The Purple Parade: Featuring Zui Young

Zui Young was born with high astigmatism in his right eye and is only able to see with the right eye. But he never once lost sight of his passion for all things digital.

This GovTechie’s interest in computers started during his primary school days when he was introduced to coding with the HTML language and Microsoft FrontPage. That led him to learn programming in secondary school, then to a Diploma in Business Information Technology at Singapore Polytechnic, and a Bachelor and Master in Information Systems at Singapore Management University.

An internship with the then – Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) landed him a full-time job after graduation. Zui Young credits his parents – who supported his interest in coding by buying him computers, software and computer magazines – for his achievements.

Zui Young is logging it! Photo by GovTech

Today, Zui Young works at GovTech as a Senior DevOps Engineer and takes great pride in his work. For him, the job is a way to use technology to positively impact the lives of fellow citizens. Zui Young builds digital government services that improve our lifestyles.

Some of the work Zui Young is proudest of are the projects he and his team worked on during these two years living with Covid-19. They dabbled with the idea of Bluetooth contact tracing, which became the TraceTogether app, and worked on the rapid design, implementation and support of SafeEntry for contact tracing. His team also created SupplyAlly, which helped to accelerate the distribution of essential goods such as masks and TraceTogether tokens nationwide.

“I feel it’s important for managers (or) leaders to provide opportunities for staff to be bold and be empowered to take on new challenges and be innovative, especially in the ongoing technological revolution. It makes a career that much more meaningful too,” he said.

Zui Young is a recent recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards (UBS Promise) and said he is glad to be seen as a role model for persons with disabilities. Going forward, he wants to help the community by using his abilities in software engineering to ensure that Singapore’s digital services are user-friendly for people of all walks of life and that those with disabilities are not left out of the rapid digitalisation effort.

This article first appeared on The Purple Parade’s website. The Purple Parade supports inclusion and celebrates the abilities of persons with disabilities. Read more about The Purple Parade Here.