Celebrating Talent

onvincing dick lee to get into a bathtub with us was more challenging a task than we had imagined. Didn’t he say he was game for anything? Isn’t it normal for pop stars to get attention by behaving out of turn? What do you mean he doesn’t take baths fully clothed? So while we were all excited about our cover concept which was intended to scream “total disruption”, he professed that he was apprehensive and questioned delicately, “How does this relate to my work?” But as it turned out, he very quickly understood our intention of presenting an image of him that concurred with his disruptive work. He gamely changed, carefully climbed into the tub, allowed us to douse him with water, and we were done shooting in just over an hour. There’s hardly anyone in Singapore who doesn’t know Dick. He tells us that he’s also touched by how even primary school students list him as a pop idol over the more obvious choices such as One Direction. This month, he celebrates his 60th birthday and is embracing all the technology and social media around us while continuing to innovate and reinvent himself. He shares how he thinks the cultural heritage of Singapore needs to evolve and be preserved (p.128) As Singapore moves into the next 50 years, the future is in the hands of the next generation of disrupters, innovators and creative talents the likes of Dick. You’ll find with this issue of Singapore Tatler our inaugural Generation T (for Tatler) list, featuring some of the country’s brightest young talents. Some may not have been born into wealth nor had the benefit of mentors, but their ideas and perseverance, and willingness to question the status quo have seen them break new grounds in their industries and do things differently enough to make them icons of their generation. Meanwhile, being born right into the social media age are the children of Tjin Lee, Vihari Sheth, Kazuha Soh, Belinda Huber, Natasha Liok and Dimple Aswani. These tots may be too young to know what paths they want to take in life, but that hasn’t stopped them from running the lives and schedules of their parents and families with their strong personalities. This month, Tatler is pleased to present a cheeky spread of the future of society (p.134). When National Day comes around, we’ll be watching the parade, waiting for prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally, and getting ready for our first-ever Gen T party (by invite only, I’m afraid). As we celebrate Singapore, we salute the talents featured in this issue. Happy National Day!

— Jane Ngiam Editor-in-chief