“I feel confident about building a future here”: Why one expat chose S’pore for the long run

Having worked in global cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Dubai, Mr Andrew Lim, 34, expected to adapt easily to life in cosmopolitan Singapore when he relocated here in 2019 to take up a new role.

What he did not expect was how quickly he would be drawn into the social fabric of everyday Singapore life — starting with lunch in his very first week at work.

In his previous postings, colleagues typically ordered in a salad or grabbed fast food and ate alone at their desks. In Singapore, however, he was invited to head out together with his team, usually to a nearby hawker centre.

Before long, he realised these shared meals were about far more than food.

“After a weekend, everyone would share their updates over lunch. I thought to myself, this social interaction is pretty cool, it’s a unique Singapore culture,” says the chief financial officer at Gushcloud, a homegrown influencer and content management company. 

For Mr Lim, who was born in Korea, raised in Canada and later studied in Illinois in the US, the openness took some getting used to. He had started his career in Hong Kong’s finance sector before moving to Dubai and Beijing — cities where, he says, work relationships often stayed within professional boundaries.

At Gushcloud, where he joined as the only expatriate in an office of 40 Singaporeans, he initially found it “mind-boggling” to hear colleagues openly discussing their everyday lives, from weekend plans to their children’s schooling.

But the more he listened, the more he began to see something deeper: a workplace culture built on warmth, familiarity and genuine interest in one another.

That sense of acceptance extended beyond the office, where he was welcomed into colleagues’ homes for festive gatherings such as Hari Raya and Chinese New Year — experiences he rarely encountered in earlier postings.

“In Korea or Hong Kong, you do a lot less of this. You would meet people outside but here, people invite you into their personal space and I think it’s special,” he says.

These early experiences reshaped how Mr Lim saw Singapore — not just as a business hub, but as a place where building a life felt possible. Compared with other global cities he had lived in, integration here felt far less intimidating.

That sense of belonging influenced one of his biggest personal decisions: encouraging his Korean wife to relocate to Singapore last year. The couple have plans to start a family soon. 

“Singapore is a stable, forward-looking place, and the strong focus on safety, rule of law and social cohesion makes me feel confident about building a long-term future here,” he shares.

Mr Lim is among the 1.91 million non-residents in Singapore, a figure that rose 2.7 per cent from June 2024 to June 2025. In many ways, he says, he now feels less like someone adapting to Singapore, and more like someone growing alongside it.

“ I now have more local than foreigner friends!” he adds. 

Learning to work, and connect, Singapore-style

As one of the few expatriates in the company, Mr Lim describes his seven years at Gushcloud as both a privilege and a learning journey.

“Growing up in Korea, which is quite homogeneous, made me really value different cultures and being culturally sensitive. In Singapore, society naturally accommodates different cultures and lifestyles. If I had to describe Singaporeans as an animal, I’d say a chameleon — they’re very adaptable and I think that’s a real skill,” he says.

This environment, he adds, has also allowed him to contribute perspectives shaped by his international upbringing. Early on, he noticed that while Singaporeans excel at getting things done, decision-making dynamics can differ from places like Hong Kong or the US.

“In meetings, once the most senior person in the room puts an opinion out, it doesn’t get challenged even though the other people are smart and know otherwise. Voicing another opinion seems more difficult, compared to other countries where everyone is eager to share theirs,” he says.

In response, Mr Lim has consciously adjusted his leadership style. He now makes it a point to be the last to speak in meetings, giving his team space to share their views first. “This did change things but it took time,” he says.

Beyond meetings, Mr Lim also makes a conscious effort to build connections. He keeps short notes about business associates so he can follow up on personal details in future conversations.

“I realised that people here really appreciate it when you follow up on these little things, like asking them about their kids taking the PSLE,” he says. 

Over time, these “small nuances”, as he calls them, have helped strengthen trust and opened doors for business opportunities.

Finding home beyond the workplace

Outside work, Mr Lim and his wife Ms Soyeon Kim enjoy exploring Singapore together, whether strolling through the Singapore Botanic Gardens or cycling along East Coast Park. 

“She’s adapted easily to life here and is having a good time here!” he says.

Mr Lim jokes that she knows the MRT network better than he does — and that she visits homegrown food and beverage chain Tiong Bahru Bakery almost daily.

As for Mr Lim, he has found his own comfort zone in Singapore’s hawker centres, where he now orders his favourite dish, bak kut teh, with the confidence of a regular.

“Recently, someone described me as a ‘Korean-Canadian learning to become Singaporean’, and I felt that this captured my journey well,” he reflects.