Navigating Central Asia: Uzbekistan
It all began with an idea that has somehow come into form. In 2022 summer, I took on a new work assignment and relocated from Hong Kong to Uzbekistan.
My interest in developing countries and my idea to live or work there probably began to solidify when I was in university. During the time in S.H. Ho College under the “One University One Village” scheme, I had the opportunity to visit a rural village in China’s Yunnan province, a catholic village by the Nujiang river valley with wooden houses, waterfalls, and exceptionally fertile soil on the mountains. Another time I joined an external NGO, Delegation for Dialogue, to study the refugee crisis first hand in Lebanon, separately visiting the Syrian and Palestinian refugee camps. All these pieces of memories and learnings gradually shape how I understand the world, and more interestingly how I want to see, feel, and learn about the world going forward.
Upon graduation from CUHK, the thought of working abroad was still with me. After several years of searching, experiments, and failures, I have finally reached a role and an organization that I could resonate with in terms of interests, technical skills, and perhaps, meaning of life. There were times I had no idea what I could to do, and the only thing was to keep exploring and show up. Among the dozens of locations, I decided to apply for Uzbekistan, and I am extremely grateful that the team has also chosen me out of a competitive process. To me, Central Asia has always been somewhere I would like to explore. It is the backbone of ancient Silk Roads filled with vibrant culture, religion, arts, and craftmanship. It is also a region full of potential in the coming decades.
I guess it is never easy to live aboard alone, especially when you do not know the language. People mostly speak Uzbek and Russian here in Tashkent (capital city). In other regions outside of the capital, for example, Samarkand, Tajik is also used since about half of the population there are ethnically Tajiks. Here in Tashkent, to my surprise, Russian language is more commonly spoken than Uzbek, largely because the country has received inhabitants from across the regions since the Soviet times when people moved around to work and live. Furthermore, we have a sizable Russian-speaking Korean community here due to historical legacy when hundred thousand of Koreans were deported from Russia’s Far Fast to Central Asia, mainly to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, under Stalin’s rule. I am trying to pick up the two local languages here now. Although far from fluent, I largely feel integrated and welcomed by the people here.
As for work, it is quite fascinating to work with and get to know colleagues from some countries where I knew no one from before. For example, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Turkey etc. On day-to-day, we have Uber and PayMe equivalent apps in Uzbekistan, which turns out to be more modern and tech savvy than I imagined. However, cash is still heavily used here, particularly USD cash for bigger transactions due to the volatile exchange rates of local currency. For instance, people who plan to purchase a car would have to withdraw big piles of cash from banks and change them to USD. Besides, on information flow, there appears censorship by the government around internet contents. Separately, people who stay in the country for over a month would also need to register their phones with government authorities. All cross-border data are all passing through the state-owned internet gateway. Despite other challenges, overall Uzbek people are generally nice and easy going. For example, although people will sell you all kinds of fruits or goods in the bazaar, if I end up not buying them, the sellers will also pull a smile and respond in a polite and friendly way.
This may be a journey of a lifetime. When I come to this new place, although in just a short time, there is a lot of humble personal growth, unexpectedly discovering new things about myself. At the same time, what a great opportunity to rethink and perhaps reinvent who I am or whom I wish I could become. I especially appreciate the space, mentally and spiritually, that comes with this adventure that allows me to think about small and big things. At the same time, I could not be more excited to come home and give all my family and friends a big hug! These are the people that keep me going and keep me believing on the other side of the world.
If any member of S.H. Ho College happens to visit Uzbekistan or even Central Asia, do drop me a line and I am so happy to help or host.
May I ask all of you, if you have a small idea that has been sitting on your mind for quite some time, do something about it. Ideas do not come to you randomly, they come to you for a reason. Lastly, be proud and immensely thankful for this one single person – the person who has spent years to cultivate your body and intellect, the person that has never given up during young and old ages, good and bad times, the person who perseveres and has the grace and courage to make brave choices to make who you are today. This person is yourself. Wish you all, all the very best from the bottom of my heart. Looking forward to coming back Hong Kong, my home city, sometime. Sending everyone warm wishes from Uzbekistan.
Biography of Miss Venus To
Constantly contemplating and experimenting her roles to better serve the needs of humanity and the planet, Miss Venus To now serves as an Investment Analyst at International Finance Corporation (IFC) under World Bank Group focused on sustainable infrastructure investments in developing countries across Central Asia and Middle East. Venus first joined IFC in its Hong Kong office in 2020 focused on country research and climate finance innovation. Currently living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Graduated from CUHK with a BBA degree in International Business and Chinese Enterprise (IBCE) and Business Analytics. An alumna of S.H. Ho College.