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Self-assured and friendly, Andrew Koay, 29, carries himself with the kind of easygoingness and candour that make most naturally warm up to him.
Asked to introduce himself, he quips that folks have said he reminds them of “The Rock” or “Terry Crews”.
Allegedly, because of “the same type of body composition”.
A side-by-side comparison, so you can decide.
From his 3½ years at Mothership, he has interesting stories aplenty, such as how he once went ghost hunting for an article, and experienced something rather spine-chilling – which you will be able to read about soon.
As a “Third Culture Kid”, Koay shares that he first moved to Singapore at the age of three, before moving back to Australia to study there for much of his teenage years.
He eventually moved back to Singapore at 17 to serve National Service (NS).
Having been in Singapore for 11 years since then, Koay shares that culturally, he now feels “quite at home” here.
The only thing he has not gotten used to is perhaps the weather – which Koay says is tough because it’s “always so humid”.
Fast forward to 2022, where Koay is now a senior writer in the Features & Perspectives team, which is also currently hiring.
We asked Koay 15 questions about his life in Singapore, what he enjoys about his work, and what his job really entails.
Having written an advertorial for the Everdesk Max+, he has the only standing desk in the office. Leagues apart from us.
So if you’re curious what working in Mothership is like, here’s a taster.
How did you come to work at Mothership?
While I was serving NS, I lost my spot at an Australian university.
So then I applied to university here.
It was pretty straightforward after – because I’m a PR, I took a tuition grant from the government, and the tuition grant comes with a three-year bond.
So I had to work in a Singapore company after I graduated for three years.
Basically, I’d call this my first full-time job.
I just Google searched “job Singapore writer”, and Mothership was one of the first links that popped up.
Did you always want to become a writer?
I wouldn't say I always wanted to. I actually didn’t score very well in English for school.
But when I was in NS, I went to a gig and bumped into someone running an online music website.
She was looking for contributors or writers, and in my head, this was a way for me to go for free concerts.
So I did stuff like that, and got to do interviews, and received good feedback from editors.
In university, I then quickly realised the only thing I was good at was writing essays.
I remember for the first essay I wrote, my professor was doing this thing where she went through students' essays, and shared what was good or bad.
And then she brought up mine and said, this is actually you know, a well-written essay, although she tore up some bits at the end.
I also did some internships, like I interned with this Christian youth magazine, YMI.
There was a former Straits Times reporter there, and he also gave me really good feedback, and told me I have an aptitude for writing. Like this is something I should try to hone a little better.
Was the interview process nerve-wracking for you then? What with it being your first job application and all.
Hmm, actually nah.
I mean, I was slightly nervous, but at that time, I was thinking that this would be the first of many interviews.
It’s not a one-hit K.O. kinda deal for most people usually.
But yeah thankfully it worked out, because I hate doing admin.
I’d say that’s part of why it panned out, because during the interview process, there were a few rounds, but it all moved along relatively quickly. And I remember thinking “oh this feels promising, maybe I don’t have to send out any more job applications."
So I never did, and well, the interviewers also gave me good vibes.
So Mothership remains the only place I've ever applied to and interviewed for.
First job, first interview.
What do you remember of your first day at Mothership? What was the very first story you wrote?
I do remember my first story – I mean you always remember your first. (*Koay pauses, interviewers laugh*)
Ahhh, the first story I wrote was the most random sh*t.
On my first day, Singapore had just bought a new submarine, and our defence minister Ng Eng Hen and his wife were there for the launch.
His wife, Ivy Ng, was seen breaking a bottle of champagne on the side of the vessel.
And so there was this video of it online, and I wrote an explainer on why she broke that bottle of bubbly.
So why did she do that?
It was basically because of this long-standing maritime tradition for new ships – a sailor will always break a bottle of champagne for good luck.
I think there was something like how they failed to do it for the Titanic, and then it obviously sank.
You’ve written many profile pieces over the years. Who was your favourite profile to interview, and why?
The guy with the signboard who goes around seeking a wife.
Photo by Andrew Koay
Most of the time, my newest profile is my favourite profile, but I think the feature piece on Ah Guan was interesting because when I first saw him, I thought he was a weirdo. A siao lang or whatever you know?
How did you first meet Ah Guan?
This is actually a pretty funny story – I met Ah Guan at this protest against foreign workers/talent in Singapore.
He was holding his sign, and was just walking past Hong Lim Park.
I think Ah Guan got curious and came in, right as they were having a sign competition, where they encouraged people to come on stage and explain their signs.
So the person on stage sees Ah Guan holding a sign, and calls him up on stage.
And Ah Guan was like, "Oh ya, I’m looking for a wife", which I thought was really funny, and immediately, everyone became really awkward.
Because he’d flipped the script, right? Coming in with a totally unrelated sign.
Then I think Ah Guan kinda read the room a bit, and towards the end of his speech, also tagged on about how he was upset at the government for taking away the singles mixer scheme at random community centres in Singapore.
While I was there, I took a photo of him and the sign, and that was how I got his contact.
At first, to be completely honest, I just wanted it to be a story about this weird dude doing a weird thing.
But when we actually sat down and spoke and Ah Guan let me into his life a little bit, it made me feel like this dude actually has very relatable motivations.
I can understand why he feels the need to take this course of action.
That’s what I really enjoyed about the feature piece. It’s not always the case that you go into a story, and have your perspective completely changed.
