Article
Who are pushing the digital envelope in Singapore?
Our daily lives are strongly influenced by the digital products that originate from Silicon Valley. We start our mornings on Facebook, plan our route on Google Maps and share our happiness or dissatisfaction on Twitter via our Apple or Android devices. Yet, how many of us know the new disruptors who are living and working in other creative hot spots around the globe?
Singapore’s future as a globally recognized creative hot spot looks promising, according to creative leaders from across the industry, but it needs to better celebrate its local talent, nurture it and create a more supportive community. Therefore we chose Singapore to pick the brains of people from the programming, design and startup communities, aiming to inspire a new generation of digital makers. We lovingly call them: Bytepushers.
Bytepusher #1
Yah-Leng Yu
Creative Director | Foreign Policy Design Group
Yah-Leng Yu is a prominent Singaporean designer, idea maker and problem solver. After spending a significant amount of time overseas working in fashion and design consulting, she returned to Singapore about a decade ago alongside her husband and co-conspirator, Arthur Chin. Together, they founded Foreign Policy Design Group, an influential design studio which radiates strong impulses for the local design scene and beyond. They do branding, interiors and craft experiences—all without forgetting to tell a story along the way.
With this ongoing interview series, we introduce people who push the digital envelope. We are not only interested in well-established creatives but also in underdogs who have just started out. We interview makers who shape the products and services of tomorrow and learn more about how and why they do what they do. We ask simple questions so that industry outsiders get an opportunity to peek into a world that often feels inaccessible because of its (mostly unintentional) gobbledygook. Our audience is everyone: from industry professionals to kids who are interested in startups, coding and design. We hope they can all benefit from these interviews.
Bytepusher #2
Sau Sheong Chang
Managing Director | SP Digital
Sau Sheong Chang is lovingly called the ‘codefather’ by friends and industry colleagues. No mob connections here of course. It’s more like a respectful wink towards an accomplished tech veteran who has probably been tinkering with code since the days when Bill Gates made his first billion. Today, Sau Sheong works as managing director for SP Digital, the digital division of the government-linked utilities company that runs the power and gas supply throughout Singapore.
Edenspiekermann worked closely together with Ed Wassermann who came up with the original idea to document the Bytepushers in Singapore. He makes photographs, writes coding tutorials and courses, and makes audio podcasts with designers and coders from around the globe.
We’re working on a website which will feature all the Bytepusher videos and photos.