#8 A Prologue to magazine.ybp — Written Two Months In

 

Editor: @nwangerd l @hyssl.kr | @_j_ihn.b

It’s been nearly two months since we published the very first article on magazine ybp. Since then, seven pieces have gone up, and we’re now preparing an website revamp, and upcoming interview articles. We even made logo T-shirts, just for us.

At this point, we thought it might be a good time to take a step back and introduce the magazine itself: what it is, why we started it, and where we hope to go from here.

So in this piece, we’ve captured a conversation between the three editors behind magazine ybp— JH, NG, and HS —to offer a look into the magazine’s origin and intentions.

 

Q. First, can you introduce yourselves?
JH: “25. Still early in my career. Almost two years in Singapore now. I care about experience, savings, and a little bit of romance, too.”

NG: “Born in ’94. Almost three years in Singapore. ybp is the second magazine I’ve been part of. I work hard, and I spend hard when it comes to things I love. Also growing out my hair. lol”

HS: “Six months into life in Singapore. Still finding new preferences, new people, and slowly settling in.”

Q. Why a magazine?
JH: “I’ve always had this urge—to make something of my own, to create and share.
NG and HS were colleagues I clicked with. In our many conversations, the idea of a magazine kept surfacing. They both had past university experience making a magazine, which they spoke about fondly. Eventually, I thought, why not? sounds fun.”

NG: “I wanted to create. I’ve always been a consumer when it comes to the things I love—but creating is different. It satisfies in a deeper way.
A web magazine felt like the right medium—text, images, even video. It’s flexible. And if we ever wanted to, we could print a physical version and leave something behind.
Also... I just can’t do Reels.”

HS: “Once I started working, I noticed I wasn’t really creating anything anymore.
When we made magazines in the past, I felt something that’s hard to describe—a kind of inner expansion. You build something that didn’t exist before. You share ideas, receive reactions, and you grow through that exchange. I started missing that feeling. You know how the thirsty are the ones who dig the well.”

Q. Why ybp (young broqué professional)?
JH: “For a magazine to mean something, someone out there has to relate to it. So we asked ourselves: What stage of life are we really in? Calling myself a ‘young professional’ felt… itchy. Like the phrase didn’t fit. Maybe it’s because the image I had in mind didn’t quite match the version of me biting a slice of pizza, barely keeping up with the day’s tasks. So we added broqué. It felt more honest.”

NG: “I spend because I want life to feel good—and that, naturally, leaves me broqué. But also, I wanted to write down the nonsense I usually ramble on about. That kind of nonsense is what keeps me going. In that sense, broqué takes on another meaning.”

HS: “Then and now, I’ve always been young & broqué.
Now, I’m just trying to earn the professional part.”

Q. What kinds of things do you want to explore in ybp?

JH: “Experience matters. So does saving. So does a little romance. There’s so much I want to do, and so much I need to do—and I sometimes feel like I’m trying to hold a waterfall in a coffee mug. Even when I’ve done my part, even when I’ve made progress, I often catch myself unable to fully savor it.
Through writing, I want to give people our age a short moment to pause. Whether they feel seen, or simply think so that’s how she’s living, I hope they get a quiet second to reflect on their own pace.”

NG: “When you leave behind friends and familiar places and start a life abroad, it becomes easy to lose your sense of self. Over the past two years, I’ve watched the things that used to matter to me fade into the background. They got crowded out by more ‘important’ things—work, pressure, time.
This magazine is a way for people like us—who are all navigating this in-between life—to hold onto ourselves. To stay anchored. And I hope that process brings energy not only to our readers, but to us as editors too.”

HS: “So much has changed for me in the past six months. Until now, the longest I’d lived outside Korea was a short study abroad. Now, Singapore is quickly becoming the second-longest place I’ve ever called home. I used to think I was pretty steady, but even small changes have found their way in—made me question myself, made me see things I never would’ve noticed before. I want to use ybp to document the raw thoughts and feelings of this moment in time, before it passes. And I hope readers find something here too—a reason to pause, a question worth sitting with, or simply a moment of connection.”

Q. What's next for ybp?

JH: “We want to build something fun, something open. The nice thing about small, new communities is that we don’t have many rules yet. I’d love to hear from more people working abroad—how they’re building their lives in unfamiliar places, how they see themselves right now, and what their plans look like. We’re also planning to make some ybp merch. If you’re ever interested, I’ll even take a film photo of you as you are today. Just let me know.”

NG: “Our milestones are as follows:”

• 50 followers: Custom T-shirts (done)

• 9 articles: Run region-based ads (done)

• 100 followers: Hong Kong workshop (done)

• 15 articles: Begin printing the first issue (done)

• By November: Crowdfund and host a launch party + merch pop-up (done)

• 500 followers: Berlin workshop

• 1000 followers: New York workshop

HS: “I want to work hard and keep creating—consistently. For myself, and for the people reading our pieces. To do that, I hope I can stay soft, open, and willing to absorb whatever new things come my way. Like JH said, I’m excited to imagine a future where magazine ybp grows with even more voices—more stories from people out there quietly figuring things out in their own way.”