In this post of Alumni Insights, we learn about the creation process behind a TCM Instagram account @master.wugui managed by our alumni Aw Ching Yi Eunice.
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What is the main inspiration/background behind Master Wugui?
During my clinical practice, I realised that many people have misconceptions about TCM and face difficulty in understanding how TCM concepts can be reconciled with medical science. Some of my patients, especially the younger crowd, are just simply curious about how TCM explains the pathology of certain diseases. As someone who is passionate about raising awareness of TCM, I decided to start a social media account sharing TCM and health-related information to break misconceptions and help others see that TCM and science can co-exist—it’s just viewing things from a different angle.
Personally, I appreciate manga/webtoons and find them captivating, so I wanted this account to show elements of that. As it is unchartered territory to have the idea of cartoon and TCM coming together, the birthing process of this account had not been easy.
Why 乌龟 as the main character? One day, I came across the Kung Fu Panda movie’s character ‘Master Oogway’ which sparked my interest towards the association of tortoises in Chinese culture. Tortoises are a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, as well as longevity. TCM theories can be likened to that as it contains a wealth of knowledge that have stood the test of time. With this, it set me on the creative journey of drafting how Wugui should look like. After multiple drafts, I was able to define and produce a character profile to Wugui which is what we see on the account now.
How have these 2 years been for Master Wugui?
These two years have not been easy juggling work and content creation. I needed to arrive at a sustainable way of doing both. As @master.wugui started off as a hobby, I did not expect myself to create content regularly, so I create whenever I am inspired. My patients are often my source of inspiration: the questions they ask, the topics they are curious about.
What are some of the challenges you faced? Or something you have learnt that you would like to share with fellow alumni?
Drawing cartoon is not as simple as it looks. One time I wanted to make use of Instagram’s multi-image feature and tried drawing a panoramic, multi-panel cartoon. The amount of time and effort that went into the entire creation process was immense: the brainstorming of the storyboard, drawing each panel, then adding the details and colours, and having to make sure that the characters in the story look consistent throughout. In the end, I decided to just go with a monochromic cartoon (instead of a full-coloured version) because it was extremely tedious and took way too much time.
One thing I learnt is that when walking in a path less travelled, there will be challenges. There will be times when we are placed outside our comfort zones. It is how we manoeuvre and create a path for ourselves that makes us victorious. Each challenge is an opportunity to grow ourselves. Quoting Nelson Mandela, “a winner is a dreamer who never gives up”, when we have a dream, we lay hold of it by looking at it and working towards it, no matter what comes at us. A path less travelled does not mean it is impossible to walk, it is just not yet discovered.
What is one thing we can look forward to from Master Wugui?
My goal for this account is to have regular postings just like any other education/wellness account would have. We can definitely look forward to having more content on @master.wugui, so give it a follow, keep your eyes peeled, like and share if you enjoy the content!
From PULSE Magazine 6th Edition
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