冰的起点

After two years of working, I'm back to student life. It is a mixture of complicated feelings of excitement as well as anticipation, pressure, happiness etc...

The idea of pursuing a postgraduate degree was pinned down during the early stage of my undergraduate study. However, knowing that experience counts in today's labour market, I declined a PhD offer from UUM instead, heading towards working life in the private sector for three months, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for two years. There might be questions for instance, what can you learn in two years? Does it worth to spend the two years working before going into postgrad study?

The answer is certain. The working experience I've attained is priceless. Working in the different entities was an eye-opening experience for me. It helps in building up the soft skills, i.e. interpersonal, communication, team-working, business ethics etc. As my background is International Affairs Management, no doubt that the working experience has helped me to decide which area I wanted to focus/specialize in. For this, I have chosen International Political Economy.

Living in Singapore is totally different from Malaysia. I used to drive, but driving in Singapore is a bit too costly as I'm only a student here, not earning much from my monthly stipend...haha. I could still recall the first day going to university myself. I went to the bus station early, but I missed the bus. Yes, I missed the bus, for one reason - I didn't flag stop the bus. This indeed, realizes me that it's been years I never board public transport and I was laughing at myself that I forgot the basic of taking a bus. Now, I must not forget my umbrella and water bottles with me, inside my bag despite the fact that they used to be in my car. Oh, I miss my car....

Secondly, the food in Singapore.....Sigh. I must say that, being here for three weeks, I still can't get used to the oriental food in Singapore. It is weird. Singapore and Malaysia are so close to each other, but when it comes to flavour, they are extremely different. The fried kuey teow here is sweet for instance. Yet, I enjoy the canteen in NTU as the food is value for money. At this point, I still opt for western/japan/korean cuisine whenever there is a choice. Apart from that, the canteens and hawker centers are very hygiene/clean. I have no doubt about food safety in this country.

It will be a new beginning for me here in Singapore. For I have to, adapt myself quickly into the lifestyle here.