In stereotypical Asian fashion, Koh Zuo Ming’s family encouraged him to be a lawyer, doctor or teacher.

But he did nothing of that sort.

Instead, at 30 years old, he is now an Assistant Vice President in GIC's private equity team in New York.

For context, GIC is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

Not too bad at all.

Here's how he went from a wide-eyed, studious teenager in the little red dot to a private equity investor in the Big Apple.

Life-changing phone call

While serving his National Service in 2009, Koh received a call informing him that he had been offered a GIC scholarship.

For the uninitiated, GIC is a fund manager that manages Singapore's foreign reserves on behalf of its client, which is the Singapore government.

The GIC Scholarship Programme, which is open for applications till March 12, 2021, is suitable for individuals who are keen on a career in investment management.

The programme covers tuition and other related fees and allowances and return airfare for overseas studies, and could also cover sponsorship for a Master’s degree and other learning opportunities, subject to approval.

According to Koh, he applied for the scholarship as he wanted to give back to his country through his interest in finance.

He said: “GIC represents an opportunity for me to really contribute to my country’s financial future. That’s a great purpose to have. I'm very interested how the market and the economy work, as well as how business executives make decisions that affect outcomes for investors and other stakeholders.”

While it was welcome news for him, receiving the scholarship wasn't as easy as that.

He recalled the extensive interview process which he initially thought was going to be a "simple, two-round process".

But it was far from simple.

He had to meet various people from GIC who asked copious questions throughout the various interviews.

He said: "I recall thinking to myself at one point, how many people did they want me to meet?” but added that he didn’t mind the many interactions, as “it was very interesting getting to meet more people within the company.”

“I remember being struck by a few things over the various interviews, like they really wanted to know why I was interested in investing and why [I chose] GIC."

Full family support

As the eldest son in the family, he initially hesitated to leave his ageing parents to further his studies and embark on his career abroad.

Luckily for him, he had a supportive family who had his back at all times.

"Personally, [I had] this mental expectation to be with them. But they were very supportive and told me to go ahead because it was a great opportunity for me."

Culture shock

As part of the scholarship, Koh enrolled in Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university in the U.S. where he majored in Economics and Government.

Reflecting on his schooling days in Singapore, he described himself as a fairly serious student who typically had more questions than his peers.

However, being in an American classroom took some getting used to.

"The classes are very interactive. My classmates always had questions for the professors and sometimes would openly challenge the professors in class.

I had to get used to thinking on my feet and responding to direct criticisms of the arguments that I was trying to make."

Classroom culture aside, Koh also had to get used to living in Hanover, New Hampshire, a college town of 10,000 residents sans the conveniences he had taken for granted in Singapore.

No midnight prata runs in the U.S.

He said: "Stalls don’t open till late, unlike at home, and I definitely missed the midnight prata runs that I used to do back in Singapore."

Experiencing frigid -20°C temperatures in blustery arctic-like conditions during the winter for the first time was also memorable for someone who was born and raised in tropical Singapore.

“It was something that I could not get used to, really. I was layering up and trying to avoid the outdoors. We would take ‘warm cuts’, where we walk through heated buildings and spend more time walking just to avoid the cold outdoors."

However, being able to enjoy fresh air and outdoor activities like skiing right at his doorstep was a nice trade-off for him.

After four years of college, Koh graduated in 2015 and joined GIC's Professionals Programme (GPP) in Singapore.

GPP is an eight-month programme for fresh graduates that is designed to jumpstart one's career in the world of investing.

The programme includes three rotations around different departments in GIC.

Working in the Big Apple

Koh thought that he was going to start his career in Singapore like most scholars.

That is, until he received a call before graduating from university with an offer to join the Private Equity team in New York.

He took some time to deliberate, however, as he thought of his folks back home in Singapore.

But thanks to the unrelenting support and encouragement from his family, he decided to accept the offer.

"Ultimately I decided that I [was] going to take the offer and I'm very glad I said yes. It's been a really good experience."

Koh spent his first two years in the Direct Investments Group before switching to the Secondaries team in 2018. He has been working in New York for about five years now.

Contributing to Singapore from miles away

Starting off in New York forced him to ramp up on his technical skills, especially as his peers had two to three years of investment banking experience prior to joining GIC.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, Koh also had to get used to working from home.

He lives in a 600 square feet apartment (that's slightly smaller than a 3-room HDB flat) that he shares with his fiancée, who has also been working from home.

However, these challenges are nothing compared to the camaraderie he has built with his colleagues in GIC.

He is also happy that he is able to contribute to his homeland as a proud Singaporean despite being thousands of miles away.

Similar work culture

Having worked with both Singaporeans and New Yorkers, he concluded that the work culture in the two regions is more similar than one might expect.

While he described both as ‘highly collegial, collaborative and intellectual honest’, he also observed that his U.S. colleagues tend to be more direct when voicing their disagreements, as compared to their Singaporean counterparts.

"There's a lot more open disagreement, which is actually healthy for an investment organisation.

Of course, that’s not to say that my colleagues in Singapore don’t debate investment ideas, they do all the time as well. It’s just that my U.S. colleagues tend to be more forthright when they disagree.

Underpinning these differences, though, is a common aim that we're all trying to get to the best answer, the correct investment decision."

Singapore is home, truly

Koh said that he doesn't get homesick often as he returns to Singapore once or twice a year to visit his family.

However, he hasn't been able to go home for the past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To alleviate the homesickness, he would “read Mothership for the latest news and gossip and head to Chinatown [in New York] for nasi lemak”.

Ultimately, you can take a man out of Singapore, but you can't take Singapore out of a man.

Interested in applying for a GIC Scholarship? Visit bit.ly/GICscholar

This sponsored post by GIC has made the writer crave prata and nasi lemak.