Life of an Overseas Student in Singapore
Hello people! It is a looooongggg overdue post, but now that I'm in the workforce, I miss my college life so bad and I feel the need to share my study abroad experience to my dearest readers. For those of you who plan to study in Singapore or simply want to know how life there is like, I hope you find this post helpful. This will be a lengthy post too, but I will try to cover as much as I can from A to Z.
How It All Begins
In 2013, I made one of the biggest decisions in my life: pursuing my tertiary education abroad. What motivated me? Firstly, I wanted to practice and improve my English by living overseas. Secondly, I wanted to live independently, to expand my knowledge and to get new experience. Thirdly, simply because studying abroad had been my dream since long. I cannot thank God enough for this opportunity, since it is a lifetime experience that not every kid can get. So, right after finishing my year 11, I moved to Singapore to pursue my study in James Cook University (JCU). This way, I could start and finish my degree earlier compared to my friends in Indo. On the other hand, I have no high school certificate, which most Indonesians regard as the most basic academic certificate everyone should have in order to secure a job.
Why Singapore?
After considering some potential destinations, my parents and I chose Singapore as my study destination. If you ask Indonesian students in Singapore why they chose Singapore, most of them will be likely to answer 'coz it is close to Indo'. That was our reason too. The relatively close proximity makes it easier for my family to visit me in Singapore, and I can go back to Surabaya every semester break hehe. There are quite a number of direct flight from Surabaya to Singapore (it is only 2-hour flight away). Moreover, Singapore is a safe, clean and well-organized country, which makes a conducive place for young people to study in.
JCU Singapore
JCU Singapore is a branch of JCU Australia. They deliver exactly the same curriculum and materials with JCU Australia. The diploma is recognized in Australia too. JCU Singapore has its own campus building, so it is not like you take University A program in Institute B (you know what I mean). If you want to know more about the programs, courses and facilities offered by JCU Singapore, you can visit their website here.
JCU Singapore campus is located on 149 Sims Drive. The nearest MRT stations are Kallang and Aljunied, but I think Aljunied is closer by walking. You can also take bus, but you need to change bus at least once, depends on your bus route. As its location is near Geylang (which is a red light dstrict), sometimes when my last class ended at night, I felt afraid to walk to MRT station as I often saw some drunk uncles and police patrolling. Regarding what to eat, no need to worry as there is Sims Vista Food Centre near campus in case you get bored of school cafetaria food. The nearby shopping malls are Paya Lebar Square and OneKM (Paya Lebar MRT is only 1 stop away from Aljunied). If the gap between my two classes are quite long, we usually 'ran' to Simei or Bedok just to eat or shop in the mall lol.
Pre-University Foundation Program
How come I could study in JCU without finishing high school? It is because I took Pre-University Foundation Program first. FP is a pathway to JCU undergraduate program, as the entry requirement for JCU undergraduate program itself is completion of year 12. Entry requirement for FP is completion of year 11 and a minimum IELTS score of 5.5 with no band less than 5. FP program lasts for 8 months To get into undergraduate program from FP, you need to pass all 8 FP units with minimum average score of 50%. If you fail a unit, you have to retake that unit before proceeding to undergraduate program.
FP units are somewhat similar to high school subjects, whereby we study geography, math, economics and English. I have studied before some topics like algebra, linear, demand-supply and types of rocks in high school (of which were taught in Indo). There are some units which I find very helpful for my uni preparation, such as Learning & Development, Critical Thinking and Communication Across Cultures. There is no weekly test like in Indo, but the assessments are pretty hectic - most of them are report/essay writing and group presentation. At the end of the term, there is final exam and you may see your final result online.
Undergraduate Program
After finishing FP with no drama and subject retake, I carried on to Bachelor of Business (B.Bus) program, majoring in major Hospitality & Tourism + Management. In JCU, we are allowed to take double major, so we don't have to worry about what units to take as elective or minor. What is good about JCU is that you can get B.Bus degree in only 2 years, as there are 3 trimesters in a year (so don't complain about not having many off-days haha). To graduate from B.Bus, you need to earn 72 credits which consists of 24 units (each unit is worth 3 credits) in 6 semesters.
In semester 1 and 2, you have to take 7 compulsory units, whereby all B.Bus students also take those 7 units regardless of their major. Talking about the assessment, each unit has their own assessments and you can check the details in the unit outline. The formats are similar to FP assessments: report writing, mid-term test, presentation and final exam. There is no 'skripsi' here - instead, there is Multi-Disciplinary Project, which is like FYP or TA in Indo. You and your team need to will be assigned to a project in which you are to present in front of the lecturers and real company representatives. You will need to apply all areas of business that you have learned in the past 2 years. There will be a kind of conference where all teams display their project posters and the judges will walk around to score your poster and throw you some questions.
