Liem Bui: Passion for Work and Advocacy

At ASW, we appreciate employees who are keen to improve their skills, collaborate well with their colleagues, and even find time to do advocacy work. Liem does this in spades. We had a chat with Liem to talk about his contribution to ASW and to his community.

Hi Liem, can you share with us a bit about yourself?

I’m Liem Bui and I’m a web developer for Soy Digital, ASW’s full-service digital marketing agency. I like to play computer games like League of Legends and FIFA online. On my day off, I used to go out and eat or hang out for coffee with my friends. But because of the lockdowns, I just take the time to clean the house and cook meals for myself.

I enjoy listening to music, my favourite genres are pop ballad, R&B/soul, and acoustic. Music helps me to relax or focus more while I work. I’m currently learning to play the guitar. And I also like to participate in volunteer activities.

How long have you been with ASW and tell us about your work?

I started working at ASW about 3 years ago – around November 2018 — as a web developer. I’m responsible for the coding, design, and layout of a website according to a company’s specifications. As the role takes into consideration user experience and function, a certain level of both graphic design and computer programming is necessary.

What was your background prior to joining ASW?

After graduating from college, I started working at a web design agency. That’s where I gained more knowledge in web development which really helped improve my skills at work. I worked there for 3 years then a friend of mine introduced me to a job opportunity at ASW. I was thinking back then that it was time for me to change my working environment because I wanted to learn more. So I applied, I attended the interview, and I got the job offer at ASW!

What’s your day-to-day work like at Soy Digital?

I start by checking my email and what my assigned tasks are for the day on Monday.com, a work management application. From there, I will prioritise solving the most urgent tasks. Once it’s done, I’ll double check it first before I tell my manager that I’ve completed my work assignment.

Sometimes there are difficult jobs. When that happens, I will sit down and discuss with the leader and the team members to find a solution. Recently I used a software called ‘Notion’ to save information. I find it very useful because our customers have a lot of information that I need to remember.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love having a voice in the organisation. My boss listens to my ideas and the whole team works together to make them happen. We all support each other and work together to offer creative feedback and turn our ideas into reality. It’s a very collaborative environment.

What do you enjoy most about being at ASW?

I like the people of ASW and how we continue to value everyone’s time and welfare. ASW’s company culture encourages a lot of employee engagement activities and workshops which are very useful and practical for skills enhancement, personality development, and connecting with your fellow ASW colleagues.

You mentioned earlier about your volunteer work. Can you tell us more about that? How did you start and what inspired you to get involved?

I have been participating in different volunteer programs ever since my last years at university and even up to now. A friend introduced me to a volunteer club that organises supporting programs for disadvantaged children. We distributed gifts and organised games for these kids. Since then, I decided to join similar outreach programs.

We recognise that these children are experiencing difficulties in going to school and they don’t even have a safe playground. We are currently focusing more on creating play areas for children, building libraries with more books, and organising fund-raising activities to give many scholarships to disadvantaged children so that they can continue to go to school.

Your advocacy work is very inspirational! Why do you think it’s important for us to find a cause to care about?

Participating in volunteer activities and witnessing how disadvantaged people try to live has taught me meaningful lessons. Even in periods of hardship, I need to stay resilient and be determined to make it through. Contributing to the community also makes my life more fulfilling.

What would you say to people who are interested in volunteering but don’t know what to do?

For me, I think the most important things to consider when you want to get involved in volunteer programs are to have a passion for it, to find out what are the needs of the people you are helping, and to have a well-coordinated team.