Author: Arman ShahPage 23 of 30
A former travel writer with fond memories of solo adventures in Southeast Asia, Arman is now founder and editor of The Everyday People.
If you ever see him approaching with a camera and voice recorder in hand, please choose kindness and don’t decline his request for an interview.
Humans of Sentosa | “Here, you get to see hawksbill turtles that come to lay their eggs and dolphins that swim around our coast. It’s very cool.”
“Find a business with a mission for the future that you can get behind. In a small business there are going to be lots of challenges and having a guiding star is key to keeping motivated and hungry.”
People of Legends | “I was one of those kids who always got bullied, pushed to the wall, slapped on the face. Looking at Iman, I did not want him to experience the same thing. So I thought I needed him to learn self-defence.”
“If I have any advice for other caretakers, it’s to learn to have empathy and compassion for yourself. I think many times we think that we can do better and must do better. But we are human and there is only so much you can do for yourself and your loved ones.”
“I was 18 when I experienced love. It’s funny because I never thought that my first love would be someone who’s insta famous. We first met at my birthday party. She was a friend of a friend.”
“For the past 28 years, I’ve felt like a foreigner in a country that I call home. This feeling is very strong when I fill up documents that ask for my identity. Where were you born? What is your citizenship? When faced with such questions, I always question where I belong.”
In our very first episode of A Singapore Story, we find out from non-profit ‘Hey, You Got Mail!’ why it was important for them to send personalised, handwritten letters to the elderly in Singapore’s nursing homes.
People of Legends | “I think that if you can face a stranger head on, take punches and be able to hug it out after that, everything else you do on a daily basis is going to be so much easier.”
Inspiring Creatives of Workbuddy | “In these past two years, I’ve had days where I genuinely thought ‘this is the end’. But what I’ve learnt is that being an entrepreneur requires persistence, resilience and never giving up. You learn to cope. You have to.”
“Art tells people who we are, and represents what’s important to us. It is a visual language that cuts across cultures and languages.”
“A Greek god? Lol! I wasn’t born like this. I was a very skinny guy. When I graduated from secondary school, I was about 50kg.”
Inspiring Creatives of Workbuddy | “I’m 40 this year and I’m pleased to tell people I’m 40 because at 33, I was diagnosed with cancer…”
People of Legends | “He made me realise I’m not the smartest after all; I’m not the strongest after all; and I’m not the most confident after all. People can beat me up when I’m alone in the ring. All that street fighting practice was nothing. This was real boxing.”
Nature parks have been a great escape for many of us in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, Arman Shah explores Woodlands Waterfront and captures a slice of life at the coastal park.
Inspiring Creatives of Workbuddy | “Starting a start-up is a long ride with a lot of ups and downs. It’s a grind. If you do this just to become rich, you will probably give up at some point. You need to be a maker and enjoy building new things.”
“And if he ever reads this story one day, I want him to know that he’s always loved. I want him to know that he’s lucky to have more than one family and that no matter what, he will always have a forever family in me.”
Inspiring Creatives of Workbuddy | “My vision when we started workbuddy was to tell people that you don’t have to work at the same location everyday.”
COVID-19 may have changed the way we live our lives, but as photographer Kurt Ganapathy finds out, it’s not dampened our festive spirits as Singapore celebrates Deepavali.
“We believe that nothing can recreate the feelings of warmth when one holds a personalised handwritten card. We want to share that warmth with the seniors…”
Like almost everything this year, National Day was different. But in a way, as Kurt Ganapathy found, the celebrations brought more Singaporeans together than ever before.