I’ve unofficially set this day as my first day of work, and like my previous jobs, the first duty is usually setting up my workstation. I’ve archived some of my emails and freelance projects, backed up everything, cleaned my desktop and gave it a facelift. EVE is now ready for some real good works!
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Decided to finally take a stroll to the Comic Avenue in Kowloon Park this afternoon. Although the venue is considerably small, but after the visit, I’m probably safe to say that HK definitely has a good number of representative comic characters and internationally renowned comic artists! Of all the comic characters being exhibited, my favorite is still “牛仔” from a simple comic strip I used to love as a kid.
Ended my Creative Monday with my weekly oil painting class. These weekly spontaneous and creative days will become more and more precious to me as I set forth to dedicate myself to work starting tomorrow…
Didn’t actually do a lot of work as I planned this week, I can possibly list a few excuses – public holidays on Mon. and Thu., badminton and soccer games on Tue. and Wed. respectively,… But they’re really nothing but excuses, and I had been giving myself way too many excuses, it’s really time to get more serious with my life.
It wasn’t all fun and games for me however, I managed to spend a fair bit of time this week to clean up and reorganize my home studio, making sure that I’m comfortable spending long hours of work here. And after spending a few quiet hours on a pleasant Saturday debugging a small issue for one of my previous freelance projects, I can honestly say that I love working in my home studio even more now!
I managed to confirm with 2 of my friends to invest in our dEEsigners venture last week, it’s encouraging to know that someone trusts and supports you, and it will be so much more fun to achieve something big with my friends rather than on my own.
With the encouragement of friends and family, and hopefully with God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will, I’m determined to dedicate myself to the dEEsigners venture for the next 4 months before a Hawaiian vacation in late August!
It was good to be able to spend a little time to do a little soul searching for the past week or so, but can’t afford to dwell in dreamland for too long, it’s time to do a little reality check…
It’s not that I’m afraid to pursue my dreams, in fact, I still dream about having my studio space to freely experiment with the many things I enjoy doing – electronics, oil painting, cartooning, woodworking,… etc. But that dream can wait until I can generate a stable and somewhat well-off income via another dream of mine – setting up an internet-based business.
I plan to set the next 4 months as a full-time work-term for me (and my friends) to establish our venture (deesigners.com), let’s see if I can recreate that fun and exciting start-up environment I’ve experienced in my first work term ~15 years ago!
“… For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“… in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6)
Oh God, may this plan be as good in your eyes as it is in mine.
I still faintly remember the episode when I told my father that I want to be an engineer when I grow up, I was probably in grade 1 or 2 and I was picturing myself designing and building bridges (i.e. a civil engineer).
In high school, on the night before receiving my HKCEE results, I shared my dream of becoming an architect with my friends. I never did apply for architecture school as I had hardly studied Art in high school and there was no way I could come up with a portfolio to apply. Becoming an architect will likely always be an unreachable dream for me.
After getting through engineering school, I began working as a software developer. I started taking night classes in cartooning with my friend (also colleague back then), it was then that I rekindled my love for art. I was working for my final cartooning assignment on a famous artist, I chose Charles Schulz (the artist behind Snoopy and Friends) and read up on his biography. The artist had dedicated almost his entire life in his studio in front of his drawing desk inking the comic strip day in and day out, I can totally picture myself doing the same. That was my brief dream of becoming a cartoonist.
As one gets older, reality seems to have gained a stronger hold in his life, and childhood dreams easily fade or vanish all together…
Counting co-op experiences (internship) and excluding freelancing, I had accumulated about 6-7 years of work experience.
With the six 4-month co-op work terms, I was given the opportunity to try out different jobs (researcher, web developer), working in different fields (opto-electronics, software), and for different companies and organizations. I still remember vividly my first work term as a web developer in a small internet start-up company. In those days, everything seemed new and refreshing in the industry, and that vibrant and energetic work environment had definitely made a lasting impression on me.
I was fortunate enough to experience that same vibrant work atmosphere when my friend introduced me to a job in a small software company after I got my bachelor degree. The company develops CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software for clients in the automotive industry, and being a small company (less than 10 employees when I started), I needed to be well versed in all aspects of the software development cycle (i.e. gathering customer requirements, development, testing, debugging, support,…). It was a great learning experience, but the ever expanding company had management issues and the work ethics were not quite professional for some colleagues, I decided to leave after working there for more than a year.
