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Comment by No Agency 3 hours ago

About the Founder of iconada.tv（爱垦网）
Dr. Tan Beng Huat(陈明发博士)

As 2026 approaches, the non-profit network ICONADA 爱垦网(www.iconada.tv) will mark its 17th anniversary. Dr. Tan, its founder, is widely recognized as a pioneer in research and development of Malaysia’s cultural and creative industries. In addition to ICONADA, he also founded 《叙叙吧Cerita Malaysia》 (www.ceritamalaysia.org), a platform dedicated to documenting, cultivating, and advancing local cultural narratives and creative practices.

Dr. Tan’s professional journey spans more than four and a half decades. In the 1970s, he participated in specialized training programs by national psychological warfare unit （perang saraf）under Malaysia's Prime Minister Department, an experience that contributed to his early understanding of human behavior, communication dynamics, and social influence.

He later emerged as a nationally recognized senior human resources trainer, and became an influential advocate and strategist for youth movements, contributing to leadership development and civic engagement initiatives nationwide.

Following 16 years in human resource development, Dr. Tan transitioned into long-term research, practice, and advocacy within the cultural and creative sectors, a focus that has now extended nearly three decades. Across this period, he has remained committed to voluntary, mission-driven work, emphasizing sustainable impact over formal recognition.

Through extensive practice—and having produced, directed, or supervised an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 original content works—Dr. Tan has developed a substantial body of insights and reflections. These materials are now being systematically curated and released in stages, as a gesture of appreciation to long-standing collaborators and supporters in Malaysia and abroad, and as a contribution to future-oriented discourse on social and economic transformation.

Recognizing that many transformational initiatives exceed the capacity of a single individual or generation, Dr. Tan emphasizes the importance of documentation, knowledge transfer, and institutional memory. His work is intended to serve as a practical reference framework for both urban and rural transformation efforts.

In recent years, Dr. Tan has been actively advancing an innovative “Rural–Industry–Academia” vocational education and collaboration model, aimed at nurturing locally grounded cultural and creative industries. This model seeks to strengthen industry–school partnerships, empower under-resourced rural youth, and translate cultural creativity into sustainable economic and social value.