Charlie Lim — Singer-songwriter and Producer
Charlie is wearing the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere in stainless steel with matching bracelet and Montblanc MB 01 Over-Ear Headphones
Describe your profession. I’m a singer-songwriter and producer and I’ve been doing this for longer than I can remember. It’s very intense, I get very emotionally involved in everything I do and it’s a lifestyle that you have to pour yourself into. What is a typical day like for you as a music artiste? It varies from day to day, there’s no strict routine. I’m not just the performer or songwriter but also the producer and sometimes I produce for others. What motivates you both as an individual and a music artiste? I’m very inspired by the people I work with. Everything that I write is almost biographical I suppose and reflecting on past experiences. One of Montblanc’s strengths lies in writing instruments. Are you a pen and paper person? Yes, I’m the notebook guy. With technology these days, we have voice memos and all but for my process, writing with pen and paper, doing drafts and rewriting over and over again helps with my process.
How do you define creativity and how is it applied in your profession? Creativity is a mixture of being spontaneous but also being diligent. You can be inspired, have ideas and capturing them quickly is important but I think the real work only starts in the editing process. Which is the most challenging aspect of your work to apply creativity? I think the industry aspect can be difficult because there are many things you can’t control whereas the creative process is just yourself and what you think is good. But at the same time, I am quite a harsh self-critic. I’m always challenging myself and that I’m wary, that I don’t want to self-censor too much. Your works are made for people to appreciate and even enjoy. What sort of influence do you hope your music has on people? If it’s cathartic for me, hopefully, it applies to them as well. So far I’ve gotten positive feedback about that and so that’s quite a relief. What are your biggest sources of inspiration? I’m quite an overthinker which is a bit of a double-edged sword. So just reflecting on life, in general, gets me inspired.
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Montblanc 1858 Geosphere in stainless steel with matching bracelet
Montblanc’s Mark Makers create their definition of success. What do you think are values that make a Mark Maker Being obsessive with your craft, not worrying about external factors and having a lot of grit. What does success mean to you? The older I get the less ambition makes me happy. So I think success is being able to stay balanced amid chaos, and being able to ride through storms. And also being able to work with people that I respect, I think that’s important. How do you measure success and has it changed with time? I think success is always the moving goal post and chasing relevance is very dangerous. I think a lot of good or the best things in life can’t be quantified anyway. Being able to give back is very important, but that I don’t think can be measured as well in terms of percentages, likes or numbers.
Montblanc’s current campaign is “What moves you, makes you” — what is your interpretation of this statement? What helps you get out of bed in the morning or what can change your mindset or headspace in an instant. For me, music still does that to this day which I am very grateful for whether as a creator or listener or someone who appreciates it.
“With the current fast changing shifts we see happening around us, it has never been as important to follow your passion to express your full inner potential, and become a Mark Maker. Being a Mark Maker is no longer just measured on a professional business success scale, but includes the meaningful and enriching journey to get there,” explains Matthieu Dupont, Montblanc South East Asia & Oceania President.
Khairudin Saharom — Architect
Khairudin is wearing the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere in stainless steel with matching bracelet and using the Montblanc Meisterstück Around The World in 80 Days Rollerball
Describe your profession. I am an architect. To me, Architecture is a selfless profession that deals with aspects of humanity; it balances the arts and sciences and makes you weigh the subjectivity and objectivity of things. What motivates you both as an individual and an architect? Seeing what I draw in two-dimension and materialising as a three-dimensional object or space where people live, work or play gives me that high in my line of work. One of Montblanc’s strengths lies in writing instruments. Are you a pen and paper person? I have a sketchbook that I bring along wherever I go. It gives me a very tangible connection, that essence of humanity, which I feel is very important in all of our work. It’s so important to start with the pen and paper before moving on to drafting ideas on software. Architecture needs that human touch even if it integrates massive amounts of technology and it’s so essential that it has to come right from the start.
How do you define creativity and how is it applied in your profession? Creativity is bringing that human touch into architecture, it’s about how that space touches your soul. No amount of technology or 3D software will be able to tell or dictate how you do it. It stems from the architect and how he envisions and moulds it. What are your sources of inspiration? Nature. I’m inspired by how the wind moves in a particular space and how natural light affects it. The subtleties of nature are very underrated. Which is the most challenging aspect of your work to apply creativity? It’s managing expectations because everyone’s perspective of beauty and form is different. The simplest of forms are the hardest to convince and sometimes a single line tells more stories than multiple lines. Your works are made for people to appreciate and even enjoy. What sort of influence do you hope they have on people? I hope the work we do will touch the soul, just like how I appreciate the spaces that touched my soul, one of them is the Chichu Art Museum by Tadao Ando. Architecture is about feeling that space and liberating yourself while you’re in it.
Montblanc’s Mark Makers create their definition of success. What do you think are values that make a Mark Maker Passionate and courageous. The Internet and social media are making us think in certain ways and these Mark Markers allow us to see another perspective and that’s what we creatives need to do and what creativity is about. It ties back to humanity, to celebrate who you are and what you’re about and that’s exactly what the Mark Makers are portraying and encouraging. What does success mean to you? On a micro level, it’s being content with what I have, clearing my daily to-do list and having a restful sleep for the next day. On a macro level, it’s to ensure the journey I am on to pursue architecture and to be on that path itself is a feeling of success. I appreciate the journey more than the destination. How do you measure success and has it changed with time? It was superficial when I was younger. Now, success is seeing the joy that clients get out of my work and exceeding their expectations when ideas can be so intangible at the very start.
Montblanc’s current campaign is “What moves you, makes you” — what is your interpretation of this statement? It’s asking yourself what you are passionate about, what you’re about, what drives you to wake up with an extra spring in your step every day and what motivates you to go that extra mile in your line of work even when you don’t expect any form of incentive.
Photography Jeff Chang
Art Direction Wilson Lim
Styling Wilson Lim
Grooming & Hair Priscelia Wong
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