SHENTONISTA

“I’m from Paris. I would say that it’s quite different from Singapore, in the sense that some places are a bit more dangerous that others. I definitely recommend not going to the North of Paris, because that’s what people would usually consider more dangerous, and it’s usually less pretty as well. The other places in Paris are pretty nice though!”

“When I drink coffee in the morning—every day for the past few decades—I’ll add ginger, garlic, and onion into it. I’m used to it already, because I’ve been drinking this since I started going out to work after primary school, which is why I rarely fall sick or have any ailments like aches and pains. Nothing!”

“I love architecture a lot and got my degree in it, but what I love more is nature. That’s why I was in amazement of this courtyard at Marina One. All the greenery! So yeah, that’s what makes Singapore so beautiful—there’s so much greenery, which I absolutely love.”

“My favourite fusion restaurant isn’t even in Singapore actually. It’s called Manja, and it’s in Kuala Lumpur. Oh my gosh, it’s the best. It beats even Michelin restaurants. It’s that legit, and it’s not even very expensive. It’s Indian mixed with European, and every dish is like wow, amazing. Flavours bursting in your mouth and stuff.”

“I work as a video producer, but I enjoy taking photos and videos as a hobby. I have a lot of cameras, because I like using different cameras for different things. For making videos, I like Sanyo’s retro video cameras. For photos, I like using digital Fujifilm cameras, and film cameras.”

“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 admire everything about my dad. I think he is one of the wisest people ever. Like if I ever need advice, he would be the person I would go to. His sense of humour is great too—I feel like he finds humour in everything, and nothing brings him down, so that’s something I really admire, because I could never!”

“In the past, most people believed that children should never talk back to elders, but we want to give our kids more autonomy. We want them to know that their voice and opinions matter, so we have discussions as a family instead of us providing close-ended options like a yes or a no to everything.”

“It’s pretty common, especially for Asian countries, to see art as something that you can’t go far with. I want to prove that belief wrong, and show that I can make a living out of it. It doesn’t have to be the starving artist way—there are many paths you can take. It’s not a one-way route.”

“One piece of advice I live by is to not take life too seriously, because life is really short. I’m a practicing yogi, so I believe that we are not our bodies. Our bodies are just machines that we’ll use for a little while in this life, before we drop it off and pick up new bodies again and again in our subsequent lives.”

“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 do freelance work with a Malay theatre company, Anggerik Temasek Bangsawan. Bangsawan is a type of traditional Malay opera, but we’re trying to revive it using new technology. The last production we put up had a fully digital set shown on LED screens.”