YOUR SINGAPORE TOUR GUIDES
We are the Hello! Singapore team and we are looking forward to welcoming you to Singapore. We are a small team of Singapore local residents working as professional tour guides with a huge passion for sharing our in-depth knowledge about Singapore and its culture, customs and history. We have worked incredibly hard to design our tours. We have been overwhelmed by the amazing feedback that we consistently receive. We are so proud to have built the best tour company in Singapore.
We all speak fluent English and we also have Cantonese, Mandarin and Malay language skills within the team. We have a diverse range of backgrounds from Finance Professional, Hotel Owner, Facilities Manager to Merchandising Manager. One thing is consistent though; we will all give you a FUN packed and memorable day in Singapore full of laughs and unforgettable moments. We can’t wait to meet you!
TEAM
LAURA
Hello, I am Laura and I am the founder of Hello! Tours.
My story starts in Hong Kong so bear with me. In 2011 I relocated to Hong Kong from London with my corporate job. Making the move was the easiest decision I have made. I had previously worked in Japan for a small Japanese company and I had spent a couple of weeks in Hong Kong on holiday after and fallen in love with the city.
Once I became a resident of Hong Kong I realised that during those two weeks I spent in Hong Kong on holiday, I didn’t see anything! Of course, I had ticked off the tourist highlights but I had failed to learn anything about the local culture and customs. I had not had a ‘real life’ local experience. To put it simply I had seen Hong Kong through the eyes of the uninitiated tourist and left without any real understanding of Hong Kong and its people.
I decided to quit my corporate job and I set up Hello! Hong Kong, a walking tour company specialising in culturally immersive small group and private tours. I wanted to make sure that other visitors to Hong Kong did have that local experience that I missed out on.
Fast forward a few years and Hello! Hong Kong became a huge success, so much so that I decided to relocate to Singapore and set up Hello! Singapore Tours. Singapore is another city that is easy to visit, and at the same time, it is easy to miss out on that real life local experience. I have made it my mission to make sure that everyone who is lucky enough to visit Singapore has the opportunity to leave with an in-depth understanding of the history, culture, customs and day to day life of this wonderful city-state.
I have built an exceptional team of guides in Singapore. I can guarantee that the best day of your trip will be the one that you spend with them! We hope that you visit soon 😃. And as for me…. I’m currently in Tokyo, doing the same thing all over again!
GEE SOO
Hi there, this is Gee Soo. I was born in Malaysia and I am Chinese educated. I have been living in Singapore since 1998 and it is my home. I officially became a Singapore citizen in 2011. Being the middle child of a traditional middle-class Chinese family the shophouses were my childhood playground.
I received my tourist guide license, in English & Mandarin, back in 2008 and have been actively sharing my knowledge and love of Singapore with guests from all backgrounds, both young & mature, from the East and West ever since.
I have been described as a friendly, sincere, patient and energetic person, and I passionately enjoy sharing my love for Singapore, which grows every day! My favourite phrase is from a local musical, it says: “There are no seasons here, but there is always love. . . “ The best part of being a tour guide with Hello Singapore tours is that every day is a holiday. I am able to make new friends day after day. The more I share, the more I learn and it never feels like work! In my previous life in the corporate world, I spent five years working in finance and then ten plus years as an office manager. I don’t think I need to tell you which life I prefer!
I am totally addicted to travelling on a small budget. When I’m not guiding I will either be on a backpacking trip or getting ready for one. I love the challenge that it brings and the insight that I get into local life, all over the world.
Very often people describe Singapore as the “Little Red Dot”, but you will be surprised by the many hidden gems that we are going to discover together here! Maybe we should call it the Little Red Ruby! I look forward to welcoming you, and to show you the best of Singapore.
SU LING
Hello, I am Su Ling, your local guide ready to help you experience the real side of Singapore!
I am a ‘true blue’ local born Singaporean who speaks English with a local accent aka “Singlish”! My ancestors came from Hainan Island in China. I am proud to have Hainanese ancestry because the Hainanese are well known to have great taste buds! Growing up in Singapore I have witnessed its growth from a kampong (village) to a beautiful city and would love to share the stories of our heartland, culture and the delicious food scene with you!
