“Thank you for being my home.” No matter where life takes her, Carla Dunareanu, born in Germany to a mixed heritage, always finds her way back to Singapore.
00:29I'm 36 years old and I come from Essen, Germany.
00:32Well, I was born in Essen, Germany.
00:35It's quite an industrial town.
00:36It's not like the Munichs or the Berlins.
00:38And I grew up with a Romanian father and a Singaporean Chinese mother.
00:44Needless to say, there was nobody in that tiny town that looked like me or my sister, right?
00:49We're the only half Asian kids.
00:52But life was great.
00:53I mean, traveling within Europe was so common.
00:56I have lots of memories just being in the car, going across the border.
01:01And then my mom and dad pointing out like to the floor where you see the divider where it says like,
01:05Germany, Austria.
01:06So things like that always stuck out to me.
01:08My mom was a stay home mom.
01:11So she was always around like any memory I have in Germany was definitely with her.
01:16My mom was an SIA student.
01:18And on one of her first few trips to Germany, she met my dad.
01:23So the first few years in Singapore were really fun.
01:29Going into school though, for like the first few times, it's so different.
01:34And it was, it was hard because kids just didn't know what to make of my sister and me.
01:40This was back in the nineties.
01:42Having Pan-Asian kids in a neighborhood primary school was unheard of.
01:46Kids look at you and they're like, why are you so unlaw?
01:50And you're like, am I?
01:52Don't we kind of look alike, you know?
01:54And it was, it was horrible because as a kid, not knowing how to deal with it, it was really hard.
01:59At that point, we spoke English because we went to Australia, but we had a German Australian accent.
02:09In a primary school, local neighborhood school context, they're probably thinking like, what is wrong with you?
02:15Why do you sound like this?
02:17So I think once we were able to code switch and adapt a little bit more into the colloquial slang,
02:23it just made life a lot easier and more fun.
02:26I think being a third culture kid, you have the best of both worlds.
02:31You know, you have your Asian heritage, European heritage.
02:34And as long as you are able to embrace it, tap in on the little nuances,
02:39I think it just makes you a really global citizen.
02:42And I think having that cultural sensitivity because I traveled and moved around so much,
02:47it's definitely become an advantage.
02:50It's the ability to compromise without feeling like you are going against what you want to do.
03:00So I guess I got into acting, I was probably 11.
03:03I followed my cousin to her acting class and she literally signed me up without my mom's knowledge
03:09and then asked my mom for the money to pay for the fees.
03:12And then I ended up going for class.
03:14I would do it every weekend and then there was going to be a casting director.
03:18They're looking for two young girls to be the leads of this film.
03:23So I was like, I was pumped, right?
03:25I was like, I'm going to get this. I don't care.
03:27And then the casting director comes and I'm like, look at me!
03:31Like the irritating child that I was.
03:33But I booked it. I booked the job.
03:36Lo and behold, the main actor of the show was none other than Lim Kei Tong.
03:42It was a short film called Gourmet Baby that ended up opening at the New York Film Festival.
03:48And that was the first realisation that what you are doing now is what you see on TV.
03:55And you see this fantastic actor that you see on TV and he's now in front of you.
04:00So from then, I started doing a lot more shows and I was very lucky that once I ended college,
04:06I also ended up booking a job, which was like a really, really big job.
04:10Part of the team of that production was very Philippine dominant.
04:16So they asked a whole bunch of actors like, hey, let's go to the Philippines.
04:19I said, cool, let's go.
04:21I ended up meeting the station manager for a radio station, 89.9.
04:26And he said, you have a really interesting voice.
04:28They don't have people who sound like me.
04:30I ended up doing radio for two and a half years.
04:32And during the time that I was in the Philippines, I would still consistently get calls from Singapore.
04:38I knew that if I kept saying no, at some point it was going to be the last time someone calls me.
04:43So I really wanted a sign that if I'm meant to go back to Singapore, show it to me.
