0030 - Dezhang

Interviewer's Note: I don't know Dezhang very well. The only way I can form any impression of him is by the tweets he's written so far. The only thing we have in common (I think) is our obsession with technology and concern about atheism. Oh, and I think he's a super workaholic.

Luo Dezhang / 25 / Singapore / Programmer in a startup company who wants to make people smile / dezhang.sg/me / @dezhang

What do you live for?

I live to have a happy, productive life. For the people around me to be happy, and hopefully, to make people's lives easier and more fun through the skills I know. (I'm a programmer btw)

Why?

I have great fascination in technology and how it can help enhance peoples' way of life. My training is in design and programming, so I hope to combine these things I know and build software/apps that make people smile and think "I didn't know it was possible to do it this way". I'm the sort who surfs the web very often looking out for new tech; seeing someone do things less efficiently when there's a better solution out there just makes me unhappy. And because Singapore is not a place that embraces new stuff very quickly, I experience this sort of "unhappiness" very often, and so, I want to do something about it.

What is some of the best advice that you have been given/want to give our readers?

I have this thing from Calvin Coolidge (29th Vice President and 30th President of the US) that I always look at:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Something random you'd like to say?

Watch this (http://youtu.be/iKHTawgyKWQ), and do what it takes to go after your passions and dreams, if you want it badly enough, you'll find a way.