Post-trip Reflections

How time flies. I am currently suffering from post-trip withdrawal symptoms, and I know that I’m not the only one. I miss the laidback lifestyle and culture of Chiang Mai terribly!

It was a privilege to be part of the Heritage team, as I got to immerse myself in the beauty and rich history of Chiang Mai. As a PPGA student, I learnt that there are many cultural similarities between Singapore and Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai’s cultural diversity is similar to that in Singapore, where a vast number of cultures are tolerated and accepted. It is not uncommon to find a Buddhist temple, Catholic church and a mosque in the same street. In addition, most Chiang Mai-ans agree that heritage is not and cannot be defined by a single culture or ethnic group. Rather, heritage to them means a heterogeneous blend of cultural practices and beliefs, a melting pot of cultures that results in a wonderfully unique Chiang Mai-an heritage 🙂 Furthermore, I also learnt that the people are extremely respectful of the King of Thailand. Large posters of the King are propped up at most major streets in Chiang Mai. The people of Thailand seem to be very supportive of the King’s actions and revere him greatly. I feel that this is reminiscent of the respect Singaporeans have for the late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Both leaders are loved and honoured, and the people of both nations understand that they both work for the greater good of the nation, no matter how authoritative or blunt their proposed policies may be.

The people in Chiang Mai are definitely more welcoming and kind as compared to Singaporeans. I feel that it is high time for Singaporeans to learn to be more selfless and empathetic. Moreover, we should also learn to be more laid back and less serious! Our competitive nature usually puts unnecessary pressure and stress on ourselves. We should take a leaf out of Chiang Mai’s book and learn to be more contented and happy with whatever we have 🙂 Perhaps if we allowed ourselves to relax more often, we’ll feel even more fulfilled in life and make greater progress in whatever we do.

I feel blessed that I was able to travel overseas with my peers. I’ve forged stronger friendships and made new friends within USP 🙂 I feel that this trip has been really effective in bonding us as one USP batch. I initially had my doubts about being able to get along well with my peers. I remember being skeptical of the trip’s ability to make us chummier with one another. As it turned out, my skepticism and anxiety was all for naught. It was awesome being able to interact with my team mates on a daily basis and being able to understand them on a more personal level. Of course, there were times when things didn’t turn out as rosy as we wanted it to be. I had to learn how to adapt to the different work styles of my team mates and learn how to compromise. Group meetings were always heated discussions that involved a plethora of great ideas. My team initially had much difficulty deciding on the structure of our research essay. However, we were patient with each other and we ultimately reached a decision everybody agreed upon. We worked well with each other and never failed to take care of each other during our time in Chiang Mai 🙂

I wish we could travel back in time and travel to Chiang Mai again. I know that this isn’t possible, of course. Maybe one day, we can all gather under the dome projection theatre in ADM and watch our video footages of our experiences in Chiang Mai. That is probably the closest we will ever get to travelling back in time, the closest we will ever get to travelling back to wondrous Chiang Mai 🙂