I’m going to start thing month’s entry by honoring a unique group of people. Seeing as it’s a month before our third anniversary, I thought I’d take the time to single out my team that work quietly and usually almost invisibly to ensure the students, my teachers and I are able to work together and that workshops are filled.

Ranice Tay, Faith Chua, Meera Nair, Danial Farhan, Gabriele Goh, Loh An Lin, Elisabeth G.

A big thank you to each of you. HCAC is that much more of a family because of you.

To the large majority of the readers of my regular series of articles, these names will probably make no sense to you. To me, these names are what helps me keep HCAC ticking. For whatever it’s worth, both HCAC and I reap the benefits of all the PR; all this would only be possible with the strong team that I have around me. From me to you, thank you, thank you, thank you. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that you feel that what I’m trying to build is worth your time and your effort to build too. In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be adding even more faces to my team and I look forward to introducing them to you.

So the 2nd semester just ended and here are a few photos of the groups that just finished with me.

Photo credits (above): Jasbir John Singh

As you can see, we attract people of all ages, races, creeds and backgrounds. Each has a story to tell. Of late, I am perhaps concretizing my mission: “Nurturing people to free their talent to tell their story better.” So, do you have an artistic vision for yourself? If so, what is it?

Speaking of vision, a big thanks to the visionary that is Nicholas Chee for have such fervent belief in independent cinema in Singapore and nurturing filmmakers here. His efforts have culminated in the 48 Hour Film Project, for which I have been on the jury panel on several occasions as well as a prize sponsor, and the National Youth Film Awards, for which HCAC will be a prize sponsor this year. His ability and sheer will to gather and inspire young filmmakers to get up, get out and get on with creating is one that I admire. Kudos to him for creating these platforms.

You must be wondering, all that vision and gratitude in this post, where is it all leading? Well, it’s all geared towards the concept of will and resilience. To be an artist means you are in the artistic and professional business of overcoming obstacles, stress and other threats. In such instances, do you succumb or do you surmount?

My team members have helped me will HCAC into existence and onto the brink of its 3rd anniversary – coincidentally, on June 3rd 2016. I have had to be resilient enough to know that creating my own school would, should and must happen. (You’ve probably heard how I harbored a dream for 27 years to create it, and now I stand smack in the middle of a brick and mortar version of my childhood dream.)

To the artists in Singapore and the people who believe in the artists, like Nicholas Chee, I salute you and thank you for the courage of your convictions. To the people around the world who dedicate their lives to telling stories or to the people who have an innate desire to tell a story in spite of overwhelming obstacles, in the word of Mr. John Keating, literature teacher extraordinaire, I say you, “Carpe Diem! Make your lives extraordinary.”

Actor’s Calling is a series of articles written personally by Kamil Haque, founder of the Haque Centre for Acting & Creativity. In this series, Kamil hopes to share his personal journey. He explores his vision for the school, growth as an actor and experiences as a teacher. The series also seeks to dispel some of the common misunderstandings about Actors and Method Acting.