Angus Hinton

The University of Melbourne, Australia
Exchange to National University of Singapore, Singapore

The Cheung Kong Endeavour Award has provided me with an excellent opportunity to develop my research that most other scholarships could not have provided. Singapore is a remarkable city that is at the crossroads of Eastern and Western culture, not to mention in the heart of Southeast Asia.

Singapore is comparable to any first world country in terms of services, and probably even cleaner than most Western cities. At the same time, it also contains a rich diversity of cultures from the dominant Chinese to the minority groups of Malays and Indians. There is also a significant and growing expatriate community here. In Singapore you can spend as much or as little as you like on food. They are very famous here for hawker centres where you can eat out for $2-$3; the cafeterias at the University are comprised of similar eating establishments, so you will find that you rarely cook at home.

The last ten years have seen Singapore liberalizing slowly, so although the government here has been in power for a long time, you will rarely feel the government presence. The best advice I have found is to usually follow what the locals are doing. Singapore is a bustling metropolis and this is exemplified on public transport, where locals will push to get on and off, one should not take offence at this, because even though you might be the last to get on or off, you will always be able to get on or off.

One of the features of Singapore is its proximity to other Southeast Asian countries. There are daily buses that run to Kuala Lumpur; these buses are very good, as they are first class and very cheap. You can also find cheap flights to Jakarta, Hong Kong and Bangkok, so visiting many places is very easy from Singapore.

I have found the University to have excellent resources in the fields of Southeast Asian studies. My particular school, the Lew Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, is a very well funded school, and so they have very good facilities. However, different schools have different levels of funding.

One thing that does need forward planning in Singapore is accommodation, university residence halls need to be booked well in advance. Private accommodation in Singapore can be very expensive, but are better in quality. The University has an internal free bus, which is very handy, because the heat here can make a 15-minute walk seem a long way.

Singapore can be a challenge to get used to because it is so similar to Australia in many aspects, yet at the same time, it could not be more different, so from time to time you can feel disoriented. However, through the challenges and disorientation you will come to a very rewarding experience, which I believe will have a positive lifelong impact.

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