From Korea to Singapore | Here To Stay - video Dailymotion

AsiaOne

"Kyung, your TikTok the views actually, it spike up so much. What did you do, you created a viral video" says Kyung-Hoon's colleague. He shares with us his journey of growing up in Singapore, navigating cultural differences, and embracing his identity as a Singaporean.  Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video

Transcript

00:00The very interesting code-switching part

00:02has always been the times when I go out with my mother

00:06Mom, what do you want to eat?

00:07Oh, Xiaolongbao?

00:09Okay, I'll order Xiaolongbao for you

00:11Excuse me, can I have a box of Xiaolongbao?

00:14Mom, I ordered it

00:22Hello

00:24I'm Kwak Kyung-hoon, a 33-year-old Korean

00:28Hello, my name is Kyung

00:31I'm 33 and I come from South Korea

00:35How long I've spent my time in Singapore?

00:37Basically, it's almost my whole life

00:40I've lived in Korea for around 2 to 3 years

00:43and I moved to Singapore when I was 3 years old

00:48How did I move to Singapore?

00:49It was due to my father's job back then

00:53He was an architect working under Hyundai

00:56His project was situated in Singapore

00:59It was a situation where my dad had to move to Singapore

01:01My mom made the decision to bring us

01:04my brother and myself, to Singapore as well

01:08The struggle for me in kindergarten was

01:11I didn't know how other people interacted

01:14and there was also Mandarin involved

01:17So it was even more confusing for me

01:19because I was thinking like

01:20so what's English and what's Mandarin

01:22you know, out of the sentence

01:23You know, if someone says

01:25I want an apple

01:27But as a kindergarten boy, I would not know anything

01:30I would be like, what are you talking about?

01:34You know, while being a student here in Singapore

01:36because I was a foreign kid

01:39The first thing they would ask is

01:40Hey, how come your name is Kyung?

01:43So I had to explain like, you know, I'm Korean

01:46And they would be like, oh, I know Korean

01:49I know Korean, really, really

01:51Hello, hello

01:53So I'd be like, oh, good, good, good

01:55And then I basically had a nickname called

01:58The Kimchi Boy

01:59I didn't find anything offensive

02:01But I did ask them back

02:02If I call you like Chicken Rice Boy

02:05or like Hokkien Mee Boy

02:07Hey, Kway Teow Boy

02:08Do you feel anything?

02:09Like, you know, you don't feel anything

02:11So when you call me Kimchi Boy

02:12Yeah, okay, sure, I'll take it

02:14You know, I'll take it with an open heart

02:16And also my name is Kyung Hoon

02:17So people started calling me like

02:19Bee Hoon, Tang Hoon

02:21All these are like combo, you know

02:22combo nicknames for me

02:25So basically for me

02:27Code switching was a must

02:30Because at home, I'm using 100% Korean

02:33It was by hourly blocks of the day

02:356 a.m. to like time to go to school

02:38like until 7 a.m.

02:40I'll be speaking Korean to my mom

02:42Once I take the school bus

02:44or, you know, make my way to school

02:46from 8 all the way to 2 p.m. in the afternoon

02:49It's English and Mandarin all the way in school

02:52I'll switch back to Korean again

02:55And I'll speak to my mom in Korean

02:57Like what happened in school

02:58You know, how it was

03:00You know, I'll SMS my friends in English

03:02So that code switching happens from different places

03:05Basically, depending on my environment

03:07and who I was with

03:11Right now, I'm working three jobs

03:13Korean language instructor at Sejong Korean Language School

03:16dance instructor and content creator

03:19I've worked as a Korean language teacher for nine years

03:22dance instructor for six years

03:23and content creator for 2.5 years

03:25I'm also leading the social media marketing

03:28So if you see Sejong TikTok

03:31It's me!

