Young and fearless

Text: Lester Hio

You may have seen them in the news – a trailblazing mala hotpot restaurateur, Singapore’s first Emmy winner for outstanding directing, a filmmaker making waves internationally, and a mountaineer conquering the world’s highest peaks.

But behind heady success lies hard work and learning, each small step building on the last.

Filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang, for instance, shot eight short films before his feature film directorial debut, Mongrel, won him Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards 2024.

School of Art, Design & Media graduate Samantha Lee started off as a lead story artist with local firm One Animation before relocating to the United States to work at DreamWorks, Netflix and Disney Television Animation.

For her work on Disney’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Samantha won a Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for an Animated Series.

Vincere Zeng climbed her first mountain on a whim after graduating from the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences in 2015. In rapid succession over the past decade, she has climbed eight of the world’s tallest 14 peaks, successfully summiting six of them.

Meanwhile, restaurant owner Lee Ray Sheng started selling bee hoon from his dorm kitchen as an undergraduate, and now runs one of Singapore’s hottest chains, A Hot Hideout, with nine outlets across the island.

While their accomplishments have gained them recognition, these young alumni say they are just getting started.

Learning never stops

All four alumni agree that their learning has continued well after graduation.

After graduating from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information in 2013, Wei Liang wanted to become a journalist, but that ambition changed after he enrolled in an image and sound production course that sparked his love for filmmaking.

He moved to Taiwan, where he pursued a master’s degree in film directing at the Taipei National University of the Arts and received mentorship from acclaimed Taiwanese film director Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Wei Liang’s films have been recognised over the years at major film festivals in Berlin, Kaohsiung and Cannes.

Mongrel, released in 2024, is about an undocumented Thai worker who becomes a caregiver to a sick elderly woman and her son in the mountains of Taiwan. The film was nominated for six other awards at the 61st Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. It also picked up the Caméra d’Or Special Mention at Cannes.

Wei Liang’s foray into full-length feature filmmaking was a step into a new and fresh direction to reinvent himself.

He says: “If you ask me to make a short film, I can easily whip something up quickly. But I just directed my first movie as a feature filmmaker. I'm a beginner in that sense. I’m always learning, because there’s so much to the craft.”

Wei Liang credits the Golden Horse Award to his wider network. He says: “I think this means more for the people who supported me – my parents, my teachers and mentors at NTU and beyond. May my award serve as inspiration for future generations of filmmakers.”

Samantha, too, acknowledges her network of support that inspired and motivated her throughout her career. She sees her Emmy win as something meaningful to fellow Singaporean creatives: “We have what it takes and with the right opportunities, we can do anything.”

Photo: Children's & Family Emmy Awards

After more than a decade in the industry, the 2010 graduate is now breaking barriers in Hollywood as a story artist for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse at Sony Pictures Animation. She says her journey has shown her that finding one’s life mission is the key to a meaningful career.

“Find out what you want to do while you're on this planet and be open to the fact that there are many ways to do that. There will be joy in your purpose-driven path, no matter what shape it might take,” she says.

No final destination

The first Singaporean and Southeast Asian woman to summit six 8,000m peaks, Vincere also holds the distinction of being the first from the region to conquer K2 – the world’s second highest peak nicknamed “savage mountain” – along with Lhotse, Makalu and Manaslu. Her other achievements include being the first Singaporean to summit Annapurna, one of the deadliest mountains in the world, and three other 8,000m peaks within a single year.

Vincere has successfully conquered six of the world’s tallest peaks and is on a mission to climb more.

Despite these accolades, Vincere says she still has much to explore and learn as a mountaineer. “Exploration is the process – I don’t believe in a final destination. There is no end goal when you’re always pushing towards new boundaries,” she says.

Her many climbs around the world have instilled a zen-like approach, not only to mountaineering but to life itself.

“When your oxygen level drops to 30%, you enter an ultra-focused zone – the only thing that matters is to breathe, and to take the next step forward. I carry this mountaineer mindset of being aware, calm and resilient into every part of life,” she says.

The transformation programme manager at IT firm SAP says she enjoys giving back to the community. She hopes to share the lessons she has learnt on the peaks, and to help foster national spirit and representation.

She says: “The mountains teach me that humanity has no limits. There is unlimited potential. What I strive to do is always see how far we can go – how much we can push our potential. I hope to show that even from sea level, we can excel at the world’s highest altitudes and continue carrying the flag of our little red dot to other peaks around the world.”

Keep building and creating

Restaurateur Ray Sheng says he found success with his mala hotpot chain by sticking to the basics: having a great product, strong systems and a clear brand experience.

“We have been very intentional about how we grow,” he says.

He co-founded A Hot Hideout with his buddies from Hall 12, Ye Anran and Zechary Hoe, when they were second-year undergraduates. Their first outlet at NTU’s North Hill halls quickly drew long queues, and since then, they have expanded to several locations across Singapore, including Orchard Road, Bugis and Paya Lebar.

Their computer science background has been handy in the restaurant’s expansion. “We use a lot of technology behind the scenes. From detailed data analytics to process automation, we try to let technology do the heavy lifting so that our people can focus on delivering the culinary and customer experience,” says Ray Sheng, who graduated in 2023.

From starting as a simple idea in an NTU hall pantry to growing into a local favourite, his journey has come full circle with the Nanyang Alumni Award.

“To be recognised by the same community that shaped so much of who I am feels incredibly special,” says Ray Sheng.

“As you build, stay true to your purpose. Whether it’s a business, a project or a career, make sure it matters to you and to the people you serve. When your work has meaning, every challenge becomes worthwhile,” he says.

 

This article first appeared in issue 7 of U, the NTU alumni magazine.