Frankie Chiuh and Yukie Ngoh
Frankie Chiuh:
I was born in the turbulent time in the country of Brunei. Living on houses of stilts, known as Kampung Cina or Kampung Air in the town of Seria. As Chinese do not have the right to own land in the Sultanate, most Chinese live in the water village. Until today you can still visit this place where there are schools on stilts. The threat of terrorism on the Sultanate and Chinese race drove our family to look for a safer place.
We, a family of six, moved to my mother’s homeland, Sabah. Since we were born in Brunei, we do not have any citizenship. Life was not easy, my parents started off by working as “rubber-tapers” to keep the family going. Things turned better a few years when we started a sundry shop to cater to workers in a logging and sawmill company. Living at the edge of the rainforest, makes life interesting and that’s why I always call myself the man from the jungle or Orang Utan. Going to school was not an easy task as we were around 8km away from town and walking to school on foot is what we do every day.
After finishing my secondary school, I moved to the city of Kota Kinabalu to further my studies and later to Singapore and eventually I went to United Kingdom to study and worked at Victoria Train station. I learned more about life and getting to know what I wanted to be. As I am a stateless person, it was hard for me to stay on and hence I moved back to Singapore. But my area of study is Marketing, which is something extremely new in Singapore and I am not able to get a work permit then in the 80’s. I moved back to Malaysia.
My hard work paid off after a few years of trying, I got a job in the computer animation industry. I started a family in Singapore in early 90’s. The big difference between my hometown in Malaysia and Singapore was that the transportation, housing, education, and environment are much better. I always see developments and improvements in every corner of Singapore. My favourite pastime was taking buses to every old and new town.
My job involved working with property developers and I have the chance to see the rapid growth and development but unfortunately, many felt that they are being left behind. I believe, in such a fast pace life in Singapore, continuing education and self-improvement is a must and the only key I see for Singapore to survive and prosper in the next few decades. My message to every Singaporean, young or old: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you CAN do for your country” (John F. Kennedy).
Yukie Ngoh:
I was born on 3 Feb 2000 at Mt Elizabeth Hospital. In the year that I was born, Singapore was already a safe and prosperous country. My parents thought that I was going to be a ‘dragon girl’ but I decided to see the world early, and hence became a ‘rabbit’ baby instead. Because both of my parents were working, they got a domestic helper and confinement lady, who was from Malaysia, to help take care of me.
When I turned 7, my parents sent me to GongShang Primary School. Although it’s a little far from my house but it used to be my father’s primary school. My father would sometimes tell me stories of his primary school days and how the school campus had changed over the years.
My hard work paid off and I got accepted into my dream school: Dunman High School. As someone who loves the Chinese culture and had played the Pipa for 5 years prior to entering DHS, I decided to join the school Chinese Orchestra. As CO was a prominent CCA in DHS, I had the opportunity to travel to Xiamen in 2015 and Melaka in 2017 to perform at their local concert halls. Thought these immersion trips, I appreciated the Chinese culture even more. As DHS is SEP school, I proceeded to stay in the same campus for year 5-6. As I thought that I will miss taking Chinese, I took H2 translation. In 2017, I went on a translation immersion trip to Beijing and even had lessons at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. We also went to the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China, and the Great Wall of China. The 6 years in DHS were the most memorable 6 years of my life as the teachers and schoolmates were the kindest and sweetest people in this world. I was glad that DHS provided me with so many opportunities to broaden my knowledge and meet new people.
After collecting my A-Level results, I had to apply for a university. Influenced by my uncles, I decided to major in Civil Engineering at NUS. Upon entering university, I had a huge cultural shock after seeing all sorts of people from different backgrounds. While adjusting to the huge change in environment, I also realised how sheltered I was in DHS. Luckily for me, the friends whom I met in NUS were extremely nice people who shared the same goals and outlook in life as me. My friends and I will discuss and debate about engineering concepts during our breaks and will study together till 3am almost every night. The professors were also very passionate about their specialisations, which I found particularly amusing. (Imagine your middle-aged professor bouncing in excitement around the lecture hall while talking about concrete).
The people and environment in NUS made me grow a lot as a person and I became more sure of what I want to pursue in the future. I knew that sustainable development and green energy were my calling. From the Singapore Green Plan 2030, I knew that the Singapore government is determined to make Singapore more dynamic and sustainable. I joined 2 case competitions - BECC case competitions and CHS case competition. Through these competitions, I became a more confident and driven person. Furthermore, I also befriended people who had similar visions and aspirations. I strongly believe that all young people should step out of their comfort zones and become better versions of themselves.