I was in the property and facilities management line for 15 years till I decided to call it quits in order to boost my soul and do something more fulfilling. My inclination to share good recommendations to friends and family led me to tourist guiding. When my tour guests love what I recommend and share with them it really makes my day.
In Singapore, you will experience “rojak”. That is the Malay word that means “mixed”. It is the mix of cultures, races and food all in one place that makes Singapore unique. I warmly welcome you to come here and experience the “rojak” with me!
DARYL
Hi Everyone! My name is Daryl. Like all ethnic Chinese in Singapore, my roots are in China. My grandfather came to Singapore from a city call Nan Hai, in the southern Chinese province of Canton. He arrived on the shore of Singapore in the early part of the 20th century, soon after, he met my grandmother, fell in love, and decided to make this lovely and sunny tropical island, his new home. My father and I were born and bred here in Singapore. Hence, I am a third generation Chinese.
I am proud of my Cantonese roots, thus, apart from English, I speak fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. And being surrounded by Indonesia and Malaysia, most Singaporeans like myself also have an elementary command of Bahasa Indonesia. After working for years in the financial industry, I went through a period of self-reflection. I realised that, in order for me to be fulfilled and to achieve my goal of having a balanced lifestyle, I needed to boldly pursue my childhood aspiration of being a professional tourist guide in my beloved country of birth, the Lion City, Singapore. And that was exactly what I did, and I have never looked back since!
Singapore, situated right in the heart of South East Asia, is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious cosmopolitan city. With its unique mix of modernity and colourful heritage and a breath-taking concoction of East and West cultures, Singapore promises to be your perfect holiday destination.
I live in a fascinating and culturally rich area of Singapore called Tiong Bahru. It is a heritage area built in the 1940s and 50s in a unique art deco architectural style. Today there are many hip cafes and boutique shops interspersed between the traditional businesses. It is a fantastic area that I would be glad to show you around. If you chose to travel with me as your guide, you will feel the love and passion that I have for my country. I will share a plethora of fun facts and fascinating anecdotes that make up the amazing cultural and historical backdrop of Singapore!
The spiciest constituent of Singapore’s culture must surely be our Culinary Culture! And, who better than a bona fide food lover like myself, to help you sample the mind-boggling varieties of local Singaporean street foods and delights! At the same time, you may want to explore the streets that are off the beaten track, nestled in our cultural enclaves like Chinatown, Little India, Katong, and Kampong Glam. If you are a big history buff like myself, we can enjoy an exciting afternoon blazing the trail at some of the renowned WWII sites in Singapore!
Whatever your preferences, I will tailor-make a one-of-a-kind itinerary for you, allowing you to explore the hidden cultural, historical and culinary gems, tucked away in the intricate and inviting streets of Singapore.
I give you my personal commitment to proved you with a fully personalised, immersive, and localised tour of a Lifetime! So, what are you waiting for? Put on your walking shoes and sun protection and follow me!
Pamela
Hello! I am Pamela (you can also call me Pam), born and raised in Singapore. I became a licensed tourist guide in 2016 because of my passion for traveling.
When I travel overseas, I enjoy meeting people from all around the world. Some of these people became my friends and I started showing them around then they visited me in Singapore. However, back then, the things I could say were, “This is the Singapore River.”, and “Look at that building, ain't it gorgeous?”
Those were very underwhelming statements, I was not very impressed with myself. Hence, when I originally decided to take the tourist guide course it was to enhance my friends’ experiences.
In 2017, I had the opportunity (excuse) to quit the corporate world in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. I packed my bag, went to Colombia to learn Spanish for four months and then traveled to other countries in South America for another three before I returned home. That was a life-changing trip that brought me fresh perspectives. I decided to join the tourism industry and I have never looked back since.
Why spend a day in the office cubicle staring at excel spreadsheets, preparing presentation slides and trying to negotiate a sale while dreaming about my next holiday when I can get out there and interact with visitors as I travel around my own country? I found the cure to my wanderlust!
I look forward to showing you around Singapore, sharing about my life growing up in this country and swapping travel stories as we discover the similarities and differences between our ways of life and cultures.
RICHARD
Hello everyone! I’m Richard.
Born and bred in Singapore, I am a passionate foodie and am always looking for great new places to “makan” (eat). I am excited to show you the best places to sample many varied cuisines, whether in popular tourist spots or in “off the beaten track” locations, and at the same time share engaging aspects of Singapore’s history & culture.
