The challenges and obstacles in life that one faces always drives them for greater strength & perseverance. Sometimes, scarcity or disadvantages compared to the norm has led to some sort of education for them to burn the inner desire to succeed. It all depends on what you see in it and how you perceive it. Many things that I've gone through in the past, the trials & tribulations, has thought me the meaning of life, the faith that we have in ourselves, the strenght that lies within, the importance of knowing who we are, and the purpose of living.

I always admire successful people who learn & who leave no room to comprehend the meaning of despair, especially those who are a whole lot more unfortunate than we are. I love to observe how these people struggled, survived, & how tough and difficult it was for them back then, barely making ends meet, working day & night, still surviving, with responsibilities and commitment towards their family & others. But with perpetual determination, believe & faith in themselves, they succeed. And success to me is not just a matter of having financial freedom, good wealth and so on, but it's about how we balance our wheel of life, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially.

Everyone is special. We have talents as well as special abilities. But it's just a matter of whether we realize it or yet to realized. Some are blessed with plenty of talents, and some may not. But we must always remember that each of us will have something that we can do well. It all depends on the believe, the effort, initiative as well as passion that we have in ourselves.

For me personally, I have always wanted to achieve my level best in life. Be able to expand the opportunities and effort to greater heights. I do realized that there is so little effort that I give in to achieve the big dream and it is indeed insufficient especially to balance these dreams & goals, parallel with one another. But my journey doesn't stops here. There are alot of things in life that needs to be gained & learnt, for life is so short, a journey towards the afterlife, a place where not anyone of us have encountered or have seen it in existence. Thus, define our purpose of life, what we want & how to get it, for life is a choice you can live with.

Me Inc. - Early History

It all started back in 2000, when I joined APIIT (Asia Pacific Institute of IT) for a Diploma in Computing & IT in Damansara Heights. I was in lower six (STPM) in science stream the year before, planning to pursue a career in engineering. I was quite a computer illiterate at that time, and rather confused about what I want and what I like, but I gradually start to recognized my passion and interest towards computers when I was assisting my brother with his cyber cafe/computer shop, getting myself involved more on the technical side. That's the time when my career objective has diverted. My enthusiasm towards computers grew and I begin to acquire a taste for it. These experience has led me to pursue an IT-related course, with a goal to expand the business my brother had involved in.

During the learning curve, I exposed to alot of areas in computing, from programming, system analysis and design, networking, operating systems, database administration, and multimedia. Many things I gained and learnt on each and every project given. During this exposure, I started to build my interest in multimedia more than anything else. Finally after graduation in mid 2001, I decided to take a short design course in Informatics, Phileo Damansara. From there, I started experimenting and be more involved in design, particularly in web and multimedia.

Instead of furthering my studies to a higher ground as time goes, I decided to take up another diploma course in Multimedia. And that's when I joined ALIF College, PJ.

Without realizing, I have actually shifted my interest, be more on the art side. I tend to favor my right-brain modes of thinking, more than the left ones. And that has led to a decision of changing from multimedia to a graphic design course after the first two terms. I realized the importance of strong concept in design, a backbone of great ideas, that leads to a highly-impact visual communications and hence, I've chosen graphic to feed me with the knowledge required. This is where I learn more on the manual side of design, involving subjects like point of sale, illustration, photography, visual culture and professional practice, to name a few.

However, it doesn't seem to me that it's better than a course in multimedia, since both areas has its own significant specialties, and many things in common. To me, since I've taken IT previously, it has some similarities, focusing more on the computer side, hardware-related subjects, software skillsets, and all of these provides knowledge necessary to come up with works like corporate videos, websites, animation, splash intros, rich media as well as interactive cd, which some of it are indeed what I am involved in currently, working at MIR. Imagine, shifting course from multimedia to graphic design has now ended me working in multimedia related field. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I've learnt plenty, and I'm very grateful for the knowledge I acquired when I was at ALIF after a hard times and major setback I faced during those days.

The Project - Quaintlab

Quaintlab is my personal project site, a design lounge/ collective, consists of my web portfolio, experimental arty pieces, mock ups, blog, etc. Here is where I express myself, through designs, writings, and a platform to inspire myself and others. I work with images, colours, shapes and layouts most of the time, striving to survive and advance in this highly competitive market, extracting the creative juices to serve the clients needs. However, there are still alot of things that needs to be catched up, and the effort made will be presented in this site. I believe in sharing my knowledge, whatever that I've gained, and things that I'll learn. Here is a platform for my visual expressions & thoughts. A starting point of new communications and sharing of design creativities & skills to broaden the knowledge & perspective in the culture of design. So feel free to browse through the site. More things will be updated soon!