Homecoming

Introduce yourself!
Hey, I’m Joseph, I’m 26-year-old Vietnamese American student, and I’m visiting and touring Singapore.

What are you studying in school?
Environmental policy. In America, we write policies for the government or privately-owned agencies for the betterment of the environment.

What made you want to pursue this?
I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time. I care for the environment and animals, and I just want to make the Earth a better place so that we can live longer and have a more sustainable future.

What’s it like being Asian American?
I was born and raised in California, but I think it’s so much more fun here in Asia (laughs). My city’s a little similar to Singapore since it’s more developed, but I don’t know, I feel like I’m a lot more free to connect with the culture here than I can in America.

Do you visit Asia often?
No, not really, It’s been about eight years since I was last back here. I was in Vietnam for about a month, and am only in Singapore for a few days before heading back.

How do you connect with your roots being so far away in the US?
My parents moved to the US at an older age, so Vietnamese is the only way we can communicate, which helps a lot. There’s also a small Vietnamese community where I like, and I have a few Vietnamese friends.

It’s nice to have a familiar community! Can you share any recommendations for people travelling to California?
I guess the beaches are really nice there. During the right seasons, you can see both snow and the beach in the same day if you’re really ambitious about that. As for food, I can’t say much because I cook mostly.

A chef! What do you usually cook?
Mainly Vietnamese dishes that I try to make vegan, so that I can eat it as a vegetarian. One of my favourites to make is bánh xèo (a crispy, savoury Vietnamese crêpe), dipped in a vegan fish sauce.

Sounds delicious! What else do you enjoy doing outside of school and cooking?
Let’s see, I like to go hiking and karaoke-ing. I used to be in a acapella group, but it was just a lot to handle.

One last question: how does feel now that you’re in your mid-late 20s?
Well I just turned 26 this year, so I’m still trying to figure it out. I feel like living in America is a little hard these days because of the new presidency, and a lot of things are going to be changing, so yeah.