Singapore iPhone photographers share experience of playing tour guide to Apple CEO Tim Cook
- The Apple boss is on a two-day visit to Singapore and has met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and visited an Apple store
- He was also shown around the Tiong Bahru market and had breakfast with local iPhone photographers
Posting on his Facebook page, Soh said that he and Chia had the “amazing opportunity” to host Cook at the Tiong Bahru Market.
Soh added that he gave the Apple CEO a quick rundown about the architectural history of the buildings in Tiong Bahru.
“For someone who has been a Mac user for the last 20 years and an iPhone user since the 3GS, this was a real honour and privilege for me,” said Soh.
Posting a second photo of himself and Cook at the Tiong Bahru Market, Soh said they had to resort to crouching down on the ground for the Apple CEO to have a better view of the new Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks behind the Tiong Bahru estate.
Chia, a former graphic designer turned photographer, also shared his experience in an Instagram story.
“It’s an honour to have breakfast with Apple CEO Tim Cook and [Darren Soh] this morning,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Cook tweeted about his experience in Singapore to his 11.6 million followers.
“Thanks to iPhone photographers Darren Soh and Aik Beng Chia for sharing their love of Tiong Bahru’s rich heritage – and amazing food!” wrote the Apple CEO.
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Cook then made his way to the Apple Store on Orchard Road, where he spent time with some children who used the Apple augmented reality platform Arkkit to “visualise a greener future”.
His trip included at stop at the OCBC Aquatic Centre to meet Singapore Paralympian Theresa Goh about the Apple Watch she uses for her training.
According to The Straits Times, he also visited the School of Science and Technology where Apple has a Swift Accelerator coding programme, telling students that if they can learn only one language other than their native language, it should be coding. This is a “global language” and can equip them for jobs of the future, he said.
He discussed the possibility of opening a third Apple store in Singapore, saying it is a popular tourist destination and could use another store. Apple now hires about 3,200 people in Singapore, of which a third are retail staff and the rest are in sales, marketing, communications, finance and research and development.
While in Japan, Cook told the Nikkei Asian Review that he did not think the smartphone industry was reaching its peak, despite a slowdown in iPhone sales in recent quarters. He argued that it was important to continue making improvements, and believed that innovation was still strong in Apple.
Cook also met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Lee said they had a “lively exchange on how the tech scene has changed” since their last meeting at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, in February 2016.
“While Apple no longer manufactures devices here, many Singaporeans work in Apple locally and around the world, and many more are fans of their gadgets,” Lee said.
Read the original article at Today Online.
