In this episode of The Brown Box, we chat with Yulianna Frederika, co-founder of Lepak Conversations — an online advocacy platform bringing vital Malay Muslim issues into the mainstream.
This is a deeply personal conversation, with Yulianna consciously moving away from the version of herself that tried to fit into the moulds people expected, and towards a more authentic and truthful way of being.
We speak about:
• Growing up in an interfaith family, with Muslim prayers and Christian music woven into daily life
• Her Indonesian heritage — a great-grandmother with royal roots, and a great-grandfather who was an artist
• The auntie who shared her room and opened up the world for her
• A difficult relationship with her mother, who used her Malayness against her, and whose love language was food
• Wearing the hijab, and later understanding the prejudice hijab-wearing women face
• Starting Lepak Conversations
• Its work supporting Malay/Muslim mental health through campaigns like You Ok Bro?
• Speaking up for Palestine
• Batik — and finding her way back home through its patterns and stories
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