Try new things and overcome the fear:an interview with Pang(Podcast transcript)

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I’m doing this podcast channel to support Japanese people who want to go abroad or take a step forward to do anything like start new things or go to another place.
Many Japanese people are not familiar with foreign people, so it’s a good chance to introduce a Malaysian local person.
Today we have a guest, my friend Pang, he lives in Malaysia, but he has the background to live in Singapore.
(This transcription was made by a servicefrom Japanese broadcasting app https://summary.stand.fm/)

So, Pang, could you introduce yourself?
Hi, thank you for inviting me to this interview.
I lived in Malaysia for just two years actually.
Maybe Saki lived longer than me.

[contents]
Experiences of Living in Malaysia during the COVID-19 Lockdown
Introduction and background of the speaker
Reasons for moving to Malaysia and the experience of living in the country
Cultural differences in Malaysia and Singapore
Approach to researching the market
Researching something new
Adding value to people’s lives
Advantages of working in Malaysia over Singapore
Ability to empathize and create products to match customers’ needs
Learning from mistakes and seeing opportunities
Fear of failure and Judgment in Asian Culture
Learning to trust your own instincts
Traditional mentality and culture
Traveling to Malaysia as a Foreigner
Importance of Mindset in Malaysia
Cultural Differences and Adaptation
Managing finances while starting new things in a new country
Overcoming realistic financial challenges by planning and managing expectations
Researching online for options rather than relying on a few limited opinions
ChatGPT book: ‘A guide for introverts’
Training and consultancy for companies and professionals to use ChatGPT

Experiences of Living in Malaysia during the COVID-19 Lockdown

I think the same. I came to Malaysia 2020. Three years?
In August, I came.
Oh, I see. I came in February. So, you’re earlier than me by a few months. When I lived in Malaysia, I moved to Kuala Lumpur from Singapore in August and shortly it was locked down.
Because of the lockdown, I escaped from Singapore for the lockdown to Malaysia because that time Malaysia was not locked down yet.
So, soon when I arrived in Malaysia, it was locked down.
Then I escaped to Langkawi and I stayed there for two years.
Most of the time was spent in Langkawi in Malaysia.
I was living by the beach basically during the COVID time.
Langkawi is a nice place, but I’ve never been there.
It’s a paradise island and it’s really beautiful and the beach is really nice.
I think many people like to go there for a holiday.
Also, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, appreciated for its natural beauty. So, I lived there for two years and I was actually a beach artist.
Beach artist? Wow. Yeah. I was doing artwork on the sand.

Beach Artist
https://instagram.com/thepang.beachart

At the time, it was the first time no one has seen this thing in Malaysia.
So, I think it was quite special.
That was my two years of experience in Malaysia living in Langkawi and recently I moved to Kuala Lumpur which is in the city and start something totally different altogether now which is I founded the Chat GPT Malaysia community when the Chat GPT was becoming very famous in December.
Yeah. It’s very popular all over the world.
Yeah. So, I was trying out Chat GPT very, very early in December when it first launched and I saw that there was massive potential because of its really amazing capabilities.
Yeah. So, I started a community and now I’m helping professionals and businesses to learn how to use Chat GPT to improve their work and to reduce cost and boost their revenue also.
Yeah. So, that’s what I do now.

Facebook group: Chat GPT Malaysia

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Introduction and background of the speaker

So, as you know, my background is really not so conventional and not so traditional.
I sort of like I like to think out of the box.
I’m a little bit of a creative person.
I like to do things different from other people.
I like to explore and I like to try to create my own things for example.
You know what I mean?
Yeah. So, that’s why I live in Langkawi.
I explore not very traditional ways of living.
I moved from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur which is not so, not many people do that. Yeah.
Most people has moved from Malaysia to Singapore.
Yeah. So, I find that change is something that I like to embrace and to try something different. Yeah.
So, you mentioned you escaped from Singapore and why did you decide to leave Singapore?