03:32Teaching Korean honestly has

03:35It's the most unexpected thing

03:37that I imagined myself I would do

03:40But I've always found joy in teaching

03:43Right now, focusing on adult learners

03:46So the age range is around 18

03:50or sometimes there are some younger ones

03:51like 15, 16

03:53up to 70

03:57I started TikTok towards the end of the COVID period

04:00when my girlfriend just encouraged me

04:03to try to make a TikTok video

04:05using Korean accent to speak English

04:07I just picked a few footnames

04:09and then I posted

04:10and I closed the app

04:12The next day when I went to the office

04:15my colleague told me

04:17Kyung, your TikTok, the views actually

04:20it's spiked up so much

04:22What do you do? You create a viral video

04:24Since then, the creation of videos have been consistent

04:27I've been creating different aspects

04:29and here is where I am now

04:33So after making all these videos

04:37as well as teaching local students

04:41in the Korean language school

04:43I do realize

04:45I felt like, hey, actually I could bridge

04:48the locals and the Koreans

04:51as well as the culture as well

04:53I could actually bridge the gap between these two

04:57I started dance when I was in JC

04:59in school CCA

05:01called the Modern Dance Club

05:02So I thought it involved hip-hop

05:04you know, the street styles

05:05popping, locking, breaking

05:07But

05:08voila!

05:10It's a contemporary jazz and ballet

05:14Yeah, but I didn't quit

05:16I just stuck with it

05:18I learned and absorbed as much as I can

05:20Fast forward to uni days

05:21I joined the NUS Blast

05:25where I started my hip-hop street dance

05:28Now I am freestyling a lot

05:32I do choreographies as well

05:34but going for freestyle jams and battles

05:38is one of the competitions that I joined

05:42locally and internationally

05:44For freestyle battles

05:46I do represent Singapore with my dance partner

05:50I have repped Singapore in competitions

05:54in both freestyle and choreography

05:572018, there was this battle

06:00which is two versus two

06:02It was me and Fazio

06:03against a Malaysian and Taiwanese dancer

06:06It was the finals already

06:08So it was by a point system

06:10So actually by the third round

06:12we lost to the Malaysian and the Taiwanese already

06:15And the fourth round was me

06:17but we know we already lost

06:19I realized the crowd was already like

06:21Aiyah, they won already

06:23So the mood was going

06:24the atmosphere was going down like this

06:32I'm not going to give up

06:33because I know we lost already but

06:36I'm not going to give up my round

06:37I'm going to put up a good fight

06:38and I'll make sure I rep Singapore well

06:41I'm really rooting in and supporting

06:44and growing with the Singapore dance scene

06:46that I didn't realize until people around me

06:50after the event told me

06:52That was where I really got mind blown

06:56It opened up my mind

06:57I was like, wow

06:58I didn't know that

06:59I didn't know I'm actually doing that

07:04When I have kids in the future

07:07I would definitely want to teach my kids

07:10both the local culture, the Singapore culture

07:13as well as Korean culture

07:15And hopefully they are trilingual like me

07:19No pressure to my future kids

07:23No pressure

07:25I would also want to not just teach the language

07:27but to teach the Korean culture as well

07:30Because if not

07:33I do believe that's where the culture starts to

07:36a particular culture will start to die out

07:38Especially in terms of international marriages

07:41There will be two cultures coming in

07:43Some will clash

07:44Some will go hand in hand

07:46So I think knowing those

07:50not just the ones that go hand in hand

07:52but the ones that don't go hand in hand

07:54I think I would want my future kids to know

07:58I am proud to be a Singaporean

08:01Being a Singaporean is actually not just a word

08:06just used loosely

08:08But there's so much interconnection

08:12between the different cultures, races, languages

08:17So I do feel like

08:19I would say I'm proud to grow up here

08:22You know, one of the cleanest and safest countries in the world

08:27I don't think you'll get this anywhere else

08:32To my loving mom and dad

08:34First of all, I want to say thank you

08:37and love you from the bottom of my heart

08:40It's a little embarrassing to say this face to face

08:44but I will express my feelings through this letter

08:48I realized how much my mom and dad's decision

08:52to move to Singapore 30 years ago

08:54had a huge impact on my brother's life and my future

08:59While my mom and dad were living in a strange and new country

09:04they must have gone through a lot of trials and tribulations

09:07But my mom and dad overcame all of them with their endless courage and patience

09:12I'm so grateful that they made so many sacrifices

09:15for a better opportunity and a brighter future

09:18I'm so grateful that they made so many sacrifices

09:22My mom and dad were our pillars

09:25and they made me who I am today

09:28Now we are the pillars of my mom and dad

09:31I will try my best to be the proudest and coolest son in the world

09:37Mom, dad, I love you

09:40Youngest son, Gwak Kyung Hoon

From Korea to Singapore | Here To Stay

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