Yong Jun Ming
11 min readAug 16, 2019

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A Photo Essay Part One: 4 Years in London, United Kingdom (Culture & Home)

I first came to London in 2015, all starry eyed. I was here for university. I came not knowing what King’s College London was and what English culture might be. I was under the false impression that I would be living amongst a predominantly white culture whose primary diet composed of scones, tea and fish & chips. To learn that London is a vibrant international melting pot came as a huge culture shock. I came to learn about the ways of enterprise design through my course — Politics, Philosophy and Law. But I believe I have gained much more.

Clelie’s Birthday Party 2019

One of the main points of culture shock was just about how much people drank and how few British people there were. I was blessed to be in one of the best flats in my student accommodation. We were a diverse fun-loving bunch from all over the world. Perhaps because of our open-nature, our kitchen became one of the centres of congregation for the larger student community in the accommodation. We partied hard and I got drunk many a time.

Meeting people from all over made me also much more sensitive to accents. Naturally curious, I always wanted to figure out where people were from and know their story. I was constantly hungry in that way.

My London Family — Xiao, Alice, Angel, Emily, Andy, Clelie, Chloe, Joe, Aleksi

Beyond that though, I was exposed to many new customs and ways of life. For example, during Chinese New Year, it is tradition for my Chinese flatmate Xiao Xiao to hand make dumplings. During Christmas, it is important for us to make roast, have Christmas poppers and put on paper crowns. I have since adopted many of these new customs into my life.

I also had my way of life challenged. There were times my friends and I would discuss about the merits of a welfare based society against a meritocracy that emphasised self-sufficiency like Singapore. Things that I took to be the obvious were no longer the case. I had to open my mind to new perspectives and consider them for their intrinsic value.

Sophie and Jun, Lavender Farms

Living in London also means loads more to do. It was not just bars and parties. There were also the parks and cafes. I had to gradually learn how to get out of my comfort area in Zone 1 and discover my city. To adapt my lifestlye that was previously around malls and restaurants to something more. In many neighbourhoods, there is much street art, hippie cafes, and quirky people. You never really know what to expect in London because it is so diverse and unique. Days were lovely for the most part.

Spring

Living with seasons meant tracking time differently from how I did in Singapore. There were different things one would do across the different seasons. The machinery of life was much more vibrant. There were things to look forward to. I particularly loved spring. Seeing the vibrant natural colours sprout across the city was immensely beautiful. To live life in colour is truly a blessing.

From the Little Red Dot to the World

Boom Production- Singapore Society

Considering the challenges of moving to a new unfamiliar place, it was comforting to be amongst fellow Singaporeans. The society at King’s was a glue to provide that space to ease into London life. I had much fun going for the events to share Singaporean food and connecting with others. It made me feel safe and provided me a constant in the early days.

At the same time, I began to question my identity and my choices. School in London is very short. It is only twenty weeks long. I was torn between hanging out exclusively with Asians or broadening out my friend groups. It was difficult because the amount of time you spend with people naturally affects your relationships with them. There are many international students who stick purely with Singaporeans or fellow Asians; and there are those who ventured out. It always seemed like a binary choice. It was hard to straddle between.

I asked myself questions like — What was I in London for? Was I just a Singaporean or could I become a global citizen? I made a choice in the end to try to mix with more diverse peoples. As I grappled with my Singaporean identity, I arrived at the conclusion that as an individual, I desire adventure, to know how others lived and thought. To miss out on these exciting stories would be untenable. I wanted to learn. Thus, across the years, I have progressively ventured beyond my comfort zone. At the time, I have still done what I could to preserve my Singaporean connection by reaching out to friends on festivities and society events.

The biggest price I paid, was not really having a consistent friend group to travel with. The Europeans who I was with, tend not to be as eager to travel because they’ve live here. But I learnt how to travel alone and to explore the world in a different way.

Genki and Jun in Yokohama, Japan

The result of making that choice to be more open minded was making new meaningful friendships across the world and having greater adventures. There have been many travels across these four years where I have been able to call a friend in their hometowns and experience life through their eyes on the less touristy path. From the Pikachu festival in Yokohama, to crashing Finnish university parties in Helsinki, my friends have opened their homes to me with kind hearts. Travelling in this way gave me a perspective on the local culture that I would not had, had I went alone. It is much more intimate and more authentic and definitely more romantic a travel, as one experiences the local culture.

Daily life was also more exciting. From partying with Spanish reggaeton music, to electric vibes in a random warehouse, to just having beers together in a home BBQ. Life is great when you are in good company.

I was gradually learning and experiencing a much larger world than before. A different way of life. My perspective on life was shifting across the time. As a Singaporean, we were raised to chase the Singaporean Dream, which is defined as the 5Cs — Condominiums, Cars, Country Clubs, Cash and Credit Card. Wealth and status was an indicator of a well-lived life. There was more to life than travelling in business class and five-star hotels. There is art, culture and adventure. I felt that Singaporeans were missing out.

There were times when my natural tendencies would reveal themselves, and my friends would question them, and I would go home thinking about what was I chasing in life? How much was enough? Does wealth have intrinsic value to a fulfilled life? What is a fulfilled life? Many questions, but no answers initially. I began to figure them out.

Brighton Pride 2019

In summer time, London and England in general, tends to explode with festivals and parties. One of the major highlights was Pride- a celebration of love. In Singapore, we have a big stigma against the LGBTQ community and that stigma had been wired in me. However, as I followed the coming out of one of my friends and seeing others having to fight for their right to love. I found their struggle to be quite ridiculous. They should not have to do struggle or face judgement. They were like everyone else. The arguments for holding a bias were not grounded in Logic. My stance softened.

