Meet The Klook ANZ BD Team - 10 Questions with Johann Yong

Johann is one of the newer additions to the Klook ANZ team - he has joined as a Business Development Associate recently and is based in the Sydney office. He currently looks after merchants in the key destinations of New South Wales, as well as New Zealand.

Outside of work, he loves dance and has been dancing the style of Popping for over 10 years and is committed to daily practice. He also teaches classes to both adults and young kids on a weekly basis. Johann has participated in shows and competitions in Sydney and overseas too. During the lockdown, he has also picked up basketball and you can find him shooting hoops in the early mornings.

We sat down with him to go through 10 rapid-fire questions to get Johann better - 

I recall coming across Klook while travelling to Hong Kong, and how a friend of mine recommended using Klook to book Ocean Park tickets - we simply opened up the app and booked them instantly, which was a great experience! When I saw the job ad open up in Sydney, I was like - oh I know these guys, they offer cool experiences! 

It’s always been a dream of mine to work for a tech company and I absolutely love to travel, so I felt it was meant to be. It’s such an exciting time to be at Klook, now that travel is finally resuming and borders are opening across all destinations globally! 

I’ve only been with Klook for a little under 6 months so far, but the team have all been very supportive and willing to help whenever I need. Funny story - I actually came into the office for my first 3 days at Klook, but the next thing I knew we were in lockdown for 4 months! It was definitely a challenging situation to be in when starting a new role, but I’m so grateful for my new colleagues who have really looked out for me during the pandemic. We have an off site coming up, and I’m so excited to meet everyone in person.

I am very biased towards Sydney, as I’m born and raised here, but I’ve always wanted to see more of Victoria! I only ever pop over to visit family and friends or attend dance competition events, but after seeing what Klook has to offer in Victoria it makes me want to hop on a flight to Melbourne ASAP!

I always look back fondly at the time I spontaneously went to Singapore for a 3-day dance camp, where I got to learn from legends in this space. I also got the chance to visit Universal Studios Singapore, bike around Gardens by the Bay and had the best time hawker food-hopping! 

It was one of the most memorable trips filled with lots of learning and also fun. I’m really looking forward to travelling again soon. 

I have a list of places I definitely want to visit, but the one place I can’t get my mind off is Japan for sure. I have actually never been to Japan and I’m set on Osaka for my next holiday!

As a dancer, I wake up early in the morning (yes, including weekends) to practice 1-2 hours daily and also head to the park to keep my fitness in check by playing basketball with friends. I always try to stay on top of my health and make sure I get enough exercise.

Mentally, the one thing I live by is to be kind to yourself and also be kind to others. I also want to prioritise a work-life balance, which is definitely something I’m working on.

My usual go-to is a regular cup of latte. I have a goal to progressively try to make my way to the elite class of drinking black coffee.

I am a big fan of Malaysian Laksa. I am currently on the hunt for the best one in Sydney! Anyone with recommendations is always welcome. 

One of my highlights so far has been the project to republish activities, with the goal to re-engage merchants that have temporarily shut due to COVID-19 or have expired availability. With this project, we’re hoping to be able to offer the best experiences to travellers in preparation for travel opening up again soon.

My favourite Klook memory so far would have to be participating in the Step Challenge that the ANZ team participated in during the first two weeks of October. It really encouraged me to get out of the house each morning and there was definitely some fierce competition within the team!