JEREMY CHONG
Senior Associate, Audit
KPMG LLP
Houston, Texas

GOING on an international rotation to Houston has been the best thing which has happened in my career with KPMG so far.

Arriving in Houston, Texas, everything was excitingly unfamiliar to me except the warm, humid weather. If you mention 'Houston', many people often instinctively think of the Hollywood blockbuster Apollo 13.

The movie's most memorable line, 'Houston, we have a problem', has special significance for me as my start to life in Houston was nothing short of bizarre. In my first week, I experienced a double whammy - a car accident and Hurricane Ike, back to back.

There's a saying that 'everything is big in Texas', but little did I expect this statement to also apply to vehicles. It is not unusual to see tons of big trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) prowling the streets at high speeds. I certainly did not look forward to driving beside these colossal machines.

As fate would have it, I got into a serious car accident while trying to avoid a truck one day. I ended up crashing into an oncoming SUV. Fortunately for me, I was relatively unscathed from the car accident. On the same day, the weather channel confirmed that Hurricane Ike would be making landfall on Houston. The news sent the whole city into a panic as people either evacuated Houston or rushed to Wal-Mart and other supermarkets to stock up on food and water.

Since I had just crashed my car, evacuation was not an option so I decided to stock up on supplies in preparation for the storm.

Early in the morning as Ike descended on Houston, guests at my hotel were asked to leave our rooms and gather in a hallway as our rooms were deemed unsafe. We managed to rough out the storm without further incident.

Hours after the storm and driven by curiosity, I ventured out of the hotel. What I witnessed was unforgettable. It looked as if I was in the middle of a war zone. Most of the streets were flooded, and some smaller buildings that could not withstand the might of Hurricane Ike had collapsed.

Hurricane Ike was the strongest hurricane to hit Houston in recent years and it is my sincere hope that Houston would never have to go through another hurricane of this magnitude.

Big Texas, big diversity

Hurricanes and car crashes aside, my overall experience in Houston has been a positive one.

As Houston is a cosmopolitan city, I was exposed to a great variety of cultures. Besides having new American friends, I have also made many new friends from countries such as Thailand, China, Sweden and Mexico.

Coming from Singapore where we have so much exposure to cultural and linguistic diversity, I surprised my Taiwanese colleagues with my fluent Mandarin and my Hong Kong colleague with my good understanding of Cantonese.

Being the only Singaporean in the Houston office, I also enjoyed playing the role of ambassador and was asked numerous times by Americans if Singapore is a part of China. They were naturally intrigued to learn that Singapore is actually a five-hour flight from China, and that most Singaporeans speak English.

I have also adapted well to the American culture of having cold salad and sandwiches for lunch and driving almost everywhere. Yes, driving everywhere because no one walks in Houston. Owning a car in Singapore may be a luxury, but, in Houston, a car is a necessity as buildings are often far apart.

I am making the best of my time here and have visited many cities and neighbouring counties including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Aruba, Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Washington. However, my most memorable travel experience must be the quintessential American road trip to California and Nevada, with colleagues from other KPMG offices.

We drove through beautiful mountains, canyons and valleys from California and Nevada. However, when our GPS (Global Positioning System) went berserk, we were led off-track to an isolated part of Nevada without a soul in sight. Fortunately, we still managed to find other travellers and were guided to our destination.

Looking back at our road trip, we all agreed that getting lost simply added to the fun and excitement of the whole road trip.

Now, halfway through my 18-month stint, I am already planning for my next trip to Yellowstone National Park. It has been an exciting secondment, and both the experiences and exposure have been invaluable.

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