Shape-shifting

Tell us more about yourself and what you do for work!
I’m Vietnamese, and I’m a designer at Oatside. In our company, whenever new designers join, we’ll have to share one hot take about ourselves, and I always say that I like to change my hair colour every six months. So in the next three months, if you see me, I’m going to have a different hair colour!

What colour will you go for next?
I’m thinking of blue. I go for blue a lot.

Is there a reason why you like to switch up your hair colours so often?
It’s a hobby I’ve had for more than five years now, since high school. I never thought about it, but one of my colleagues said that it’s because I like G-Dragon (a K-pop idol) who’s also well-known for always changing his hair colour during his comeback. So that might be my inspiration subconsciously!

How did you get into design then?
I think all of the manga I read and anime I watch made me want to know more about design. It’s amazing how they can lay out all the frames to create motion, like the fight scenes in Naruto. Okay, this is a bit nerdy, but when we see each frame, we know exactly what the animation will look like, and how he’s going to move his hand and everything, which inspires me to want to learn more about design, in a weird way (laughs).

You sound so observant and curious! Is this what drives you in your work?
Whenever I step into any idea or face any issue, I’ll want to know the concept behind it. I think it’s a designer habit also—we want to know the context behind everything, even down to the smallest details. That sparks joy in design.

But my biggest issue is that I have too many ideas because I keep asking and digging. It gets hard for me to start working on a solution sometimes, so I usually give myself two hours to open an art board and do everything that I can, bit by bit, to force myself to stop forming more questions.

That’s a good tactic! On to the next topic—how long have you been in Singapore for?
I came to Singapore in 2019 to study in LASALLE, so about six or seven years now. I think the best thing about Singapore is the people that I’ve met. I’ve gotten to know a lot about Singapore culture, and as you can hear, I speak Singlish very well now. I love Singapore and will try my best to stay here for as long as I can.

Don’t you miss Vietnam at all?
My nationality is still Vietnamese. Everyone should have national pride, and shouldn’t be scared of saying “I’m Vietnamese” or “I’m Singaporean”. Same like me, I’m a Vietnamese and I’m proud of it! Even though I’m staying in Singapore and treat this as my second home, I think everyone will agree that when you travel somewhere and fly back to Changi, you’ll feel like you’re back home.

For me, I feel this way about both Vietnam and Singapore. These are my homes,

What will you miss most if you were to leave Singapore for good one day?
It sounds a bit weird but food, especially Malaysian food. It’s quite hard to find in Vietnam, so there are lots of local dishes that I’ll miss, like fish soup with milk and fried egg floss. I sound like an office lady, but it’s grown on me quite a lot! I’ll also really miss satay. It’s hard to find good satay, and everyone has their own standard, but the good ones will have some kind of that chef’s kiss taste (laughs). And I hate peanuts, but I really love satay sauce. Oh, and also biryani!

See, when you ask me to name food, I will really name everything (laughs).