Torridon, Scotland

In Scotland, my dad were scaling one of the peaks. We met many children along the way. They were adventurous and independent. We met many adults as well with different professions. Compared to city kids, whose parents might gush when they fell or coddle them. These kids were very resilient. I was impressed.

Badachro Distillery

Along my travels in the UK, I also encountered this gin maker. He operated from his own backyard in a bed & breakfast that was so remote that wifi might be from satellite, and I drove past his place twice. He met his wife in the pub across a lake not far from his current place and got married in 10 weeks. He appeared content and happy. It is really different from Singapore, where we constrain the routes to success to tight funnels — our children get streamed, and the best go to the same few schools and same five professions. I gradually found that bizarre. It not only excluded most of the population who are not on that path of success, it also neglects to take into account the real preferences of each person. It creates tensions and frustration amongst the people. I am thankful though, that the new Singaporean political leadership is recognising this problem and attempting to widen the many ways to success.

Jun In Ambulance 2018

Living alone in London also means watching out for myself and being more away of social services. Despite being an adult, my sheltered and pampered lifestyle in Singapore has made me relatively poor in domestic and self-care skills. Ha! In these four years, I have been to the hospital more times than I have in Singapore for the last ten. I have suffered from burns from cooking instant noodles, eye problems from contact lenses, and life threatening allergic reactions from ibuprofen. Thankfully, I have been living in London and I have been the recipient of great FREE hospital care. It is the perks of living in a state with universal healthcare.

However, it is obvious that this is not the case for everyone in England. Across the years, I have regularly read reports of hospital bed shortages, long wait times and insufficient budgeting. Having studied enterprise law in school, I have come to the conclusion that these challenges were caused by over privatisation by the Thatcherite government and these problems manifesting are placing hardship on the peoples thirty years later.

One thing one notices in London is how dirty it is and how many homeless people there are. When the system is strained, there are those who fall through the cracks. It reminds me of the importance of good governance and makes my privilege very apparent to me.

Excessive faith was placed on the free market to make things better. This meant selling essential services to businesses. Imagine owning a water system where you are the only provider. A water system by logic, can never be a competitive business. There are only that many water sources. The result is either a monopoly or an ogliopoly, where a business is able to extract rent from the people in perpetuity.

When you have a revolving door to reward civil servants to be pro-business, and skewed incentives to encourage aggressive profiteering behaviour against beneficiaries. People suffer.

I used to think that Free Market Capitalism was the solution to a better community, but, my experience in England has taught me otherwise.

Extinction Rebellion Members with the Police

On a socio-political front — living in London exposed me to protests and greater political involvement. I have been caught unexpectedly in marches and have my life affected by them. The people here are much more passionate than Singaporeans. They would take the streets for causes that matter to them. One of the major issues is Sustainability. It is plain to everyone that climate change is affecting our world.

Cairngorms, Scotland

From experiencing late winters and extremely warm summers, we can feel the effects of climate change. In the Cairngorms in Scotland, I saw how the ice-clusters were retreating. Becoming a tiny patch. Far from its former glory. The landscape was transforming and the changes are happening much faster than people thought. I have even seen trees being confused if the seasons have changed. Some trees thinking that it is spring start flowering, only to be destroyed by a random snow storm. This is a major issue that needs to be urgently tackled.

I now believe that the marker of a developed society is not its GDP/Capita. It is in providing each citizen with opportunities to pursue their desired goals. To really enable people. To provide an accepting environment to embrace each person for who they are so long as they do not hurt others or use them as mere means to their ends. To emphasise harmony.

Dots of Connection — Anglo Chinese School

ACS Boys Catching Up at Wah Chee

While I have been away, I have always cherished my family and friends at home. They have been great at keeping me grounded and reminding me what is important. My friends from high school — ACS (Independent), have been a strong part of making me attached to home.

ACS Boys in New York

As I travelled more, our ACS boys have been everywhere. I have been able to call upon them to have meals. The bonds that thread between us cross beyond time and space. Despite not meeting some of them in years, we were able to pick up quickly from where we left off. This doesn’t apply to just my generation of ACS boys. In London, I have also connected with others much older from the school and found great mentors. The network we built in Singapore and to the world meant that there was much for me to tap on.

Caleb Pang and Jun Ming Yong. Bristol, UK — 12 Years On

As we share our dreams and aspirations, my brothers and I spur each other on, exchange ideas and push. Family at the core is what makes someone strong and sharing each other’s zest for life encourages me to move forward.

My experience with my ACS brothers have also made me very confident and secure in my friendships I’ve made in London. These days, when I part ways with friends, I tend to say — See You Soon, instead of Goodbye. Even though I never know when I will see them again, I am confident some day our paths will cross again.

In Return

Busan, Korea 2017

During my time in London, I did not return home to Singapore much. Most of the time, I met my family in a different country. We have done — Korea, Australia, Germany and more. But, I suppose, all these places cannot compare to the times surrounded by family and friends in Sunny Singapore.

‘Even though so much has changed, these are places that remain, moments that make me who I am today. I have found what makes me stronger and it has taken me much further and I see what matters most now in return.’ — In Return

London has been my home but I suppose it’s time to return. I have loved this city and its people. I have felt for the country and contributed in taxes to its progress. I have made many friendships which I believe will last a lifetime.

Now, the next chapter begins and I am excited for it.

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Yong Jun Ming

Aspiring Entrepreneur/Blockchain Enthusiast/Friend