"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.
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Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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LifestyleTranscript
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