Cultural Immersion Through Food in Singapore

“You don’t truly learn in a classroom. You learn when you go out into the real world and experience life in its truest form.”

This was one of the biggest takeaways during my time on the Singapore Immersion Program.

Presenting to KFC Asia

Before we get into the nitty-gritty stuff, let’s rewind to a year ago. I was a first-year student who was eager and enthusiastic about the different opportunities the university had to offer. It was Information Day and I was in a lecture theatre where student ambassadors were boasting about their experiences on exchange programs and study tours. While I was intrigued by the prospect to learn in another country, I would cringe whenever that one same phrase was repeated, time and time again…

“I’m not going to be one of them,” I said to myself…lo and behold, look at me now!

But it’s true. A textbook, a lecture and a tutorial can only teach you so much.

So, when I saw the little advertisement going around about a 2-week program in Singapore, I literally jumped at the opportunity. Not only did I see this as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to develop my researching skills, I also saw it as a means for me to investigate for myself whether or not this was really true!

3D model of Singapore

What is the Singapore Immersion Program? 

It’s a two-week cultural immersion program where students are asked to put their researcher hats on. Through individual- or group-based investigations and projects conducted in-country, we were able to understand and analyse an important demographic trend that significantly impacted Singaporean businesses, societies and markets.

Luckily for me, the theme this year was “food”. Now, you might be asking yourself, why did she say “luckily”? Well, I am a major, proud and passionate foodie. I actively go about consuming different types of food around Sydney and, of course, I take too many aesthetically-pleasing food photos for the gram!

Food photography taken from Ampang Kitchen and Bumbu Restaurant (Instagram: @libbi.le)

But, after reading the advertisement of the program I realised that I was completely unaware of the other aspects of food. So, one of the main reasons why I signed up for this was that I hoped it would allow me to go beyond a superficial understanding of food. For example, I wanted to uncover why specific people, like myself, develop such a growing appetite and appreciation for food – especially in terms of how it connects to identity and culture.

Surprise, surprise! I found that the compulsory individual research project was the best way for me to do this! Specifically, students were asked to write a report evaluating how food impacts different stakeholders – businesses, societies and/or markets. While I explored how culturally significant and embedded food is to the lives of the everyday Singaporean, other students researched topics such as food security, waste, sustainability and perceptions.

Contrary to this, the group presentation was a different story. Here, we entered the corporate world and gained insights into how food is marketed and advertised to its consumers.  In particular we were given the amazing opportunity to develop a marketing campaign for the one and only KFC Asia. As a marketing student, I was acclimated to creating creative projects for businesses. But instead of leaving the campaign to the side to collect layers of dust, from this experience I was able to polish up my presentation skills and finally get a real-life test run pitching and gaining valuable feedback from an actual company.

Why you should apply

Experiencing Singapore to its fullest

The first would probably be how diverse the activities scheduled in the itinerary were. Thanks to Dr. Jeaney Yip for creating such an extensive program, other than eating a lot of food, we were able to experience Singapore to its fullest. From visiting an urban farm, artisanal soy sauce maker, a brewery, Fishery port; having classes at the National University of Singapore; participating in volunteer work for Foodbank to having real conversations to business owners, locals and food specialists, I was able to experience every facet of the value chain that “food” is involved in within a food-hungry country like Singapore.

All of the experiences we were offered, from visiting an urban farm, learning how to pull and make Teh Tarik and volunteering

Getting out of my Comfort Zone

Not only did I learn more about food, but I was also put to the test.

First, I want you all to imagine a 21-year-old university student, who schedules everything to a T and would only become an extroverted human being when it is absolutely necessary. So, it’s kind of obvious right? This particular program definitely took me out of my comfort zone.

Since we had something to do nearly every day of the trip, the program really put my organisation skills to the test! I had to juggle the day-time activities, completing assessments and fitting in as many touristy bits during my free-time simultaneously.  While it felt intense, this program has definitely advanced my ability to maintain a healthy and balance lifestyle.

Additionally, due to the individual research project I had to say goodbye to my introverted self for a while. To understand food in Singapore, I had to culturally immerse myself. So, that means approaching and interviewing locals to uncover how food is significant to them.  Despite it being uncomfortable at first, over time I improved and developed the confidence to objectively extract information like a researching pro!

Being personally taught how to cook traditional Peranakan food in Uncle Raymond's home kitchen (Ampang Kitchen)

Making Friends

With 15 students literally living, breathing and most importantly eating with one another for 24 hours of the day, I don’t think that you’d be surprise if I said that I think I’ve made friends that I will meet-up with every month, grab a coffee and nostalgically laugh about our experiences in Singapore. I know it’s a real cliché, but I think if it wasn’t for this trip, I wouldn’t have met the friends I made. Isn’t it just a beautiful and magical thing? This one program can bring together long-term friendships?

Lunch at Rumah Makan Minang

Signing off

So, my advice to you? If you’re interested in being culturally immersed in another country, learning in ways you cannot possibly learn in a classroom, and you see an advertisement land in your university inbox, don’t click delete. Open the email up, read it. See if it interests you and do it, apply for it. I can promise you, you won’t regret it!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Jeaney Yip for putting so much effort and dedication toward creating such an amazing and rewarding program. I have truly grown and matured as a student and I really owe it to people like her for making these types of programs available for all students.

Written by Libbi Le 
Current Bachelor of Commerce (Management and Marketing) and Bachelor of Arts (Digital Cultures) student at the University of Sydney Business School
Program: International Immersion Program in Singapore, New Colombo Plan Program