Communication graduate
Works at: Edible Garden City
Job title: Head of Marketing
Describe your job.
I am a part-time urban farmer and a full-time marketer for Edible Garden City. We build and construct urban farms for companies, provide restaurants and bars with our produce, and try to encourage people to grow their own food in Singapore.
How much farming experience do you have?
Not much! Before I joined Edible Garden City, I had a desk-bound job at HDB. One day, I decided to go to Japan to pick apples and live on a farm, and that’s what I did for two weeks. I loved that experience so much I wanted to continue doing it in Singapore, so I started volunteering at Edible Garden City. After a few months of seeing me toil under the sun, they offered me a full-time job.
What is the best thing about your role?
It’s wonderful that I get to do a spot of farming whenever I feel like getting my hands dirty. I enjoy working outdoors and knowing that the vegetables that I tend to will eventually make their way to people’s plates. What’s more, even when I’m working indoors, I know that I’m not boxed in by concrete buildings. All I have to do is step out to be surrounded by nature.
Take us through a day in your job.
Like most people, I start my day by checking my email. After that, things will not look the same day to day. Each day here is varied and exciting. Some days I stay put at our Queenstown farm. Other days, I might travel to the different urban farms we have in the city, where I’ll meet clients or members of the media. Sometimes, I carry out experiments, such as the best way to mix potting soil, and film step-by-step videos so we can pass on our knowledge.
Advice for your juniors?
Take all the classes you are interested in. I’ve realised that every industry requires a varied range of skill sets. Even a farmer will require someone with business acumen to develop a business plan and someone with design skills to make their products look good online. So do something you enjoy, enter an industry you like and then find out how your skills can best fit that.
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This story was published in the Aug-Sep 2021 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
