Roy Chua: Zone V Camera Club’s Newly Inducted Member

Please tell us about yourself: your family, your work, your hobbies and other interests.

I am Roy Chua, born in 1969. I am in my mid 50s with a good wife and three wonderful children. My children are all swimmers. I am an entrepreneur who is into different formats of retail business. Understanding consumers’ trending and upcoming brands is vital to my business. I work for long hours and in my little free time, I try to travel and take photos. I picked up photography to capture images of my kids swimming during competitions, and also to take photos of the family during our vacations. I would like to think that it is a gift to my family that money cannot buy.

Share with us some thoughts on your ZVCC Probee experience.

During my probee period, everyone was so welcoming and very helpful. The veterans are always willing to coach and help me improve my photography.

What type of movies and music do you enjoy?

I enjoy watching different types of movies from drama, comedy,  suspense and action. I would say the least I enjoy watching would be horror movies. My favorite series is “The Men Who Built America and Mankind: The Story of All of Us”. I also enjoy Korean series, and so far the best for me would be Itaewon, Mr. Sunshine and Crash Landing on You.

For music, I like U2 and Adele songs.

If you were given a chance to spend one day with a famous personality (living or dead), who would that person be and why?

The late Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore. I have read almost all his biography books. For me, he is the man of the century who single handedly brought Singapore from poverty to the First World nation that it is today. He was a straightforward person with stern integrity and possessed great common sense in tackling complex problems. He exhibited fierce determination to do the right things and was not afraid of offending anyone who came in the way of his plans.

What is the most memorable lesson you learned from your parents?

To be frugal and hardworking. Also, that there is no such thing as life and work balance if you want to achieve greatness. All great things are accomplished with sacrifices and tradeoffs. My father was very hardworking; he worked from Mondays to Sundays. I could never top that.

I once threw away my fairly new Sperry Topsiders. Then after a few months, I saw my father wearing them.  I asked him, “Are those my shoes  that I threw away?”, to which he replied, “yes, I thought that they looked new and so I salvaged them and wore them”. That day my father taught me an important life lesson without using stern words nor scolding me.

What would you consider to be your greatest accomplishment so far?

Raising 3 competitive and God-fearing children. They are all accomplished in both academics and swimming.

Another accomplishment would perhaps be running my businesses with over 800 employees who rely on me. They are the reason that I take care of my businesses to the best of my ability as I see my employees’ welfare and well-being as a personal responsibility that I carry over my shoulders.

If you could master one skill right now that you don’t currently have, what would it be?

That would be photography. I am a frustrated photographer who struggles in creating ideas and coming up with images that have good composition.

Would you rather be a jack-of-all trades or a master of one?

Definitely, a jack-of-all trades. The ability to understand the dynamics of how different things work allows me to see the big picture, which in turn leads me along the right path through which to move forward,  seeking help from the “masters of one” along the way.