Last year, Alex Tan was one of 15 Young Lotus teams along with Augustus Sung, both representing Singapore. Tan is an Art Director at MullenLowe Singpore, while Sung is Senior Copywriter, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore.
 

We asked Alex what it was like to take part in the Young Lotus competition, which is one of the world’s best-known mentoring programs for advertising professionals.
 

He admits he was “really nervous at first” after receiving a brief with just 24 hours to make the deadline!
 

Can you tell us about Singapore's creative scene: how does Singapore inspire you creatively?
 
Singapore is a small country but there are a handful of young and talented creatives who are both hungry and passionate about creativity, so much so that we help one another along the way, which makes the creative scene in Singapore a lot more enjoyable to be in.
 
Singapore is also a multi cultural country, we have people around the world living in this tiny island together in harmony and learning from one another – that itself is an inspiration.
 
 
The 2017 Young Lotus workshop was hosted by Cheil Worldwide. What was the most memorable thing you learned?
 
The most memorable thing I learnt was about the richness of Asian cultures and how we could use that as a form of inspiration in our daily works, putting Asian creatives on a global level. From there, I started paying more attention to our own cultures and roots, embracing what we have and also using them to inspire myself at work.
 

You only had 24 hours to respond to a brief during the Young Lotus competition. What was the toughest part?
 
I think the toughest part was to come out with an idea that both my partner and I could agree to work on, and on top of that it was the first time we worked together as we are both from different agencies.
 

Has being a Young Lotus helped your career or opened any doors?
 
I learnt a lot during this festival and these learnings have definitely helped open up more possibilities to my career in one way or another.
 

Where do you work now & what is your role?
 
This is my 5th year at MullenLowe Singapore and I’m currently the head of the art. I hope to take on a higher role and to win more awards both locally and globally putting Asian works on an international level.
 

Do you have a hero or mentor who inspires you?
 
I looked up to a lot of famous creatives when I was back in school and now I think my lifelong hero would be my parents who never fail to inspire me every day as they grow older.
 


singapore.mullenlowe.com
ogilvy.com