Divine Intervention

Tell us more about what you do for work.
I’m a Media Buyer, specifically for social platforms such as Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn. My job involves the execution of client campaigns on targeted platforms, and optimising them to perform better.

I’ve always known that advertising was the direction I wanted to take in terms of my career, quite stubbornly, might I add, because I even took up free internships when I first started job hunting, much to my mother’s dismay.

My passion for the industry actually lies in the strategic/planning phase of the work, but after working in the ‘back-end’ of things for over a year now, I’m thankful for the expertise gained on the execution end of things. Plus, I love the perks that come with it, like vendor visits and events (laughs).

Outside of work, what are some activities you enjoy doing?
Ever since COVID-19, I’ve found more comfort in being alone and staying indoors. I love cooking, baking, and singing, though I sing exclusively in the bathroom. And not to brag, but I make amazing chocolate chip cookies.

Apart from that, I enjoy spending time catching up on mangas and anime that I’ve neglected, and playing sports like badminton and bowling when I do get the time to.

In between work hours, I enjoy scrolling through Instagram to browse through Japanese street fashion content; I love the way the Japanese express themselves through their style, and I’m obsessed with Yohji Yamamoto’s clothing line!

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done recently?
Probably agreeing to be photographed and featured by Shentonista. I don’t usually like to photograph myself or be photographed by others, but this is actually a great experience! I’m definitely aiming to say yes to more things this year.

What’s a piece of advice you live by?
It’s not so much a piece of advice, but I really resonate with the word ‘always’. I’m actually looking to have this word tattooed on myself, as a constant reminder to always be myself, no matter the judgement of others.

What’s something most people wouldn’t know about you?
Not many people know this, but I’ve been practicing Shintoism for about seven years now!

I grew up a free-thinker, and was first exposed to the religion on my graduation trip to Japan after polytechnic. At the time, I was quite lost and torn between finding a job or continuing my education overseas. I went to pray at the Fushimi Inari Taisha (shrine) in Kyoto rather light-heartedly to seek comfort in religion; I didn’t even know what god I was praying to and simply copied whatever an old lady there did. To be honest, all I wanted was to be shown a way.

When I returned from my trip, I was given the opportunity to study advertising in the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Some might say I’m foolish, but I knew this was a sign. After that day, I jumped headfirst into reading about Shintoism, and found myself falling in love with it. I especially love the belief that spiritual powers exist in the natural world instead of a specific god—this was something I related to more than I had any other religion before, which is why I’ve stuck with it for so long.

Since then, I try to go back to Fushimi Inari Taisha to return my thank you prayers every year, but because of COVID, I’ve had to stop for a while, though I do have plans to return this December to do my hatsumode, which means visiting the shrine on New Years Day to pray for good luck!