What about a recent profile piece that you enjoyed doing. Any that stood out?
Alan Seah was a fun piece because originally when I pitched the story, we were just looking to interview an older member of the LGBTQ community and see if their views contrasted with a younger person's.
Then we managed to get Alan to agree to an interview, and when I realised who he was I thought it was a great opportunity to tell the story of how 377A got repealed.
Afterall, Alan was there from the start.
So that's what it really is for me, a story about the 15 year campaign to repeal 377A, told through the perspective of one of the OG campaigners.
Of course, Alan being so open about things and sharing candidly made it a lot of fun to interview him.
And then there was the delving into the archives to read the news reports from 15 years ago, before that and also more recent developments along the way.
It was interesting to read about different things that happened with regard to the LGBTQ community and how it was reported on.
Ultimately, I also wanted the piece to be something of a marker of this incredible moment in Singapore's history — that a law that generated so much debate and anguish was going to be erased from our penal code.
I don't know if it achieved any of the things I was hoping it would when I pitched the story, but hey, I had loads of fun writing it.
Loads of fun and not a lot of sleep.
You’ve done a lot of crime investigation stories too. Why do you enjoy doing them and what fascinates you about them?
Hmmmm. I don’t know if enjoy is the right word. But I do find Singapore's justice system interesting.
It just seems to work in a very efficient manner.
You never really hear about long drawn-out court cases, or stories of malpractice or corruption like in other countries.
It makes me curious about the system, so any opportunity I have to look at court documents, or to watch court proceedings, I'm quite interested.
What’s one most interesting court experience you had?
I'd say an insightful one is: you remember the first NUS pervert?
I think a lot of the outrage about it can be traced back to this case, where an NUS undergrad was originally not given jail time because he had good grades and "potential to excel in life".
Subsequently, there was public outrage and an appeal over the court’s decision.
So I was in court for the session where they were trying him, and I had written Mothership’s original article on how he had avoided jail and all, which I think helped to spark some of that outrage and injustice.
Post-session, I was seated just across from him as I filed my story.
And I was wondering, should I talk to him? Would he recognise me from my byline?
Like, you know, here’s someone whose life I think I've impacted directly by my writing, and I’m seated right across from him.
It was a very surreal experience, because if the media hadn't written about his case, I think it might not have become that big of a deal.
You're also basically the only person in our company who does podcasts. What draws you to it?
Yeah, I will say that I wanted to do podcasts before I wanted to be a writer.
As a kid, whenever we went on long trips, my dad would always put on BBC and they would have these radio documentaries that I really enjoyed.
I really like audio journalism and audio documentaries.
In fact, when I write, a lot of the time, I’m actually writing a podcast in my head.
I take a lot of inspiration from the podcasts I listen to.
I think there's a huge overlap for both: in terms of storytelling, in terms of the kinds of topics I’m interested in exploring, and in terms of how I like to structure my stories as well.
Is features or podcasts your favourite content pillar?
Oh, interesting. Great question.
Hmmm, it's hard to pick between both.
Because some stories just work better for audio, and some for the written word.
I think having worked here for just over three and a half years now, I feel like I'm very medium-agnostic.
I love working with all kinds of mediums, what I'm really passionate about is telling a good story.
Some stories also work best as photo essays, and I really enjoy that too.
Is that why you always carry a camera around with you everywhere you go?
Oh no no, that makes me sound like a pervert (LOL).
Nah, I always carry around a camera with me only because I’m into photography.
Street photography in particular, where it’s about capturing the candid things that happen around you.
It’s one of the things great photographers often say: just go everywhere with your camera and be ready to take a photo, in case you see something interesting.
Cool, what are some recent shots you took?
Hmm, just the most random sh*t.
Like I just liked how the people were dressed in this one, and the way the colours were coming together.
By Andrew Koay
So I took a photo of that because it looked interesting to me.
This is another photo I took in Germany.
The scene caught my eye because of the way the men were sitting and standing, and the lights and the shadows.
Photo by Andrew Koay.
What is a fun fact about yourself that your Mothership colleagues don’t know about?
Hmm. I really like Sheryl Crow’s music. I just think she does good music.
I also like Fall Out Boy. I do generally listen to that song, “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”, everyday.
As depicted in Koay’s bio on the Mothership website. Screenshot via Mothership.
What has been your biggest takeaway from the job? Any last words you’d like to say to your colleagues or bosses?
Oh wow it sounds like I’m getting fired.
I’m not leaving anytime soon though, unfortunately for you guys. (*interviewers laugh*)
Hmm, I’d say working here can be really, really tiring and can be stressful at times.
But it can also be extremely rewarding and fulfilling. I feel grateful that I work in a place where I feel valued by my colleagues, and I can explore the things I'm curious about.
I’m very grateful about that because I do think a lot of people probably don't experience that for long periods of time in their life. So that’s good.
Other work by the Features & Perspectives team
- I gave up my dream of being a journalist to be a domestic worker in S’pore & I’d do it all over again
- S’pore watch collector saved pocket money & worked odd jobs through poly to buy S$11,000 Rolex at 21
- S'porean couple goes from 'aiya, too soon lah' to BTO-ing just 4 months into relationship
- This young S’porean hawker who worked in a Michelin-starred kitchen shares what it takes to run a hawker stall. Does he represent the future of our hawker culture?
Top image by Lean Jinghui