What do the words “Travel” and “Contribute” mean to YT?
YT Choo. I’m on the journey of pursuing Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurship with REAPRA Pte. Ltd..
[Audio not available for today’s interview.]
When we use language, we often mean different things because of different life experiences and life stories.
Darryl: So… when you see the word TRAVEL, what do you think about?
YT Choo: Um my perspective of travels uh I break into a few. Uh the first category is actually between necessity and luxuries. Before this, flying was very expensive, before all these AirAsia companies came about. It is a super luxurious thing. It is like in my family I think only one of my sisters have travelled to Europe before, and then the rest of us – at most [we go to] Singapore only. Oh Thailand also. It is not a luxury to go there. So for me uh traveling really changed when Air Asia came in. That is during the 1990s. Um I remember me and my wife traveling for the first time to Guangzhou to their wholesale market to buy things from there to resell in Malaysia. That is how I started my my first business. Then then after that when we made some extra money then we went to Japan to look at their exhibitions. So traveling for me, it is a luxury like this. But it can also be a necessity. Because [without travelling] you are all stuck in this so-called ecosystem or your environment. You’re unable to tap into new kinds of opportunities out there.
I used to do business with China people. The main purpose of their travelling is only to source for money opportunities. I met this partner of mine, a previous partner, and wherever he goes, he’ll try to grab certain brand names that he can register in China. Muji is a very good example, whereby he went to Japan, saw this brand, and he realized that it was not registered in China yet. So the whole purpose is just to pre-register before you so that when you expand to their country, they’ll charge you.
There is also a healing part for travellers I think. You know sometimes a lot of people, they feel so sick with life sick with work and sick with family maybe, and travelling is actually providing a kind of a little pain relief. Away from their mundane life. Though I see that as sad in a sense, because you need to live in your dream rather than live in your real life.
Another thing about travelling is about social status. Someone asked me, “Hey, how many times do you bring your family out for holidays?” I said, “Last year, I went to Taiwan.” She said, “You know that doctor that we know for many years, they never go on holidays.” So travelling overseas is a kind of measurement of your success because travelling with families right, especially like when you have kids, it’s at least 15000 RM. It is actually a social status kind of thing.
My final part of travel is because for my previous job I travelled every week – to Abu Dhabi, Jakarta, Indonesia, even sometimes Australia, you know. I travel to a lot of places and travelling for me is actually tiring. You’re chasing after the taxi, and after the next thing. Like that day from the resort to the airport, it took me an hour and 40 minutes. I almost missed my flight actually. I couldn’t even check in my luggage then. So it’s very tiring for me.
On the flip side right, travel can also be more on connecting to people. Connecting to you. These are things that I feel that … no matter how many hours I can spend on Zoom with you, I can’t get to feel you. I don’t know how to experience your energy, your character, the small little gestures that you like to do before you speak. I just love it. You have som uch energy in you that is contained in you. So these are things that I feel I can’t do without. Connecting to people. And connecting to the environment itself.
And the final part is memory. Memories that we are able to produce when we are together, especially with my family. These memories will be a foundation for us to grow even bigger. Like last year, when I was travelling with my son to Taiwan, there was so much memories that keep on coming back [to me] even though it’s been a year. And that memory is so much different than when last time I was travelling with him when he was young. All the memory is just me. When I asked him, you remember I bring you to Disneyland? He said, no, I can’t remember. So that actually kind of breaks the connections. So that’s my conclusion of travel.
I feel I have so much to share with everyone that sometimes I’m afraid I’m losing time. But this is my energy. I like to contribute and share whatever I know.
Listening to YT reflect on travel, I noticed something striking. Here was someone who had spent years flying weekly for business—chasing taxis, rushing through airports, almost missing flights. Yet what stood out most was his emphasis on human connection: "No matter how many hours I can spend on Zoom with you, I can't get to feel you... I can't experience your energy, your character." It seemed like all those years of constant movement had taught him the value of being truly present. When he mentioned missing out on details for "40 over years," I sensed this wasn't just about travel anymore—it was about a deeper realization that had shaped how he now approaches life itself. Which led me to ask about something he'd mentioned several times: his desire to contribute.
Darryl: What then does CONTRIBUTE mean for you?
YT: It’s a bit deep for me. I feel that time we spend here [on earth] is very much limited now. I don’t know whether I can live so long or not, and with that right, I have this urgency that I want to download everything [to others] because that’s the only thing you can’t control anymore, right? Time. Once it’s passed, it’s passed. Opportunity that is passed is passed. You can’t just grab hold on it anymore. So the way I change my perspective is that if I have the opportunity to talk to you now, I’ll put my 100% – my conscious and unconscious mind – to you.
I have this analogy with my family. Whenever my son is eating breakfast he’ll ask his mom: hey mom, what’s for dinner? And I can guarantee you when later in the afternoon or evening, when you take a shower, you are not taking a shower. You mind is everywhere and you forget that you actually have a body. You will need to clean up this body. Every part of it. I feel like that I missed out so much, you know? 40 over years, I’ve missed out on so many details that I would like to look into and I kind of failed to do that. And currently I’m learning [from REAPRA] how to look in between details and look deep into it, and see opportunities that many people fail to see.
Darryl: How does that link to your desire to want to contribute?
YT: I think when you see things so much in detail, right? Sometimes the desire of wanting to contribute… it scares you. Because you can see so much clearer now. Sometimes [when] sharing things, you got to be very careful in sharing especially the things that your receiver is not yet ready to accept. You got to be mindful about it because whatever things that you say now, maybe it doesn’t work now.
I was reflecting how I’m the coolest dad my son ever had, you know? And I kind of destroyed the learning path for him. I’m cool in the sense that I know he has to experience his life. Last month, I’m the first person in his life to pass a cigarette to him. Then when he took the cigarette from me, he said, Papa, do you know you are very cool? You are the first person to pass me cigarettes. I say, good, it means that… it is better that I pass to you, rather than a stranger pass to you, right? Then on Saturday he’s flying to Lankawi for his internship. It’s the first time for him to move out from home, so I wanted to buy a box of condoms of him. And with the message of: it’s okay to have fun, please protect yourself and others.
But I didn’t get to buy because I was a bit tired and I reached home at 11. He was flying off the next day, in the morning. So instead of buying a box of condoms, I shared this message to him. I said – you are going out now. Please protect yourself and protect others. Then he said again, papa, do you know that you’re the coolest papa ever? You’re the first one to pass me cigarette and you’re the first one to want to buy condoms for me and for perspective, he is 18 years old. Yeah, but these things I feel that I shouldn’t do too much. I should let him experience it or else he will be missing out the opportunities I have gone through.
Darryl: So it’s almost like even if you contribute, timing is important for you? The time to contribute.
YT: Yes, timing.
At Split Arenas, we believe professional communication should be rooted in personal stories. When we look at the words people use, and the stories behind those words, we understand who they are, and we can build better relationships. To learn more about what we do, click here. If you wish to be featured in our Language Stories Series, reach out to darryl@split-arenas.com.