04:49And then I got the call and it was from Media Corp.
04:52We are hosting the 2015 Sea Games. Do you want to do it?
04:58Yes.
04:59I managed to work it out. Everything was good.
05:01I came back to Singapore and that really was a turning point for me.
05:05It really legitimized the things that I do, the professionalism that I had.
05:09The Sea Games coverage did super, super well.
05:11And that again, catapulted me into a whole new string of work.
05:17So after I moved back to Singapore, I was still dating my boyfriend who I had met in the Philippines.
05:24And I ended up getting married in 2018. We got married in Singapore in Sentosa Beach.
05:29About five years after that, we finally managed to have our kid.
05:34And I think what was really important to me was to have a full family unit.
05:39You know, I lost my dad. So that's something I've always craved.
05:43And I thought if I can give that to my son, I want to do that.
05:47We packed up our life in Singapore and we moved to the Philippines.
05:50It was really hard.
05:51I think being away from family, being a first time mom, no helper, no nothing.
05:55It was very difficult.
05:57After about 10 months, I realized that it was just too hard.
06:01And we ended up coming back to Singapore.
06:04You know, got ourselves a place.
06:06Had my mom come over all the time.
06:08And now we're here and I think just the move back really solidified the fact that
06:12I always come back to Singapore.
06:14Every time I leave thinking like, oh my God, this is going to be a fun little adventure.
06:17And it is.
06:18But after a while, I think your heart always yearns for home.
06:23And then we came back and then everything kind of fell into place.
06:26Life now in Singapore is fun.
06:29The drive to work is stronger than ever, right?
06:33The need to provide housing, financial stability.
06:37And knowing that I had a great childhood growing up,
06:41I think innately that's something you want to give your kids.
06:44So whatever it takes, you would be willing to do.
06:47So this is the first time in my life that I've done a corporate job.
06:51I think craving this stability is something I've never had before.
06:55My mind is consumed by so many things on a daily basis,
06:59that the crossover to a corporate job is something I never thought I would do in my life.
07:04My identity as not just an actor, but as a person outside of being a mom and a wife was gone completely.
07:11And that loss of identity was very, very hard to accept.
07:14So being able to come back to Singapore, have an identity and a personality outside of my acting career and outside of being a mom.
07:22I loved it. I loved it so much.
07:24It's given me a lot of confidence.
07:28I did it so easily because the drive was strong enough.
07:32I think having my son, it's probably given me what I've been looking for, to be honest.
07:40The first few years when I came to Singapore, I think it was a lot of like foundational work of just trying to integrate.
07:51And then the longer I spent in Singapore, like doing school, working, it was always really fun knowing that I was the representative from Singapore.
08:02Being able to say that I'm the one that is going to be the face of Singapore now and what I do is going to reflect on the country.
08:11It's something that I take immense pride in, you know, and I never take it for granted.
08:16And it's something that I hope to continue doing, whether through my personal life or through my career.
08:22I think I'm proud to have been dedicated to this country for such a long time.
08:29The fact that I choose to be here and anyone who wants to make Singapore home, they accept them.
08:34I think that's definitely something that I would like my son, my husband to also benefit from.
08:41That Singapore is going to accept you and welcome you and be home for you.
08:46Dear Singapore, it's been a while, hasn't it?
08:49You've been one of the longest relationships of my life and what a journey it's been.
08:53Thank you for welcoming my family and me in 1995 and for letting us not only stay, but truly thrive on your beautiful island.
09:01I came to you as a young girl trying to fit in.
09:04Within your borders, I grew, I flourished and I found both my love and my craft.
09:10You gave me a chance to put down my roots and build a home.
09:14When I longed to see the world, you were my constant, the place I could always return to.
09:19Now, with my son growing up here, I feel even more deeply the safety and belonging you provide.
09:24My hope, as a mother, is to pass that same gift to my son.
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