Concordia Magazine 2025

Gardens By The Bay

Although I had a rough plan in place for my time in Singapore, I intentionally left it open-ended. I wanted the trip to be an opportunity to experience unrestricted exploration and to let the magic of serendipity do the rest. After a good sleep, I hopped on the Singapore MRT (train service) and explored, stop-by-stop. Growing up, I had the belief that all trains everywhere must be automatic, and I could not understand why we had human-operated train services in the UK. The child that never left me became pretty excited by the MRT, seeing train after train run like clockwork without a driver. The excitement only grew when I spotted little things like the zoomorphism of signs, efficient system layouts and overall considerate design. Walking round Singapore, I was pleasantly surprised by the tropicality of the climate. An undying backdrop of sunshine enriched the unique environment created through a complex history shaped by centuries of diverse cultural migration alongside the more recent emergence of independent Singaporean culture. In between cultural exploration and investigating the startup and tech setting, Aashish showed me a range of local dining spots, one of which was an open-air converted shipping container hawker centre, the wind-down space for startup members who stayed in the JTC One-North site. The energy was extraordinary, with a true entrepreneurial buzz. Speaking to people there, I started to plan my remaining time in Singapore to include a range of business and research experience.

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