In his art, design and technology class, Christopher Leow discovered the joy of working with his hands. But what will he apply it to? Engineering? Do you run a cafe? All of these lessons would carry over into his current career as an urban farmer, coach and consultant feeding communities..
On the rooftop of a multi-storey car park in Serangoon North, nearby residents who need something to put on the table in a hurry regularly gather on the green lawn. The community garden, called NUTOPIA, grows crops such as grapes, leafy vegetables, and rice.
Created with $3,000 in community donations, the 70-square-metre garden is not only productive but enjoyable for all ages. Young children will enjoy the clever concepts and learn through illustrated signs. Adults can take a walk there and admire the colorful flowers.
“With COVID-19 causing food shortages, I wanted to grow food and provide it to the community for free,” explains Christopher Leow, who started this passion project in 2021.
The garden is run by a core team of four people, including Mr Leow.
His urban agriculture consultancy helps transform land-poor spaces in Singapore into viable agricultural sites. Many will also recognize him as the affable host of Growing Wild, a Channel NewsAsia documentary series showcasing his farming adventures.
It's a blossoming career filled with colorful stories, but behind it all lies a difficult journey of self-discovery.
Yen working with his hands
Mr Leow excelled in art and design and technology (D&T) while he was a student at St Andrew's Secondary School. He enjoyed the creative process of making things with his hands.
“It gives me great pleasure to be able to create products or works of art that are both useful and beautiful,” he says.
He imagined pursuing something along those lines after his O-levels.
But his parents thought differently. “They wanted me to have a stable job and thought engineering was good,” he says, heeding advice that an aeronautical engineering degree from Singapore Polytechnic “had better prospects”.
He continued his studies in the same field in Australia and continued to attend classes diligently.
“Engineering involved a lot of computers and math, so it wasn’t my strongest field,” he explains. “I was really unhappy and stressed. I had a hard time the whole time there.”
To distract himself and earn some pocket money, he started clearing tables part-time at a café and soon found the experience of serving people food to be rewarding.
Using his savings, he started a cafe in his hostel, serving coffee and milk-based drinks glazed with colorful latte art he learned by watching YouTube tutorials and taking barista courses.
When he graduated and started a cafe in Singapore, he couldn't see himself doing anything engineering-related. He eventually closed the cafe, but was exhausted. It was time for him to find something that was sustainable, yet still nourished those around him.
Finding the Purpose of Food Security
When he traveled, he visited places such as India and the United States, volunteered with local farmers, and learned from street chefs.
During his two-month stay in Australia, he met a couple who grew their own food and saw how independent they were from supermarkets and other external suppliers whose prices and inventory were out of their control.
“When I saw that, something inside me opened and opened my eyes to the possibility of self-sufficiency,” Mr. Leow recalls. “I wanted to pursue that idea in Singapore.”
Upon returning home, he read books to pursue a degree in Culinary Arts and Business Administration to strengthen his knowledge of food and food preparation. He then volunteered with a community of urban farmers building rooftop farms. One of the farms he worked on was atop *Scape, a building on Orchard Link. He grows tomatoes, vegetables and herbs. In 2016, he joined urban farming social entrepreneur Double Garden City to help establish a circular farm. These farms recycle 'waste' such as coffee grounds to grow commercial crops such as mushrooms. It was part of a government pilot project for a community farming model, and he was interested in “starting this in Singapore to make a difference.”
Gardening requires engineering, technology, and more.
Mr Leow lights up when he talks about any aspect of farming.
The 37-year-old has already published a 199-page memoir titled The Freestyle Farmer. It's full of personal stories peppered with practical tips about gardening and farming. He considers it his own mission to educate people how to grow their own food and advocate for food self-sufficiency.
Above all, he works with his hands.
He insists that not all his lessons in engineering were in vain. “Whether I enjoyed studying or not, it’s all relevant and I apply that to my work today.”
For example, he uses his engineering and even D&T know-how to “automate certain processes and make things more efficient” for gardening. He programs tasks such as watering plants and installs sensors to collect data on soil conditions, sunlight exposure and rainfall.
Like the circular farm he helped build, he learned, nothing goes to waste and everything has its place.
For students still finding their goals and interests, his advice is simple: “It’s okay if you don’t know. Be open-minded and explore and you will find out what resonates with you.
“If you never have the opportunity to be exposed to different things, you won’t even know what’s out there.”