Compositions

Hello, I’m Will Lee, a design lead at a global consultancy in Singapore. As I reached a crossroad in life and work, I thought I should reflect on my experiences and what I have learnt via writing. While I will be doing this primarily for myself, I plan to share my thoughts and ideas with the world and maybe start some meaningful conversations along the way.

Thinking about writing reminded me when I was in school some 30 years ago. We were taught creative writing for our English O Levels composition. From what I can recall, the minimum word count for the composition was 300. I was a lazy student so I have always diligently kept to the minimum. I love the irony. lol.

Having studied in a public school in Singapore, naturally I took the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-Level) examination. So, to see if I remember correctly, I checked the Cambridge website and the syllabus states that “candidates writes about 350–450 words.” It also provided some guidelines which I don’t recall my teacher telling us from my school days. Guidelines such as “articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined” and “organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect.” I guess my memory now is as bad as I was 30 years ago.

If it is not evident enough, I didn’t do amazingly well in school. However, I did enjoy writing compositions as it was something I could be creative with. Coincidentally, the word composition also speaks to me as I use it creatively in work and play — Design, photography, drawing. So, while thinking about what to call my series of writing, I thought it is very apt to call my series Compositions. 

I know, right? Word play. I surprise myself sometimes. 

Anyway, I like the idea of having some sort of a framework to work with. So then, this is what I am going to do going forth: Write every reflection or idea like a 350-word composition. Here’s to a being lazy student again.