Climbing the Heights

When he first arrived in Singapore in 1995 to embark on his diploma in business administration, Ajambar Basnet, then 25, was homesick for the taste of native Nepalese food. “In the initial three or four months, I couldn’t take the smell of Chinese, Malay and even Indian food! Nepalese cuisine is very much like North Indian food, but the Indian food here is mostly from the south and the curries smelled strange to me,” he told Singapore.

That was then. Fourteen years on, Ajambar, now 39, lists all manner of local dishes among his favourites, from bak kut teh (pork rib soup) and char kway teow (fried rice noodles) to carrot cake (savoury fried radish cake) and roti prata (Indian style crepes).

The owner of a logistics business and a travel agency with branches in Singapore, Malaysia and Nepal, Ajambar recounts his humble start in Singapore, “I came to Singapore because I wanted to upgrade myself and get more exposure to other countries.” With his IT background from Nepal, Ajambar started his career with a travel agency where he learnt the trade. “I travelled around the world, but I found Singapore to be the best and in 1997 I decided to make Singapore home,” said Ajambar, now a Singapore citizen.

His wife Surakshya – affectionately known as ‘Suru’–    has been in Singapore for seven years and is a permanent resident. “Singapore is very stable, safe, beautiful and a great place to bring up a family,” she said. Their rambunctious five-year-old son, Pranjal, was born in Nepal but considers himself wholly Singaporean and even speaks Mandarin – a language he will learn more of when he enters primary school next year. “He has learnt to speak Nepali, but since he is going to be living and studying here, learning Mandarin is a good choice,” said Suru.

“Singapore is a place where there is an equal opportunity for anyone to succeed…”
– Ajambar Basnet

As much as the Basnets love Singapore, they do miss friends and family in Nepal, as well as the distinctly different landscape. Suru laughed, “I used to wonder why Singaporeans would travel all the way to Nepal just to see some mountains, but now, I understand!” There may be no lofty climbs here, but for Ajambar, Singapore has afforded another kind of climb he is grateful for. “Singapore is a place where there is an equal opportunity for anyone to succeed,” he said. “Otherwise, how would I – who arrived just as a student all the way from Nepal – have been able to reach this level in my career and business in just 12 years, without any family and other connections?”

Nepalese have always been a part of the Singapore landscape – albeit a reclusive one. For a long time, the largest Nepali presence in Singapore was the Gurkha contingent of the Singapore Police Force and their families – a tribe of Nepalese well regarded for their military discipline, bravery and loyalty and which has served in Singapore since 1949. Today there are some 3,500 Nepalese students and professionals in Singapore, a jump from the 200 or so when Ajambar first arrived.

To help build a sense of belonging among the expanding student and business community, the Nepalese Society was founded last year to foster cultural exchange and mutual cooperation. “We felt there was a need for a social organisation to promote and preserve Nepali culture and tradition,” explained Ajambar, who is its treasurer. “We hold gatherings and festive celebrations to help keep away loneliness and build a sense of belonging,” he said. The society is also an active participant in the Singapore HeritageFest, a move to showcase art, food and goodwill with the country that many Nepalese have come to call home.