May Visual Inspirations!

Hello! It’s time again for another month’s visual inspiration updates! Haven had time to really venture/read online this month so I find that the depth and breath of this month’s update is quite lacking but I do really like the bright colours in this collection.

I have tried to credit as many images as possible but have left those that I am unsure off blank. They should be credited to either NY The Cut, Nylon or Refinery29. Oops. I need a better way of keeping track where I get my images.

Uploading and crediting these images is really quite time consuming but I really like doing this so I hope you enjoyed the fruits of my labour! 🙂

Post #Blueprint Reflections

Now that Blueprint is finally over, I am glad that I can take a breather and soon leave Singapore for Hong Kong and meet up with my best friend, Bini in Shenzhen! 🙂 But before I leave, I want to note down my thoughts of my Blueprint trade and emporium experience.

Joining Blueprint as a project intern is a valuable experience which I am grateful for as I have made many new friends through it. Although the monetary reward is abysmal, I feel that I would still do it all over again given a chance because of the exposure I gained.

As a project intern, my tasks were mainly mundane and unglamorous. Prior to the events, it mainly consisted of compiling and/or editing lists of names, brand profiles, images, liaising with the designers to remind them of their show fittings, rehearsals etc. When the event took place it was mainly ensuring the designers outfits came in backstage on time for preparation and ensuring the soles of the shoes on loan were properly masked with tape so that they are returned in good condition.

The last week has been tiring as it required a lot of time on my feet (particularly tiring if I chose to wear heels that day). The first few days of the events were more eventful as the event just started and several on the spot actions had to be taken. Like how the VIP guest list for the designers we collated were not received by the events company taking charge of the registration booth so we had to rush to print for them about 1-2 hours before the event. And less than 15 minutes before the preview party started we were still deciding how to best arrange the accessory table that accompanied the show. It was hectic and exhausting but quite fun I must say.

Through this internship I saw first hand how a major event like this comes together and it is no mean feat!!!

The most rewarding part of the internship is meeting people in the industry. Especially friendly people! Dedicated people from Mercury like Jo, Denise, Cat, Michelle, Tjin, Jasmine, Dorothy and Charmaine. Designers like Jackie of J JS Lee, Timo Weiland and Alan Eckstein, Jose Duran are all real lovely people. And meeting media friends like Sarah of Wottoncool, Mian Han of 360 Degree, Viona and Chuck of Fash Forward as well as fellow interns/volunteers like Mythili, Nidya, Victoria, Sherrilyn, Rita, Alexis, Elizabeth, Nicholas. 🙂

Mostly I just want thank God for blessing me with such an enriching experience although I complained quite a fair bit when meeting hiccups and even when I have not been waking up for Sunday morning service and also I overslept a lot…

I will follow up this internship reflections with two more posts of 1. Intern perspective: What to expect from an internship 2. Employer’s perspective: what you can offer and expect from your intern

xx

Post Elections Personal Thoughts

Hi!!!

As promised, here’s my post regarding the recent General Elections in Singapore. 🙂

I shall start with a disclaimer that I am not an expert in politics and that I am not very well-read about the many political issues and the details inherent. However I still wish to share my personal and humble thoughts about the recent and pretty exciting GE.

I would like to start by saying that I am thankful for the current ruling party, People’s Action Party’s (PAP) excellent track record. They have indeed done much for this little country of ours, aka the tiny red dot for the past 45 years and counting. We have come a long way and it’s been incredible how we’ve transformed from a third world country to a first world nation. Under the helm of Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, our past and present leaders have shown intelligence and great foresight in governing our nation.

The second thing I’d like to say is that I am also thankful for the six opposition members that have been fielded into our Parliament from the recent GE. We now have four more (up from two from the last GE) alternate voices to speak up for the people in Parliament debates. I applaud them for their courage to have braved and to continue to brave a difficult political path. The nation thanks them for being the “co-driver” that will watch the “driver” when he dozes off or goes off track.

Through the GE, there has been great political education and awareness on new social media such as on my Facebook and Twitter page. Friends, Straits Times, Online Citizen will post news article, personal views and on-the-ground happenings at rallies which have educated me on Singapore’s politics like never before.

Prior to elections, I actually did not know who my area Minister of Parliament was and I was embarrassed. Was it because I am politically apathetic? I then I realize that many, like me also did no know theirs. I think partly the reason is because my area was not contested for the last elections in 2006 and so the PAP did not require to actively campaign in my area. Another reason could also be my area’s boundary was redrawn and PAP was confident of winning my area without a tough fight. Lastly it could also be because I am not active in grassroots activity and neither do I need to meet my MP in the meet the people’s meeting so I simply didn’t know who my MP was for the last five years.

