Singapore: FAQ

OK, to answer many people's queries about Singapore all at once, I thought I'd put them all in one big post.

(1) Where are you?
Prince George's Park Residences
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Singapore

(2) What are you doing there?
I'm on University exchange with Sydney University. I am studying subjects at NUS that will be credited to my Sydney degrees.

(3) What language do they speak there?
There are four official languages.
English is the language of admin.
Malay is the national language.
Mandarin is the official language of the Chinese majority.
Tamil is the official language of the Indian minority.
On top of that there are the two main Chinese dialects Hokkien and Hakka, and other Indian dialects, such as Hindi.

(4) Can you tell me what Singlish is?
Singlish is Singaporean English. Basically its English, spoken with a tonal accent - think of Chinese sentence structures being applied to English phrases, add 'lah' at the end for emphasis, and a smattering of Hokkien, Mandarin and Malay phrases in the sentences, and you've got it.

It's a lot harder to understand and be understood than you'd expect, considering we are taught in English. The lecturer's are easy to understand, it's just the students that can be difficult.

Some examples:
Can (lah)- I am able; We are able to ...
Also can (lah) - That's a good suggestion/alternative, we can also do that...
Cannot (lah) - We can't do that.
Come 1:30 can already - We will be there from 1:30, so you can come after that.
Ulu - jungle in Malay - the sticks.
Makan - to eat in Malay - Let's Makan/Have you Makan? - have you eaten?
Wah lao - OMG in Hokkien
Wah lan (a) - F**k in Hokkien

(5) When will you be home?
Ah, the most popular question!!
July 7 is my current expected date home. It's now booked and final.

I will be in China May 15-June 13.
Singapore June 13-15.
Thailand (Ko Phi Phi) June 15-July 4.
Singapore July 5-7.

(6) Are you enjoying it?
Hell yeah! It's been a challenge at times, but I've grown to love it. I will miss Singapore and the people I've met here a lot when I leave.

(7) What is the weather like?
Hot and sticky. 25-31 degrees 365 days a year, with varying levels of humidity. Nov-Jan/Apri-Jul are the wettest times.

(8) What is the time difference between Singapore and Sydney?
-3hrs in non-daylight savings
-2hrs in daylight savings (now)

(9) Have you changed?
I don't know. Some people say yes (Lu, Dad), others no (Mum). I can't say as I don't view myself as a person - I'm me.

(10) What have been your best/worst expereience(s) so far?
Best - going to Cambodia, having Chinese New Year dinner with a local family, meeting all my global friends
Worst - the first week before orientation, the 'not-knowing' factor that comes with moving to a new place, the cliques that have developed among some groups of exchange students.

(11) What are living costs like?
Housing/cars for the locals are really expensive (unless you live in govt-subsidised HDB flats).
Cars have the CoE (Certificate of Entitlement) which can be up to $20000 and then the cost of the car, which is taxed at 200%.
Food is dirt-cheap. Lumch/Dinner is max $4 (usually $2-3).
Clubbing is expensive - as alcohol is taxed so highly.

(12) Do the locals study really hard?
Yes and no. I think the Singaporeans study more, but they seemingly have no sense of time management, so it balances each other out

(13) Singapore v Sydney
Argh! Sydney is my home!!! I could live here short-medium term, but not for the rest of my life. The political restrictiveness would get to me (being a political-science/govt major), rather than the rules (Singapore is a fine city as they say)

That being said, I think both cities can learn from each other. For example, there is far more of an international feel here. The singaporeans realise they have to go overseas to experience the world - its far less insular than syd - like we think if there is anything important around the world, it'll come to us.