00:00It's kind of like the same script, but then I felt that I wanted a bit more than that.
00:04So I took the chance to go overseas.
00:07Hi, my name is Vicente.
00:23I'm 31 years old now.
00:25I'm like Filipinas.
00:27Pinoy Pride.
00:28Hi, I'm Vicente.
00:30I'm 31 this year, and I'm from the Philippines.
00:33So I came from the city of Manila, and in Manila there's a few districts, so I grew up in the streets of Tondo.
00:40But I also grew up in the streets of Chinatown, and then when we go to Chinatown, we mix around with the local Filipino-Chinese.
00:47Kind of similar to Singapore's kampung spirit, but this one you can see it in the Chinese community.
00:52We're a family of four.
00:55So two older brothers, two younger sisters.
00:58I'm actually the eldest.
00:59My dad is a technician.
01:02He owns a small shop in Chinatown area.
01:04My mom, she graduated in Philippines as an interior designer, but she gave up the interior design work because she wanted to take care of the four of us.
01:15And bringing us to school, making sure that we get the proper education, cooking for us really good meals.
01:20Sometimes when I come to Singapore, the food I miss the most is like my mom's cooking.
01:25When I came to Singapore, it was quite a big change.
01:27Actually, I have a senior.
01:29She was from the same school, and we used to do this mathematics trainer's guild.
01:34Her sister actually got a scholarship to come to Singapore.
01:37Then my mom found out about it and said, like, okay, why don't you try?
01:41Then sent me to take the same scholarship she took.
01:43It was the MOE ASEAN scholarship.
01:45And when I got accepted, I was thinking, my mom told me I have a choice.
01:49It's either I can choose to stay or I take it.
01:52But she pushed me towards taking it because it would be a better life.
01:57For me, I was thinking of, okay, if I stay in the Philippines, I'm going to be doing this exact same thing as everyone.
02:03It's kind of like the same script that everyone has.
02:05But then I felt that I wanted a bit more than that, so I took the chance to go overseas because at least it would expose me to a more global education.
02:14And I know that Singapore has one of the world's best education systems.
02:18At first, I was scared.
02:19Okay, what if I don't do well in Singapore as well as I did in the Philippines?
02:23But then I felt that if I didn't do well, at least I went overseas, experienced other culture, get to know more perspective, and took the leap of faith.
02:35Life was tough when I first came to Singapore.
02:41Initially, I felt homesick.
02:43When I first came here, the first week was tough because my mom had to be with me.
02:48But then when my mom left after a week, that was after New Year's, then I had to start school.
02:53It felt quite lonely because I was left alone.
02:57And it was the first time in so long that I was alone on my own.
02:59Sometimes that loneliness, you're not sure what to do.
03:02And you feel kind of isolated and secluded.
03:04I used to board at this hostel called River Valley High School Hostel.
03:09That hostel was quite unique because River Valley, the other S.A.N. people, like the Vietnamese, the Thai, the Malaysians, the Indonesians, they were quite friendly.
03:18And then I was able to connect with them because we all need to learn English better and improve our English.
03:24So, yeah, we started spending a lot of time together.
03:27And because of that, we kind of like formed a band together.
03:31And it's called like TVIP.
03:33So, Thailand, Vietnamese, Indonesia, Philippines.
03:36We actually performed our first debut performance during Racial Harmony Day.
03:40And I think that was like the first time I felt like, oh, actually, even though we're all from different countries, we actually can mingle and come to a common understanding.
03:50And I think like Singapore actually helped to bridge that gap.
03:54So, at least we can intermingle and learn from each other's culture to become better citizens of the world.
04:00Initially, when I came here, my Filipino accent is quite strong.
04:08Now I can still hear a bit, but like sometimes like people see I look Chinese, speak a bit of Singlish.
04:14Okay, they know I'm a foreigner, but sometimes I can pass off as a Singaporean.
04:18Actually, when I was younger, I was trained to speak Hokkien back at home.
04:22So, when I came here and I hear the Hokkien, I can understand.
04:26The interesting part is when I made friends with the Indonesians, they also know how to speak Hokkien.
04:31And their Hokkien is similar to Singapore Hokkien.
04:34Okay, so in Malay is Lu, but then like in Indo is also Lu.
04:38But in Philippine Hokkien, it's Di.
04:41But it's also similar to the Taiwan Hokkien of Di.
04:44When I'm in Singapore, it feels like all the languages just come together.
04:47At first, I was a bit hesitant of speaking Singlish.
04:50But over time, I mean like why not just speak Singlish lah.
04:53I mean like I'm in Singapore and I've been here for half my life already.
