RESUME




Strengths
  • Knowledge of the book selling, publishing and gaming industry
  • Able to work independently or in a team, used to working odd hours
  • Able to meet multiple deadlines effectively in a time-sensitive environment
  • Experience working collaboratively with a team across long distances
  • Hard working, an eagerness to learn anything new, motivated
  • Cheerful and optimistic personality, getting along well with colleagues
  • Passion for good stories, powerful dialogue and strong, multidimensional characters
  • Enjoys working with computers and a wide range of social media

Professional Experiences

Jan 2013 – August 2013: Editor and Game Designer at Infinity Game Studio, Kuala Lumpur
  • Tasked to lead a team of writers in developing game design concepts for the first Malaysian-made Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (MMORPG)
  • Brainstormed  ideas for the mechanics and storyline for the project, entitled Heroes of War
  • As head of Editorial, maintain a constant flow of communication with the programming and design teams on the assets to be incorporated
  • Communicated  the editorial team's feedback on theme music, sound, storyboard artist drawings and 3D models of characters and interior and exterior architecture
  • Wrote and edited storylines, histories of joinable factions, quest lines, world-building elements, company profile, website content and much more

Dec 2012 – Present: Writer and editor for a game development team in Austin, United States
  • Wrote for an Android role-playing game series which first launched in May 2013
  • Create scenes involving the starting quest line, character development, moral choices, party morale, action sequences, high stakes and random events

Nov 2010 – Dec 2012: Freelance Writer, Copywriter, Proofreader, Story Writer
  • Create content that is fact-checked, concise, informative and engaging
  • Produce press releases, advertising copy, articles for print and online publication
  • Edit and proofread content with suggestions designed to inspire solutions, not produce formulaic results
  • Research the latest tech, gaming, social media, publishing and e-book trends
  • Write fiction: short stories, novels, synopsis, story outlines, creative proposals
  • Experience in writing a broad range of genres, from literary fiction and creative non-fiction to speculative fiction (horror, science fiction, urban fantasy, epic fantasy)
  • Create characters, dialogue, random encounters and plot for various interactive media and video games.

Dec 2011 – Aug 2012: Part-time Retail Assistant at George Clothing, ASDA Edinburgh
  • Interacted with customers to help them find the stock they needed, customer service for replacements and refunds, ensure constant tidiness of the shop floor, and moving and processing of new stock. 


Sept 2011 – Nov 2011: Bookseller (Contract) at Blackwell's Bookshop, South Bridge, Edinburgh
  • Customer orders, reservations, shipping of books, ordering of non-stock titles from distributors and publishers, stock transfers, helping with customer enquiries.

Nov 2010 – Aug 2011: Book Volunteer at Barnado's children charity, Edinburgh
  • Processing new book stock, organising books on shelves, working with staff to design window display, carrying of stock from basement storage to shop floor, pricing and tagging, checking out customer purchases at cash register.

April 2000 – July 2009:     News Journalist for The Star
  • Worked for the leading English daily which carries readership of over a million people.
  • Wrote breaking news stories and features on crime, court cases, politics, social issues, interesting personalities, rights of the marginalised orang asli, and much more.
  • Trained in news photography, media law and ethics, business journalism
  • Reviewed manga and anime for The Star's Otakuzone column since 2006.
  • Promoted to Journalist Special Grade in 2009.

1999     Writer for the Unigrafix Advertising Agency at LICT, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Reported on college campus events and wrote articles for the campus magazine.

1998    Freelance copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Agency, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

1995 – 1999    Freelance copywriter for the Promise View Ad Agency, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

1994    Feature writer for The Borneo Post, an East Malaysia-based English daily
  • Interviewed, researched and wrote stories on personalities, town life, businesses and local lifestyle and culture.

Picture
A succulent in Austin, Texas.

Key Achievements
  • _Published short story Bound with Bronze in the She Shifters anthology by Cleis Press (July 2012)
  • Selected as one of five international finalists for the 2011 Apprenticeships in Fiction scheme, a one year mentorship programme established by author and literary consultant Marion Urch with Arts Council England for promising writers.
  • Published a 5,500-word feature entitled Edinburgh's Haunts for Rama: Travel App for Food and History Lovers (Aug 2011). The app had been selected as one of the 10 best new travel apps in 2010 by BBC Travel.
  • Short fiction Hounded published in the Black Static magazine #18 (Sept 2010)  for The Campaign for Real Fear by authors Christopher Fowler and Maura McHugh, a movement founded from the “glaring omission of women in horror” but also celebrates stories with diversity in themes, characters and monsters.
  • Chosen to read novel excerpt at the 2010 Edinburgh Book Festival, for Writing Into The Future: The Best from Scotland’s Creative Writing Courses.
  • Contributing writer of Unilever Foodsolutions Singapore's hospitality book, Excelsior: A Tradition of Excellence by Aura Productions Sdn Bhd (2007).
  • Published A Final Story in Silverfishbooks' Nineteen, a collection of stories by women (2003).
  • Got married.


Skills
Languages - Fluent in spoken and written English (IELTS Band 8), Mandarin Chinese, Malay

Multimedia – Familiarity with twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Google+, wordpress, creating and managing blogs

Software – Windows, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice, PhotoScape, fotostation, Nero, DeepBurner, VLC media player, PAINT.net, yED graph editor


Education
Masters of Arts in Creative Writing. Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland (2010). Class Medal Winner.

Diploma in Business Communications (Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations). Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology (now Limkokwing University), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1998). Outstanding Student Award.

A-Levels (Business Studies, Economics, Law). Stamford College Sabah, East Malaysia, Borneo (1995).