Inspiring Outsiders

1NSPIRING 0UTSIDERS

Stories of international students in Singapore with a local twist

Antonius Cong

Patricia is currently a freshmen in NAFA pursuing Diploma in Arts Management. She came to Singapore to study partly due to her parents’ wish. Nevertheless it was an option for her too because to her, Singapore has the capacity and environment to support her study in arts management.

Coming from Surabaya, she developed mixed feeling of loving the food and family, while she shares that staying in her hometown simply will not help her develop personal skills. She remarks that punctuality is not as embraced in Surabaya compared to Singapore – a quality of which she is trying to develop on herself.

She learned that people here are strict in a good way – very punctual and serious. As she admits of having time management problem herself, she hopes to eliminate her bad habit throughout her studies in Singapore.

Her study experience over the past 10 months has been very resourceful. She learned through experience aside from academic studies by volunteering in various events and backstage crew.

Top - Using human anatomy as his inspiration.

Bottom - Taking a break.

I never believe in retirement, and something inspirational here is that I got a lecturer who is 85, 86 years old. So, creating art has no age limit, you know. I think I’m in a beautiful journey where there is no age limit.

Year 3, Fashion Design She plans to challenge herself in living a self-guided study experience, which she would not have experienced had her stayed back in Indonesia.

During her early arrival in Singapore, she felt a lot of differences compared to her hometown. Time feels much slower, and so are the conversation and walking pace. She felt there is a wider degree to discuss things deemed sensitive in Indonesia, such as LGBTQ. Night life is more vibrant.

Initially, she felt studying in Singapore was a big hurdle due to the unfamiliarity towards the environment and lack of friends. Regarding the importance of friends, she feels relieved to have company from the same hometown; to whom she could share her thoughts during her early stage and ask for design ideas. The fact that they come from different majors also helps her to identify gaps she could not have found with a single perspective.

Y3, Illustration & Animation “In Philippines, there are indeed good schools, but it is not the best place to learn arts.”

He lives in the suburb area of Metro Manila where he could meet and mingle with friends.

Upon arrival to Singapore, he experienced an immense culture shock. The fast-paced