Becoming Singaporean: From young boy growing up in rural Chinese town to raising a family in Singapore

At the age of 13, Bao Shang Ze, better known as Bunz, could barely form a sentence in English.

Growing up in Wenzhou, a city in China's Zhejiang province, this wasn't an issue.

However, his lack of proficiency in English would prove to be a problem after his father dropped the unexpected news that the family would be migrating to Singapore.

This was in the year 2000.

His dad was already working as a software engineer in Singapore and decided to bring Bunz and his mum over to live here permanently.

"It came as a shock. We didn't even have an idea of where Singapore was!" Bunz told AsiaOne in an interview.

Conversing in English comes naturally to him now but as a teenager, he recounted feeling fear and anxiousness at the thought of relocating to a new country and being exposed to a different culture.

"I had to leave my grandparents, friends and the place I've lived in my entire life," Bunz said, explaining the root of his trepidation back then.

Today, the 37-year-old singer, producer and actor has put down roots in Singapore, having gained citizenship in 2003.

Not only that, but he is also currently raising his own family here too.

Simple country life

When asked about the town he grew up in, Bunz describes it as "very small", with buildings surrounded by mountains and rivers.

He added: "It's a cosy and closely-knit neighbourhood where people up and down the street would all know each other."

Television programmes were still in black and white, and the Internet wave hadn't arrived yet.

His hobbies as a child were mainly interacting with what the outdoors could offer, including catching grasshoppers out in the fields, heading to the streams to catch fishes or just playing with mud.

"Life [as a young boy] was very simple. I actually didn't have any idea of what I wanted to be when I grow up!" he admitted.

Raised by his grandparents, who were both educators, Bunz figured he'd trudge the same path into adulthood.

The notion of living abroad did not ever cross his mind.

But at such a young age, Bunz was already aware that travelling abroad was a privilege only a minority of people from his town got to experience.

Soon, he'd be one of them and little did he know that the tiny, unfamiliar island he met as a child would become his long-term home.

The big move

Upon arriving in Singapore, the jarring differences he noticed vis-a-vis Wenzhou compounded the feeling of overwhelm.

As phrased by the man himself, the shift was like moving from a "kampung to a very developed city".

Bunz still recalls being amazed by the sight of cars whizzing down the road.

"We don't get to see a lot of cars in my hometown!" he said.

After all, his only frame of reference of Singapore previously were stamps or photos snapped by his father.

It wasn't as if Googling nuggets of information about Singapore was an option either, he laughed.

Overcoming obstacles is part of settling into a new environment but Bunz's situation was further exacerbated by the language barrier. 

His poor grasp of English meant he was "very nervous" when it came to social interactions early on.

Even ordering food was an ordeal.

"Most of the time, I stayed at home. It was really a culture shock that took some time to overcome," he admitted.

Lessons at the British Council ensured Bunz's grasp of English improved incrementally but he still had to navigate through tricky times in secondary school.

The first two years, in particular, were "very hard" as Bunz struggled with communicating with his peers.

On his part, Bunz was conscious of not just clinging to the Chinese community in school.

He said: "I forced myself to speak more with my Malay and Indian friends. Even if I spoke in broken English, [I told myself] never mind, just try."

Calling Singapore home

Having gone through part of the local education system, Bunz's life experience began to mirror some of his Singaporean friends.

In secondary school, he was appointed prefect and attended Outward Bound Singapore.

These could be mistaken for milestones of a regular Singaporean child.

But internally, Bunz was still grappling between two separate identities. 

When his dad applied for Singapore citizenship, Bunz admitted he felt unsure of his own citizenship path.

"I still had time to decide but the identity crisis was real," he said. 

There were bouts of homesickness and it took a while for the sense of being an outsider in Singapore to be completely gone.

But when the time came to make a decision at 16, Bunz shared that it actually ended up being a straight-forward one. 

The shared experiences with his Singaporean friends helped him find his Singaporean identity and a sense of belonging here.

21 years later, it's clearly not a decision he regrets. 

When asked to describe Singapore, Bunz went with these three words: secure, safe and stable. 

While not the most outlandish or astounding adjectives, it holds true for him, especially since he became a parent.

The father of two girls age five and 10, who are Singaporeans, stated that he isn't concerned about his kids' safety whenever they head to the local playground. 

"I feel safe," said Bunz, whose wife is Taiwanese.

Just like that, he hits the nail on the head.

At its core, a home can be described as a refuge, a space where one feels safe, secure and accepted.

And in Singapore, Bunz has found a home, not just for himself, but his future generations too.

ALSO READ: 'I had a hard time adjusting to my new life': Woman opens up about moving to Singapore alone at 14

amierul@asiaone.com

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