But then came the elections, I suddenly knew that my area MP is Tan Chuan Jin, that he is new and he came to my house’s doorstep on an early Thursday morning to shake my Dad’s hand and to win our votes.

The elections has revealed the change in Singapore’s political climate. Gone are the days of “apathetic” citizens and youths. Many have spoken via Facebook, Twitter and even cried out in response to the speakers during the rallies due to dis-satisfaction over a gamut of issues such as housing, transport, immigrants and the ruling party governing Singapore like a corporation. Another hot topic was about the minister’s high pay that results in them living lives that are detached from the common man’s and therefore they simply cannot understand what we are going through and not really listening to our cries.

However, with the GE 2011 results revealing that overall 60% of the people’s votes went to the PAP and 40% to the opposition parties collectively, I hope that there will be positive changes with regards to the approach that the PAP takes in implementing policies and governing our nation.

Looking forward, we now have more alternative voices to speak up for the people’s interest. Hopefully the PAP will also take a stronger interest in listening to the people’s cries and not place economical growth as the all important and only defining success of a nation.

I don’t expect housing, transport and migrant issues to be resolved overnight. But I truly hope that Singapore as a nation will be able to find solutions to these problems. I truly hope that the leaders can see that no doubt progress is good, but it should not be forced at the expense of the people’s comfort and ability to cope with these changes. I fear that Singapore is transforming too quickly and that problems arise far faster than we can solve them.

I also believe that the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system should be capped at 5 maximum since there are only 4 major races in Singapore and that new MPs should prove their worth and fight their own fight in a Single Representation Constituency. This will no doubt be extremely unlikely because then the ruling party’s possibility of winnings may be highly diminished.

After this GE 2011, citizens will no doubt be keenly watching the PAP’s next steps and hold them accountable for their promises to listen to our views and opinions, especially the younger ones like myself. I do hope that the PAP’s manifesto of including EVERYONE in nation building is something I can believe in and not just a nice sounding slogan.

Lastly, perhaps the most important lesson on leadership I take away from GE 2011 is that to be a leader, you must have a heart for your people, listen to their plight, seek to understand them and ultimately it requires sacrifice to help them. I believe many times it may be a thankless job especially those who serve humbly and quietly every week. But when you prove your sincerity, the people can feel it and you will no doubt have the sweetest rewards.

Xx

(Belated) April Visual Inspirations! :)

Hi!!!

It’s been more than a week since I last updated! And almost a month since I had my last visual inspirations update! So here’s a huge chunk of visual inspirations I’ve yet to upload from April!

You’ll find a lot of images regarding the Royal Wedding, Noel Caleb, Style Bubble – Susie’s outfit posts and a bit more of home decor inspirations too! 🙂

It’s nice to keep a visual inspirations log. From it, I can start to see that my favoured aesthetics skew a lot toward key word(non-exhaustive list) such as feminine, colours, sophisticated and tastefully dramatic. Keeping a visual log helps me to find out what tickles my fancy and what I appreciate. It’s also really an exercise to open my eyes to new and different visual approach as well as keeping myself up to date to trends.

Sorry I didn’t caption where I took them from because it’s just too many to cover! I will try to be more conscientious in future and update more regularly with proper crediting. 🙂 But if you really want to know what is from where, let me know and I will try to source out the original and let you know!

A short update on how life’s been:

It’s been a great 1 week plus so far, interning with Blueprint/Mercury MC is turning out real fine, working alongside friendly colleagues – having good meals from nearby food places and knowing of like 100 over new/upcoming local and regional brands- is quite like summer school for me.

Royal wedding was all the buzz when it happened end April (the last post on my blog) and then the next was all about Singapore Elections. My batch turns 21 this year so it was a slight wet blanket when we found out only those who turn 21 on 1st of Jan gets to vote. (Why is the school intake not like this huh? :P)

I will reserve my thoughts on elections in a separate blog post titled “Post #Sgelections Thoughts” which I’ve already thought of the points but just finding the time to blog it down.

Will start to get real busy for Blueprint as the event, next weekend draws nearer! I might even be staying over at MBS if they need me to stay! Follow me on twitter (see side bar for my latest tweets)—> if you haven’t and you can read more about my daily “happenings” and cool news I read online. 😉

Twitter is like micro-blogging so I think that’s partly why I have not updated the blog for so long! Go read my tweets to see what you’ve missed out for the past 1 week plus ok! 😛

Lastly I fell sick *again* due to a flu I caught from the office… but I’m on the way to recovery so Thank God for that! I’m also very thankful for my Blueprint internship and another one coming up in June/July. 🙂

Been slacking off spiritually lately, need to be disciplined and take time for God! 🙂

Shall head to bed naooo

Xx