My Unconventional Journey into Tech: From Indecision to Engineering Manager

24 March 2025

At 19, I was just another confused Singaporean male serving the army with no clear direction. I blindly chose the “safe” major of engineering without knowing what I was getting into. I switched majors multiple times, struggled with programming, and nearly gave up on tech entirely—until a hackathon changed everything. That one experience set off a chain reaction, leading me to Silicon Valley, back to Singapore, and eventually to where I am today- an Engineering Manager at Ninja Van. Looking back, it’s been anything but a straight path, but every detour has played a part in getting me here.

When it came time to choose a major, I did what many Indians do—I picked engineering. Not because I had a passion for it, but because it was the “safe” choice that felt versatile enough for me to do whatever I wanted upon graduation. The problem? I had no idea which type of engineering to pursue. My dad suggested computer engineering, so I went with it.

Before officially starting university, I took a special-term programming course, CS1010X, designed for NSFs who were waiting to matriculate but already had a seat in NUS. Unfortunately, I found the course so difficult that I dropped out halfway. That was my first wake-up call—I needed to reconsider my major. So, I switched to the Common Engineering program, a general track that allowed students to explore different disciplines before specializing at the end of year 1.

The day before school started, an electrical engineering professor casually mentioned that Common Engineering was where NUS placed students with poor grades. That was my second wake-up call. My grades were decent, so I followed his advice and switched to Electrical Engineering, hoping it would be a better fit than Computer Engineering.

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t. I found it just as difficult.

A Hackathon That Changed Everything

Then, something unexpected happened. I was invited to participate in the Facebook Southeast Asia Hackathon by a classmate. I teamed up with two other first-years and a third-year student, and together we built “Tombook”—a platform that memorialized their Facebook pages upon their death and allowed users to send timed messages to loved ones after they passed away. To our complete shock, we won.

Winning meant that Facebook flew us to California for the World Hackathon Finals. Competing against the best student teams from around the world was surreal, and we finished in the top eight, hacking a tool called Sharity that allowed users to raise funds and share their progress on Facebook.

At Facebook’s Menlo Park campus, I was completely blown away. There was unlimited food, vending machines that dispensed Apple products, and industry-leading compensation and benefits. I probably have Facebook to thank for my pivot back into Computing. Since all engineering disciplines were tough, I figured I might as well choose one that paid well.

So, I opted to change my major (yet again) to Computer Engineering. Thankfully, the University Scholars Programme I was part of allowed me to switch majors up to two years into my degree, which made the transition smoother.

Learning in Silicon Valley

Because I was representing Singapore on a global stage, I was fast-tracked into the selective NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) Silicon Valley program. This program lets students intern at startups in the Bay Area while taking entrepreneurship classes at Stanford. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

During my one-year stint in Silicon Valley, I interned at an edtech startup called Epic! as an iOS Engineer and was mentored by David, an incredible engineer-CTO who created an environment where I could truly learn and grow. That experience changed everything for me. I finally knew what I wanted: to return to the Bay Area and build a career in tech.

Coming Back to Singapore

Before graduating, I tried hard to land a job in California. Despite a couple of soft offers, nothing materialized. Reality hit hard—I had to stay in Singapore. That’s when I joined Ninja Van, a rapidly growing logistics-tech startup, where I still am today.

My first team at Ninja Van wasn’t the best fit for me due to a lack of structure, so I transitioned to the Engineering Excellence team, which focused on improving engineering processes, best practices, and writing horizontal libraries that the rest of the engineering teams could use. However, the team was later restructured into an initiative rather than a dedicated unit.

That’s when I moved to Tooling & Automation, a team responsible for building internal tools, automating stuff, and improving developer productivity. Over time, I took on more responsibilities, eventually leading the team as Tech Lead and now Engineering Manager.

Looking Back

It’s funny to think that I stumbled into engineering by default, struggled through multiple major switches, and nearly gave up on programming before discovering my passion through a hackathon. The journey has been far from straightforward, but every twist and turn has shaped who I am today.

From being lost in my major to leading a team at Ninja Van, I’ve learned that sometimes, the best opportunities come when you least expect them. And more often than not, the things you struggle with the most are the ones that push you toward your greatest growth.

Shoutouts

• Facebook – for organizing a kick-ass hackathon that made me want to go into engineering, despite not being good at it.
• David – for being a phenomenal mentor at Epic! and setting the bar high for what great leadership looks like.
• Shaun, Mani, Kwang Hock, Thung Han – for being awesome friends, colleagues, mentors, and people who’ve played a big role in shaping my journey.