Ever the procrastinator, I’m composing this post 2 hours out from my flight’s departure- in line with the theme of this past month. I expect Singapore will be as fond (or fonder) of technology as I am (at last, a place that reifies the concept of all-pervading wifi), highly ordered and brimming with the broadest array of excellent food I’ve yet (or might ever) come across.
I’ve never travelled overseas before- I’m excited, but not too nervous. Travelling is a family tradition, particularly travelling via and to Singapore, I expect this study tour will at last make me understand my family’s fondness for Singapore. That and I’m looking forward to the new perspective I’ll gain on British colonialism, hearing a little Singlish (creoles are, to me, fascinating) and learning a little more about the history of Singapore.
Yesterday was a day of cramming as diverse a set of ensembles and technologies (after all, the Chromecast could be useful) as possible into my decidedly modest suitcase, making sure everything runs smoothly in Melbourne while I’m away and generally rushing to and fro. Today, however included a delightful (note: sarcasm) hour long PTV trip to the airport (Melbourne may be nice, fantastic even, but this needs to be fixed eventually), many lattes and high-speed blogging (i.e. this post).
From what I understand, Singapore is amongst the most important centres of business in the Asia-Pacific region and possessed of a formal, hierarchical business manner- not too dissimilar to Australia; That said, I’ve been in a grand total of one Australian business environment and zero Singaporean ones, so my comparison may be completely unfounded, I suppose I’ll have to wait and see.
My primary impression of Singaporean science revolves around one word- ‘large’. Everything I’ve heard about science in Singapore has been along the lines of city-block sized labs (except for the SSLS, the room-sized synchrotron). Aside from that kernel of knowledge, I have little else to go on other than recognising world-class semiconductor fabrication plants in Singapore (Global Foundries and Micron, for one). So, with that in mind, I expect to learn a great deal about this aspect of Singapore.
Boarding in five, this should be interesting.
La Trobe Nanotech Study Tour - Singapore 2014 