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With his megawatt smile and bone-crunching handshake, Syed Shameer Shah looks more like a zen warrior than a design student who’s won the top prize in the 2007 crowbar awards - an international awards event aimed at launching and introducing young talents to the advertising and media industry. Chatting at his home, we soon find out the reason behind Shameer’s buff build - he’s an ex-national silat (a form of martial arts) exponent and his uncle is none other than Sheik Alau’ddin Singapore’s famous silat world champion!

“My uncle’s the one who pushed me to get into Silat, actually. At one time, I did think that this was something I could be good in... but then I injured my knee, so I’ve laid off sports ever since…” Shameer reveals.

Silat’s loss, however, is design’s gain. After injuring himself shortly before his O levels, Shameer turned his attention back to his first passion in life – art. “Actually, when I was in primary school, I thought I would be a fireman!” Shameer chuckled. “In secondary school, I hated everything but art and craft. I didn’t do my maths homework or anything like that.” giggled Shameer as he recalled his naughty days in school.

“I began drawing portraits of my friends as birthday presents in Sec 3. Then they started asking me if I could design name cards and stuff. Later, I learnt that Temasek Polytechnic had a design course and that there were excellent career opportunities.
So I enrolled in TP.”

Now a graduate in Visual Communication at TP, Shameer shares with us how he found the confidence to pursue his dream of a career in design and art. “I was actually not competitive in primary and secondary school, but in Temasek Design School, it felt like my arena. I had friends who were also competitive and we helped each other reach the top. That’s how I got good grades - thru healthy competition in school.”

In his final year at TP, Shameer took a bold step towards fulfilling his dreams when he produced State, a magazine of caricatures on world figures. “I wanted to help increase awareness of international issues among teenagers. State is very pictorial based – filled with funny caricatures to engage the readers. Hopefully, they’ll see something funny they’re really into and Google it further on the net.”

Submitted for the 2007 Crowbar Awards, State won Shameer Gold Awards for Illustration and Editorial Design, the Best of Category, and the coveted Best of Show award. His mature work also led to job offers from numerous advertising and design agencies.

Now serving his National Service with the Singapore Police Force, Shameer has big plans for his future. “I intend to pick up a third language - possibly Italian. I want to stay in Italy for a while, study there, work abroad, then maybe come back to Singapore. Who knows, I might even do a film next time.” Shameer added as he flashed yet another megawatt smile. Looking at his illustrations in his room, we can only imagine what a Shameer film will look like. Cool.