Reasons for moving to Malaysia and the experience of living in the country

So, the original plan actually is to move to Germany. That’s the original plan to move to Berlin.
Yeah. And because of the lockdown, I was not able to carry out my plan.
So, because I was actually born a Malaysian, I have the Malaysia passport. So, I decided to come to Malaysia because I was already preparing to leave Singapore.
Yeah. But life is really good in Malaysia.
I discovered a new way of living in Malaysia which is totally different from what I experienced in Singapore or in Germany for example.
Yeah. And I really come to enjoy living in Malaysia very much.
Yeah. I think the people in Malaysia has many different backgrounds.
Yeah. Their parents are from different country or they are born but they have moved to Singapore like you or yeah. I think it’s very good.
Yes. In Malaysia, there’s people from different culture, different background, you know. And I think it’s very diverse.
Yeah. Many, many talented people also. Yeah. So, I think coming to Malaysia is a really interesting experience for me because of the diversity. You are able to do many many things.
For example, as compared to in Singapore, because Singapore is a small country and it’s just a city.
But Malaysia is a big country and population is also bigger.
So there’s many many opportunities actually.
When you first time to move to Malaysia, did you feel any difference, cultural difference from Singapore?
I think as I mentioned previously, it’s really the diversity of the different types of people, you know.
Different regions, different states. The culture is totally different. Singapore is only Singapore?
Yeah, Singapore is just one city.
Even though there’s many many foreigners there.
And also Singapore is also very diverse actually, very multicultural.

Cultural differences in Malaysia and Singapore

I think Malaysia is even, because it’s a big country, so the attitude is like you have the village, the small village.
In Singapore, there’s no village. Mostly it’s the city.
Something like that. Many many different cultures.
For example, in East Malaysia, people from Sabah, Sarawak, they are also very very different.
Yeah, very different. So the cultural difference.
This is what I discovered in Malaysia. I see.
So you mentioned you lived in Langkawi and you’re a rich artist.
And now you’re an organizer of the ChatGPT community, a big community. And when you decide to start new things, how do you research the market?

Approach to researching the market

I think I’m sort of like, I’m kind of not very traditional.
I like to do the things that I want to do.
So of course I have a business plan also when I start my journey.
But I also have the attitude of embracing failure.
For example, if there is an opportunity or there is a thing that I really want to try to explore doing, I will just do it.
I will just do it first and then I will think about it.
I’m very observant about the situation.
For example, if I start and then I will observe how people are looking at this thing.
So when I started the Beach Art project, I got attention very fast because it was the first time that this thing actually appeared in Malaysia.
So that was a very positive response that I got.
So I continued to do it and I got many, many fans, got some projects.
And I think being able to have this is a very, very different way of researching the market as compared to, you’re talking about a very, very traditional way of researching the market.
Which is you go and study, oh, what’s the market size?
What’s the population?
What’s the this and that, for example?
But I think my approach is more like creating something new that nobody has ever done before. To create a market that gets people’s attention.
And then I created a market already. I make something out of nothing, for example. Like the Check GMP Malaysia community also, nobody has done it before.
Nobody started this community.
I started it. And then today, this is four months, we have about 13,000 people today.
If I went for the traditional way of searching the market, I wouldn’t be able to do this for sure.
For example, because this thing never exists before.

Researching something new

How do you research something that has never existed before?
So this is a very, very different way.
It’s like building a startup company. You know what I mean?
You have an idea, you find people who are aligned with your vision or idea. And then you do it and then you get your following of fans, for example.
So that’s your market already.
People who believe in what you do. You know what I mean?
So your way is you came up with the idea and you just do.
But I think there are some people to follow you.
So how do you find the network?
That’s a very good question.
What I do is always focus on adding value to people’s lives.
So this is what I always focus on, for example.
So my content that I create, the solution that I create, is always to reach out to people to improve their life, for example.

Adding value to people’s lives

For example, during the COVID lockdown, people were not able to travel. People cannot go to the beach.
They miss the beach very much. So when I created the beach art, it was to solve this problem about people not being able to go to Langkawi.
So my artwork always reminded them of Langkawi. And this creates a connection between me and my followers and fans.
And they love it because they are always having the desire of coming to Langkawi. But they cannot do it.
So people tell me, this is so inspiring what you’re doing and all that.
Now this charity is also the same thing.
We create a community that supports each other in learning the new technology.
People always want to get something, for example.
So if you are able to give something to them, they are very easily becoming your fans.
I always try to help people to give value.
Yeah, to solve problems, to give value, to help to improve, whatever they need to do.
Then that’s the market already.
If you create a group of people who are willing to pay for your service, but of course you must add value first.
They will see that you are giving so much to them,

