Helping Hand

Tell us something about yourself that not many people might know.
I’m addicted to TikTok (disclaimer: I don’t post anything but I love watching the videos). I initially brushed it off as another app for kids. But I caved and downloaded it at the peak of Circuit Breaker when boredom really hit me and I wanted to escape from depressing news on other social media apps. Now, it’s one of favourite apps. I can spend hours on it while being thoroughly entertained.

How would you describe your sense of fashion during and off work?
Most of my clothes are tailor-made: I’ve always valued comfort and fit when purchasing clothes and having them made by a tailor ensures that my clothes fit me perfectly. I also enjoy building a cordial relationship with my tailors. We often chat about life during my visits. It helps to make the purchase less transactional and more personal.

As I’m usually dressed kinda formally for work, I tend to dress down on the weekends–often in shorts, tee, and sneakers (which I have an unhealthy obsession for). Last I counted, I had 25 pairs of sneakers which have spilled over into my room.

You work in a self-help organisation—what do you think is the most difficult part about your job?
The hardest part of my job is ensuring that the messages we put out resonate with people from all walks of life. I constantly have to think of new ways to put out messages to inform the public of the help available to them. Doing this on a daily basis can be challenging, especially when you are trying to help as many people as possible.

If you suddenly found yourself in possession of a million dollars, what are the first three things you’d buy?
I would buy a house for myself (who wouldn’t want a fully-paid-for place of their own?), invest some money and… buy more clothes! Financial freedom is really important to me, so the first two things would allow me to achieve that. And lastly, I’ll treat myself by buying more clothes because one can never have too many clothes, am I right?

Apart from your home, where’s your favourite place in Singapore?
I love Upper Pierce Reservoir—it’s one of the most beautiful and tranquil places in Singapore as there are very few people around. I usually cycle around and spend an hour there just to get away from everything.

Is there a habit or a hobby you’d like to cultivate if you had more time on your hands?
I tend to pick up hobbies and drop them quickly, so I’d really like to be more disciplined to follow through with them. I love photography and cycling and I probably should be more invested in both of them.

I also need to lose the Circuit Breaker weight gain so that I can fit into my clothes. I guess cycling would help with that.

If you could change something about modern society, what would it be?
I wish people would be nicer and more understanding, especially online. I feel that social media has brought out the worst in society. There is negative news week in and week out. It can be quite draining mentally, so much so that I have recently tried to reduce my time on social media.