Life in the Big Apple

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you ended up living in New York City.

Karen: I graduated with a BSc (Computer and Information Sciences) degree from NUS. Thereafter, I worked for a Singapore GLC for about 5 years. Life there, although stressful, was fun and challenging. Great friendships were formed between my colleagues and I. Till now, I am still very good friends with many of them. However, I wanted to experience working life in a private sector. Thus, I decided to switch to a Singaporean SME. My colleagues and my bosses in this company were fantastic too. I guess I am very lucky in that wherever I go, I meet great people.

Since life was great back home, you might ask why I decided to leave. I was getting a bit restless and bored with life back in Singapore. I’ve always wanted to experience life outside the little red dot. I know that there is a very big world beyond the 226 sq miles that we call home, and there is a lot to learn and experience. Thus, one fine Sunday when I was flipping through the Recruit section of the Straits Time, and saw this advertisement recruiting IT professionals to work in the States, I immediately grabbed the opportunity and applied for it. I got accepted and the rest is history.

After a few hiccups over the months, I’m now happily settled in New York City, working and studying for my part time MBA. Even though I miss home a lot, I’m glad that I've made the first move in accepting the challenge in starting my life all over again from scratch in a foreign country 12,000 miles away from home.

Marsk: I’m a Gen-Y guy living in New York City. In the day I work as an Analyst, while at night I moonlight as a designer – just because I want to do what I love, and I love creative work and getting my audience excited and engaged. I also volunteer as an executive committee member for NYSA – simply because I love interacting with people and helping my community.

Throughout my life in university, I’ve always been lured by the opportunities that lay in New York and made it one of my goals in life to experience working in the Big Apple. After working in Los Angeles for a bit, my mom asked me: “Why don’t you join your sister in New York?” I said “Okay,” packed my bags, and left for the Big Apple.

2. How long have you been away from Singapore? Besides New York, have you lived in any other city/country for a long period of time?

Karen: I came here on 1st May 2005. So I’ve been here slightly over 2 years. The longest that I’ve been away from Singapore was in Dalian, China, for only a period of 3 months.

Marsk: I left Singapore in August 2001 to pursue an education in the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. After graduation, I worked for a while till I left for New York in Spring 2006. So to sum it all, it has been about 6 years since I left home.

3. What challenges do Singaporeans, such as yourselves, face living in a foreign city?

Karen: Being brought up in such an efficient country, whereby the government makes most of the decisions for us, it was really a challenge for me when I had to rely on myself to navigate through the mass of rules and regulations. A very good example is the filing of income taxes. Back home, everything is done for us, and all we need to do is just to click the “Submit” button. However, over here, what with a book full of rules, it’s just so much more complicated.

All these experiences make me appreciate my government so much more. It’s only when we have to live in a foreign city, that we stop complaining and appreciate all the good things we have back home.

Marsk: I think the biggest challenge that we have is assimilation. I believe some Singaporeans do not have a problem with assimilating to the culture of a foreign city, but many of us do. The first time I left home for Los Angeles, I tried hard to fit with the culture experienced by the local Los Angelinos (Imagine Hollywood and all those things you see in movies). While in Los Angeles (being a melting-pot of many diverse cultures of the world), I was pretty happy that I made diverse friends everywhere. Nonetheless, I kept close to my Singaporean roots, as they gave me a sense of home.

When I left Los Angeles for New York, the same thing happened all over again – I had to start looking for new friends in a new city, and start assimilating to the different cultures of New York. Without university life however, the lack of social events made getting to know people really hard. Desperately without friends and not hearing a single singlish verb in awhile, I knew what I had to do – I emailed NYSA.

4. Is there a strong Singaporean community in New York?

Karen: Unlike other nationalities, I don’t think there’s as strong a community for Singaporeans. Having said that, we do have many Singapore-related associations e.g. NYSA, SEP. There’s even a New York Singaporeans meet up group. I’m sure there’s other more that I’m unaware of. Although each may serve a different purpose, it’ll be great if we could pool our resources together and probably serve the Singapore community better.

Marsk: Definitely, especially in the city! After moving to New York, I lived in Westchester for two months. Westchester is about 25 miles north of New York City, and being suburban and quiet, I spent my time over-working and didn’t get the chance to meet any new friends. When I finally moved to New York City, the first bunch of people I hung out with was my fellow alumni, but that never gave me a strong sense of community. Desperately, I googled and found the New York Singapore Association, emailed them, waited a few days, and the next thing I knew was being in a crowd of fellow Singaporeans, eating chilli crab and drinking Tiger Beer!

Nowadays the association meets at least once a month and an unofficial group of younger Singaporeans meets weekly for dim sum and meals! Hanging out with people from home is the next best thing there is to home.

5. Singapore Day was recently held in New York. What are some of your impressions of the event?

Karen: It was a very good way to bring Singapore to the overseas Singaporeans based in the States. I heard that many of us got very homesick after attending this event! :) It’s comforting to know that the government still has us in mind.

Marsk: Personally, I thought that the event itself was great! The turnout was amazing – you’ll never expect there to be so many Singaporeans (or people affiliated to Singapore) in the Eastern part of the United States. Many people drove or flew in from other states just to attend the event. If attendance is the prime indicator of how well an event was, judging from the overwhelming response, I would say that Singapore Day surpassed most (if not all) expectations!

