A very memorable year of my life was that of my 3rd university year in the city state of Singapore in Asia from August 2012 until around May 2013. To qualify for the year abroad at my home university you had to a certain grade average across your subjects. I remember at the end of my 2nd year a Singaporean Chinese man giving a presentation to our class at the end of one of the lectures. He must of been some sort of professor from NTU. Unfortunately at the time of writing I cannot remember much of that presentation although I do remember the thing that sold it for me. Singaporean hawker canteens throughout the NTU campus and throughout the city provided relatively quality food at an affordable price and at convenience. The MRT (mass rapid transit) provided cheap and reliable transportation across the city. Singapore was a developed country that was surrounded by exotic locations such as Thailand, India, China, Hong Kong. I was sold! The presentation must have made an impression on others in my year group too because in the end there were 15-20 Strathclyders who ended up at NTU.

I can still remember getting onto the escalator at Heathrow where I separated from my parents and my mum bursting into tears at the sight of me leaving. I was 19 years old.

Upon arriving in Singapore the first thing that hit me upon leaving the airport was the humidity and the heat. It was like being in a sauna you couldn’t get out of. I remember getting a taxi across the city from Changi airport to the NTU campus on the west side of the island. The taxi driver was Indian. First stop was my accommodation in the halls of residence. I shared a room with Singaporean Chinese student Jack. I stayed on the ground floor very close to the local canteen. One thing that I struggled with early on was all the bureaucratic tasks I had to carry out while I was settling in. There was the student visa to sort, student registration, classes to choose, medical checks and much more. Jack introduced me to his social circle and included me in team building activities such as ice skating, football (which I continued with through the semester) and in general acted as a host. Jack also took me to the Singaporean army museum (Jack was fresh out of national service which all Singaporean males have to do for 2 years).

At the time of writing, in January 2025, I can safely say my year at NTU was one of the best and most definitive of my life. I thoroughly recommend a year abroad to anyone at university. To a person without a car and who doesn’t know Asian culture, Singapore is an excellent choice. I spent a lot of money that year but I don’t regret any of it.

As for why I enjoyed it so much, one reason is the people I met. Of the most notable was Ryan from the United States who was also on exchange. Ryan was a year older than me but he explored foreign and strange places fearlessly. His bravery was complemented however with his excellent planning ability and down to earth-ness. With regard to studies he aced exams with ease sometimes after only studying the night before (all night). He had an intelligence that I could only dream of. He was a passionate environmentalist with strong morals. However it was in travels outside of Singapore (in Myanmar, Thailand) that I spent most time with him. Ryan was extroverted as opposed to my introverted-ness. I was very impressed by this, most of my engineering class mates were more introverted. People here in Britain say that if there is one thing private school teaches you it is that life is limitless. I myself went to state school and Ryan touched upon me this lesson through his independence and daring.

However in the second semester Ryan left for Australia, on another exchange. It was in this semester that I began to spend a lot of time with so called Mainlanders. Singaporean Chinese were ethnic Chinese born and raised in Singapore. They spoke English as well as any British person. Mainlanders were ethnic Chinese born (and raised) in the People’s Republic of China but who gained scholarships or admission to NTU via student visas. Now one of the desires of many Mainlanders was to improve their English. And being someone from Great Britain made me an object of curiosity in a way I’d never been before. I stumbled upon this myself after I began attending a public speaking social group at NTU in the second semester. Every session different people would present, there would be ‘off the cuff’ speeches, there would be evaluators who gave feedback and there would be mingling in the break and before and after. I quickly became addicted to these social sessions. Mainlanders were unique in that they were less individualistic. They were also extremely hard working and didn’t scoff at perceived nerdiness. I knew female (Mainlander) students who majored in tough subjects such as maths and electrical engineering on scholarships. Typical students in the UK would be shy as a result of teasing and social criticism. Another difference between Mainlanders and society I was used to was a lack of classism. In Britain getting an ‘A’ grade was never quite enough. You had to impress with your hobbies. You had to answer the interview questions in the right way. Mainlanders worshiped intelligence and hard work.

Eventually I had the idea to email lots of different clubs across Singapore about speaking at their club. At home in Scotland people would make fun of you for presenting. There was a tendency to poke fun. But in Singapore there was a different atmosphere. I was learning about communication in a new and exciting way. In the second semester I must of presented a dozen times to a dozen different public speaking groups. My results were mixed, I won an award at one, and I was harshly criticized at another. But with every speech standing in front of people was becoming easier. I learnt that showing photos were often easier than using words. My style was sincerity and honesty as opposed to humour. I was changing as a person, I felt I was growing in a new way. 

In the end I decided to drop out of my engineering course, a decision I have mixed feelings about at the time of writing (today). I went on to teach English in the city of Zhengzhou in Henan Province in the People’s Republic of China. There I was really off the beaten track. However in October 2024 I successfully graduated my original course with the University of Highlands and Islands.