Mr Dylan Lee, 30, a sales engineer, had a life-changing holiday in Phuket in December 2004 that altered his outlook.

Fortunately, he was not on the beach when the killer waves washed ashore, but Dylan still saw the tragic destruction of life and property. It made him realise "what precious little time we have left" and how fragile lives could be.

On his return home, Dylan started a regular gym routine, tried his hand in modelling, and even took part in some pageants - all to seize every opportunity that comes his way.

Before, "I would just work the whole day without taking care of my body, so I grew a little overweight", says Dylan. He is now more disciplined and tries to run about three times a week on top of the gym workouts. The results are there for all to see, looking at his trim build.

"It's about living every moment as if it's the last. I want to excel in what I'm doing now, one of which is to climb the corporate ladder," he says.

Working in sales has honed Dylan's negotiating skills. "It is not only to negotiate what the customer wants, since their target price is always the minimum.

"Rather, you negotiate to gain the maximum profit without offending the customer," explains Dylan. "To do this, the relationship with the customer is important. You have to build up rapport, so they're willing to pay more."

Why you should vote for me: "I possess the key element in life-perseverance."

Ms Zheng Xuemei, 25, joined Singapore Airlines as a flight stewardess after completing her Civil Engineering course at Nanyang Technological University last year.

"The overseas shopping is very good!" says Xuemei of the job perks. "If you love the service industry, this is the job where you get to meet all sorts of people from all over the world."

Xuemei wants to see the world while she is still young, but does not think she will fly for long.

"It can be quite detrimental to your health, moving from one time zone to another. It can be hard to go to sleep as your biological clock gets messed up, so you tend to age more quickly," she says.

Besides shopping, she finds cooking therapeutic as well. She says her best dish is bak kut teh, picked up from Mum. "Cooking puts me in a good mood. I also like to eat and go on food hunts. I'm not afraid of getting fat, so I'll try anything!"

Work-wise, after she gets her fill of fun, Xuemei thinks she will settle down in a banking or sales job. She'll probably try anything though, as long as it is not engineering, which Xuemei realises is not for her.

"I'm quite a happy-go lucky person. I'll let nature take its course."

Why you should vote for me: "I believe in beauty from the inside-out."