6. Did you get a chance to try some good ol’ local food?

Karen: No, I was helping out with the registration, so I didn’t have the chance to try the food. In any case, the queues were too long.

Marsk: Ha ha ha. Unfortunately not. I was volunteering as the announcer during the first half of the day, and that job had me working the whole morning and early afternoon. Just being there inhaling all the fantastic smells, and not having the time to eat the food was sure enough to drive me crazy! In the latter part of the day, I was busy running around preparing for the SIF mixer. The venue had a technical issue with the AV equipment and I had to provide a last minute workaround to fix it. By the time I returned to Wollman Rink, it was time to head over to the New York City Library and volunteer as an usher for the Deputy Prime Minister’s dinner.

7. Do you think that Singapore Day helps to build greater awareness of Singapore?

Karen: I think the target audience of Singapore Day is primarily Singaporeans themselves, so building a greater awareness of Singapore wasn’t really the main objective of the organizing committee. However, it seemed that there were more non-Singaporeans than Singaporeans, although all of them had to be brought in by their Singapore friends. I guess they knew a lot about Singapore already through their friends, just that this probably gave them an opportunity to try the long heard of food, and experience the kind of entertainment that we have back home, and some of the new projects, etc.

Marsk: I am sure it did. From the visual displays to the movie screenings and the performances on stage, many Overseas Singaporeans had the opportunity to see what has changed in Singapore, and how it has changed.

Some people whom I have met mentioned to me that the event itself, especially the visual displays, has shown them how much Singapore has changed over the past few years. I quote: “I haven’t been home in 5 years… I never expected the landscape to change so much!”

8. I notice that you are on the executive committee of NYSA. What attracted you to join NYSA? And more importantly, what attracted to you volunteer your time as a member of the executive committee?

Karen: Initially I joined NYSA as a means to know more Singaporeans, and cure my homesickness. When I first came here, I did not know anybody, so I was googling for Singaporean associations. I came upon NYSA, and saw that they were looking for members to volunteer their time. My first few months here were very tough, so much so that there were a few times when I wanted to give up and just go home. Thus, I wanted to share my experiences so that in future, any Singaporeans who come here alone will not have such a hard time. This is the main reason why I joined NYSA.

Marsk: Joining NYSA was just me wanting to be part of my community. The most important part of being with Singaporeans was the interaction with my own community, and it would be terribly hard for me to ignore what makes me distinctively Singaporean: Our language, our culture, our common background, and most importantly, our food.

With the above said, I wanted to make a difference in the Singaporean community here in New York, and make it a community that most of us would want to be part of… and more. As I’ve been pretty active in the Singapore Students’ Association circle back during my university days, I know that if I have the ability, and more importantly – the drive, why not capitalize on my abilities and help NYSA reach greater heights?

9. What are some of your aspirations for NYSA?

Karen: NYSA will be the first place whereby newly arrived Singaporeans can go to and seek advice on how to settle into New York City. It’ll also be a gathering place for all Singaporeans – a home away from home. Finally, I hope that non-Singaporeans will be able to know more about Singapore and Singaporeans through NYSA.

Marsk: This is too big of a question to really answer here. NYSA has come a long way since its induction back in the days, when it started out purely as a point of communal contact for fellow Singaporeans. Since then, Singaporeans have evolved way beyond the confines of its own boundaries. Our gentle diasporas into the world today lay solid testament to the fact that we are bursting our from the confines of our own ethnoburb, and now Singaporeans can be found in almost every country in the world.

As such, we have become living ambassadors in our own right – ambassadors of our own society and our own culture. When I came on board, the President shared with us her vision on what she wanted NYSA to become: Not just a social point of contact for Singaporeans, but also a cultural representation of Singapore and with professional networking opportunities as well. In short, we want to grow from good to great. Already we have planned many big initiatives in motion, ranging from festivals, cultural shows, speaker series, and more.

10. Beyond NYSA, what are some ways in which Singaporeans can reach out to others in the community, either to other Singaporeans or friends of different nationalities?

Karen: I guess it’s the same as making new friends in Singapore. You can meet new people through activities, school, work, sports, etc. As long as you are open to meeting people, it should be easy to reach out to both Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans.

Marsk: I think one of the best ways to connect with fellow Singaporeans are through your own friends. Singaporeans will always introduce you to more Singaporeans that they know of. Sites like the Overseas Singaporean Portal Forums also provide a great avenue for fellow overseas Singaporeans to connect. Last but not least, you can also reach out to the Singapore International Foundation and ask them to connect you to your own fellow Singaporeans wherever you are.

To reach out to friends of different nationalities, I think one of the best ways is to talk about and share our culture. People over the world have heard about Singapore and the many myths associated with it, myths like we get caned if we chew gum, or face capital punishment if we steal… For them, to meet a Singaporean is not a common occurrence, which is also why they will be interested to get to know you and become your friend.

Intrinsically, deep down inside there is always something about us that would identify ourselves as denizens from the little red dot. Be it our own language, or our craving for our own distinctive local cuisine; nobody could deny that even though how far detached you are away from home and assimilated into your new culture, there will always be a hint of a Singaporean in you. Imagine this: you’re in a restaurant overseas and suddenly, you hear the infamous “lah” from a set of patrons sitting behind you. Does it not drive you crazy to find out if they are Singaporeans? Do you not want to turn around and ask “Excuse me, are you a Singaporean?”