The first thing that I noticed when I arrived in Singapore was the weather. I thought living in Texas almost all of my life I would be used to it but it is so hot and humid, which is so vastly different from the weather in Texas right now. It almost feels like a time warp because everyone here is wearing summer clothes whereas in Texas everyone is bundled up. We arrived at Changi International Airport and our tour guide gave us some time to explore the airport, and even by the airport I can see that Singapore cares deeply about the environment and the image, how it looks. It seems like everything is done to perfection. While I am here and visiting different companies and experiencing the culture, I am excited to see how much emphasis the companies put on sustainability and how that is maintained. In America, it’s harder for all companies to cooperate just because corporations can do what they want with no consequences. However, just by seeing the airport, I can see that it is a big deal here. Also, the government of Singapore cares a lot about its image and looking good to outsiders. For example, chewing gum is prohibited and you only see mints in convenience stores. The reason being is that they do not want others to spit the gum on their streets and ruin the look of the country. They also banned durian from public transportation, which I am guessing is because of its smell. So I am interested to see if those values of perfection and image translate over to the company values of Singapore as well. I am excited to see how these next two weeks will pan out and I hope to be able to take something valuable to take back to the US to incorporate into my daily life.
