Klaris Chua

Klaris Chua is a writer, indie music nerd, and design advocate — in that order.

She started writing in the fifth grade, when her English teacher dragged her into a citywide inter-school journalism conference, where she ended up with a 9th place finish. From there, she was unstoppable. She would then continue to join other conferences, write speeches, scripts, essays, copies, and more. She spent most of her high school days managing the school paper. This led her to believe that one day, she would be writing for Philippine media.

She got acquainted with indie music and design when her father took home a desktop computer back in April 2002. Through self-study (possibly brought about by sheer boredom), she was able to harness the power of the Internet and soon after started devouring whatever good stuff she would be able to find. Her fondness for obscure bands grew around the same time when she would spend countless nights working on Photoshop and CSS and looking for design inspiration.

She graduated with a BS Journalism degree from the Lyceum of the Philippines in April 2008 and just two weeks after, got hired in the country’s largest broadcasting company as a news catalog writer. This self-professed media geek believes she is off to a great start despite being tagged by many as a full-blown corporate slave.

Her conflicting interests may highlight her instability, but instead she brandishes it as her main selling point. She could tap you with a freaking nail gun anytime, anywhere, for no apparent reason, while discussing geopolitics. She could tell you how inferior your music taste is and then tell you what came out in the local news last night. Give her a piece of paper she could doodle into in exchange for insider info on the inner workings of Manila’s elite. Her versatility may it be in writing, music, or design proves her adaptability to media’s societal influence whenever the need arises.

Yes, she is offbeat. But she controls her neurosis better than anyone else.