Back To Singapore..... Again

I went to Singapore the other day... last Saturday actually, to attend a career fair held at Suntech City Convention Hall during the weekend. So any result this time? Well, i can say it was a tiresome experience that doesnt worth the trouble i went into.

Prior to the visit, i not very optimistic about the chances that this job fair got to offer. The fact is, i went online to find out more about the companies which involved in the fair. Well, mostly from the manufacturing, hospitality and insurance industry. Almost none from the creative industry. Well, almost b'cos there one particular company with the word "art" in its company name ( as it turn out later, it wasnt worth even to remembering its full name). Nonetheless, i gave chance a chance and prepare myself to go there- portfolio burning, resume printing etc etc.

When i arrive there at noon, there was already throngs of people waiting in line to get themselves registered (which was required for any big fair like this). After registering which took a while, i went in and browse around to familiarize myself and to look around the companies' respective booths. Nothing here interest me much, which was rather disappointing. Anyway, there was a lot of people here, from different walks of life. Young parents who brought their misbehaving kids, middle aged uncles, fresh grads and foreigners apart from Malaysians like myself. The most troublesome thing that u required to do here before you apply for any job was u have to upload your resume in the main sponsor site- JobsDB.com. Since you have registered earlier, they gave out a id card with a barcode to hand round ur neck and filmsy cloth bag with the big sponsor logo to put in ur "goodies" (flyers, bousers, free angpow packets etc etc).

There were a lot of laptop booths set upped for the upload purposes but so were there hundreds of people waiting in line for the same reason too. Things didnt help when most took their own sweet time to even type out their name. Luckily there 're helpers hired to help to speed things up but not much anyway. After waiting for almost eternity for my turn, I just whipped out my id card, scan it, took out my pendrive and just load my resume, filled in some info and then log off. All that just took at most 2 minutes. I cant even believe some people can spent more than half an hour to did theirs- i waited behind one before getting off to somewhere else. And when you done you'll get a green sticker from another counter to prove you have uploaded ur resume. Did it worth it? Well, i can only applied for one suitable job of all the jobs out there. Sigh~~~ And that job was not even from the company which the word "art" in its name. The booth was there all rite, but the staffs seems to be MIA the whole time.

Hungry, tired and frustrated, i spent my remaining day McD'ing, window shopping and browsing creative related magazines which yield better experiences and worthwhileness before retiring to my aunt's house. And no, i dun even want to write what my aunt nag this time for my unemployment. Not worth mentioning them. This time i went back home the next day.

Divine Intervention? Or Irritation?

I must been so stupid... Gave up a confirmed job offer for another job which dun really exist... yet. Well, just hear me out.

Weeks ago while i was still a part time sensei, i been to an interview in Singapore for a job as a graphic designer as i mention in a post sometime ago. The interview went quite well, 'cept a bit problem with my expected salary. The highest they can offer was SG$ 1000 which i thought compared to the island's cost of living and the market price of graphic designer (i did my research)- was quite low. Anyway, i went back hometown while the interviewer who happens to be the editor had to discuss with others before confirmation. He promised contact me again the next week.

In the meantime, when my Singapore aunt heard about the news, she was wary about my choice of employer. She immediately lectured me 'bout malay people not being trustworthy and worried 'bout me being accidentally embroiled in some sort of terrorist plot (omg *sweats*). I try to make sense of things and ensure her fear was unfounded. Naturally i was quite dismay 'bout her racist claims and her being paranoid 'bout things. She either dun trust my employer or in me or both. I even got a lecture from my uncle 'bout national security and stuffs later. Talk about "kiasi" (fear of death or trouble). *sweats*

Back home across the strait, my mum brought me to a never-visit-before temple to pray and to get consultation from the deity. It seems a there a famous taoist priest there able to act as a medium for the deities. I scoffed at the idea. I never much of a religious guy and i never like doing all those putting all the joss sticks at every altar in the temple. Too troublesome for me, i guess. But still i do believe in God and for me praying is all about sincerity and nothing else in between. Short and simple.

