Me in a Nutshell
– I’m half Japanese and half Sri Lankan. To boggle your mind more, both my parents are half Japanese and half Sri Lankan too
– I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan
– Attended international school: St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo
– I have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada
– I consider myself a world citizen having lived in Japan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and Malaysia
– I’m a Father of three awesome kids Check out the photos
– Worked in finance for ten years as a trader, trading pretty much all Asian markets
– I love exercising and have completed two Ironman triathlons in Mexico as well as a whole lot of shorter ones all over the world
– I love reading and have a Kindle to save space
– I left my job in finance at the age of 34 to avoid any regrets about missing out on my children’s childhood years
– I’m currently enrolled in a Master’s in Education course with the goal of teaching Kindergarten
– I LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH MY THREE KIDS
Career in Finance
Program trading is the particular field of trading I specialized in, and I carried the label of a program trader with immense pride.
Perhaps you’ve come across ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) that offer you broad exposure to entire stock indexes with just one stock. Well, that’s where program trading comes into play. Let’s say you want to invest in the Japanese stock market. Instead of buying individual stocks, you can purchase an ETF that represents the entire Nikkei stock index, which encompasses 225 listed stocks. But have you ever wondered who buys all the underlying shares of those stocks on the exchange? That’s where program traders step in.
Being a program trader in Asia is particularly grueling. Based in Hong Kong, I was entrusted with the responsibility of trading across all Asian markets. Picture this: receiving orders to execute large baskets of stocks encompassing multiple markets ranging from New Zealand to India or Pakistan. Each morning, the rush would begin as I arrived at my desk at 6:30 am, rushing to get all the orders out to the market before the first market, Australia, opened at 7 am. The market openings would then stagger, with Japan at 8 am, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore at 9-9:30 am, and so on. After India opened at noon, the reverse stagger would occur as markets started closing, with India wrapping up the trading day at 6 pm (unless I had orders in Pakistan in which case I’d be sitting in an empty office until 7:30 pm).
Half the days, I wouldn’t have time to eat breakfast. Lunch would be eaten on the desk. Coffee breaks? Forget it.
In this environment, I didn’t have time to grab breakfast half the time. Lunch was consumed every day at the desk while watching over my orders. And coffee breaks? Pshhht!
That was my life for over a decade.
Fatherhood
Any parent would agree that there isn’t anything like having children to bring clarity and purpose to our lives.
While working, I would leave home every morning before my family was awake and would make it home just in time to tuck the kids into bed. It was clear that being a weekend-only parent was not the life I wanted for myself.
Being a father of two children, and another on the way, I desperately yearned to be more present and engaged in their upbringing. It was a deep desire that I couldn’t ignore. That’s when I made a life-altering decision, that I would set up our investments in a way to support us in living a quieter, more fulfilling existence on the serene and tropical island of Penang in Malaysia.
This became the next several years of our lives and I haven’t regretted a single moment of it.
Teaching
Teaching has always held a special place in my heart. I always thought I would end up working in a school, either as a teacher or a compassionate guidance counselor. This belief led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a field I believed would lay the foundation for this.
However, as often happens in life, a series of events led me down a different path. I found myself immersed in the world of trading multiple stock markets, based in Hong Kong. While this chapter of my life was undeniably exciting, it reached a point where it didn’t resonate with my deepest aspirations anymore.
After leaving the financial industry and dedicating myself to nurturing my children, my passion for teaching was reignited. As I was fortunate enough to spend time in their classrooms, I was awestruck by their energy, innocence, and pure joy of just being alive and at school! It became abundantly clear that this was the environment I wanted to be part of and that being an educator was my calling.
Motivated by this realization, I took a bold step and enrolled in a Master’s in Education program with a specialization in early childhood education. While my initial aspiration is to embark on my journey as a Kindergarten teacher, I’m eager to explore teaching other grade levels as well. I’m particularly intrigued by the opportunity to prepare secondary school students for the demands of the workforce, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in their future endeavors. By venturing beyond the boundaries of a single grade level, I aim to broaden my horizons as an educator and make a meaningful impact on students at various stages of their educational journey.
