Valencia Wong

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hello there! I’m Valencia, and I really like community/people! Outside of work, I spend my free time with Friendzone, volunteering and thinking of how to get people to connect with their neighbours better.

What are your strengths? Any hidden talents?

I create “adulting” templates to help me navigate life better. I have one for Comparing Best Bank Accounts, one for Finding Out How Much I Should Save for Retirement, and one for Consolidating Insurance Plans, hehe. They all sit in my desktop folder called “Adulting”.

What’s one article you enjoy and think everyone should read?

Can I recommend a book instead? I loved “Every Good Endeavour” by Timothy Keller. I read it right as I started my first job and it has very fundamentally shaped how I view my work, and the honour/dignity that work provides.

Favourite moment being part of the Friendzone team?

One of my favourite moments was when we first started our physical Friendzone sessions. We used to visit blocks and invite young people from our neighbourhoods to join us at the pavilion. It wasn’t always that easy, because some would view us with skepticism, and we never knew who would be on the other side. BUT! We found that with a dose of youthful cheeriness, and by sharing that we lived nearby, people warmed up to us. I recall one lady even opened up her house for us to take photos because she saw us desperately trying to take nice photos from the corridor. She even moved the sweet potatoes she was sunning so we could get a clear shot!

What’s one quirky thing about you?

My dream honeymoon destination is Valencia, Spain, hehe. I want to walk around in a touristy shirt with my name on it, and introduce myself to the locals there HAHA.