Meet Bianca Forlee

Bianca Forlee is a Cape Town native that works as a civil engineer by day and in her free time, loves to eat, explore, surf, take photos and pet dogs. She is an avid supporter of women in STEM and believes that maths and science open the doors to so many career opportunities.

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you!” -Dr Seuss. Embrace your heritage, because that will always be a part of who you are and be willing to teach and share your experiences. The only way people learn to embrace other cultures is through sharing and willingness to learn. ~ Bianca Forlee

Read more about why Bianca is proud to be Chinese and proud to be South African.

Name: Bianca Forlee

Occupation: Civil Engineer

1. Where were you born?

Cape Town, South Africa

2. What school/college/university did you attend?

I matriculated from Brackenfell High and graduated from University of Cape Town (UCT) with a BSc Civil Engineering. I’m forever a student and am currently completing a MCom Information Systems, also at UCT.

3. What is your fondest childhood memory, growing up as a Chinese child?

Playing with my cousins on my Aunt’s farm, Sunday lunches and being a power ranger with my best friend. We’re still power rangers.

4. What is your favourite Chinese food?

I love all food, but if I had to choose it would be a toss-up between, my dad’s steamed fish with ginger and coriander and my mom’s steamed pork ribs or congee

5. Where do you live?

I still live in the Mother City :)

6. What work do you do?

I work as a civil engineering consultant at a firm that specialises in land development – social housing, property development as well as feasibility studies.

7. What do you love about your job?

Every project brings challenges and new learning opportunities. No matter how much you think you’ve done something before or know how to do something, there are always new things to learn or better ways to be more efficient. But for me, the best part is seeing your efforts go from a plan to paper and become an actual structure that people use and interact with every day.

8. What is your proudest achievement?

If I had to choose a single moment in my life, it would be travelling through South America. My travel buddy returned home and I traveled solo for 2 months. In those 2 months, I learned so much about myself and my capabilities. I used my limited Spanish to travel around Argentina and through Brazil, which is a Portuguese speaking nation, and got to see some wonderful places and meet amazing people along the way.

9. Why are you proud to be South African?

It’s home. I was born and raised South African. We’re a diverse and resilient nation – we’ve experienced so much and I think we surprise the rest of the world time and time again with our spirit and comradery. I especially love that a small country at the tip of Africa (which some countries don’t realise is a country) is able to take down big corporates by using our voices and calling them out.

10. Why are you proud to be Chinese?

It’s who I am. We have a rich culture and history of being pioneers and innovators and I know it must have taken a lot for my grandparents to arrive in a country not knowing the language or culture here. But they persevered and created a life that the rest of my family enjoy and benefit from. I’m proud to be Chinese because of these values of perseverance, adaptability and courage.

11. Name one Chinese tradition that you’d like future generations to continue with?

I think the one very important tradition to uphold, is the one that makes you feel closest to your heritage. For me it’s simply a bowl of rice with my family and friends or making won tons with them. But learning about the different traditions and why we do things also helps to keep them alive.

12. What advice would you give to the Chinese youth today in South Africa?

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you!” -Dr Seuss. Embrace your heritage, because that will always be a part of who you are and be willing to teach and share your experiences. The only way people learn to embrace other cultures is through sharing and willingness to learn.

13. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with the Chinese community?

The one special thing about being a minority group is our sense of community and always know that there is someone experiencing similar things to you. This blog provides a great platform for us to continually share our stories.

Want to contact Bianca?

Email her bforlee@hotmail.com