Advantages of working in Malaysia over Singapore

helping them so much, definitely, they will start to pay.
I think I learned new things. This is also for the Japanese freelancers who want to go abroad.
They’re not just thinking about the market and so on.
But I think it’s a very good lesson for them.
Yes, it’s more like the traditional way. But I have a method that started.
It’s like making something out of nothing.
So, like the new technologies that are being developed and evolved, they also don’t follow the traditional way.
For example, like ChairGPT, do you think their creators thought about the market and everything?
They just made the product, and then within 7 days, 1 million people started using it.
And within 2 months, I think 100 million people were using it.
I don’t think he ever expected this to happen.
If he was using the traditional way of looking at the market, searching and so on.
So, I think maybe this is why I’m a bit strange.
I think in a situation that I’m a bit more of a creator, I like to explore all these things.
So, not a very good traditional way of pretending in business and doing things.
And in Malaysia, it’s the perfect place to do it. You know what I mean? Malaysia is perfect? Yes, Malaysia is perfect for me to do it.
Why Malaysia?
First, the cost is very low.
So, you can bear. But in Singapore, you can’t bear because it’s very expensive.
You want to keep the office, take people, you want to do new projects, everything is very expensive.
Yes, it’s crazy.
So, if you want to bear, you need to be very rich, for example.
You need to have a lot of money to serve.
Then you can underwrite. Because it’s a high-risk activity.
I think you have a bit of a view as marketing.

Ability to empathize and create products to match customers’ needs

But how do you bear? Do you have a special website to see the situation?
I think I learn from my failures, and I learn from my experiences.
I’m also very observant, and maybe empathetic with people.
So, I can understand and feel how they feel, for example.
And in that situation, I’m very much in touch with what people think.
So, I know how to create my product or what I create to suit them, these people. You know what I mean?
Yes, I do. So, you act on things and you can have empathy with people who make mistakes or who don’t dare to do something?
Yes, and if there is knowledge, if there is an understanding of what the client wants or what the client needs, then we can make our solutions to them. Yeah, something like that.

Learning from mistakes and seeing opportunities

So, a lot of mistakes were made in Malaysia after you came here?
Yes, yes, yes. I think because of the closure too, it also changed my situation. Very much.
And, you know, life is too short to throw away. To be perfect.
You know, my mistake to move to Germany, for example, that was an original plan.
It’s okay, I accept mistakes and I start in a different way.
I saw the opportunity. I came to Malaysia, I’m very grateful for these opportunities.
More than sad that I couldn’t move to Germany.
You know what I mean? I only see the positive things I can do in Malaysia,
Of course, I feel that this is a way to accept mistakes rather than looking at mistakes all the time.
Looking at the positive.
And when you provide value to people, you solve their problems, they will become your customers.

Fear of failure and Judgment in Asian Culture

I think Japanese people have a mindset to be afraid when you start something new.
It’s Southeast Asian culture because as a Chinese, I’m actually Chinese and I also get carried away with the Chinese mentality, which is Chinese culture, you have to be perfect, you can’t fail, you know, failure is very embarrassing, for example, it’s very embarrassing for me to fail.
I think fear is always about failure, for example, and how people judge you, for example, that’s a very big thing and very cultural for Japan, Southeast Asia, Korea, China.
So, I also got carried away with that mentality, but as I got older, I got older and I don’t care what other people think anymore because I’m old.
I learned to take my own strengths and weaknesses, I know about my weaknesses and that’s okay because people don’t understand what you go through and when people judge you, it’s based on their own income.
If you think about their income too much, you won’t be able to do anything because you’re always worrying about what other people think about you.

Learning to trust your own instincts

So, I guess, for me, I went through this cultural thing that I was brought up with as a child about always having to be perfect, never failing and so on, but as an adult, I learned to follow and trust my own instincts and trust my own journey of what I want to do rather than thinking about oh, if I do this, what will other people do?
If I fail, I will cause disappointment. I learned to cause disappointment. I think this is the way I want to live.
Not thinking about what others will think.
Many people think about how others feel.
And sometimes it’s challenging. I think it’s a cultural thing too.
It depends on what you want in your life. If you think that friends and family are more important, you should always praise them.
You should always listen to them.
Otherwise, you will be disappointed.
This is very cultural.
Maybe from me, my parents have accepted that I am a strange man.
Let me be alone and do my own thing. I will be okey.
As long as I don’t die, or don’t go to jail or prison.
I do good things. I don’t do bad things. I do good things that…
As long as it’s fair. Fair and good. I add strength to my life.

