What -- Many of my friends have been asking about what was I doing
in Singapore a few weeks back. As some of you may know, I had the pleasure of
representing UGM in Asian Undergraduate Summit, a student-run platform
connecting students from 7 countries: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam,
India, China, and South Korea. And yes, it was funded, otherwise I couldn’t
afford staying in Singapore for a week. The theme for this year’s AUS is Leadership
in a Complex World: Disruptive Change in Everyday Life.
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| NUS University Town |
Where -- AUS was held in National University of Singapore, so I had
the chance of experiencing what it might feel like studying in one of the best
university in Asia. And man, it was glorious.
NUS’ University Town is very well-designed and aesthetically pleasing. It
has everything from dorms, bookstore, Guardian, sport store, 24-hour Starbucks,
24-hour convenience store, foodcourts, gym, swimming pool, multiple studying
spots, 24-hour computer library, and so on and so forth. They make me realize
how little UGM—and most of state universities in Indonesia, really—facillitates
its students to learn. We’re not allowed to stay in campus until late at night,
so mostly we have to stay in cafes instead of using campus facillities just
like in NUS. This one time, my AUS team and I prepared for our presentation
until 3 in the morning, aaand we could still use the classroom.
Who – AUS
is a student-run program. So the Singapore leg is planned by NUS students. The
first moment I arrived in NUS Utown, I was impressed at how professional the
committee was. There was no confusion, no wasted time over registration
process. I’ve been a committee for a lot of events, but none of them ever
compares to how professional AUS was. Indonesian students’ events usually have
a looot of committees, unlike AUS which only comprised of less than 20 (!)
organisators. So we do need to learn a lot about productivity. AUS is supported
by NUS University Scholars Program as well as Temasek Foundation Connects.
What did you do there? – AUS comprises of many activities, ranging
from keynote speeches, workshops, site visits, and Design Thinking which is a
method of coming up with an idea or innovation. For site visits, we went to
Artscience Museum to see how technology has transformed what it means to
essentially be human. Nothing is really natural. It really eye-opening to see
how cyborgs, synthetic body parts, and a lot of things we usually see in Sci-Fi
are actually real and happening right now. We went to Singtel Innovation Center
and witness firsthand how communication technology has transformed very
quickly. Did you know that 5G is currently being developed and would provide a
near real-time communication? And we also visited the Lifelong Learning
Institute, Clementi Food Market, and many other places.
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| Quote in Human+ Exhibition |
On the last day of AUS, six best
teams present their final idea to a panel of judges as well as the whole AUS
participants. My team was one of these best teams (#proud), and we delivered our
Amigo Idea as you can see here. It was my first time talking in front of such
large international audience, such a nervewracking experience. But I did learn
a lot from the pitching workshop before, so that helped.
Did you go sightseeing? – Definitely!
Night time is a free schedule for us, so participants can go wherever they
like. Other than that, I was lucky to be in a group whose facillitator is
really facillitative in taking us to nice places. My group and I went to
Chinese Garden (a popular dating spot!), climbed 8 levels into the pagoda, and
watched the breathtaking sunset from above. We went to Orchard Road (ofcourse)
when there was this Youth Festival thing and apparently we got the chance to
watch ex-SNSD’s Jessica perform for free—Eventhough I don’t understand Kpop.
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| Chinese Garden |
Favorite thing about Singapore? – For me, personally, definitely
the public service. Coming from a country where public transport is very
inadequate, I relished the efficiency and reliability of Singapore’s MRT and
buses. Being in Singapore always created a wistful feeling of, Sigh, why wasn’t I born as Singaporean?; a
feeling I have to shake off because I am supposed to be a delegate of my
country who is proud of it!!!
Favorite part of AUS? – Honestly, AUS is very, very enjoyable. From
its formal sessions to informal ones, I feel like I have learned so much. But
for me, the chance of meeting fellow students from other countries and actually
being friends with them might steal the spotlight. I can’t believe how
sentimental I felt during the last night in AUS, where my group gathered
together and writing things for each member of the group. I’m really lucky to
have met them, and I miss them a lot right now hehe :’) And, the cultural
night! It was reeeally exciting to see each countries perform and showcase
their culture, tasting their foods, trying out their clothes, playing their
traditional games. Dancing to Hindi songs was real fun!
So, that was AUS in brief. I’ll write some more posts about the
~knowledge stuff~. Stay tune!
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