That led to a job at the exclusive Sun City resort where he stayed for six months before heading to Paris to try his luck which in turn brought him to Shanghai.
"I have a friend who is married to an American singer and she needed a drummer who could sing for her band in Shanghai," he says. So he seized the opportunity and moved in 2001. He has not looked back.
Now, Kuppusami can be found most evenings either at Park 97 in Fuxing Park or JZ Club on Fuxing Road playing with various bands as lead singer.
Seven years after his arrival, he says, more and more doors are opening for music in Shanghai as Chinese audiences develop a greater appreciation for different styles of music, like reggae which is a very new genre here. "I am the only man who plays it and I still love the reactions of Chinese people when they first hear it."
Having established himself as a well-known local musician, the 33-year-old recently completed his first album "Music Virus" which is a collection of reggae covers, originals and sega (African rhythm from Mauritius).
But with his music career flourishing, he says he would now love to find new talents and record a song with a traditional Chinese singer. "They would sing in Chinese and me in French. It would be like a fusion of culture through music," he says. "I am sure it would be beautiful."
Life, however, is not just about music for Kuppusami.
After moving to Shanghai, he met and married his wife Miia and they now have a young daughter Eliane. He has also developed a passion for acting.
"I got discovered two years ago when I was playing a gig. An American agent based locally saw me and asked if I wanted to be in the movies. I thought, 'who doesn't'?"
Since then he has appeared in three movies - "Two Tigers" (a thriller in which he was cast as a bodyguard), "Shanghai Baby" (a romance in which he played in a band) and "White Crane" (another thriller where he was a captain of a mercenary army).
Comparing his two careers, he says acting is his preference these days. "I have been doing music for 18 years while acting is a new discovery, a whole new world for me."
(Shanghai Daily March 4, 2008)