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/

Why I’m on 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.

Interests

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

Music, Movies, and Books

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!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

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.

Teach, Learn, Share

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

What I Can Share with Hosts

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.

Countries I’ve Visited

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

Countries I’ve Lived In

Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States