About Me — Joanna Ng. Everyone has a story that deserves to…
By: Joanna Ng
Tags: Identity, About Me, Asian, Chinese, Personal Story

Two years ago in a traditional dress photoshoot — As a Chinese, this has always been a huge part of my identity

As a child, I’ve always been petrified of these two words — ‘Introduce yourself’. The thought of having to be in the limelight, with all faces turned to me to hear what I have to say, was truly terrifying. Most of the time, I’ll try to get out of it, and my teacher’s feedback on the school report card was always, ‘Joanna is too quiet, she needs to speak up more.’

Coming from an Asian background, I was always taught that, ‘If you have nothing good to say, then just not say anything, because it doesn’t reflect well on you.’ I wouldn’t say the traditional upbringing was the exact cause of this behaviour because I was truly just a very shy kid, but I do admit that there was a constant need to be humble and demure.

A Passion in Radio changed me

I really loved the idea of being a presenter while growing up, but I didn’t want to be in the public eye. My parents were avid fans of a Chinese radio station, which I grew up listening to. When I was 15, I came to a realization that there was a way that I could speak without being seen in public, and that was through being a radio broadcaster since I could just hide behind the microphone.

However, I thought wrong, because there was a huge pivot to the radio industry, and radio broadcasters now have to be a social media influencer alike as well. Read my takeaways of working in the radio station here:

But I couldn’t think of anything else as a career aspiration, the radio was all I wanted to do as a future job. Thinking back, I would say that I was probably quite extreme. After making up my mind that I needed to train my public speaking skills, I forced myself to go for public speaking competitions. If there were any opportunities to speak in front of the entire school cohort, I signed myself up for it. It was a period of constantly being anxious before going up on stage, and being proud of myself after it ended, but I eventually grew out of the fear of stage fright.

My biggest achievement hosting a 700 pax dinner event.

From hiding myself to speaking up, I would say that I’ve come a very far way by just pushing myself to the cliff’s edge. Just 2 years ago, I hosted a 700 pax dinner event, and that was the biggest achievement dated till now.

We all have an interesting story to tell

When I was in school, there were many times I thought, “Why would anyone want to know me? It’s not like I have an interesting story to tell, nor do I have any interesting hobbies. I’m boring.” I was just a very average person, with average grades with an average life. However, the change took place when I was 18.

Making a courageous move to hop from my homeland Singapore to China, it was a journey that changed my life forever. I was able to pursue my passion for the Chinese language and culture in Shanghai. At the same time, technology in China was moving at a very fast-paced at that time, and I was able to see and experience all the changes first-hand. It was a very exciting period for me, and I learnt a lot about the working style and ecosystem there.

My first attempt at podcast in Chinese

It was also in Shanghai where I met the heartwarming Singaporean community, and that led me to the start of my first Chinese podcast — TheStoriesAbroad(那些我在国外的事). It was people that I met in Shanghai that led me to realize that despite being the most ordinary people, we all have a personal story to tell, and I really wanted to hear their stories. While this podcast didn’t work out due to a lack of planning, I’m preparing to launch an English podcast next year with a similar concept as well.

We might think that we are boring people, but in fact, our lives might just be interesting to another person. What we actually need is just a listening ear, because everyone deserves to be heard.

My current exploration

I’ve always believed that I would be in the radio industry, but the pandemic in 2020 has disrupted all my plans (for the better). Moving away from the Chinese community, I’m currently trying to brush up my writings in English, and exploring the tech startup space in Southeast Asia and China.

While I’ve never thought that I would be doing something entirely different, I’ve learnt a lot in this period. The platform that I’m currently a part of, Oasis by KrASIA, focuses on insights from thought leaders across borders and industries, as well as well-curated articles from our contributors. We hope for this to serve as a borderless platform where everyone can come together and share their opinions freely on Education, Innovations in Tech, and even on Mental Health.

From every single person I’ve come across, I’m immensely grateful for their wisdom that broadened my horizons to more possibilities.

Our existence on this planet

“What is the meaning of our lives?”

“What is our purpose on this planet?”

These are existential questions that I loved to ask myself since young, and to dwell upon. But the truth is that no one knows the answer. In fact, there might not even be a meaning to it at all, and we are the ones that create our own meaning to the lives we lead.

In recent months, I’ve been very focused on the theme of “life and death”, and this is something that I would like to explore on in my future writings. The talk of “death” seems to be such a huge taboo in society, especially in Asian cultures. In ancient times, humans used to make up stories in order to curb the fear of death, but there is a need to face it and discuss it — Because it is only when we talk about death, can we learn how to live our lives better.