Pre-trip Projections

This trip would provide a multi-disciplinary experiential learning through an immersive inter-cultural experience in Chiang Mai. As a business student, the syllabus entails mostly analysis of data. With this TOPS trip, there would be fieldwork and research involved, which would greatly broaden my learning in NTU, exposing me to various aspects and details of fieldwork and research. This would allow me to pick up skills to deepen my understanding of research, which otherwise I may not have much exposure to throughout my business course.

This trip would also promote personal mastery in the form of civic and ethical awareness. Through the fieldwork, I would grapple with the various aspects of civic and ethical awareness when I conduct interviews with my team in a culturally different environment. This is more so when my team would be dealing with a sensitive topic of local behaviours and attitudes toward Chinese tourists, with my team being all Chinese. This would train me to become more sensitive to the nuances and finer details of body language that may signal civic or ethical concerns.

A more significant part of the trip would be the interpersonal communication and social skills. Interacting with Thais in Chiang Mai would definitely be an enriching experience as the team strives to overcome the language barrier and obtain useful research data. I had some experience in Thailand some time ago when I was in the SAF and went to Thailand for a military exercise. Being the admin officer, I had to handle a multitude of administrative duties which involved interactions with the locals. I hope this TOPS trip will deepen my understanding of the Thai culture and language through the interactions and thereby improve my social and communication skills. More importantly, these skills learnt during the trip will be instrumental outside of university in society where much more emphasis is placed on social and communication skills than academic results.

The trip will allow me to embrace the rich diversity of the human experience beyond academy. I am looking forward to visiting Chiang Mai, which I have never been to. Travelling, inherently broadens one’s horizon and perspectives of the world. Interviewing the locals and finding out more about the research topics will definitely bring about a richer and more memorable travelling experience. I am looking forward to understanding the Thai’s way of life and immerse myself in their culture. The heritage sites my team would be visiting such as the temples allows understanding of the rich Thai heritage. Visiting the night markets and tasting the food is definitely something I am also looking forward to. As a USP student, being exposed to such cultural experiences would put me in good stead to handle the various challenges beyond academics. Having a greater understanding of other cultures and having a world view would definitely put me in a better position to solve complex world issues.

I am looking forward to the fieldwork, particularly the participant observation where the team would analyse the locals in their day to day lives to pick up their attitudes and behaviours toward Mainland Chinese tourists. I believe there would be rich discussions in the team on the body language and how that translate to their attitudes and behaviours. This interaction would bring about many different perspectives, considering that our backgrounds and field of study in NTU are different within the group. This would also foster closer ties within the group and build stronger friendships.

Overall, I am looking forward to the TOPS trip as an immersive cultural experience where I can build friendships with the locals and within the USP group. The trip would also broaden my horizon and allows me to develop a more holistic perspective towards the world and other cultures.