Anyway, the taoist believe a wide range of gods and pray from all of them. That means a bunch of altars around the temple. What's new and strange for me was there was a small hut which inside lit up with only purple light. This houses the altars for the deities from the underworld. It kinda creepy putting up black coloured joss sticks in this cold (the only aircon room) purple shaded atmosphere. The consultation even took place here... and the deities whom to give consult were from hell itself. My mum explain different nights may have different deities. Some are stern and serious, and other are joyous and friendly- all in one medium. Talk about split personality. I personally witnessed two different characters in two different nights ( i been there twice last month).

It easy been sceptical about this deity from hell ( i kept thinking and referring to those shinigamis in Soul Society of Bleach fame, lol) but I do admit this guy have some sort of psychic-like ability. The advice seems logical and he advise me to take up interior design for a better financial future (like i have to money to take on) . Btw, he seems up to date to modern times and even spoke a few english words. Lol. My mum and little bro was there to be consult too. Mum was for health and finance and my bro was for safety and study- even get a bit of scolding for his disobedient... The priest/deity asked help from a fellow temple friend who was a singaporean to help me to find a better job for me. So now i have a choice.

My mum went there for a few times to get advice to set up a ancestor altar at home for better blessing. As for me, I was waiting at home for confirmation from the malay employer when it finally came. They offer me the job for SG$ 1000 (final figure) and i need to confirm myself for the job. As i was getting ready, my mum back from the temple told me to turn the job down and wait for a better job the temple friend helping to find. Even the priest/deity adviced so. As for myself too hoping for a better paying job in better enviroment and due to both family pressure and the so-called power of suggestion, i turned the job down. I even quit the tiution job. Sigh~

Now being jobless again, i not sure if i made the right choice or being stupid to believe all those things. Still, i can only hope to the sincerity of those people that are really trying to help.

CG Overdrive 2007 Singapore.

The CG Overdrive '07 was being held at The Singapore Expo from 16th to 22nd June, which is Asia's largest yearly computer graphic conference showcase and i, luckily able attend this truely world class event... even as a lowly visitor. lol

DAY 1
As i arrived, i was greeted by this big signboard. Guess i was in the right place. Now, where is Hall 9? Soon i able to find my way to the hall enterance. But before i can enter the public exibition, i need to register myself 1st at the booth above. Since i was there early, there are fewer people than i thought.
Yeah, my namepass and by the way, the visitor registration was free. *grin* Now into the exibition :D
Wow~ it looks better than i thought. There are exibition booths from lots of companies and education centers which are dealing in the computer graphic industry like animation or digital illustration.
Check out this car! Awesome paint which was done by Imaginary Friends Studios, which i gonna show later. Btw, not very sure of the car model. Can anyone able to point out for me?


Haha, with sure a beauty, i really couldn't resist the opportunity to take a picture of myself posing with the car( feels like beauty and the beast). Proof that i wuz there. LOL.
The best digital arts that participated in this event were showed here from all over Asia. This year's theme was War & Peace. Wow, seeing these artworks really shows how good that some people can be. Gonna raise my own bar higher.

This was one of the education center's booth, 3Dsense Media School, showcasing their own students' works. Reminded me of my own college's many exibitions.
Some of the gadgets being demo'ed there. Here this lady demonstrated how this motion-capture suit work, controlling a 3d character movements in real time on the monitor screen behind her. Really cute :P
And here, a guy is sitting while the cameras around him capturing his face's shape so that to convert it into a 3d model along with his facial expression. Cool stuffs. But then again these gadgets can be very unaffordable by a small studio.
Aww~ The crew from Square Enix was a no show that day. They only be here on the 2oth and 21st which means i need to get back tommorrow. Oh well.
Here was the Recruitmet Overdrive section, in which i gonna try my luck on getting job in one of the companies here. Hopefully it will bear fruit soon.
The high and mighty Lucasfilm Animation Singapore was also on recruiting drive and my, it really showed a presence here. Some recruitment booths cant just be compared. Too bad, i dun have confident on getting a job with them.. the requirement was quite high.
A cool picture of the imperial star cruiser (or izzit?) on the side of Lucasfilm's booth.
Here showcasing the year event's best animation short films. I wanna capture it with movie clip function of the camera but the end quality is just too bad. Can make out the shape but not the detail. LOL. Cant find any of the movie clips online, yet.
This was the booth i hanged around the most. The studio was the main designer of this year event and their works here show you the reason why. The studio only deal with 2D digital art but then they may be the best in the region. Here's their website.
The bespectacled guy wearing the cap in the middle is Stanley Lau, the co-founder/creative directer of the company. Obviously some of the best artworks are his. He was even kind enough to have a face to face talk and give me some few pointers . Cool.

