Who You Are Matters

I was born on the 9th of September 2004 in Dublin, Ireland. This does not resolve the question of my origin, for I was born in Ireland, received a passport, and moved away a year later. In truth, I am half French and half Singaporean, thanks to my father and mother, respectively. As my introductory fun fact revealed, I have never lived in either, but the family I have in both does mean I have spent countless weeks basking in the Mediterranean “soleil”, or eating absurdly cheap meals in Singapore’s hawker centres. I am from these places, but where will they take me? 

In the most literal sense, I am spending the semester in LA, followed by a summer in Europe and a new academic year not at USC, but at HKUST in Hong Kong. These nomadic tendencies are foundational to my personal and professional aspirations, and I see them continuing well into my future, just like they have been for the past 18 years of my life; I plan to continue travelling through my work. Sustainable development is one of many areas of interest to me, and efforts in this field might take me across the hemispheres. In that regard, I am similar to my parents, who have travelled the globe and brought me along with them, passing on their travel bug. 

In contrast, my parents have, in part due to their travels, accumulated a mass of objects, memorabilia, and furniture. A lot of clutter has followed the household, and it’s sometimes been the centre of debates between my parents and I, as I dislike the domestic chaos they created in the first place. Thankfully, my parents also set out expectations of academic excellence for me very early, which I eventually took for granted and later developed into a competition-hungry expectation for excellence in all areas of my life. These demands I set myself might stem from my parents’ early expectations, but are entirely self imposed, for mediocrity, whether it be artistic, professional, or even spiritual, paired with unsatisfied potential, is one of my only conscious fears. 

Accordingly, Jonathan Katz, a professor of classics at Oxford and friend, serves as both a model and mentor to me. Leading a life of discovery, open mindedness, and passion for the arts, Katz has broadened my horizons and aided me in my search for wisdom. I fondly remember the  awe-inspiring visits we conducted through Oxford’s many medieval chapels. 

I have also found wisdom in Tibet's snow panther, which Sylvain Tesson gracefully described in “La panthère des neiges” as stoic, pragmatic, caring, and beautifully put together, values I seek to cultivate in my daily life. On a more natural level, I recall falling upon a felt-like patch of white petals on a hike in the Swiss mountains. My first and only encounter with the edelweiss flower still strikes me as a poetic moment in which an elusive entity allowed us, clumsy humans, to approach it as it stood, calm and eternal, under the alpine wind. 

Finally, my Sun Sign is Virgo, Moon Sign is Cancer, and Rising Sign is Scorpio.