Curious of how the units look like? Here are some units that I took:
In 2013, I made one of the biggest decisions in my life: pursuing my tertiary education abroad. What motivated me? Firstly, I wanted to practice and improve my English by living overseas. Secondly, I wanted to live independently, to expand my knowledge and to get new experience. Thirdly, simply because studying abroad had been my dream since long. I cannot thank God enough for this opportunity, since it is a lifetime experience that not every kid can get. So, right after finishing my year 11, I moved to Singapore to pursue my study in James Cook University (JCU). This way, I could start and finish my degree earlier compared to my friends in Indo. On the other hand, I have no high school certificate, which most Indonesians regard as the most basic academic certificate everyone should have in order to secure a job.
Why Singapore?
After considering some potential destinations, my parents and I chose Singapore as my study destination. If you ask Indonesian students in Singapore why they chose Singapore, most of them will be likely to answer 'coz it is close to Indo'. That was our reason too. The relatively close proximity makes it easier for my family to visit me in Singapore, and I can go back to Surabaya every semester break hehe. There are quite a number of direct flight from Surabaya to Singapore (it is only 2-hour flight away). Moreover, Singapore is a safe, clean and well-organized country, which makes a conducive place for young people to study in.
JCU Singapore
JCU Singapore is a branch of JCU Australia. They deliver exactly the same curriculum and materials with JCU Australia. The diploma is recognized in Australia too. JCU Singapore has its own campus building, so it is not like you take University A program in Institute B (you know what I mean). If you want to know more about the programs, courses and facilities offered by JCU Singapore, you can visit their website here.
JCU Singapore campus is located on 149 Sims Drive. The nearest MRT stations are Kallang and Aljunied, but I think Aljunied is closer by walking. You can also take bus, but you need to change bus at least once, depends on your bus route. As its location is near Geylang (which is a red light dstrict), sometimes when my last class ended at night, I felt afraid to walk to MRT station as I often saw some drunk uncles and police patrolling. Regarding what to eat, no need to worry as there is Sims Vista Food Centre near campus in case you get bored of school cafetaria food. The nearby shopping malls are Paya Lebar Square and OneKM (Paya Lebar MRT is only 1 stop away from Aljunied). If the gap between my two classes are quite long, we usually 'ran' to Simei or Bedok just to eat or shop in the mall lol.
Pre-University Foundation Program
How come I could study in JCU without finishing high school? It is because I took Pre-University Foundation Program first. FP is a pathway to JCU undergraduate program, as the entry requirement for JCU undergraduate program itself is completion of year 12. Entry requirement for FP is completion of year 11 and a minimum IELTS score of 5.5 with no band less than 5. FP program lasts for 8 months To get into undergraduate program from FP, you need to pass all 8 FP units with minimum average score of 50%. If you fail a unit, you have to retake that unit before proceeding to undergraduate program.
FP units are somewhat similar to high school subjects, whereby we study geography, math, economics and English. I have studied before some topics like algebra, linear, demand-supply and types of rocks in high school (of which were taught in Indo). There are some units which I find very helpful for my uni preparation, such as Learning & Development, Critical Thinking and Communication Across Cultures. There is no weekly test like in Indo, but the assessments are pretty hectic - most of them are report/essay writing and group presentation. At the end of the term, there is final exam and you may see your final result online.
Undergraduate Program
After finishing FP with no drama and subject retake, I carried on to Bachelor of Business (B.Bus) program, majoring in major Hospitality & Tourism + Management. In JCU, we are allowed to take double major, so we don't have to worry about what units to take as elective or minor. What is good about JCU is that you can get B.Bus degree in only 2 years, as there are 3 trimesters in a year (so don't complain about not having many off-days haha). To graduate from B.Bus, you need to earn 72 credits which consists of 24 units (each unit is worth 3 credits) in 6 semesters.
In semester 1 and 2, you have to take 7 compulsory units, whereby all B.Bus students also take those 7 units regardless of their major. Talking about the assessment, each unit has their own assessments and you can check the details in the unit outline. The formats are similar to FP assessments: report writing, mid-term test, presentation and final exam. There is no 'skripsi' here - instead, there is Multi-Disciplinary Project, which is like FYP or TA in Indo. You and your team need to will be assigned to a project in which you are to present in front of the lecturers and real company representatives. You will need to apply all areas of business that you have learned in the past 2 years. There will be a kind of conference where all teams display their project posters and the judges will walk around to score your poster and throw you some questions.
