Mei Lian has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in design, having worked commercially as a graphic designer and an illustrator for greeting cards for many years. She was commissioned in 1994 by SAFTI Military Corporation (Singapore) through Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects (MGT) to design two series of banners for the new SAFTI army barracks in Jurong, Singapore. She is also the recipient of the Best Illustration Major Folio Award in the 1995 Degree Show.
Reflecting on Jack Trout’s ‘Differentiate or Die: Survival in our Era of Killer Competition’ (2000), Mei Lian is intrigued to delve into the branding of design education in Singapore. Like any business that is constantly in a state of reconstitution and responding to the needs of a diverse array of clients, there is a need to diversify, respond, and redevelop practices and products. Likewise, in education, there is a great deal to learn from this discourse and remain true to learners and the diverse range of youth within our communities. Mei Lian sees herself embarking on research projects to understand learners’ pattern and to help more students realise their potential. Her research interests focus on areas such as: Do educators view their learners as partners? / Do the learners view us as dictators rather than partners whom they collaborate with? / Do we understand our learners as well as we thought? / Do we reflect on the pedagogies that we have been using and hence question about the relevance of our teaching methodologies? / Are we still preparing the youth of today for a knowledge-based economy with the relevant thinking skills?