Traditional mentality and culture

I challenged myself. I start new things.
So, all of this let me be in the comfort zone to try all the things that would be impossible if I was thinking about one other person, and thinking about myself all night.
When I first came to Malaysia, I thought Malaysians already had this mentality.
But after I talked to you, I realized that some people, maybe some Chinese and Malaysians, have this mentality. It was very surprising.
Traditional mentiti. Because it’s very cultural.
So, maybe you would say, the Japanese think so. Maybe the Chinese think so too.
Fear of failure. But, it’s also good for me.
Because I think it’s because of Japan, but it’s often in Asian countries.
And I think I’m not alone.
Yes, you are right.
So, the thing that I think is that I really understand the culture of all these things.
They’re very cultural. I even wrote a book about it.
But it’s a discussion and maybe a critique of how the Chinese think.
You have a website about the Chinese.
Yes, I told you about it.
It is our cultural income that affects us.
So, I understand culture very well and I know that all these things are because of culture.
Because sometimes, maybe sometimes it’s because of ourselves but a lot of it is because of culture.

Traveling to Malaysia as a Foreigner

I wanted to ask about is there any advice for people to come to Malaysia? Especially for foreigners to be careful about doing this in Malaysia and not doing this in Malaysia?
I think Malaysia is different because it’s not a developing country.
It’s a developing country.
So maybe the laws and regulations are not so clear.
They are not so reinforced.
Compared to Singapore or Japan where you follow laws and regulations. But in Malaysia, it’s more like freedom.
You can do whatever you want.
You can walk on the road. It’s a red light.
So I think this is very challenging.
For example, if someone from Singapore comes to Malaysia, he will also have a very big difficulty.
Because many things are not going well.
Because it is not a developed country and everything is civilized. Everything is belligerent.
So you need to have awareness of this.
You want to do something that might not be so easy.
You need to do it in a different way.

Importance of Mindset in Malaysia

And your right mentality might not be perfect in Malaysia. So that’s an important thing to consider. If you are too precise in mentality, it is very difficult to do things.
It’s very difficult to do things.
If you’ve never experienced something, for example, I did something with a government employee.
I asked the first time, and the employee said answer A. And the second time, the employee said answer B. Something like that.
Because it’s not systematic. It’s not very organized.
I mean, in a developing country, in Southeast Asia, you go to Thailand, you go to Indonesia, except Singapore because it’s a developing country. So you have to be ready for all the challenges.

Cultural Differences and Adaptation

Singapore is very systematic. Yes, very organized. Like Japan maybe.
If Japan prefers this setup, maybe they should go to Singapore.
Yes, they do. I mean, the mentality of the local culture, you have to understand.
If you go to Singapore, there are different local cultures.
In Indonesia, there are different cultures. So this is very important.
You have to be very adaptable and very observant to see what’s going on before you commit and think, oh, this is going to work.
But, of course, being optimistic, being positive, there are a lot of opportunities that you can do.
I mean the attitude that is going to determine whether you succeed or not. If you are positive that what you are going to do is going to be successful, then it’s okay.
Don’t have the attitude that oh, it’s very difficult, I’m not going to succeed, I’m going to fail and all that. Then that’s not a positive attitude.
Of course there’s risky. It’s risky.
When I planned to move to Germany, it’s also very risky. It’s a totally different culture altogether.
I learned about the culture, I learned about how the people do things.
I learned about the language for example.
I think culture is more important than learning the language.
How people work, how people do things.
For example in Germany, it’s very very very different also.
So this is very important things to learn.
How do you learn?
I think not so straightforward. It’s a bit of observation and a bit of…
I don’t know, I read a lot of books also.
And I think it’s helpful. Because it’s from the books that I gain a lot of knowledge about culture, about way of living, way of life, being organized and all that.
Self-awareness is really important. Cultural awareness is also important.

Managing finances while starting new things in a new country

How about when you start new things, I think many Japanese people have the mindset if the financial things are not so going well, they need to for example go back to Japan or something.
So how do you calculate the financial situations when you start new things? It’s very difficult for me to answer this question because for me personally, I’m a very simple person.
I live a very simple… I have a very simple mentality and attitude for example.
And also because I’m a backpacker, I go traveling a lot.
I travel around the world already.
So I understand that I need very little to make me happy for example.