I graduated with a degree in Engineering, and I also hold a Graduate Diploma in Marketing. Before becoming a tour guide, I had worked over 30 years in the corporate world in various industries including banking, IT and consumer electronics, retail and manufacturing, and agriculture foods. I had also spent 6 years doing regional trade marketing and consumer tour incentives for a Tourism Board.
I decided to leave the corporate world and become a tour guide because I enjoy meeting people, traveling, exploring new places and then sharing all the wonderful local history, culture and food.
When I am guiding, I always try to see things from my guests’ perspective. If you come on a tour with me, I will make sure that I understand your interests when deciding where to go and what to show you. I am an excellent organiser and I like to bring people around to experience the local life, make new discoveries and try local cuisines. I believe this personalised approach will provide you with a fun and memorable local heartland experience.
I am fluent in English and also speak Mandarin and local dialects including Cantonese and Hokkien.
I really look forward to seeing you soon!
GENE
Hi, I’m Gene! I love talking about and sharing my passion for Singapore. This is why I am a tour guide! I am proud of my home nation and I am true blue Singapore, although I have an unusual family background; namely Peranakan, Portuguese, Burmese and Thai! I am quite certain that my parents and myself were conceived and hatched in Singapore though. Hence I identify as 100% Singaporean!
I have been a full-time guide for 5 years now, and I also hold a certificate in training and assessment from the Institute of Adult Learning, Singapore. Before I was a guide I was a technician in the Singapore Airforce for a number of years. Later I took to the skies, switching uniforms and employer to become a professional cabin crew for Singapore Airlines for almost 8 years. When not guiding, I volunteer at the Jurong Bird Park. I also enjoy nature hikes and cycling. I am a huge music buff and and an occasional film fanatic! Want to see all of the hot spots from Crazy Rich Asians!?
I enjoy telling stories of old Singapore but also current and future Singapore happenings. I can tell you all about local Singapore eats, like Laksa, Chicken Rice and my mother's delicious Peranakan dish Bua Keluak. If you come on a tour with me please ask me about my favorite celebrity food quotes. It's not easy to sum up Singapore in one or two tours, but I will happily give you my best takes and insights of my beloved nation! And please, please indulge me and let me take some amazing photos, creating lasting, happy and joyful memories of your tour with me.
BIBI
Hello! Like many sweet things, I am known by several names but prefer just to be called Bibi.I am originally from Denmark but came to Singapore in 1987 to marry my Singaporean Prince, a local of mixed heritage. He came to Denmark to propose – not on a white horse but on a white aeroplane, namely Singapore Airlines where he worked. I have stayed here ever since and it’s now been 35 wonderful years and counting.
I lived with my mother-in-law for three years at the start and that’s how I learned to speak Malay. We would go to the markets together and she taught me how to cook delicious local food. As a result, I might look different from the rest but I am as local as they come. I have always considered Singapore my home since I landed here. The different races, cultures, languages and religions made it easy for me to assimilate. After many years of living as a permanent resident, I finally became a Singaporean citizen in 2014 and that was also the time I qualified as a Singapore tourist guide.
Previously, I worked in the airline industry for almost my entire life, both in Denmark and in Singapore where I was employed by Lufthansa, the German airline. I was in a passenger-facing role as a Duty Manager for 26 years until I was retrenched in 2014, as most airlines were trying to cut costs. I view being a tour guide as an extension of my previous job because I love to work with and meet new people from all over the world, showing them why I love Singapore so much.
I’m excited to show you how we locals live, work and play, taking you to places that aren’t normally known to tourists. I will tell you stories of the changes I have seen in Singapore over the past 35 years, covering everything from our history and diverse cultures, to our renowned architecture, constantly evolving food scene, and more.
Besides Malay, which is one of the local languages, I also speak Danish, German, Norwegian (thanks to my father’s heritage), and of course, English. Join me on a tour and I promise a fun and immersive experience of Singapore, through the eyes of a foreigner-turned-local.
KWANG WEI
Hi, I'm Kwang Wei and I was born in Singapore to a Teochew family. My grandparents hailed from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong where we specialize in the Teochew language and culture.
