Theme: The Gray Rhino

TEDxFTU 2021: "The Gray Rhino" promises to bring a multi-dimensional and profound perspective on “Crisis normalization” - a concept that may not be noticed by many people nowadays.

- Have you ever felt helpless and surrendered to unexpected events that you could barely do anything to solve them?
- Have you ever felt regret and thought that you could have done something to alleviate some of the bad results from past issues?
- Can anything bad happen at any time?

So should we be on the lookout for signs of a coming crisis or just sit there and “whatever comes will come”? Is the crisis arranged by fate or is it inevitable in life? What TEDxFTU 2021 with the theme “The Gray Rhino” wants to convey is a turning point in crisis thinking: Crises can happen at any time, they are a part of life and can be normalized. Moreover, crisis is not completely negative, adjusting the way we respond to crisis is also an opportunity for us to find positive things, thereby creating a launcher for ourselves as well as the entire community, both during and after the crisis.

Foreign Trade University, HCMC Campus
15 D5 Street, Ward 25, Binh Thanh District
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, 718500
Vietnam

Giang Kate

Psycho – therapist and Founder of A Pure Day Therapy

Giang Kate is now a psychotherapist and the Founder of A Pure Day Therapy. She had challenges and grief on her journey through life. So, she decided to study psychotherapy to find a way out of depression. Giang Kate has gained many certificates in Psychotherapy, Hypnosis and found out that this is her passion, her calling. She was guest speaker to many events, workshops and talk shows mainly discussed on mental health issues.

Lucas Luan Nguyen

Copywriter & Film Influencer

Mr. Lucas' film criticism method does not simply focus on reviewing films. He likes exploiting the film from a cinematic theory perspective to highlight the cultural, social and philosophical values of it. He wants to direct the readers to movie-watching experiences that transcend initial superficial impressions. When it comes to crisis, Mr. Lucas believes that it helps people become a better version of themselves, so he encourages people to think of crisis as a friend, and not to avoid it, but to face it.

Skultip (Jill) Sirikantraporn

Founding Faculty, Psychology at Fulbright University Vietnam

As a psychologist and a teacher, what she is most proud of in all these achievements is the opportunity to cross paths with individuals from various cultures, aspirations, and life backgrounds. When she is confronted by a crisis, she takes it as a reminder to stay in the present as much as she can and enjoy what life offers her.

Thi Minh Hong Hoang

Founder & Executive Director at CHANGEVN

She feels that she is "indebted" to nature. And she thinks that climate change projects should not stop at the perception, but instead, should always aim for wider and more critical actions from the society. Through many years of working in the field of environment, she "realized" that Vietnam's environmental issues will be solved if each individual has the gut to change: change perceptions and behaviors, and change the way of thinking about the responsibilities of each individual and each collective.

Thien Thanh Nguyen

CEO at Edelman Vietnam

As an economic expert having experience working in various leading multinational corporations, Ms. Thien Thanh Nguyen has profound perspectives on issues in business, especially in crisis management. In her opinion, most of the time, we never know how things will turn out. And managing a crisis is a process of thorough monitoring, planning, and response strategy together with thorough mental preparation.

Uy Le

Founder of Saigon Teu

As a stand-up comedian, Mr. Uy Le has developed Saigon Teu to become a place where listeners can relieve stress, heal their psychological wounds, and find joy during the COVID-19 pandemic. From his viewpoint, constantly comparing one’s performance with that of others leads to identity crisis. And to help us overcome it, he advises us to "Build ourselves up, let our guard down" by improving our values through revealing our vulnerabilities as well as open-sharing with those around us