Your Singapore Experience - Follow the Winners

Simon Smith
Australia

Meet Simon Smith

Mr Simon Smith resides in the sunshine state of Queensland, Australia. Recently married to his wife Lisa Marie, this unique Singapore experience is the couple’s third visit to Singapore! As the adage goes -- third time’s a charm, and the same holds true for Simon and his wife Lisa, whose previous visits to Singapore were short stopovers. Their latest visit to Singapore is their first extended stay in the Lion City and allowed them to experience in refreshing, unique ways.

View Simon’s winning entry here.

What was Simon’s Singapore Experience like?

“People from outside Singapore know it as a sort of centre for high-tech industries but according to what we have experienced here, it’s really good to see the arts and culture side of Singapore coming through and that is really important as it provides a great balance to life here.”

“We also thought of Singapore as a place where everything is ordered and everybody just follows the law but we were pleasantly surprised to find that despite this, there is a really creative side to Singapore and it gives us a different perspective of how we view Singaporeans. We were lucky to have an opportunity to visit the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) Secondary School and it was fascinating to see how creativity is encouraged among young students. You can feel that it’s really going to be a real promising future for Singapore”.

Watch highlights of Simon's visit

Simon's visit

It’s interesting that although Simon is an engineer by profession, he chose an arts and cultural experience for his trip to Singapore. An avid photographer himself, his keen interest in arts and culture was apparent when he met with a prominent personality from the creativity industry, Mr Ken Koo, President of the acclaimed Red Dot Singapore.

Simon and Lisa engaged Ken in a keen discussion about the creative industry in Singapore, and the role that Red Dot plays in this. The couple was particularly impressed with the innovative designs featured at the Red Dot Design awards, especially the environmental focus evident in the designs. At the end of their meeting, the couple was each presented with the “Red Dot Awards 2007” coffee table book.

Ken also hosted them on a brief tour around the Red Dot Traffic Building, a heritage building which has been converted into a bustling office venue for the creative industries. They were given the rare opportunity to explore the recording studios and training facilities of local record label, Ocean Butterflies, and saw up-close and personal how the Singapore music label grooms local talents.

To deepen their experience of the local arts scene, the couple was also watched a local movie at Sinema. Sinema is part of the Old School establishment on Mount Sophia, the newest and ultra-hip hotspot for Singapore’s creative arts community. Before the movie, Simon and Lisa were given an insight to Sinema, the Old School and the history behind the place. The couple also visited two art and photography galleries at the Old School.

For more of Simon’s and Lisa’s experience in Singapore, see the photographs and video of their visit.

Simon and Lisa touring the Red Dot Traffic Building with Ken Koo, President of Red Dot Singapore. Ken provided the Australian newly-weds with an overview of Singapore’s creative industries as they toured this heritage building which houses mainly offices from the creative industry.

Photo Gallery

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All images and videos were taken during the winner's trip to Singapore