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

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.

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