Interview with Faye Yong

Mangaka.co.uk: If I were an animal, I would be a...

Faye Yong:... bunny!

Mangaka.co.uk: If I were a superhero, my special power would be...

Faye Yong:... teleportation (no more being late!)

Mangaka.co.uk: On a perfect day, I would...

Faye Yong:... draw faster than my hand can keep up with, or laze around listening to good music and enjoying the company of loved ones.

Mangaka.co.uk: I cannot live without...

Faye Yong:... my computer/Internet/graphics tablet.

Mangaka.co.uk: Inspiration comes from...

Faye Yong:... beauty all around me.

Mangaka.co.uk: The secret to improving is...

Faye Yong:... practicepracticepractice... and MORE practice. Plus a lot of patience and persistence

Mangaka.co.uk: Ten years from now, I would like to be...

Faye Yong:... a very very rich artist! *wink*

Mangaka.co.uk: Favourite character of someone else’s creation:

Faye Yong: Sakura, the bouncy bunny (from Carlos & Sakura, created by Joanna Zhou):

Mangaka.co.uk: Favourite artist/mangaka:

Faye Yong: Stanley Lau, Christophe Vacher, Jason Chan, Hisaya Nakajo

Mangaka.co.uk: Current projects:

Faye Yong: Working on finishing my first graphic novel Murphy’s Law, to be published by Sweatdrop Studios

Mangaka.co.uk: Must-have drawing supplies:

Faye Yong: Wacom Intuos 3, PC, Photoshop

Mangaka.co.uk: My favourite manga is

Faye Yong: Hana Kimi, it is a sweet story that still makes me feel warm and fuzzy each time I read it.

Mangaka.co.uk: How did you come up with the idea for The Way We Were, your RSOM winning entry

Faye Yong: The idea for TWWW first came about from a conversation I had with some close high school friends over dim sum. We were all moaning about how each year, our Chinese New Year reunions would shrink as one by one, some of us went off overseas to study/work. It’s inevitable, I guess, that we’d all grow up and the demands of adult life would make themselves known.
A friend remarked that wouldn’t it be awesome if we could get a jet and go about the globe picking up the members of our party and have a giant reunion? Having recently seen the British comedy "Hot Fuzz", we were joking about how we’d organise this whole “perfect community” consisting of all our high-school classmates…“for the greater good”, and live there together happily ever after.
Well, good dim sum, too many cups of sweet tea and crazy company brought about the idea for TWWW. I then wrote the script for it, planning out the pages. During the thumbnailing stage it went through five edits in order to cut it down to fit the page count limit. I made Mum my reading guinea pig! She helped me edit my script tremendously.
At the end of it all, I’m pleased with how TWWW came out. It was my first published comic and, despite the insane story, it’s very close to my heart. TWWW is dedicated to my high school friends and my family, because having encouraging friends and family is the best thing an artist can have!