Too bad i dun have any of these gadgets to change skin on. It will be great otherwise.
In case if you are hungry, there are this in house eatery which are truly international in a sense. A wide range of food like japanese, indian, korean, western and local food.

DAY 2
Back for the second day, and the 1st thing to see was the Square Enix booth. I see some deco set up. Great. Gonna see the crew soon enough.
At the recruitment center, Lucasfilm totally unleash the its force starting with this guy.
Then came the Force himself- Lord Vader, along with his bodyguard stormtroopers. By now, there was a surge of people gather around taking pictures.
And of course, to have their pictures taken with them. How rare is that?!
Me obviously doing what most people will do. Hehe, btw just so you know, some online friends know me by the name Anakin. LOL.
They even bring out their bazooka unit (sorry, i no starwar geek). In mist of all these, the booth also showed us a video of the new 3D animation series Star War: The Clone War which are produced locally. Here's the same trailer i manage to find on the net.
The SE guys finally showed up. They are Takeshi Nozue, co-director of FF7:AC and Sinji Hashimoto (right), the producer.
The guy with the cap is Toyokata Kuroda, supervisor technical director of SE. He responsible for the body setup and clothes simulation of the movie. Sorry for this back shot :P A better pic is coming up below.
Action figures from the movie. Really wan to collect them all :D

These are the picture books from the movie. Obviously they are collectors' items. Not sure the price though.
Most of the time that day i spent listening to career and recruitment talks in this room. Wondered why it called software clinic. Maybe it was also used to present software demo too.
Those who gave the talk were included Stanley from Imaginary Friends Studio...
Yoichi Ataka (left) and Shuzo John Shiota (the president), both of Polygon Pictures Inc, one of the biggest 3DCG production studios in Japan. I also attended recruitment talk by representatives from Lucasfilm Singapore. Too bad theirs was marred by some technical malfunction LOL.There even a booth for those who wanna find info about the event online. But surfing capability was somehow limited.

DAY 3
I'm back for the 3rd time, primarily to attend a career talk by a goverment agency, Contact Singapore on finding an animation job in the country later on 4pm.
To my pleasant suprise, i met a familiar face while i was walking around the place. This is Ka Cheong (is the name rite?) my college senior whom i never meet for 2 years. He and a few others were sponsored by the college (lucky guys) to attend the conference.
Well, since today was their last day in the event, I quickly jumped at the chance to take a picture with them. Cool~ standing rite next to a legend LOL Actually they quite down to earth.
The crew was packing their stuffs for the day. I heard they gonna fly back to Japan later in the evening.
Before they do, the big shots left their signatures on every posters on the booth so they'll be give away to the lucky ones on the final day tomorrow. Too bad i dun plan to be back for the forth time.
Suddenly, there was a mad rush for photos and signatures by the fans. Still, the crew was good enough to spare some time for the fans. I saw tees, packbags and even cigarrete pack were given for siganature LOL
There 's no way i gonna miss a chance like that. Got myself two signed postcards (from the boxset) by the big three.
So in the end, these what i got from the event. Some were brought while others were free :D There were postcards, t-shirt, badges, booklet, stickers, illustration photos and even a wireless optical mouse. And plus a small bottle maple syrup (not pictured). Anyway, i enjoyes the event very much. Hope i can attend again next year :D


And before i go, here's some of the showcased digital illustrations i manage to shot close up. Enjoy :D








There. Till next post. Whew~