I took an 11-hour flight from Honolulu to Taiwan on January 7th with a 9-hour layover in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, followed by a 5-hour flight from Taiwan to Singapore. Upon arrival in Changi Airport on January 9th, I purchased a prepaid SIM card from a Singtel booth near the baggage claim area. If you have an unlocked phone, you should be able to switch SIM cards and carriers easily. Update: In hindsight, StarHub seems to have better roaming coverage plans. I was unable to use the Singtel data plan in Penang, Malaysia and decided to purchase a separate plan for use in Penang. Others with StarHub were able to directly deduct from their existing data plan. I arrived in Tembusu Residential College in University Town at around 8:45pm via Uber. I recommend arriving in the morning so that you have time to purchase bedsheets, pillows, clothes hangers, towels, etc. at IKEA on Alexandra Road. I slept on the plain mattress on the first night. You may purchase a router, plug adapters, and just about anything else you may need at Clementi Mall. Buy a 2-pin (US) power strip that has a 3-pin (Singapore) main plug for your dorm so that you won’t need more than one plug adaptor for use outside of your room. I purchased the D-Link DIR-605L Cloud Router for just S$29 at Challenger on the 4th floor of Clementi Mall. NUS does provide an Ethernet cable. Plug adaptors can cost as little as S$2. However, demand is high with exchange students from NUS, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Singapore Management University (SMU) flooding the nearby stores. I spent the first week alone in my 6-bedroom apartment on the 17th floor of Tembusu College. The 5 local students moved in on the Sunday before the start of classes. I found out that they have all been staying in the same apartment together for 1-2 years previously. Our majors are all different, ranging across mechanical engineering, political science, computer science, philosophy, communication, law, and business. Aside from the 6 single rooms, we share a common living room area, two showers, and two toilets. In Tembusu College, there is a common lounge on every floor, laundry machines on the 9th and 17th floors, and a pantry on every three to four floors (one per house). The house system in Tembusu College consists of endangered Asian animal species: Shan (Snow Leopard), Ora (Komodo Dragon), Gaja (Asian Elephant), Tancho (Red-Crowned Crane), and Ponya (Red Panda). The house committees organize events from time to time. I am in Tancho. I'm lucky that the laundry room, refuse disposal room, and pantry all exist on my floor. Throughout the first two weeks at NUS, I attended a number of orientation and welcome events, including the International Students (NG) Orientation Briefing, the NUS Biz Welcome Tea and Welcome Party, and the SEP Orientation Briefing and Welcome Party. I recall my first meal in Singapore, breakfast in UTown’s Fine Food, the morning after arriving. All exchange students were in the same boat of not knowing anyone, but eager to meet everyone. The first week was a hectic period of trying to remember the countless names, faces, and facts of everyone I met.
Interning in Singapore
Non-graduating exchange students are not allowed to work or intern, paid or unpaid, while studying abroad in Singapore. Exchange students may decide to apply for a work pass after the academic term and after turning in the Student’s Pass. You may visit here: http://nus.edu.sg/cfg/students/international-students or the ICA’s website for the most up-to-date information. This is bittersweet. It feels odd to not work and have so much time, but this will allow me to become more involved in interest groups and clubs, travel more, meet more people, etc. Registration Part II and Student’s Pass Matters I completed Registration Part II, where I received my NUS Student ID (aka Matriculation Card), and submitted the Student’s Pass application documents on the NUS campus. Upon submitting the application documents, I received an appointment slip to pick up the Student’s Pass on campus at a designated time the following week. Business Module Registration The module add/drop system and timeline are different for business and law modules. We were given details regarding registration for business modules at the NUS Biz Welcome Tea. I was not able to change the modules allocated from the NGE Application until the add/drop period, however, one of my modules changed without notice (FIN3101A to FIN3101B). During the add/drop period, I successfully added two courses (ACC1006 and BSP2001). During the appeal period, I successfully appealed FIN3101B to FIN3101A. Before the deadline to drop modules, I dropped BSP2001 (Macro and International Economics) since I had yet to receive approval from Shidler’s OSAS of course equivalency with BUS 313, and FIN3103A (Financial Markets) since only two finance courses are transferrable to Shidler for credit. The following is my final course (module) schedule, fulfilling ACC 409 and two finance electives: The Mānoa International Exchange (MIX) and the Study Abroad Center (SAC) have different study abroad programs and different