Luka in Singapore Blog #1

WELCOME

to the first ever Luka in Singapore blog post! I’m so excited to share my adventures with you all. I’m planning to post a new edition every two or three weeks. If you know anyone that wants to be added to the email list, or if you want to be removed, just email me and I’ll take care of it. Now let’s get started!

National Day

Within days of my arrival, I was immediately thrown into the action with Singapore National Day! This annual holiday, held on August 9th, celebrates Singapore’s independence from Malaysia in 1965. I went with a big group of exchange students to see the fireworks at Marina Bay featuring a military flyover and a parade.

National Day Fireworks at Marina Bay

Dorm Life

I’m staying on campus in a dorm called Kent Ridge Hall. For the first month, we have inter-block games where different sections of the hall compete with one another in various sports. I competed in soccer, volleyball, takraw, and track. Takraw is this awesome sport from Southeast Asia that’s essentially volleyball with no hands, played with a small ball made from latticed plastic or rattan. The pros do crazy acrobatic bicycle kicks all the time - check out a clip here. See below for photos of my room and my team at the inter-block games.

My room

Inter-block Games

Extracurricular Activities

I’ve been playing lots of sports since coming here - Singapore is a very active and healthy society. I went to the NUS Cricket and Soccer team trainings and I’ll be playing ping pong soon. I also signed up for some other clubs including toastmasters which is a public speaking organization. And I trained with the Singapore Wombats Australian Football club with a bunch of Aussie expats working in Singapore, which was heaps of fun. They’ve invited me to join them at the Asian Championships in Bangkok in October, so it looks like I’m headed to Thailand!

Cricket

Soccer

Singapore Wombats Footy

Social Life

In addition to the Singaporeans in my hall, I’ve mostly been hanging out with exchange students since coming here. There are about 1,000 “exchangers” (as we call ourselves) from around the world. Lots of Europeans, especially Germans, but also Aussies, Americans, and students from all across Asia. It’s been amazing meeting people with so many different perspectives and life experiences. They’ve hosted a few clubbing events for the exchangers - here’s a photo from supposedly the 11th best club in the world called Zouk.

Clubbing at Zouk

Playing pool with the exchangers from my hall

Weather

It’s around 30° C (86° F) every day which is pretty hot but the high humidity is what really gets you. You can’t walk outside for more than 5 minutes without sweating. At least it’s not the rainy season yet which starts around November/December. My room doesn’t have AC, only an overhead fan, so it was a bit brutal at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. There's an amazing pool right in the middle of campus which is a great place to cool down and relax.

The pool overlooking campus

Exploring

I’ve visited Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street, Gardens by the Bay, and a nature trail at Macritchie Reservoir. This only scratches the surface of what Singapore has to offer so I still have lots of exploring left to do.

Arab Street

Chinatown

Making friends with the monkeys

Treetop walk at MacRitchie Reservoir

Monitor Lizard

Food

The food here is so good and insanely cheap. There are outdoor canteens throughout the city called Hawker Centres with a huge variety of food stalls including Singaporean, Chinese, Indian, Thai, and other cuisines. To reserve a table in the shared seating area, you put a pack of napkins on it to show that it’s taken. And the entire meal will usually cost $5 SGD or less ($3.58 USD). Granted, serving sizes are definitely smaller here than in the US. I’ve also had some delicious Chinese BBQ and hot pot, and I usually eat noodles or congee for breakfast at the dining hall.

Chinese BBQ

A Hawker Centre

5 Things I’ve learned

1. Every male in Singapore has to do two years of military service when they turn 18. So half of my classmates know how to shoot a gun and have driven a tank or something wild like that. It also means that all the guys at uni are two years older than all the girls, and that I’m the same age as all the freshies. 2. Singapore has four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. The older people tend to speak Chinese more while the younger people rarely use their Chinese. I’ve been trying to order food in Chinese and practice whenever possible. There’s also Singlish which is a colloquial form of English with all these funny phrases and it’s sometimes a bit tricky to follow. The most common thing is ending a sentence with “lah,” which doesn’t mean anything but just contributes to the flow of the sentence. 3. The housing system is really interesting. 80% of the population lives in subsidized public housing. Singaporeans aren’t eligible for their own public housing until they either get married or turn 35 (part of a government attempt to encourage family values). And all new properties built have a 99-year lease so at the end of the lease, whoever is there loses it and it goes back to the government. 4. There are lots of expats (people who live outside their home country - usually for work). Almost 30% of Singapore’s 5.6 million population are expats. 5. Up until this week, gay sex was illegal. The Prime Minister just announced that they are repealing Section 377a which banned gay sex, but they will increase the protection of their definition of marriage which still doesn’t recognize gay marriage. So one step forward, one step back. Some of the values here are more conservative than I was expecting.

Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong giving his National Day Speech

School

I almost forgot - I’m taking classes here too! I’m enrolled in Urban Economics, Sociology of Singapore, and Geography of Soccer. I’m only taking three classes so it’s a light workload to leave lots of time for traveling and exploring. I like all my classes so far, especially my economics class where we learn how and why cities develop as well as the societal pros and cons of urban areas.

On the horizon

I’m going to Malaysia this weekend with two German exchange students from my hall. We’re taking a bus and a ferry to a nearby island called Tioman island which has beautiful beaches, snorkeling, and hiking spots. I’m really excited! Also on the horizon is Formula 1 which comes to Singapore on October 2. I got tickets so now I’m trying to binge the Netflix show so I actually know what’s going on come race time. I’m making lots more travel plans throughout the semester for Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, and more, so stay tuned. After the semester and all my traveling is wrapped up, I’m going to Sydney to spend Christmas and New Year with my family which will be great.

Tioman Island - my destination this weekend

Economic Update

As requested by Rucheer, the Singapore economic update is one you don’t want to miss. Core inflation rose to 4.8% in July from 4.4% in June, still driven up by supply chain issues, effects of the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. It's also strongly influenced by the Fed’s monetary policy (shout out all you fedterns). The government has been providing economic relief to low-income citizens. The PM announced huge developments for terminal 5 of Changi Airport, ranked as the world's best airport, to further cement its position as Asia’s top travel hub. They are also heavily investing in Tuas port, which, upon completion, will be the world’s largest fully automated port.

Job recruiting

At the same time as all of this, I’m looking for jobs after I graduate in May. Returning to the Fed is still potentially on the cards, but I’m also considering economic consulting. Economic consulting is essentially performing data analysis to support arguments in lawsuits over economic disputes, for example by estimating damages, forecasting liabilities, etc. I’ve been networking on LinkedIn and practicing cases (thanks Corey) as I prepare to apply. If you have any information, contacts, or advice, let me know!

Conclusion

This wraps up my first blog! Thanks for sticking around to the end. I miss you all and I hope everything is going well in your world. Looking forward to seeing you again :)

Eating Rambutan in Chinatown