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Michael is a firm believer that cultivating an been a year's worth of work, and no matter how it
“Now stronger, dazzling brighter than
ever.” Recalling a “golden” (literally “Kintsugi” best of him, but was grateful for all the roadblocks
themed) era, we invited one of the most amazing
and now-graduated editors, Michael Ng, for an
interview regarding his past experiences with the
magazine publication in 2020, and to get his take
on the 2022 magazine's theme, "Voices".
“When I went back the other day, the school felt
so familiarly unfamiliar. Guess it's just a part of
growing older.” As a newly graduated student,
Michael found himself missing the friends
and teachers he had had to part with. Even so,
Michael's presence still lingers as the type of senior
who always tried his best and would eventually
succeed at whatever he put his mind to. He was
active in co-curricular activities and excelled
in writing, which was particularly apparent in
his work for the school magazine and articles.
He especially cherished the fun collaborative
experiences and skills he learned when directing
the production of the magazine.
However, as a student with various tasks
to juggle, Michael did find it challenging to
manage his school life while keeping cool with the
publications. He found his own ego getting in the
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Michael Ng
Golden Figures:
A Talk With One of the
Magazine's Finest
way at times and wished he did not let it get the
he faced regardless.
“Be creative, do what you want to do, but also
just be patient and trust the process, don't try to
force or rush things excessively. Trust your team,
ask for help when you need it and tap out if you
can't handle it. Your wellbeing comes first.” Take
it straight from an ex-editor to the future teams.
Michael explained that working while stressed can
make people resent their work, advising future
editorial members to take it easy at times.
Meanwhile on the topic of the recent
online magazine distribution, Michael thought
it to be fairly convenient and customizable albeit
having been opposed to it at first, especially since
online magazines can be shared and distributed
with ease.
Besides the shift in magazine publication
method, freedom of artistic expression within
school writers is another controversial topic. “I
think that high school is the phase in life where
we're all just figuring things out, so we're bound to
have weird, tacky, or just plain cringy ideas.”
environment free from judgement and scrutiny turns out, I hope you're proud of your efforts. ”
provides freedom for writers to express themselves With that said, we would like to thank Michael for
the insightful interview and we wish him all the best
and have their ideas be openly discussed.
With “Voices'' being the theme of our in his future endeavours!
magazine, we asked Michael to provide his take
on marginalised voices of our school. As more of
us grow accustomed to the system we are placed
under, Michael thought that the reason why
most of us trivialise our struggle is not because of
tangible barricades, but because the internalised
systems within that are fuelled by shame. Michael
encouraged students to utilise the comment board
on the school website to let their voices be heard.
By fostering an open-minded teaching system and
encouraging students to speak up, Michael further
elaborated on ways to tackle the said issue.
There is more in life than exams and
grades, high school students nowadays are
constantly facing unprecedented challenges. At
this stage of life, Michael thought that finding
yourself is of utmost importance. Finding your
own niches and searching for your tribe are small
steps towards self-realisation.
Once entrapped in a constant cycle of
tough school syllabus, co-curricular activities,
high expectations and interpersonal ties, there is
no denying that Michael knows a thing or two
when it comes to mental health problems. Michael
advised students to have a strong support system
and ask for help whenever life feels suffocating.
Never be shy to ask for help whenever one needs
it.
To wrap up our interview, we asked
Michael for his final words for our writers. “It's Photo by Ooi Le Qi
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