My background is in Chemical Engineering and I specialize in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I am a trained engineer and currently I also work as a teacher preparing students for entry into university. As an extravert, I was a sales manager in the chemicals industry prior to my career as a tourist guide. This allowed me extensive travel around Asia-Pacific and gave me the opportunity to work with different people around the region.
During my free time, I am keen on researching about our roots, culture, histories and geographies that shaped the way we all behave. It is this curiosity and the joy of discovering new places and historical facts about Singapore that propelled me to become a tourist guide. I love our unique multi-cultural heritage, and of course, the local food that I am always proud to show to the world.
It is the pride in my heart that I am able to show the world the uniqueness of my country that motivates me the most. I hope that everyone that I encounter as a tour guide will take home a slice of Singapore culture, history and food, and that I am able to give you precious memories of your time in Singapore.
STEFAN CHOO
Hello, I am Stefan, a 3rd generation Singaporean with lived experiences in Australia and Norway. Being the only child in my family, I’m especially close to my mother, and would phone her every day even though I was hundreds of kilometres away. We live in an age where contact with family is just a WhatsApp message or a phone call away. I feel grateful that technology has been a life saver through joys and hardships I went through while I was overseas.
Imagine the tribulations of separation that my paternal and maternal had to go through when they left their kin back in China back in the 1920s. My paternal and maternal grandparents respectively came from the Fujian and Hainan provinces located in Southwestern China, and the journey here easily took 2-3 months. They left under very different circumstances, to look for a better livelihood in Singapore without guarantees that there would be one! I’ll be happy to share more on their earlier ways of life through the shared heritage of culture and food with you.
Just a little bit about me and who I am- prior to becoming a tourist guide, I worked primarily as a design researcher. I am curious about how people experience and interact with technologies like wearables in urban environments, and how such technologies can be improved for people’s wellbeing on-the-go. I embarked on my PhD journey, with the thesis title of ‘Tuning-in’ to ‘tune out”: mediating engagement experiences with music on-the-go (completed in 2023). While I still enjoy design research, I am intrigued about practical opportunities to translate research, influence and inform people’s lived experiences and wellbeing in public.
I signed up to be a Tourist Guide in 2023, with the intention of curating boutique tours that enable visitors to experience Singapore by evoking their senses and inviting their imaginations. Above showing pictures that present a snapshot of histories of a place, I like to engage the use of artefacts and technologies present in a specific place that can help you relate to the experience. Being a classically trained singer myself, I may even throw in a tune or two to weave in story narratives of our people and shared heritage, linked with the theme of the tour.
When you come on board with me on a tour, you’ll realise that Singapore is more than just a built up concrete jungle on the outside! You’ll start to appreciate the vibrancy of stories of people who shaped this nation; how our cultures interacted with one another through the rituals and food we share! As we reminisce the past on Singapore’s journey, we look towards the future- one that is harmonious, inclusive and green!
KEKO
Hi, my name is Keko and I am the Chief Operations Officer of Hello! Tours. I first met Laura back in 2012 when we were both living in Hong Kong. I was only two months old then. We got along instantly and moved in with each other immediately. It was my idea for Laura to become a tour guide. Between you and me she was putting on a bit of weight and needed to do something more active. Under my guidance she did a great job with Hello! Hong Kong but I felt that she needed to think bigger so I instigated the move to Singapore.
When we got to Singapore I discovered Chicken Rice! Oh my Kitty Cat Lordy, I can tell you, no chicken tastes better! I told her to put that on the tours! I am very proud of our Singapore business. Just like in Hong Kong we designed a number of culturally immersive tours that people LOVE. I don’t want to take all of the credit but….
Whilst I loved Singapore it was a little bit too hot for me. I have this beautiful fur coat which I can’t take off. So I moved Laura to Japan where it’s much cooler. We are currently busy working on Hello! Tokyo Tours. I am in food heaven. So much fish! And I have never been so popular! People in Japan love cats! Laura thinks i’ve gotten big headed and keeps threatening to put me in cat cafe but I know, that she knows, that Hello! Tours needs me. After all I’ve got big plans for our next openings! Meow.
SPOTLIGHT ON
Our Spotlight On series shines a light on our wonderful team. Get their insider tips of the best places to eat and discover little-known facts about them.
