My passion in cybersecurity sparked from watching the television series Mr. Robot, which followed a cybersecurity engineer who was also a vigilante hacker by night. I was fascinated by Mr. Robot’s technical (and psychological) accuracy in every hacking scene, down to the social engineering techniques and the tools used. This gave me a deeper appreciation for cybersecurity and jumpstarted my journey in the cybersecurity world. As a diligent and self-motivated learner, my passion in cybersecurity had not only led me to pick up coding skills, but also to attend several technical courses to build my skills in cybersecurity, all before officially pursuing my honours degree.
Outside of my studies, I love to spend my time out at sea. In fact, I started sailing when I was 8, and fell in love with the sport ever since. I believe that my sailing hobby reflects my adventurous and “willing-to-try-new-things” attitude. Even though I have retired from competitive sailing for over 6 years now, I am still pushing myself to explore new variants of sailing. In fact, I am currently training to be proficient in kitesurfing and windsurfing, both being thrill-seeking sports. This attitude also shows in the work that I do, where I tend to try unconventional means in presentation, products, or method, so as to stand out from the rest.
I was recruited into the Singapore’s Optimist National Sailing Team at an early age of 11 till 15. Rigorous and strict trainings to perform at international standards taught me discipline, independence, and perseverance - life lessons that I hold close to myself carry with myself until today. I always strive to produce the best work in everything that I do and will never quit until I reach that standard for myself.
However, I have to admit that this overzealous attitude has often blinded me to my own capacities. In my previous internship, I was unable to effectively maintain a healthy work-life balance, which resulted in me burning out early in the internship. Fortunately, I learnt how to proactively section out my time, and deliberately allocating time to self-care activities such as my sailing hobbies, binging a TV series, or even just sleeping. Nevertheless, this is an active work in progress, and being more aware has reminded me to prioritise my mental health.
On top of my degree, I am also undertaking the University Scholars Programme, which is a multidisciplinary academic programme that allows me to make cross-discipline connections beyond computing. I often pride myself in being able to see things from different perspectives and give a holistic response that considers all points of view. With that, I am able to appreciate the different threads in life that may seem irrelevant but play a significant role in technology. Such topics that I have explored include philosophy, psychology, data presentation, self-help techniques, and religion.