Curious of how the units look like? Here are some units that I took:
- Business Law: learning about Australian business laws. There is a court visit where we need to visit State Court and Supreme Court of Singapore, attend the hearing and produce a report regarding the case. It was an unforgettable experience seeing a real trial, seeing the defendant being handcuffed and the prosecutor pounding the gavel haha.
- Managing People: learning about human resource management, creating HR portfolio, job description and employee forecasting.
- Conference & Events Management: learning how to organize and manage an event. We were required to organize a real event in campus. My team held a charity bazaar where we sold preloved goods and invited outsiders to participate in our event. All proceed went to MINDS, an organization for the intellectually disabled in Singapore.
- Club & Gaming Management: chill guys it is not nightclub, but clubs like cricket club, philatelic club, and so on. We also learned the rules of poker, baccarat, bingo, and other betting games (which I found complicated). The lecturer also brought us to a casino cruise trip so we could have a real casino experience (read my review here).
- Strategic Entrepreneurship: learning how to be an entrepreneur. We had a Dragon's Den-inspired assessment, whereby we needed to perform a pitch to offer our own innovative product to the 'investors'. If they are interested to invest in our product, we will get high mark for our assessment.
- Club & Gaming Management: chill guys it is not nightclub, but clubs like cricket club, philatelic club, and so on. We also learned the rules of poker, baccarat, bingo, and other betting games (which I found complicated). The lecturer also brought us to a casino cruise trip so we could have a real casino experience (read my review here).
- Strategic Entrepreneurship: learning how to be an entrepreneur. We had a Dragon's Den-inspired assessment, whereby we needed to perform a pitch to offer our own innovative product to the 'investors'. If they are interested to invest in our product, we will get high mark for our assessment.
Graduation
After 2 years struggling with uni life with blood sweat and tears (I'm being too much, sorry), I finally graduated from JCU with Bachelor of Business (B.Bus.) degree. Yes, I graduated with Bachelor degree before 20. Praise the Lord, there was no failed unit. I would not be able to achieve this without God's grace and without continuous support from my family, friends and lecturers.
The graduation was held in Sands Grand Ballroom, Marina Bay Sands. The ceremony itself was restricted to families of the graduand only, but guests may see the graduands outside the ballroom after the ceremony ends. Guests may also have the buffet food provided there.
PS: the next sections of my post will be written in Bahasa, coz I think it will be helpful for my fellow Indonesians who will study or considering to study in Singapore
How to Survive College Life in Singapore
Kuliah itu ga santai guys, apalagi ini kuliah fast-track yang cuma 2 tahun, di mana kalian akan kebanjiran tugas dan deadline. But don't worry, kalo kalian tahu tricknya, kalian pasti bisa survive kok. For me these are my tricks:
- Rajin-rajin buka LMS (Learning Management System; kalo di JCU namanya BlackBoard) untuk update subject materials. Baca semua PPT slides, highlight yang penting-penting, baca textbook (kalo ini jujur aja aku jarang banget lakuin) dan banyak-banyak bikin notes karena menulis bikin kamu lebih cepet hafal. Kalo perlu cari tambahan materi di library.
- Procrastination or SKS doesn't work here. Karena banyaknya tugas, otomatis time management-mu harus bagus. Kamu harus tahu kapan harus kerja tugas, kapan bisa santai, kapan bisa hang out dan kapan harus belajar. Kalo lagi banyak tugas, aku lebih milih buat langsung pulang setelah kuliah dan ngurangin hang out bareng temen (paling keluar rumah cuma buat beli makan). Kalo tugas atau exam udah kelar, selanjutnya mah terserah kamu.
- Plagiarism adalah hal yang paling crucial dalam essay/report writing. Semua tugas writing di JCU harus di-submit lewat LMS dan ada online plagiarism checker. Tugasmu akan dibandingkan dengan tugas anak-anak lain dan data-data di web. Kalo similarity kamu lebih dari 10%, nilai kamu bakal dikurangin banyak dan bisa aja ga dilulusin. Jadi, belajarlah cara bikin reference yang bener (APA style) dan cara bikin citation. Biasanya ada workshopnya di kampus kok. Yang paling penting jangan asal main copy paste, apalagi dari Wikipedia coz it's not a reliable source!
- Jangan sungkan tanya ke dosen kalo ada yang ga paham. Lakukan ini saat tutorial class karena di situlah kesempatan untuk tanya one-on-one terbuka lebar. Jangan sok akrab, just ask politely dan mereka biasanya akan jawab dengan senang hati kok.
