Some dude once said youth in Singapore lack idealism. Guess it’s safe to say that he doesn’t know about the SHINE x *SCAPE Talent Development Programme (TDP).

Part of SHINE Festival which happened last weekend, the programme connects a group of young, energetic people brimming with dreams to a bunch of industry old heads, giving the young a chance to actually work towards their dreams and the experienced ones a chance to nurture the industry.

Alright, let’s cut to the chase: here are the stories of five aspiring young ladies.

Chen Kit May, Alexis, 18, Student

Area of interest: Dance

“I’ve always been enticed by break dancing and I never dared to give it a shot until I joined Ngee Ann Poly. From then, no regrets ever since.

Maybe I’m being overly emotionally-attached, but the TDP kick-started my journey in dance so it is very important to me. So far, I definitely feel more comfortable dancing in front of strangers, which is a big step for me considering I’m not super confident of putting myself out there. I also learnt more dynamic moves so I definitely gained more skills.

I hope to pursue a career in the dance scene because I want to contribute to the growth of this industry. I hope that more people out there will become a part of the dance community as the culture and art form itself is truly amazing. The feeling is indescribable so it’s best for people to pursue and experience it for themselves.

‘Do what you love and you will never have to work another day of your life.’

I strongly live by this quote and it is something I aspire towards.”

Amander Liew Zi Qi, 22, Content Manager

Area of interest: Music

“I grew up with music, jazz in particular. So in a way, I always had it in me. I got into this whole industry by chance honestly. About 6 years ago, I started doing covers on YouTube for my friends and some how other people got to watch my videos too, and it pretty much took off from there. It wasn't until about 2 years ago, when I was studying in Australia, that I realised I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.

Coincidentally, my friend sent me the TDP form and said I should give it a shot. I thought, "No harm just filling up the form" so I just went for it.

Work by day and music by night. I'll definitely wanna have an EP out by 2017, and I’ve been working really hard towards achieving that. For now, I have the rest of A S M B L Y (my music group) to help me, and I'm more than grateful. But who knows what the future will hold, really. I’m just taking it a year at a time.

There's nothing I'd love more than inspiring people with my music.”

Lim Joo Hwee, 21, student

Area of interest: Pop Culture

“I've never had the courage to say this, but I really hope that one day I can be a filmmaker. Even if I don’t, I just hope I'm happy doing whatever I'm doing at 30. The adrenaline I get whenever I’m on set can never be found elsewhere. I think that's what doing something you love feels like.

The best thing about my TDP experience is that there's someone showing us the ropes of filmmaking, especially from the industry's perspective. It's the closest we've ever gotten to learning the technicalities of filmmaking since we're just a bunch of students who have never studied film prior to the programme.

It’s been a really enriching experience learning from Butterworks because they've done many many more films than we ever have, and they taught us many tips and tricks - from storytelling to shooting and even post-production.”

Winnie Yip Xin Wei, 23, artist who is on a gap year before heading to University

Area of interest: Urban Arts

Through the programme, I guess I can say I’ve gained a friendmily (friends akin to family). All of us became really bonded after this whole experience. This is just a start for us and there’s certainly more to come. I’m really grateful to be part of the SHINE Festival TDP organized by the National Youth Council (NYC). It really means a lot to have programmes like these that support youth and emerging artists and designers, and believing in what we do!

Also, the programme is really cool because it’s for YOUTH! I was like: "Heck yeah, totally joining this!”. Anyway, it’s amazing for NYC to continuously believe in and support youths with such enriching programmes!  It’s truly a good platform for us to SHINE.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to contribute back to the local art scene in future! To make my motherland proud, right?”

Nasita Binte Nasrul, 23, Freelance artist and mother of two

Area of interest: Urban Sports (Parkour)

“I was inspired by the movie Brick Mansions featuring the late Paul Walker. And I got the opportunity to meet a friend Derrick Siu who is also the founder of a parkour company called Superfly Monkey Dragons. He got me to try out a basic parkour class with his company and I enjoyed it so much that I even joined him as an assistant coach in the kids class.

My TDP mentor was Ashton from Ashton Movements Agency, and it was definitely an eye-opening experience learning from a professional in this field. He gave me the advice I needed to sustain myself throughout the parkour training and also gave me a chance to learn from his team who are experienced in parkour as well. It was really fun training with them.

From this experience, I not only get to learn more about parkour, I also made new friends in the process. Connecting with people and hearing about their experience makes it a lot easier to adapt to this urban sport.”

Feeling inspired? Catch the “Stage Up” web series and you may want to take part in next year’s TDP! For more details, stay tuned on SHINE Festival Facebook Page.

This post is brought to you by Mothership.sg in collaboration with National Youth Council so that we can help fuel our own dreams too.

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