04:57So, I think it's quite an endearing language also.
05:00To be able to say things as quickly as possible in the shortest amount of time.
05:05For me, it became very natural.
05:07But when I go back to Philippines, I was teased for having the foreigner kind of accent.
05:12So, now when I go back to Philippines and I speak English with them.
05:16In Singapore context, this is what they would say to me.
05:18Wah, your English so atas ah.
05:20So, what's interesting right now is like whenever I go back, I had to like re-adjust to the Philippine way of speaking in English.
05:26So that I can re-integrate back with them and become a local Filipino Chinese.
05:32One of my favorite memories in Singapore was when I was in JC.
05:36Because when I first came here in secondary school, I had good friends.
05:40But I didn't feel like I belonged yet.
05:42And I think it changed when I went to JC because now everyone starts from a clean slate.
05:48And the best part about JC, especially SAJC, is that there's a very strong school spirit.
05:55So, it made me feel that for the first time, like I can make Singapore my home.
06:00And there were a lot of good memories in JC.
06:03So, this is the roundabout where we chased after the bus after A-levels.
06:09We wanted to see like who is faster.
06:11Is it us or is it the bus?
06:12It turned out in the end, the bus was faster.
06:15Only one of us managed to reach the finish line and was faster than the bus.
06:19In order to save pace for some of us, we cheated.
06:22We just cut through the roundabout and just like went straight to the bus stop in order to say we beat the bus.
06:27And we had a friend filming inside the bus to tell us that we actually did this.
06:33I think the first time I recognized that Singapore was a good brand name was when I got my first job as a, I would say it's like IT Pakaliao.
06:43Whenever like my bosses go overseas to basically sign contracts about like building a solar power plant for them,
06:50it's always very interesting to see that, oh, okay, your headquarters is in Singapore.
06:54Very good, very reliable.
06:55And I think Singapore was quite smart to be able to build this within 50 years to create that strong brand image such that people will trust the brand.
07:02And make sure that they want to do business with Singapore for a long time.
07:07And I hope it stays.
07:08So what I do right now, normally when I go out and tell people what I do, three simple things.
07:15I'm an educator.
07:16I'm an entertainer.
07:17And I'm an entrepreneur.
07:19Educator, easy lah.
07:20I'm here in the school.
07:21And today is like racial harmony day.
07:23Then as part of being an educator, I also do life coaching.
07:27Then as an entertainer, this is the fun part.
07:29Entertainer.
07:29You can always combine with education.
07:31I work as a magician.
07:33So sometimes like on the weekends, when you don't see me around teaching, I go around performing to people in the streets.
07:39In ancient China, they have this thing called the Oracle Bones.
07:43In Chinese, it's called jia hu wen.
07:45So you write random words in front, random words behind.
07:49But if you give it a shake, you will see the lines moving closer.
07:52When you shake even harder, you will see that the words start forming.
07:55And when it forms, maybe it's time that you should come to Singapore as well.
08:03So why I do all these things is because, you know, you only have one life to live.
08:08Why not live it to the fullest?
08:09And if I can help people to do that, that would be fun too.
08:12And the reason why I do that for myself is, I've already come to Singapore.
08:16I've already broken away.
08:17I have a lot of freedom.
08:18When you grow up and grow old in life, and you ask yourself the question,
08:22did I ever live a fulfilling life?
08:24At least for me, I would answer that, yes.
08:26I did what I could with the best that I can.
08:29So why not just chase after your dreams and go for it all out?
08:33If not, you're living someone else's life, not yours.
08:36So my future plan is to be able to give back to ASEAN.
08:41And since Singapore is at the center point and has been the link that connects ASEAN to other countries as well,
08:47I want to be able to operate in Singapore and make ASEAN great together with Singapore.
08:53Dear Vicente,
08:55Congrats on making it this far.
08:57Magaling at mahusay ang ginawa mo.
08:59Pero alala mo na lang saan kagaling.
09:02Yadzik ang ko.
09:03But I promise you, the rewards you will reap will be far greater than anything you can ever imagine.
09:10Unlock the path that will bring you to live your life to the fullest.
09:14Di o di kay kilang.
09:16So make it count.
09:17Tikim mo lahat ng maibibigay sa iyo ng Singapore.
09:21No matter what happens,
09:23embrace your freedom and treasure every moment of it.
09:28Go and live your life to the fullest.
09:30Your better self,
09:33Vicente.
09:33Yeah.
09:37Can happen.
09:39Solo.
09:40Va Daseli.
09:45Okay.
09:46Okay.
09:47betrayal.
09:48Go and how.
09:52It's here.
09:54Let's begin.
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