There were times when I felt home sick in Washington D.C. The people who helped me through the most are my fellow Singapore friends – Rebecca Tan and Tang Wai Leong. Both are NUS Political Science undergraduates in their 3rd year and each gave me different forms of support.
Rebecca, though she is half British, she cannot be more Singaporean. She is constantly updating me about what is happening back home and follows the 2011 Singapore elections extremely closely while we were in Washington D.C., giving me regular insights about the election. Her sharing range from funny political videos to serious Singapore history. She is one of those who know it all. Yes, she is one of the brilliant Singapore girls that we have in Singapore. She often cooks meals for us and we spend time having our meals together. On her serious side, she frequently stands up to post intelligent questions to panellist during different talks. Even though she is often mistaken to be British due to her accent, I am extremely proud of her as she does Singapore so proud.
If there is one thing that binds Singaporeans together it will be FOOD! Our activities very often revolve around cooking, eating, going to attractions and then eating eating eating eating!!! This includes Wai Leong, a typical nice Singapore boy. Surprisingly, he was also obese like Mickey and me. An extremely easy going and very down to earth Chinese rooted boy. I believe that this is largely due to his family bringing him up in a Chinese focused environment. I mean he speaks fantastic Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) and a little Hokkien (another Chinese dialect), putting me to shame as I can only barely pass Hokkien. He is always supportive of what programs we have arranged and very easy going. Unfortunately, he had some bad experiences in DC but he dealt well with them. By the way, I think I forgot to say something very important about him - He is an excellent cook, best among the three of us. Unfortunately for me and Rebecca, I will say the Chinese meal he did for us, Laska and Claypot rice, was the best! Most importantly of all, he is also one of those dependable and capable guys in Singapore. He is always helpful and when he given a task, he does it well. I am also proud of him as a fellow Singapore guy in this way as well.
Both of them gave me different forms of “Singapore” needs and support. I mean one is a Singapore guy and another is a Singapore girl. Rebecca gave me “motherly” cooking and Singapore female entertainment when I hang out with her. Wai Leong gave me the Singapore buddy companion and strong men security when I speak to him. I thank both of them for spending this special journey with me and I hope that we will continue to keep in contact in our homeland, Singapore.
Another Singaporean that I met in DC is a guy called Robin (second from the left in picture above). The occasion that I met him was very funny. I was in the train with Mickey, Leong and Yu Jin to go home after a hockey match. I was talking in my Singlish with my friends which caught Robin’s attention. He looked at us and asked if we were Singaporeans. After we said yes, he gave a smile and said Hello! It was really a pleasant surprise to meet rare Singapore breeds in DC. We went out for meals (Singaporeans being Singaporeans) and became friends, I learn that he graduated from Carnegie Mellon and is currently working for Ernst and Young as a consultant. I really like him as a person as he is very humble and down to earth despite being such an achiever. He gave me career advice the first time we went out for dinner at this restaurant that serves extremely spicy crayfish (which is when I learn that Singaporeans tend to overestimate our ability to take chilly). He is very informed about Singapore politics and society, and I am very pleased to see that he is very rooted to Singapore. I feel happy for my country that we have a citizen like him.
The Singapore embassy was also like "Singapore connection point" for me in Washington D.C. I went there in total 4 times! Hahaha! It was there that I met Geraldine and Jerome, two Singapore diplomats. They helped me with many things such as the TWC International Festival Day and Jerome even linked up with my internship company, the Public Affairs Council to explore possible collaborations. I went to the Singapore for Chinese New Year and Singapore celebration day among the many visits.
During a Singapore Day held in the Singapore embassy, I met this lady called Cheryl Tan, author of a book called “A Tiger in a Kitchen”. The story accounts her journey back to Singapore to recollect her Singapore roots centered upon her learning traditional Singapore cuisines. As she shared, I began to feel my Singapore roots surfacing with a warmth sensation accompanied by a feeling of completeness coming together in me. I learn the importance of Singapore to me and it was then that I treasure home more and made a decision o go home to learn Singapore cusines and preserve our culture. Yes, D.C help me learn more about myself being a Singaporean, what I am and what I am not.
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