application deadlines. I followed the SAC deadlines and therefore, missed the MIX application deadlines. Fortunately, the National University of Singapore (NUS) was still accepting nominations and MIX and Shidler’s Office of Student Academic Services (OSAS) were flexible, encouraging, and helpful in the process. I have elaborated more on the timeline of my study abroad application processes involving MIX, the Freeman Scholarship, NUS, and the Immigrations and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) below. Please note that this is specifically the timeline I experienced; if you plan to study abroad, follow the deadlines on the relevant websites closely without exception. Sept. 17 – Submitted MIX Online Application for Outbound Students Sept. 19 – Received offer of MIX nomination to NUS Sept. 20 – Submitted MIX nomination form to accept nomination to NUS Sept. 21 – Received official nomination email from MIX, which includes information on application procedures for NUS admission, modules (aka courses), and on-campus housing. Sept. 30 – Submitted NUS online non-graduating exchange application form Oct. 11 – Received MIX Pre-Departure Checklist, which includes information regarding the following:
Oct. 19 – Received official email notification from OSAS of selection as Spring 2018 Freeman Scholarship Recipient Oct. 23 – Attended Freeman Orientation Reception and met the donors Oct. 31 – Submitted Freeman Scholarship Contract Nov. 16 – Attended MIX In-Person, Region-Specific Pre-Departure Orientation. Offered admission to NUS Non-Graduating Exchange (NGE) Program and received information on applying for hostels (via UHMS System) and Student’s Pass (via ICA), and completing NUS Registration Part I and payment of fees (via ISIS). You will receive access to your NUS email and various other accounts after Registration Part I when you receive your Student ID, NUSNET ID, and passwords. Nov. 25 – Received information from NUS for ICA Student’s Pass application (e.g., SOLAR number) Dec. 15 – Received acceptance for NUS on-campus housing. I was allocated to a 6-bedroom apartment (single-rooms, non-AC) in Tembusu Residential College. I accepted the offer and paid housing fees online. Dec. 20 – Received approval of Student’s Pass application with IPA Letter attached in email from NUS Registrar’s Office. In preparation for Registration Part II and Student’s Pass Formalities with ICA, print extra copies of your passport particulars page and extra passport-sized photos, along with the other documents required by ICA. It will seem significantly more difficult and time-consuming to get everything together once you leave home if you’re unfamiliar with Singapore and NUS. Other exchangers will also be scrambling to get the documents printed and NUS may charge extra for printing and photo-taking services. USEFUL RESOURCES AND APPS
Getting Around:
Finances: I applied for the Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking® Account in early-December, which resulted in a hard credit inquiry and subsequent approval notice. A linked Schwab One® Brokerage Account is opened automatically with the checking account, however, there is no minimum balance requirement for the brokerage account. For the checking account, you will receive free standard checks and a Schwab Bank Visa® Platinum Debit Card, as well as unlimited ATM fee rebates at no monthly fee and no foreign transaction fees. I use the debit card to extract cash from any ATM, as Singapore and neighboring countries are still mostly cash-based. I also recommend getting a PayPal as it seems more common than Venmo or other payment services. This will come in handy in paying or receiving money from fellow students from sharing transportation, housing, groceries, etc. Communications: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp Different groups and chats were created for NUS Exchangers, NUS Business Exchangers, Tembusu College, and various interest groups. Useful Websites: NUS Email: http://outlook.com/u.nus.edu NUS NGE Application: https://myaces.nus.edu.sg/ngAdmForm/ UHMS (Housing): https://uhms.nus.edu.sg/Pre-Matstudents/Default.aspx Student Information System (SIS, formerly ISIS): https://myisis.nus.edu.sg IVLE (similar to Laulima): https://ivle.nus.edu.sg/default.aspx MoRe (Add/Drop Modules, excludes Business & Law): https://myaces.nus.edu.sg/PRJXIA/Student/Login NUS Business School Add/Drop Modules: https://inetapps.nus.edu.sg/biz/asp/undergrad/add_drop/ng/Login.asp Centralised Online Registration System (CORS): http://www.cors.nus.edu.sg/index.html NG Module Quota (similar to UH’s Class Availability): https://myaces.nus.edu.sg/ngModuleQuota/ NUS Module Timetable Builder: https://webrb.nus.edu.sg/ctt/builder.aspx NUSMods (independent timetable builder, easier to use): https://nusmods.com NUS Friendly Email Address ([email protected] to [email protected]): http://www.nus.edu.sg/identity/friendlyemail.php |
ABOUT ME
Keng-Chia Chao BBA Candidate in Finance, Accounting, & Management Information Systems Shidler College of Business, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Archives
May 2018
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