then abandoned Binus before I even started. And indeed, for one year, I got a report card from them saying that unless I started turning up, they would fail me.
That being said, I started uni in 1998. It was the first time ever I went overseas, and the first time ever I lived far away from my family and friends back home. Obviously it was hard at first. For the first few months, there were times when I thought about how nice it would be to be home again. Fortunately, my new friends in Australia were very supportive (thanks, guys!). So, after a while, Australia grew on me. There were many things that I didn't know I could do, and so many more things that I wish I could do. So, when I finish uni, do I want to go back? Probably not. If I got the chance to stay here, I'd take it in an instant. Going to Australia truly was one of the best (if not the best) decision I've ever made.
Residual self image
The latest picture of me. Sue took this picture in a conference at Lorne early this year.
What's in a name?
I admit, Akin isn't really my formal name. In fact, I don't want use my formal name anymore if I can help it. You might notice that in the résumé, I refer to myself as "B.H. Budi" for one of the conference presentations (the other being "A. Budi"). That stands for "Bunarta Hendra Budi". But, no-one I know ever call me with that name. The name "Akin" comes from my Chinese name. It is the name that people have always used ever since I was little. So it kinda grew on me, as opposed to my formal name. I now use this name for both my personal life and professional work.
My surname, "Budi", is Indonesian for "good deed". The formal given name, "Bunarta" doesn't mean anything. It's an attempt to make me have an "Indonesian sounding" name that has the element from my Chinese heritage. While this is admirable in theory, it doesn't work at all. I ended up having a weird name which belongs neither here nor there. I absolutely and completely despise it! So, the easiest way to annoy the hell out of me is to refer to me using my formal first name! Kinda ironic, eh? Anyway, I'm not sure what my formal middle name, "Hendra" means. But I know it's a very common Indonesian name. The last component of my name is my given Chinese name, "Kin". I was told the word doesn't mean anything. The "A" bit is due to the way Chinese people are called, I think. Anyway, I spell my name "Akin", and that's the way it's gonna stay.