Name
Mark Dauth
Time at GESS
1987 – 1999 (Grade 2 to Graduation)
What has your learning journey been like after GESS and what is your occupation?
Around the time of my graduation was a time when films, movies and cinemas were popular. We all watched computer-generated dinosaurs on the big screen and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. Back then, Singapore did not have educational pathways for this aspect of the entertainment business. Being German and not having lived in Germany until then – I spent all my life in Asia before I was 19, I thought, “let’s go, have a bit of an adventure”, so I moved to Germany. I stayed in the Frankfurt area and tried to find places where I can either study or do some work in this field and found out that that was very difficult back then, because there were no courses. Universities were just starting to work on and develop courses in the field of video design and similar courses for example. It’s not like now where every university has media-related courses. I did get an internship at a company in Frankfurt in early 2000. I started studying Technical Computer Sciences for two semesters, which was very technical and very dry. I was hoping to side-track into the area of visual effects but nothing was offered. I stopped studying and did vocational training as a media designer for moving images. Most of what I learned, it was through learning by doing. Youtube was not present yet so a lot of stuff we wanted to find out about we just had to learn on our own. I stayed with the company for 11 years, then changed companies to a company that specialised in commercials. I worked on a lot of commercials for automobile companies, commercials for beer, worked on the odd feature film and after almost 10 years at the second company I changed again to a company that did pure visual effects work for television and feature films. This company did the visual effects for Game of Thrones for example and they won an Emmy Award for Game of Thrones and they have offices all over the world.
What is your favourite memory of your time at GESS?
Back at Bukit Tinggi there was a little path from the square main school building going through this very wild forest area. When we were in Primary School, it felt like going into the jungle. Each break we would just disappear in there, I think at some point we were even trying to build a house in there. It was really fun, because nobody really thought about hazards or wild animals being a problem so we just went in there and when the bell rang we came out. Those were really nice times. There was a very familial atmosphere. Our principal Herr Lechner, he was a biology teacher and every time he found wild life on the school grounds, he would do a little “Show and Tell” in the forum. So all the higher grades would come and he would share information about the animal and hold ad-hoc hands-on biology lesson, e.g. about a flying squirrel or a poisonous viper. It made us more appreciative of what was around us. When I was in Secondary School, working towards Abitur, Jürgen Schumann was our principal and he was like a school father. He knew everybody by name, he had time for everybody and you could just stop him in the hallway and say “Hey I’ve got a problem, can I talk?” and he would find time. Just in general, I have very fond memories of a time that I felt very privileged to be at a school where we had these possibilities and where they did not only pump knowledge into you, but shaped you as a person, shaped your character. The school gave us a very rounded education and prepared us as best as possible for a world that is luckily becoming more and more open.
What do you miss about Singapore and your life here?
The food! Salted egg crabs, mushroom minced pork noodles or just chicken rice. The Frankfurt area is very experimental when it comes to food, so you get a lot of stuff that is authentic, but it somehow isn’t the same.
I also miss how going to Newton Circus back then was an adventure – a real adventure! It has changed so much. I always felt that Singapore was a bit like a playground, especially for teenagers or young adults, because our parents were very at ease since it’s such a safe place. If there are no buses anymore, you could just take a taxi from anywhere. It’s so easy to get around. We were allowed a lot of freedom at a rather early age. It was a very easy life. And since we were young, we had no worries anyway.
Do you think your time in Singapore has impacted your (future) life?
Having grown up in more than one culture due to my mother being from Malaysia and my father being from Germany, and having had the chance to move between Asian cultures and European culture, there have been advantages. During our class trips to Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and China, we met people from different cultures and learned to cherish diversity a bit more.
What did you learn during your time at GESS that you could not appreciate yet during your time there, but that you consider a valuable lesson now?
All the possibilities we had: Very small classes – we did our Abitur with 16 people and that was one of the bigger cohorts. Two years before us there were 8 people. The learning groups were very small, we all had enough materials, like microscopes and other tools for Sciences and everybody was able to do the experiments. We spent a lot of time with our teachers. More than just educating us, they were shaping us. They were teachers by heart. You had the feeling that they really wanted to convey something, convey the fun in learning and the fun in the subject. And that’s something we probably felt a bit annoyed about when we were still in school. Looking back, I realise how privileged we were!
Is there any piece of advice or any experience you would like to share with current GESS students?
Enjoy it while it lasts! That’s a general advice for school. School time – although it might not always be all positive and sometimes you feel the pressure, but it is a real easy life. Take with you as much as you can and not necessarily only knowledge, but the experiences that school can give you especially if it’s a good school like GESS. Cherish that time, because it never gets easier than that.
You are a GESS Alumni and would like to share your memories of GESS with us? Please email us at alumni@gess.sg. We would love to get to know you!