Another friend introduced me to a software development position for a slightly bigger company as my second full-time work. The company was taken over by an international standard organization and it grew quickly. In a big organization, my job became more specific and more routine, and more time was spent on meaningless meetings and paperwork instead of actual work. Although the work was stable and secure, it became too stagnant and the boredom was sucking up my life. I probably wouldn’t be able to survive more than 2 years of work if not for the more fun-loving and less uptight IT gang.
My work experience seems to be telling me that I don’t belong to the corporate world, and a young SME with a vibrant and fun work environment is where I will strive. I hope to recreate that exciting atmosphere experienced in my first work term, and I hope that I can share that fun with a few of my friends…
A rough calculation shows that I had been in school for ~24 years, that’s more than 2/3 of my life!
Been trained to be self-discipline at a very young age when I attended boarding school in grade 1, and my family never really had to worry about my academics since then. Frankly not a smart guy and not at all diligent, but I managed to keep my grades just somewhat above average throughout school.
Chose to study science in secondary school because I was really bad in literary subjects (except English) and I couldn’t quite interest myself with any subject that has to do with the dollar sign, that paved the way for me to study engineering in undergrad. After graduation, I worked for about 4 years and then decided to go back to school. Chose to do a master research study in environmental science to learn about some environmental issues including climate change and pollution (air, water, and soil). After graduation, I was debating about moving back to HK. Couldn’t reach a conclusion, I applied for master studies in the field of architecture (somewhat of an unreachable dream for me) in HK, prayed and hoped that God would make the decision for me instead. Surprisingly got accepted, so I studied 2 years about the science of sustainable building design.
Doubt that I’ll pursue any further education in the near future, but I love learning and will never stop doing so. I believe education is about gaining knowledge, but that knowledge is rather meaningless unless it gets applied. Hopefully, my upcoming career will allow me to apply some of the knowledge and skills gained in my engineering, environmental science, and architectural studies.
Parents had a dinner gathering to attend, I spontaneously decided to buy some takeout and eat by the Victoria Harbour at TST. It was the annual WWF Earth Hour, saw the lights across the harbour being turned off and back on again, the HK’s skyline definitely looks much better without the ugly blinding signages!
Spent a little time to do some thinking…
Sometimes I feel like a stranger in this place where I was born and had spent close to half my life in. Been back for more than 3 years and I still can’t find myself fitting in sometimes. The busyness, crowdedness, and loudness (both audible and visual) are a test of the senses. And then there’s also the extreme disparity between the rich and poor, and the materialistic and over-consuming lifestyle that is making our environment suffer, I abhor all that but just find them too big of an issue for a humble citizen to help tackle. This is seriously not the dream place to reside in, but if your family is here, and you want to call this place home, you just can’t easily give up.
Despite all the negative things I said about the city, I can actually visualize myself starting a career here. I can see myself spending countless hours quietly and restlessly working in my office/studio, isolated from the busyness, crowdedness, and loudness, to make a living and to offer my feeble effort in tackling the social and environmental issues… Is this what You want me to do?
With the power of FB, adding a “friend” is only one click away, but can you really trust that “friend”? Personally, I don’t add friends I’ve never met in person before.
I seem to be checking up on my FB less and less these days, still prefer to meet up friends in person. I don’t really consider myself to be an outgoing person, so I don’t have as many friends as some people do. However, I’m proud to say that I have many close friends whom I’ve known for 10+ years. In fact, I’ve just had dinner with a primary school classmate and family friend earlier this week. Secret? I’ve always tried my best to stay true and honest to my friends, and I wish that they would treat me the same.
I’m fortunate to have met many good friends to share with me the many stages of my life (primary and secondary school, undergraduate and graduate studies, work,…). My two jobs after getting my Bachelor degree were referred by my friends, and they were the main reason that I kept the jobs for as long as I did, I wouldn’t be able to survive the boredom of work without them. And when I was freelancing, some of my friends would refer me to design opportunities without me asking. Sometimes it seems like my friends are more worried about me out of job than myself.
Now on the verge of starting a new venture, I wish to involve my friends so as to share many more happy memories with them…
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