Browsing “Converse”

“Every time my colleagues and I go out to dabao food, it’s always packed in plastic bags and plastic containers. One day, I thought, “Okay, I’ve had enough. Maybe I can try to be more sustainable.” So I started using reusable containers and cutlery, which is how I got my start in sustainability.”

“My first tattoos are the ones on my fingers. I wanted to test my threshold of pain, so I got my first ones on my fingers, and my next ones on my leg, near my ankle. Back then, not many artists were willing to tattoo fingers because there are so many nerves there, so I really had to go around asking different artists and studios if they could do it for me. But now, it’s a lot more common.”

“I have three tattoos in total on different parts of my body. I got the one on my back seven years ago from a Vietnamese artist in Singapore, but the one on my belly is quite new. I got stretch marks after giving birth, so I recently decided to use a tattoo to cover them up.”

“One reason why I’m in the CBD a lot is because of the running routes here. I find that they’re the best. There’s just something about the vibe here that’s not the same with anywhere else in the country. The Marina Bay area is actually my favourite. I like to run and people-watch there. It’s the one area in Singapore where you can really see a mix of people—interesting folks of different strokes.”

“I think tattoos are a very personal expression of yourself, because you get to choose each design. For me, each tattoo represents a specific phase in my life, especially since I like to get impromptu tattoos when I travel.”

“I’m from Jakarta, and whenever I visit Singapore, I must visit my favourite boutique, which is The Editor’s Market. I’m happy to see that there are a lot of outlets now! On my first day here, I went and bought a lot of things.”

“When I was younger, I volunteered at the Boy’s Home, and met kids my age who were living totally different lives from me because they were neglected by society. Since then, I’ve wanted to be a positive change for them, which is why I’m now a youth worker working with kids at risk.”

“I wore braces for eight years, and my teeth still aren’t perfectly straight. Eight years leh! I put them on in Secondary 1, and only took them out when I was in my first year of university. My original dentist even retired halfway through.”

“I started photographing since 2015. Back then, I found an old camera in my wardrobe—it was a film camera, so I decided to just play around with it, and I’ve been photographing moments in my daily life until now.”

"I hang out with a lot of graffiti artists here, and as you know, it’s not allowed, so doing that for a living is insane. Like just the fact that they chose the hard path with all of its struggles is quite inspiring to me, because they do so much just to bring their art to the public.”

“My folks are very typical Chinese folks, but then again, they’re a little bit different as well because they never question what I do as an artist, and are pretty supportive. In fact, I think I got a lot more critical comments than praise about my work from them.”

“I think the biggest thing I’ve learnt in school is how to start over again. Sometimes I get really stuck in my work, but I’ve learnt to not to be so hard on myself, and to give myself time to grow. I think that’s quite important.”