Hello i'm a pac-man

I've been lurking around for quite some time and benefited lots (and sometimes laughed) from the comments in this community. I want to give back to the community by sharing my POV/experiences from an unusual part of the world that is receiving growing interest from the finance community - Indochina.

I grew up in Singapore, interned in Cambodia (IB) and studied in the US (semi-target) for awhile. The differences between the cultures and markets across these countries couldn't be more diverse. With so much talk about investing in APAC emerging markets, I hope I can offer a different perspective from the other side of the globe and at the same time, reach out to my fellow APAC monkeys on this site :)

On this note, are there any related topics that you guys are interested/ want me to cover?

3 Comments
 

Welcome! I'm curious about the life outside the office. Is the social life the same from what you experienced? Are bankers held to the same scrutinies ?

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing, and i am no quite sure that i know that.” Socrates
 
Best Response

In Indochina, I would say it is still quite suppressed. Most of the banking communities here are dominated by middle-aged expats who have passed their social heydays. However most of them are still single due to their erratic traveling schedule, making the dating scene more active than the partying scene.

In Singapore, as one the finance hubs in Asia, some young testosterone-filled bankers and interns do follow the "model & bottles" lifestyle. Especially for people working in S&T, as they have a bit more free time compared to bankers working on the M&A desks. Having said that, broadly speaking, due to the conservative nature and confucian ethics of asian societies, the casual dating scene is more suppressed compared to the US. But it still happens in Singapore as we're a rather westernized society compared to the rest of SEA.

 

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