CHiQ & Programming

The CHiQ was unique indeed. Jeyadev had mentioned a few times earlier about her passion for gadgets and technology.

Here’s another side to her about technology which some may not know.

Val, despite having zero formal training in IT, was passionate about programming. She had always been awed by how programmers can create awesome apps.

So when Chris Hong appeared in a MacFest organized by MyMUG and proposed that a Developers Special Interest Group (DevSIG) be started within MyMUG, Val jumped at the idea and signed up on the spot. During the first DevSIG (now called MYCocoaHeads Kuala Lumpur Chapter) meeting, she was completely blown away by the simplicity of the developer tools that Apple provided, and made a resolution to learn programming. She asked a lot of questions and Chris and the DevSIG members so kindly accomodated all her questions - some very technical and deep questions I must say - and explained to her in the simplest way possible for a non-IT trained person like her. She took it all in stride!

The next meeting, I did a presentation on developing Dashboard widgets with Dashcode. Val got so excited over it that she was positively bouncing up and down by the end of it all. It was finally, something simple enough for her to do with her beginner’s knowledge of programming.

And she rose to the occasion! She developed a countdown to iPhone widget… well of course, now that she’s gone, I don’t think the widget will ever be updated anymore (cos the iPhone has been released). But if you would like to have it, I am still hosting the file here… I don’t think I’ll ever remove it.

When she passed, many of the DevSIG members felt the loss deeply. We had over time grown to be a close knit bunch and we all loved the CHiQ and her infectious enthusiasm. Our meetings have never been the same without her anymore, but we’ll press on, remembering her enthusiasm and her daring to venture into jungles she has never been into.