It's been a while since I last blogged. I wonder if Fenja has been reading. My sister reminded me that my last entry is ancient. I know why I didn't blog. 1) I suddenly felt like it was just a waste of time, and 2) So many things had happened that I didn't know how to keep up with the updating on the blog.
Time flies. I am now in my third (of four) semester. I can safely say I am almost 75% done now. In addition, there were 3 things that I wanted to do when I got into this programme: 1) Learn French, 2) Learn how to swim, and 3) Attend RCIA in preparation for an official embrace of Catholicism. I am proud to say that I have since enrolled in French 1 (for free - paid for by my scholarship!) at the Centre for Language Studies in Kent Ridge Main Campus. I will learn how to swim soon, it's just that it is so expensive to learn it in Singapore. As for 3)..
But one thing I must add here is that I have been to Paris twice this year alone - in February, and then again in July. Stephanie tells me that she wants to slap me for this "bonne chance" that I have been blessed with. No one will ever understand, but these trips to Paris had changed my life in ways you will never understand. I came back a different person, laden with many reflective questions, which I am waiting for the right time to collectively answer with one single "Oui, je voudrais."
The five-week summer holidays, although there is no summer to speak of in Singapore, was awesome. I spent the first two weeks in Malaysia with my girlfriends, male friends and parents. My parents and I then went to South China, where we spent two weeks in Guangzhou, including a 3-day pilgrimage to Puning, my maternal ancestral village. Later, I spent two weeks in Shenzhen with Stephanie, and we ended the good times with a short holiday to Hong Kong, where we parasited off a really rich widow.
And then I went to London for 2.5 weeks, Paris for 9 days, and Amsterdam for 5 days. In London, I met up with Ko from Oxford, and then Min who was on her way to Prague. I also met up with Louise and Melanie, and of course, Farid-jan, who was able to afford me the attention which was too risky to attempt when we were in Kabul. In Paris, Lucy swing by. In Amsterdam, (now Datuk) Nicol was not around so I managed the bicycle town alone, which was lovely too. Everytime I flew, I was just Platinum. The power of miles, baby.
Now I'm in Singapore, back to the books. This semester, apart from French 1, I am enrolled in my final compulsory subject "Public Management and Leadership", which lecture takes place on Thursday mornings, as well as three self-chosen ones, "Clusters and National Competitiveness", "Management of Health Systems", and "Human Rights in International Politics", which are all on Tuesday. I call it my Super Tuesday.
I will write more when I can. I hope to write in French the next time, too. But for now, "bonne nuit et a bientot". Good night and see you soon.
Angel Lam
- Angel Lam
- Singapore
- Angel holds a degree in Communication from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia with specializations in Journalism and Psychology. She entered the United Nations system as the Communications Associate of the Malaysia country office, where she formulated and implemented media strategies on international development issues relating to integrity and transparency, democratic governance, environment, HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction and South-South cooperation, as well as gender issues and the Millennium Development Goals. Angel also worked on several development projects on Afghanistan, particularly in reviving its dried fruits industry through modern agro-processing methodologies, and in encouraging foreign direct investment to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, for which she championed while at the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency, the investment arm of the Government of Afghanistan. She is currently a recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Postgaduate Scholarship at the LKY School of Public Policy, the political science arm of the National University of Singapore, where her work and research in international development and poverty alleviation continues.