About Flying

It’s been a long way since I started my very first version of Flying @way in July 1998 (It was still called Flying’s World then). There have been many memorable moments through my 10 years in Singapore!

I was born in 1978, when China had just embarked on opening its gates to the whole world. In 1997, I graduated from high school and was enrolled in the SCUT in Guangzhou, China. At that time, a big surprise from the MOE of Singapore—a full-time scholarship offer for undergraduate studies in Singapore—came upon me right after the one-month freshmen military training in SCUT.

‘Singapore,’ what a distant name to me then! The only ideas I had about this famous city state were collected from TV dramas, as well as her reputation as one of the East Asian Tigers. But it was the opportunities for adventures and the bright new horizon ahead that attracted me. Soon, I left my beloved motherland, China, for the first time in my life.

There were many first-times to me, as well as most of my friends under the same scholarship scheme,—our first interviews, signing of our first legal contracts, our first trip away from our homelands alone, our first real adventures in life, ... The whole new world was so exciting, yet confusing! Fortunately, many kind souls around us and among ourselves touched me in many different ways. My teachers, my friends, my classmates, and not forgetting my beloved family and relatives cared for me and helped me through the obstacles all these years.

Since my first steps onto Singapore in the afternoon of 22 November in that year, I have gone through 5 years of busy university life in NUS. After that, I settled down with a stable job in Singapore. Though just a tiny island comparing to the vast lands of China, Singapore is now considered my home in this ever-shrinking global village. Nevertheless, my beloved hometown, Guangzhou (a.k.a. Canton), the “South Gate” of China, will always be holding a special place in my dreams.

25 November 2007