In 2003 Pilar covered the conflicts in the Persian Gulf for Reuters. She was embedded on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and spent several months on the ground in Iraq.
Spirited Alum Ee Chien Chua (07) Interview with Lauri Coulter
My entire life has been a series of comings and goings, of curious hellos and bittersweet goodbyes.
Ee Chien Chua attended SAS 2003-2007. He graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) and currently works as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. He has his own sourcing business, Straits Traders, where he has worked with the school to source various products. He can be reached at ee@straitstraders.com. During the 2013/14 school year alumnus Ee Chien Chua began working with SAS to source and produce some of the spirit items distributed by the PTA and alumni programs. We asked Ee to share with us a little about his work with the school.
Why did you set up your own sourcing business, Straits Traders? where our family began to splinter. Mr. Dodge, the SAS teacher who inspired me to major in history, met me for lunch, then wrote up my story for Journeys magazine (June 2007). Through all of this, though, two big questions plagued my freewheeling, spontaneous, just-let-me-go-where-thestory-is lifestyle: Where is home? And how do I get there? I arrived in Boston by chance last summer. A job offer was my ticket back to the United States, after all those years of wandering and wondering. Now I am 22
SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL JOURNEYS
reacquainting myself with my country, listening to the street musicians and the strangers in bus stations and seeing the unknown actors. I now walk in my sister’s shoes, but I make my own tracks across a snow-covered Boston Common on a cold afternoon in January. Pilar Wolfsteller moved to Asia and attended JIS in Jakarta (1976-1979), UWC in Singapore (1979-1980) and SAS at Ulu Pandan and King’s Road (1982-1985). She lives and writes in Boston. SPRING 2015
What made you decide to get involved with sourcing and providing products for SAS? I thought it would be fun to work with the school and thought that I might be able to help, so I started by reaching out to the PTA and found that they needed help sourcing a particular gift item for staff. I obtained the product they needed at 60 percent less than what they had been quoted. After that, I provided a range of gift and affinity items for the Alumni Relations Office. Although I’m working full time now, and much more busy, I’m continuing to work with the PTA/Booster Booth and the Alumni Office. I'll always be willing to help the Eagles when I can!
I've always had a desire to be an entrepreneur and was always trying to think of different businesses that I could start. I wanted something that was not capital intensive. I started out with a bunch of app and product ideas that didn't work out. After spending some time at the entrepreneurship center on campus at my university (BYU), I realized that a lot of students had great ideas (especially with products) but didn't necessarily have the connections to help them with manufacturing, especially outside the US. I already had connections (with family and friends) and started helping students with their sourcing needs.
What's next?
SPRING 2015
SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL JOURNEYS
I'd love to go into the food business someday. That's where my true passion lies. Right now, I'm working with a friend, who is getting his PhD at Wharton, on a company that will help international students with job and graduate school preparation.
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