I was born in Singapore and I still live there now, though one day I hope I’ll be able to fulfill my dream of travelling and working at the same time, to satisfy my nomadic tendencies. I am an integrated visual designer, specialising in user-focused identities, web interfaces, and print collateral.
I am an avid Manchester United fan, to the point of not missing any live matches if I can help it. Watching soccer is the only activity which I feel can numb my mind. I look very forward to European nights and the weekly EPL action. I also watch England play, though it can be a frustrating experience.
Otherwise, I travel whenever my pockets allow me, I have a soft spot for idyllic islands. This love for traveling is the motivation for me going solo as a designer. It would be a dream come true if there comes a day I can lug my laptop around and go wherever I want with an internet connection. I cannot do that yet, because my pockets are not deep enough, but I am slowly progressing towards that goal. Baby steps. What I have done successfully is to establish an exclusively online workflow for my work, in preparation for the day I might be working at some remote island.
Writing is my first love, since elementary school I could write pages after pages of words. During exam time I would complete my essays in half an hour and sleep the rest of the time away. I seldom experience a loss of words when I write. I cannot really say that about my verbal communication though.
I discovered the web when I was 15 and my father bought me my first computer. I discovered a love for computers and design, I was never artistic, I cannot even draw a stick figure properly, but the computer changed it all. I spent a lot of time dismantling my computer and adding new parts to it, and designing websites. My parents mistook my new-found obsession for playing computer games, my grades suffered because I was bored in school, and that was the start of many painful years of being misunderstood.
My parents had very high expectations of me because I used to ace my exams in elementary school without even spending a minute to revise. I could absorb information at will, I never had to practice my maths or do much memory work because I relied on logical reasoning that was second nature to me. This was a blessing and a curse, because during high school (secondary school in Singapore) my logical mind failed me. It wasn’t enough for the complex maths formulas, nor was it enough to retain enough information for all the scientific, historical facts that I have to remember. From a top student I quickly turned into a very average student instead. I never had a problem with my languages though. I still aced my essay writing.
Till today I am still being regarded by my immediate family as ‘the one who could have made it’, and this perception has caused a lot of pain for me. On hindsight, all these was necessary for my growth, and I hope to write about all these, because I know there are probably many others out there like me, who haven’t had the benefit of hindsight yet to appreciate these learning experiences like I do now.
The world is currently shifting and I know there will be an increase of bright, sensitive children and young adults who might feel lost and confused in a material and pragmatic society. I wish to let them know, that it is okay to be different.