- Jangan terlalu banyak nge-gank dengan sesama orang Indo. Memang ngumpul dengan sodara sebangsa setanah air jauh lebih nyaman, tapi kalo gini ngapain study di luar negeri dong, kalo ujung-ujungnya tetep aja ngomong Indo? Inget, tujuan utama kamu study abroad adalah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan English-mu. Dan berdasarkan observasiku di kampus, dosen-dosennya suka sensi sama anak-anak Indo yang suka berkelompok dan ribut sendiri, terus giliran ditanyain soal pelajaran cuma bisa senyum-senyum ga bisa jawab. Jadinya pas mereka balik nanya ke dosen, most likely bakal dicuekin.
Accommodation
Selama FP aku stay di student hostel, but frankly speaking aku ga terlalu enjoy stay di sana karena ada curfew dan kita harus minta tolong security buat bukain main gate. Aku juga ga nyaman share bathroom dengan students lainnya, begitu juga share kulkas dan gantian pake washing machine. Yang aku suka dari hostel ini adalah lokasinya yang tenang dan elite di daerah Novena. Setelah selesai aku memutuskan untuk rent a room di Ang Mo Kio. Aku dapet roommate via online (lewat Gumtree kalo ga salah), terus aku view unitnya langsung, begitu oke langsung sign agreement. Aku tinggal di sana sampe lulus, jadi hampir 2 tahun. Aku betah karena aku suka lingkungannya dan lokasinya yang deket MRT, hawker centre dan mall. Dengan tinggal di heartland seperti AMK, aku bisa ngerasain how the locals live. Aku ngerasain gimana punya tetangga Singaporean, ngerasain jalan kaki ke hawker beli makan dan ke supermarket buat belanja haha.
Harga sewa kamar di HDB bervariasi mulai dari $350 sampai $2,500 per bulan, tergantung tipe kamar dan lokasi. Kamarnya ada common room (share bathroom) dan master room (kamar mandi dalam). Harganya sendiri ada yang udah termasuk utility (listrik, wi-fi, dll.) dan ada yang belum termasuk. Kalo aku sih prefer harga yang all-in. Harga kamar di tempat-tempat 'terpencil' kayak Woodlands, Khatib atau Choa Chu Kang biasanya relatif lebih murah daripada tempat kayak Toa Payoh, Bishan atau AMK. Kamu bisa lihat-lihat iklannya di website kayak Gumtree, iBilik dan Easyroommate. Tapi be careful ya, kamu harus ketemu langsung sama orang yang post iklan itu (or your potential roommate) dan lihat kamarnya langsung sebelum bikin deal atau bayar sepeser pun. Beberapa iklan ada yang pake jasa agent (di mana harganya lebih mahal karena ada agent fee), dan beberapa diiklankan langsung oleh owner. Pilihannya ada di kamu, mau pake agent apa ga (coba lihat artikel ini buat referensi).
Social Life
Perbanyak teman dari berbagai negara. Inget, gak semua orang punya kesempatan untuk study abroad, jadi jangan ngumpul sama orang Indo doang. Emang sih, it feels like home kalo lagi sama mereka, tapi punya temen dari negara lain bisa nambah wawasan loh. Who knows bisa jadi partner bisnis in the future, dan mungkin mereka bisa ajak kamu jalan-jalan kalo kamu kebetulan visit hometown mereka.
You Might Find These Advice (and Life Hacks) Helpful
- Sering-sering cari student promotion buat makan atau nonton. Paling worth it sih student meal-nya Eighteen Chefs. Meskipun student card-mu udah expired, coba aja tunjukin
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| Eighteen Chefs Student Meal |
- Download app MyTransport.SG biar tahu di mana bus stop terdekat, berapa menit lagi bus kamu datang, dan info delay MRT.
- Datanglah ke KBRI Indonesia kalo ada event buat perbaikan gizi, karena biasanya ada makanan gratis di sana. Sekalian ngobatin kangenmu dengan makanan Indo, ya kan?
- Beli buku-buku bekas di Bras Basah Complex (Bugis/Bras Basah/Bencoolen MRT). Di sana kamu bisa nemuin buku-buku pelajaran dengan harga miring. Kalo kamu udah gak butuh textbook lagi setelah lulus sekolah/kuliah disana, bisa jual buku disini juga (tapi harga jualnya gak terlalu tinggi sih).
- Bisa pinjem powerbank dari concierges ION Orchard. Powerbank ini bisa kamu bawa kemana-mana sambil jj (jangan lupa dibalikin loh ya). Selain itu di beberapa MRT dan mall ada free charging spot juga.
