Hi there! I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After completing a law degree in England, I joined the Teach For Malaysia fellowship and taught for two years in a high-need secondary school. There, I founded Kenyang, a social enterprise with a mission to tackle malnutrition in low income, at-risk communities.

Keen to learn what it takes to run a great corporation, I then joined the Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant. Eager to put things to action once again, I co-founded Grit Nation, a fitness startup with a strong social and community ethos and worked to set up MyReaders Literacy, an education social enterprise.

Currently, I am based in New York City as a Global Health Corps fellow to deepen my expertise in social work and entrepreneurship. I have ambitions of creating social impact on a large scale through business.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelfootsteps/

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

Back when I was in law school, my female Constitutional law lecturer (who is small and petite) told us a tale of how she once traveled around Europe solo and couchsurfed her entire journey. I was inspired her story of sharing cultures and that's how I began my journey.

So far, I've hosted once to a surfer from China and have couchsurfed solo with hosts in the UK, Belgium, Hong Kong, Tokyo & Chiang Mai.

I choose to couchsurf when traveling solo because I think it is the best way to respect and understand the culture of the place when I visit. I always bring a gift from the place I am traveling from and love to spend the evenings with my couchsurfing hosts.

兴趣

Music
- Likes playing the guitar, uke and piano and singing (we can jam!)

Fitness
- Does CrossFit. Ran a half during the Penang International Bridge Marathon 2013 and didn't die.

Hiking/Scouting/Camping
- Hiked and camped plenty around Malaysia as a scout. I still go hiking when I can.

Food
- Can cook a local Malaysian meal or two. I love fish and chips and good tea, especially green tea.

Social Impact
- Love discussing ideas on how we can make the world a better place

• arts
• culture
• singing
• photography
• sketching
• education
• dining
• cooking
• fitness
• marathon
• running
• modeling
• crossfit
• boating
• traveling
• painting
• music
• guitar
• piano
• fishing
• hiking
• camping
• cartography
• teaching
• geography
• law

音乐、电影和书籍

Movies
- Am a sucker for superhero movies & sci-fi movies

Music
- Love the Good Vibes playlist on Spotify. Current earworm: Where It All Goes by Lostboycrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6FuixQfiME)

Books
- Currently reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi & A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- I love books and read a new one every 3-4 days - please recommend me some if you have any!

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

Hiked around the perimeter of Penang island, Malaysia for over 100km with a 20kg haversack over 6 days 5 nights - I believe that there are amazing things that you only see when you travel by foot.

教，学，和分享

Teach
- How to cook a local Malaysian meal
- How to play the guitar/piano
- How to do the worm (the dance move haha)

Learn
- Learn about your culture
- Learn new things

Share
- Stories from my time teaching in rural Malaysia/Malaysia's culture/living in New York
- Songs, I love to sing

我可以与沙发主分享些什么

I can cook for you local dishes from Malaysia and share more about my culture! I'll also give my host a Starbucks tumbler from New York City as a token of appreciation :)

I can be a pretty good thought partner too if you want to talk about a project... or just life.

我游览过的国家

Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Wales

我居住过的国家

Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States