WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 010
What was your childhood like? Did you enjoy it? My childhood was happy and content. My family was not rich, it was fairly basic; my dad was a civil servant and my mom was a high school teacher. It was a classic rural setting. I think that kind of setting contributed a lot to how I turned out because, in the rural village a lot of the basic needs are available annd this gives you the ease and comfort you need in order to think big. I’m the second-born in a family of six siblings. My sister, who is the first-born, had a lot to do however from a cultural perspective, my father would pull me aside and say ‘being a man you have a bigger responsibility.’ So I grew up feeling that I have a responsibility to look after and inspire my siblings.
I remember at one point we didn’t have electricity and so we bought and installed a solar panel. I didn’t like how the connections were done so I actually cut out all the wiring in our house and made it much more efficient because there was a lot of wastage in cabling. Another case happened around high school. We were lucky enough to be the only guys who had a radio CD player and all my friends in my neighbourhood would come to our house to listen to music.
The western education system isn’t good or bad either. It comes down to culture. For them, kids are actually encouraged to follow their passion and the systems are already in place to support them along the way.
Who were your role models? Frankly, when I was a kid I really didn't know anything about role models. The first time I thought that somebody could be a role model was when I was in high school and it all came as a result of curiosity. There were a few teachers in school that everyone looked up to however we were learning the basics behind a lot of technology and I started to see past the products and acknowledge the minds that made these devices. The intelligent minds behind all these products from the mac book to the radio were my role models whether I knew who they were or not.
Looking back, were there any personality traits in your early life that signalled a career in Tech & Business? Yeah. I was the child who opened up all the device at home to try and figure out how they worked. No device was
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left untouched, hehe! The interesting thing is the more I studied these devices, the more I wanted to replicate what I saw or improve the existing design.
So I took some radio parts, fixed it and I found out that I could actually put out a signal. My friends could then just tune in with a scanner radio and still listen to music at their home. I had made a broadcasting station and didn’t know it. I think that was when I knew I was going to become an engineer.
Do you feel that education has adequately equipped you for your career and business? If not, what changes would you advise to help improve the uality of education? I can’t say that the local education system is bad. It's more about how you train people within a particular system. I think the good thing about the local system is that it offers a wide range of information, which can be a good and bad at the same time. For me I feel it probably worked out well because if somebody tried to observe me since my childhood with the intention of trying to herd me into following a particular path, I probably wouldn’t be the person that I am, now.
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