- Singaporean suka nge-chope meja di hawker centre pake tissue dan barang-barang ajaib lainnya seperti payung, botol minum, dll. Jadi kalo nemu meja yang ada barangnya jangan main duduk aja, itu artinya udah ada yang reserve.
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| source: Mothership |
- Antrilah MRT secara tertib, selalu dahulukan orang yang mau keluar dulu. Jangan barbar dan main serobot masuk MRT hanya karena ngincer kursi kosong. Di tiap pintu MRT ada batas garis untuk ngantri. Dan jangan makan dan minum di stasiun MRT kalo ga mau kena semprot petugas (kalo lagi apes ya kena denda).
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| Cara antri MRT yang bener (source: YouTube) |
- Tiap pintu cabin MRT punya nomer sendiri-sendiri (nomernya ada di atas pintu). Inget-inget nomer pintu yang deket eskalator, jadi ini save time banget kalo lagi peak hours (kebayang kan harus desak-desakan jalan ke eskalator?). But remember, tiap MRT station mungkin punya lokasi eskalator yang berbeda-beda.
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| Nomer cabin MRT (source: TheSmartLocal) |
- Kalo lagi kere bisa makan di Ananas Cafe (biasanya ada di MRT station). Di sana kamu bisa dapet nasi lemak atau chicken rice seharga $2 aja.
- Jangan beli mineral water atau snack di 7-Eleven atau Cheers, beli aja di ValueShop/FairPrice/Sheng Siong/Giant karena harganya jauh lebih murah (paling ngantri bayar di kasir bentar aja). Kalo mau free ya ambil aja dari tap water haha.
- Kalo ke Sentosa Island jangan naik Sentosa Express. Better jalan kaki dari VivoCity via Sentosa Boardwalk (gratis!), terus balik ke VivoCity-nya naik Sentosa Express (gratis juga kalo naik dari Sentosa). Capek? Nggak kok, apalagi sepanjang jalan bisa foto-foto hehe. Bisa juga naik shuttle bus W Sentosa pp dari VivoCity, bilang aja mau makan di restorannya (detail-nya ada di sini). Lumayan kan, karena kalo naik taxi harus bayar admission seharga $4-$8.
- Kalo beli mixed rice (economic rice/cai png) di hawker atau dimanapun, better kalo kamu udah pikirin mau order apa saat kamu lagi ngantri. Jangan kelamaan mikir pas udah giliranmu! Yang ada penjual dan orang-orang yang ngantri di belakangmu jadi sensi. Dan kalo kamu kelamaan, si penjual bakal cepet-cepetan nuangin makanannya ke piring, which means quantity-nya juga bakal berkurang. Oh ya, make sure kamu order menu daging duluan sebelum sayur, karena kalo order daging terakhir piringmu udah keburu penuh sama sayur (kan sayur lebih gampang dijejelin di piring dibanding daging).
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| Mixed rice/cai png (source: Seth Lui) |
- Kalo mau belajar atau kerjain tugas dengan tenang without distraction, mending belajar di library kampus atau public library. Biasanya di sana ada tempat khusus belajar. Favoritku sih belajar di National Library di Bugis, karena tempatnya pewe (better come earlier buat nge-chope tempat) dan ada vending machine drink and light food jadi ga perlu kuatir kelaperan. Pernah juga aku nginep di Starbucks United Square yang buka 24 jam. Kalo belajar di cafe, aku saranin bawa tumbler, jadi orang lain ga bakal tau isi minumanmu tinggal seberapa so they have no reason to chase you out haha. Tapi belajar di cafe cukup risky sih, karena pas peak hours you have to be considerate of people looking for a seat. Yang heran, banyak Singaporeans suka belajar di McDonald's and even Changi Airport (they call it 'mugging'). Gimana bisa konsen coba, mugging di tempat begituan.
- Download app Perx buat dapetin reward di F&B tenants islandwide. Worth it loh, apalagi kalo kamu sering beli KOI bubble tea. Aku sendiri udah bolak-balik nukerin reward lewat Perx ini, lumayan banget kalo kamu orangnya suka kulineran.
- Sekitar 1 jam sebelum closing, bakery-bakery biasanya pada sale up to 50% buat ngabisin stock mereka hari itu. Lumayan buat stock kalo laper malem-malem, tapi ya jangan disimpen sampe besoknya.
Okay, sekian dulu postinganku, kalo ada tambahan bakal terus aku update disini. Kalo mau tanya-tanya don't hesitate to leave a comment or drop me a message ya! Thanks for reading, ciao!
Okay, sekian dulu postinganku, kalo ada tambahan bakal terus aku update disini. Kalo mau tanya-tanya don't hesitate to leave a comment or drop me a message ya! Thanks for reading, ciao!
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