Who is Jimmy Sho?

Jimmy has been with RWS since October 2007. He joined the Projects team that is currently busy completing construction of the IR, specifically dealing with one of the attraction in the Universal Studios theme park.

The idea was to see what goes into the process of getting an attraction from the drawing boards all the way into reality.

His interest lies in a multitude of disciplines. His main and probably first long-lasting interest is in the written word. For the longest time since he could possibly remember, he loves to read: he prefers fiction but any well written (read: not dry) non-fiction works just fine.


He's currently especially interested in books on alternate history, psychology and morality. But he’s ready to pick up books from any genre: thrillers, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, adventure, romance, life, current issues, technical, self-help, magazines, reviews etcetera.

In fact if you have something to recommend, he would really love to hear them.

He also likes to share his thoughts but seldom professes to have much to share. At least that’s what he thinks. And that’s also the reason he gives for his constantly un-updated blogs – yes he has a few, though he should probably consolidate them all into one. Unfortunately (or rather perhaps fortunately since he seldom updates), he is probably only rambling about inane stuff. But he digresses...

When he’s not reading, he enjoys his computer games. He used to go on a gaming spree for up to 48 hours at a go. His friends reportedly mentioned that Jimmy once slept for 36 hours at a go. He refuses to validate or deny that statement.

He loves his RPG – role-playing games. But he’s always ready to play any games, as long as they are fun, has great gameplay, good storyline, excellent user interface. He doesn’t care much about graphics, music or sound effects – as long as they are good enough to bring across the message or mood; visceral and aural stimulation is secondary to the vast worlds his imagination allows him to visit.

He prefers games on the PC – nothing beats the control the mouse and keyboard gives, especially when matched against the clumsy controllers on the consoles (sorry, he remains thoroughly unconvinced that FPS – first person shooters – are worth playing on the consoles). Unfortunately, he has less and less time nowadays to commit himself to this passion of his.

That’s because...

Jimmy’s too busy indulging in two of his most recent ‘hobbies’: in-line skating and running. He dabbled with roller blades when he was still a young ‘un. It was only in December 2007 did he buy his first pair of in-line skates, the K2 Exo Alu, and he went nuts with them.

He went skating every Saturday and Sunday; he makes time if he couldn’t find time. He was so crazy about it he even tried skating after work on Fridays. Now that didn’t work out too well; the paths were a little too dark for his liking.

His favourite haunt was, and still is, the relatively straight and flat paths along East Coast Park. Distance and speed are his mainstay workout as he’s not yet limber or agile enough to perform the tricks of aggressive skating.

He took a break from skating, literally, after a bad fall in which he fractured his left humerus in May 2008. But that didn’t deter him and he’s back to it after a near 6-months hiatus. And still loving it.

You can usually find him breezing along East Coast Park on both weekends, unless he was taking a trip or running his legs jelly in a race in some other part of Singapore; sometimes you may even find him running a race at ECP.

So what was that about running?

After his 'failed experiment' skating after work on weekdays, he wondered if he could do something else. Something like... running! You just need a pair of good shoes, some lighting, a running path relatively free from vehicular access and you can run your heart out.

He started running sometime in February 2008 after being influenced by his friend to sign up for the Sundown Marathon 2008. Now perhaps you may think he’s crazy to sign up for such an extreme distance after 20 over years of near sedentary lifestyle and you are absolutely right, he was nuts!

Little did he know the pain people put themselves through running a marathon but ‘luckily’ for him, the accident with the skates put him off any physical activities for at least 3 months. As the marathon was slated for end of May 2008, that was definitely a no go.

Not feeling grateful that he missed out on his serving of pain, he signed up again for Sundown Marathon 2009. This time he ran, he wept, he walked, he limped and he practically crawled his way past the finish line.

And not merely content with the pain he suffered (and upset with his timing) he promptly signed up for the next marathon in town – the Standard Chartered Marathon 2009, held annually on the first Sunday in December.

In between marathons, he trains 3 times a week. Recently he has been participating in a multitude of ‘shorter’ distances races aka the 10-kms and 10-milers. He’s been trying to get in more long runs in between the hectic race schedules and also having enough rest so that he does not get himself injured.

Jimmy is now looking forward to his latest project: unloading his mundane ramblings weekly. Hopefully the masses wouldn’t just disappear like the dodo bird when his mind starts wandering and his fingers start dancing.