Last year, the team from ADFESTbuzz had the chance to interview two Young Lotus teams: Jaz Lee and Juliana Lee Mei Yen from Kuala Lumpur; and Naomi Lam and Nikki Palomaria from Hong Kong.
 

They took part in the 2017 Young Lotus workshop, hosted by Cheil Worldwide, with Wain Choi as Chairman.
 

Jaz Lee Jun Chieh from Kuala Lumpur said the best thing about being a Young Lotus competitor was the chance to learn from different cultures and creative teams and see how they brainstorm. “For me, it’s also the excitement of answering a brief without your creative director’s approval.”
 

His teammate, Juliana Lee Mei Yen, said: “I’m looking forward to going home with a fresher mind, because when you do a daily job you get stuck in the same routine – it’s kind of fresh seeing how other people do it in a different way in other countries.”
 

Jaz Lee explained what it’s like being a creative in Kuala Lumpur: “In Kuala Lumpur there are a lot of different cultures and religions – because of the differences you get to see the similarities, the basic human values, which transcend the differences. I try to bring this insight into the films I write.”
 

Nikki Palomaria represented Hong Kong at the Young Lotus workshop last year, and said: “For me, Young Lotus is all about meeting different characters and personalities and learning from them and their different styles. All the sessions are geared towards learning the craft of advertising.”
 

Her teammate, Naomi Lam, says: “For me, the most exciting thing is meeting the best talent in the industry across Asia and just to learn from them and connect with them.”
 

She describes Hong Kong as a special place because “there has been a lot of changes in the last 10 or 20 years – some people like the changes, some don’t, so there is a lot of conflicting emotions, but this is something that always inspires our work.”
 

Overall, all four of these Young Lotus competitors said they love advertising because they have the opportunity to provoke different emotions, share stories, and create movement and change to support the right causes.
 

We can’t wait to meet this year’s Young Lotus competitors! The 2018 Young Lotus competition will be hosted by ADK.
 

Watch our video interview with Jaz Lee, Juliana Lee Mei Yen, Naomi Lam and Nikki Palomaria here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuyypodCFoE