Prior to going on the trip, my initial impressions on the global business program and Singapore was positive. I thought that the global business program did a good job on letting us know what to expect and how to prepare for the trip. I also thought that Singapore would be a great country to visit, and I was excited to go study abroad there. As far as what I hoped to gain from the experience, I was looking forward to experiencing what a study abroad trip was like and learning more about Singapore ? specifically its extremely diverse culture and how it was so economically dominant in Asia.
In terms of how Singapore and the United States are different, I noticed a few differences between the two countries in terms of culture. The very first cultural difference I noticed had to do with food. When you are ordering food at a sit-down restaurant in Singapore, be prepared for the food portion to be large. This is because the food is meant to be shared amongst a group of people, instead of for just one person. This contrasts with food ordering in America, where dishes are not typically meant to be shared, but eaten by one person. For example, when I was eating at a Dim Sum restaurant in Singapore, I noticed that each dish had around three or four individual pieces that could easily be shared with people around the table. Shareable food like dumplings, steamed buns, and a plate of bok choy (vegetable) were common dishes there. To emphasize the point even more, most restaurants have a circular piece on the table that rotates food around the table so that the food can be shared by everyone around the table. I think this is significant because it shows that the culture in Singapore emphasizes unity and togetherness. People in Singapore are used to sharing their food instead of just ordering for themselves.
Another difference I noticed is that people from the United States care much more about personal freedoms compared to people from Singapore. While I was taking the subway in Singapore, I noticed a considerable number of cameras that were used to record people entering and leaving the station. From what I have heard, Singapore uses these cameras to record suspicious activities. This means that there is a lack of privacy with these cameras located just about everywhere in Singapore?s metro system. Singapore also hopes to upgrade the cameras so there is facial recognition software in order to identify people seen by the cameras. In America, government recording is heavily frowned upon. Cameras that were used to record cars on traffic lights were removed in America because of privacy concerns. From this, it is apparent that Singapore is much more heavily invested in safety for its citizens. While this is a good thing, it comes with a price, which would be privacy.