Overcoming realistic financial challenges by planning and managing expectations

But I think realistically, very realistic financial challenges can be overcome by maybe planning for example.
And of course what your expectations are, I feel.
In Malaysia, the amazing thing is you have a lot of choices.
You can have very cheap or you can have very expensive, very luxurious. That’s the best part, right?
So it depends on your expectations. If you want a luxurious life, you think that you want to move to another country and have a really good life when you just start, then that’s a really unrealistic expectation, right?
But if you move to a country with the attitude of, oh maybe I can be very flexible.
I can start from a very cheap place first and then I slowly when I’m improving, then I move to a more expensive place for example.
That’s a different approach. So I think expectations is where you decide how your life is going to be.
Or you want to eat restaurant every day or you prefer to cook.
All these things will affect your financial choices in your financial life.
Or you want to go to entertainment every day.
For example, all these things you have to plan and think about your expectations and what kind of life you want to have when you’re not in your own country.
The good thing about Malaysia, like I said, is you have many, many choices. Yeah, that’s true.
The thing about sometimes a cultural problem is that we listen to other people.
Oh, this friend recommends me this, then I go and follow.
And then, in the end, it’s not my choice. It’s not the best for me, right?
But if you explore yourself, for example, you can have a discovery of new choices. Not from your friend’s limited recommendation.

Researching online for options rather than relying on a few limited opinions

You can do research because now from the internet, you can do research so easily.
Just go and research what options are available.
Rather than just asking a few people, right?
You can use the internet to search for different choices and options and see what you really like and what works the best for you.
So maybe you ask people, they can give you an opinion, but it’s a limited opinion.
Yeah, that’s true. But if you ask another person, maybe the…
But I mean, a lot of it is cultural also, maybe.
Because you trust maybe another Japanese person.
Yes, yes. But the Japanese person maybe have a limited view and limited experience.
But from the internet, if you search maybe in English, the article in English, then maybe there’s a different kind of diversity in the views, for example.
Rather than if you search for Japanese. Do you agree with that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely.
Because for the first year, I hung out with the Japanese people a lot.
And after two years, three years, I tend to hang around with the local people like you.
I already also started Instagram in English and no Japanese follow me.
I wanted to create another space.
And now I feel like I’m having a life quite similar to local.
Some part is Japanese, but I don’t hang out with all the time Japanese people.
Yeah, and you have an interesting experience living in another country also. It make your experience more enrich.
Yes, yes. Rather than just hang out with the same people all the time.
That’s what the purpose of living in another country.
So, yeah. To overcome the financial situation, I think the know about ourselves is very important, right?
Yes. Like you said, the expectation.
What do you expect out of your expect life, for example.
But if I decided to…I have a really extensive life in Malaysia.
It’s possible.It’s possible, right?
I show to you and share with you. It’s definitely possible.
That’s good.

So, for the last part, could you introduce what do you do?And if you would like to introduce yourself, please go ahead.

ChatGPT book: ‘A guide for introverts’

Chat GPT for introverts (book)

"ChatGPT - A Guide for Introverts" by Pang Sern Yong with GPT 4.0 -

Right now, I have a few projects. I just completed a book which is using ChatGPT to write a book.
It’s called ChatGPT, a guide for introverts.
It’s available on Amazon.com.
If you are interested, if you are an introvert, you can use ChatGPT to improve your life.
And Saki has already finished reading and reviewed it also.
It’s very organized.
Many people think ChatGPT is kind of a tool, but the book is very detailed.
I think the way to ask the question is very important.
So, the book guide how to ask ChatGPT, it’s very exact questions.
Yeah. So, ChatGPT wrote the book for me and I’m the editor and the curator for the content.
So, this is one project.

Training and consultancy for companies and professionals to use ChatGPT

And then another project that I’m doing in Malaysia is training and consultancy for companies and professionals who want to learn how to use ChatGPT to improve their work, to integrate into their company for example, to help them to improve their work.
Wow. It’s very intensive.
Yeah. I think a bit interesting also because it’s quite new.
So, it can really help to make a difference using ChatGPT.
Yeah.Correct. So, this is what I’m doing now.
But I have so many projects as always coming up.
So, if you like to follow my work, please connect with me on LinkedIn.
There is one more update because I’m always having new projects and quite interesting projects also.
Yeah.A lot to do with ChatGPT also.
So, just follow me on LinkedIn and explore.

Pang Sern Yong’sinkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pangsernyong

Yeah. Thank you very much for your time today. It was very interesting.
And I think it’s good for people who are considering moving to Malaysia or another country. Thank you very much for your interview.
Thank you for inviting me.