Pre- Trip Reflections

As the dates move closer to our departure for Chiang Mai, I am feeling increasingly excited to immerse myself in a foreign land and culture. With the company of my USP peers, I similarly look forward to connecting with and learning from them.

 

I am grateful for the immense privilege of being able to study another culture first-hand for this study trip, which I believe would greatly enrich my college experience. I look forward to developing my understanding of the world, and my place in it, through the lens of another culture. Knowledge does not exist in the classroom, but from its roots in reality. Getting out of NTU and the familiar shores of Singapore will allow us to develop a greater sense of identity and self-awareness through our experiences with a different culture. This, I believe, is what an NTU USP scholar is – not just our academic prowess, but knowledge that extends beyond that, to become a well-rounded and capable individual, and being equipped with knowledge that would allow us to steer our way through life in a principled and informed manner.

 

With a world that is increasingly interconnected, an understanding of cultures unlike our own, would certainly aid us in the way we see ourselves as global citizens, and our place in the world. Of course, given the short time span and our own coloured lenses, I am aware of the difficulties in ever documenting an accurate picture of a culture. However, I am hopeful that despite such limitations, some valuable insight will emerge.

 

In my previous school, I was involved in a similar overseas exchange, where we attempted to aid a less privileged community, a village of minority Vietnamese in the mountains of North Vietnam. It was truly a life-changing trip for me, as I experienced something completely out of my entire worldview. We crafted and conducted various interviews with the local villagers to attempt to understand their situation. However, I feel that even with translators, a lot gets missing in translation. Our language and worldview is simply too vast a difference, and our attempts to understand their situation may be sufficient for our purposes, but is still too varied and complex for a deeper understanding.

For this trip, with our focus solely on research, we will instead be conducting various interviews with people from all walks of life in Chiang Mai with regards to heritage preservation. I do see the effects of globalisation on local cultures, most pressingly with my experience with the Vietnamese village. How much of a local culture should be preserved, and how much should a culture try to ‘keep up’ with the rest of the world through modernisation? It is a tricky topic to venture into, and not easy to negotiate a balance between modernisation and culture. I hope that this trip will attempt to shed some light on my understanding on globalisation and its effects on cultural heritage in Chiang Mai, and of the world.

 

I believe this trip would certainly compel me to develop as a USP scholar, where we acquire knowledge beyond the boundaries of the classroom. I believe that the experience from my study trip, the good and bad, and the ups and downs, will certainly help shape my character as a USP scholar.

 

I look forward to the trip, albeit rather apprehensively – not knowing what to expect out of it. I can only hope that this trip will allow me to grow, and teach me a lot more about my character, and of the varied impacts of globalization in our present society. I similarly hope to develop a deeper appreciation of different cultures, and of my own homeland, Singapore.